420 
and the two constituting the entire process—in rowing, 
both these acts are hurried over during that time in which 
the muscles are relaxed, 7.2, towards the close of the 
stroke, and on the rapid forward dart of the body pre- 
paratory to another ; when the breath is again held and 
the chest fixed during the muscular effort. Now in j 
ordinary breathing the rate is, to a full-statured man, 
from 16 to 20 inspirations per minute, while the racing 
pace is 40 per minute, or more, and we have seen that 
the breathing is regulated by the stroke, a breath for each, 
and these are at 40 aminute! But we have also seen 
that although there is a breath for every stroke, still the 
double process of inspiration and expiration does not 
occupy the whole of even this brief space of time, being 
accomplished during the momentary muscular relaxation 
towards the end of the stroke and the forward reach of 
the body preparatory to another, greatly augmenting the 
rate at which this double process is performed.” Truly 
the spectator was right in thinking a boat-race to be 
tremendous work, for so it is, as regards heart and lungs, 
at any rate. 
And now with reference to the second aspect of boat- 
racing, its demancs upon the muscular energies of the 
body, the aspect which probably the spectator had in 
NATURE 
view when impressed by the probable amount of “work” 
of the race. Now will he be relieved or will he be disap- 
pointed to learn that the work to be done, the muscular 
exertion to be undergone, is very slight indeed,—certainly 
not more than, ifso much as, was undergone by any one of 
the thousands who ran the distance shouting on the banks. 
Perhaps his examination of the boat and boating gear has 
prepared him for some such revelation, perhaps it has 
not, but we can assure him that its accuracy has been 
proved, not only by our own long personal observations 
of its mode of action and consequent results upon the 
frames of the men themselves, but by practical and 
theoretic tests of the most searching kind, instituted by 
men of unquestionable ability for the office, and of un- 
questionable freedom from prejudice or bias. 
We have doubted whether this would bea relief or a dis- 
appointment to theordinary spectator ; nor have our doubts 
been restricted to him. Others whose practical know- 
ledge of the art and exercise of rowing is great have also 
found it embarrassing how to receive this announcement. 
For ourselves, we regard it as an evil, although not one 
without aremedy. But not only is the muscular effort alto- 
gether disproportionate to that of the organs of circula- 
tion and respiration, but inadequate in its amount to de- 
velop and sustain to their full capacity the frames of the 
men engaged therein, when rowing is practised for 
exclusive exercise: it is found that this muscular exer- 
tion, inadequate as it is, is also very irregularly and 
partially divided, very unequally distributed among the 
several portions of the body. Thus, we quote again from 
our former source :— 
“A little examination will prove, I think, what at first 
may not have been surmised, that the legs have the 
largest share of the work in rowing, for while all other 
parts employed, back, loins, and arms, act somewhat in 
detail and in succession, the legs act continuously 
throughout the stroke, and the individual efforts of each, 
and the concentrated efforts of all the other parts of the 
body employed are transmitted through them to the point 
of resistance—the stretcher. . , . . It will be found also | 
that the stroke is nearly finished before the contractile — 
efforts of the arms are in any degree engaged, namely, 
when the trunk reaches the vertical line, and they are 
called in to finish the stroke, and to turn and run out the 
oar on the forward reach of the body preparatory to 
another. 
tion of the back, more to the loins’and hips, and most of 
all to the legs; but it gives little to the arms, and that 
chiefly to the fore-arm, and least of all to the chest.” 
At this point Dr. Morgan’s views and our own do not 
run quite parallel, but the divergence is not so great as 
‘at first sight may appear, and almost seems the ex- 
pression of the impatience of the Oarsman at anything 
which might be construed as a hint that rowing 
had a fault or a defect of any kind whatever, than the 
decision of the Physician on a question which he had 
considered. It may be a loss sometimes, perhaps, to 
have tore qualifications than one for judging or writing 
on a given subject. Thus we recognise the physician 
when he admits the importance of the development of 
the chest by muscular exertion, admits that in so doing 
we do not merely increase its muscular coverings, but 
actually expand the walls of the thoracic cavity, giving 
ample space for the organs contained therein to perform 
their all-important functions, nay, that these organs them- 
selves are endowed with increased bulk, vigour, and power 
by the same means : but here the oarsman crops up, and 
he contends that all these good things are to be obtained 
by practice at the oar, for that rowing does give this in- 
valuable muscular exertion to the chest. Again, we re- 
cognise the physician, acknowledging the substantiated 
facts of physiological inquiry when he admits that the 
chest receives its muscular action through the arms ; but 
again the oarsman contends that in rowing the arms da 
have energetic work to perform adequate to this task ; 
nay, that in his own experience, when captain of his 
college boat, “he has seen the biceps expand and the 
forearm increase in girth ;” the latter probably, but the 
former—well, they must have rowed in very bad style to 
cause this development! But scarcely is this avowal 
made when some doubt as to the propriety of the admis- 
sion seems to be felt, and the subject is disposed of by 
the following remark. ‘This is an inquiry which I do 
not mean to inflict upon my readers. It is of more in- 
terest to the student of anatomy than to the general 
public,” probably this is the case, possibly it is not of 
great interest to either, but how about the rower? It is 
with him we are now concerned, and we opine it is to him 
of very great importance indeed. 
While we are engaged in fault-finding we will go as far 
as the paragraph following that from which we have just 
quoted, and in which we find the same kind of partial 
reasoning. He proceeds to say :— 
“Let us then consider in what way the chest is affected 
by bodily labour, when the muscles are called into 
activity, whether in rowing, or running, or in such a 
course of gymnastics as is now wisely required for young 
recruits. We find that, in the first place, the parts more 
especially exercised acquire additional bulk, grow both 
larger and stronger ; and secondly, we observe that the 
circumference of the chest is increased, it becomes wider 
and deeper. I have looked over numerous statistics so 
tabulated as to show the physical value of gymnastic 
Instruction, and these tables all agree in showing that 
there is under such circumstances a coincident develop- 
ment both of muscle and of chest.” 
Rowing thus gives employment to a large por-_ 
