154 HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 



nations. It was Germany, principally, that formed tlie most eminent philo- 

 sophers ; and in no part of the world is so great care bestowed upon a 

 thorough education as in Germany, although it yields the palm to the 

 United States with regard to the general instruction of the masses, due to 

 the public free schools of the latter country. 



The fine arts and the sciences, commerce, and the industrial arts, have 

 always flourished among the German nations of modern times ; and the 

 great prosperity of Germany affords, plainly enough, the best evidence of 

 their mental and physical activity. In spite of the less favorable geogra- 

 phical situation, in spite of the wars and revolutions which have raged 

 among them, in spite of the internal divisions of their country, they stand, 

 intellectually and physically, on a level with the people of the most favored 

 country. When, moreover, the youth continue as they have already com- 

 menced, acquiring activity, strength, and health, by means of systematic bodily 

 exercises, the German may easily invigorate not only the body, but the mind, 

 to a degree never before attained. The experience of organized gymnasia 

 shows that the mind becomes fresher and stronger by the practice of gymnastic 

 exercises, which have been, therefore, wisely adopted as a part of scholastic 

 training. 



Gymnastics, according to the best authors upon this subject, is the art af 

 taking bodily exercise according to certain rules, as was formerly done in the 

 gymnasia of the ancient Greeks, and hence the derivation of the name. The 

 usual gymnastic exercises are : [a) lifting, carrying, and drawing ; (6) walking 

 with grace and ease ; (c) running, with a view to rapidity and steadiness ; {d) 

 jumping upwards, horizontally, and downwards, with or without a leaping 

 pole ; (e) wrestling, with the view of throwing the adversar}' on the floor, or of 

 snatching something from his hands ; (/) throwing with stones, aloft, to a dis- 

 tance, or at a mark, with or without the sling, and hurling the javelin ; {g) 

 climbing up a pendant rope, or a pole, trees, &c. ; {h) balancing (the art of 

 equilibration) of the body, in standing upon one leg, or standing or walking 

 upon a beam, or a rope, in running on stilts, and in skating ; (i) dancing, 

 riding, swimming, and fencing. 



At the gymnasium, that is to say, the place prepared for the practice of 

 gymnastic exercises, fixtures adapted to the various exercises are usually 

 found. The bars and horizontal pole are altogether peculiar contrivances for 

 these purposes. 



The 6ar5 consist of two horizontal parallel rails, eight feet in length, each 

 of which rests upon two posts. The rails must be of solid, smooth, sound, and 

 thoroughly seasoned wood. Their size should be such as to allow a firm grasp 

 of the hand ; they must, therefore, be rounded above, and not so thin as to 

 hurt the body when a person places himself upon them. They must also be 

 properly erected, especially with regard to the distance between them, which 

 varies fi'om eighteen to thirty inches, according to the age, size, and strength 

 of the gymnasts. The posts must not be broader at top than the rail, but 

 must increase in strength downwards, and be deeply set in the ground, so that 

 they may stand with the proper firmness, and in such a manner that the 

 strongest man cannot make them shake. 

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