64 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 



SKATING. 



The present winter has afforded ample opportunity 

 for indulgence in this delightful exercise. The Delaware 

 has been fast bound for nearly a month, with a clear and 

 extensive sheet of ice, upon which many of our citizens 

 have displayed their skill in the art. Skating is both a 

 manly and innocent amusement: it recommends itself in 

 such a variety of pleasing shapes as to be diligently pursued 

 by the young, and much talked of by the old: its remines- 

 censes are of a character every way agreeable to the mind, 

 and gratifying to the heart, and it may well be ranked 

 among the noblest of pastimes. 



The art of Skating is of comparatively modern introduc- 

 tion. It can only be traced to Holland, and seems to have 

 been entirely unknown to the ancients. Some traces of 

 the exercise in England, are to be found in the thirteenth 

 century, at which period, according to Fitz-Steven, it was 

 customary, in the winter when the ice would bear them, 

 for the citizens of London to fasten the leg bones of ani- 

 mals under the soles of their feet, and then by poles push 

 themselves along upon the ice. The wooden skates shod 

 with iron or steel, were brought into England from the 

 low countries. With the Hollanders, Skating is more a 

 matter of business than pleasure, for it is said, that the pro- 

 duce of their farms is carried upon the heads of their men 

 and women, to the towns and cities upon the borders of the 

 canals, there to be sold, and articles of convenience and 

 luxury purchased, and taken back in like manner to the 

 country. Less attention is therefore paid by them to 

 graceful and elegant movements, than to the acquirement 

 of that speed which is necessary to what is termed jour- 

 ney skating, as long and rapid excursions are frequently 



made upon the ice, when the streams, natural and artificial, 

 by which their country is intersected, are frozen over. 



Great improvement in the style of Skating has taken 

 place within a few years past, and various figures practised 

 to which the earliest Skaters were strangers. The forward 

 and backward movements, commonly, but, as it is thought, 

 improperly, called High Dutch, show more ease and grace 

 than any others within the range of the Skates; they require 

 very little exertion, and if rightly performed, carry the 

 Skater over the ice with amazing rapidity. In the former, 

 the lower limbs should not be permitted to stride much — 

 the swinging foot should always be brought down nearly 

 parallel with the other, when about to receive the weight 

 of the body, and at the same time, the body should incline 

 to that side a little to the front, making an angle of about 

 seventy degrees; in this position, the foot having hold of 

 the ice will aid the inclination of the body in making a 

 bold and lengthy curve, as also, a handsome sweeping 

 motion. In the latter, or backward High Dutch, the 

 swinging limb must always act as a balance to tl.e body, 

 and by it a perfect command of the necessary motions ac- 

 quired; the limb should move in a line with the body kept 

 nearly straight, and the toes pointed downward. In all 

 forward, circular, and sweeping movements, the body 

 should be kept as erect as possible, and stooping of the 

 neck, head, and shoulders avoided. The Skater should 

 never look at his feet, and seldom throw out his arms. 



In graceful Skating, very little muscular exertion is re- 

 quired. The impelling motion should proceed from the 

 mechanical impulse of the body thrown into such a position 

 as to regulate t!ie stroke. Chasing, running, and jimiping, 

 tend to give an imperfect idea of the art, and produce habits 

 that are excessively difficult to break. Both feet should be 



