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A REVIEW 
 
 OF 
 
 Swedish Gymnastics 
 
 BY 
 
 THEODORE HOUGH 
 
 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY^ 
 
 INSTRUCTOR IN PHYSIOLOGY AND PERSONAL HYGIENE, BOSTON 
 
 NORMAL SCHOOL OF GYMNASTICS 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 GEORGE H. ELLIS, PRINTER, 272 CONGRESS STREET 
 1899 
 

 COPVRIGHTEn 
 
 I8 99 
 BY THEODORE HOUGH 
 
This paper was given, practically in its present form, in 
 May, 1899, as a lecture before the students of the Boston 
 Normal School of Gymnastics, and subsequently, in June, 
 1899, before the Physical Training Conference at Spring- 
 field, Mass. 
 
A REVIEW OF SWEDISH GYMNASTICS. 
 
 THE term "Swedish Gymnastics" is usually understood 
 to mean, in this country at least, a system of physical 
 training designed to meet certain demands in the educa- 
 tion of childhood and youth; and, since the question of 
 its utility is at present largely or chiefly concerned with 
 its use in schools, it will be well to begin our discussion 
 with this phase of the matter. 
 
 If it is a function of education to train the growing indi- 
 vidual for usefulness in life, physical education must de- 
 mand attention in any proper scheme of educational work 
 since the capacity for usefulness is so largely determined 
 by the physical health of the individual. It is perfectly 
 true that we find cases in which, owing to unusual mental 
 power, success has been attained in spite of physical de- 
 fects and even of moral defects. We see cases where* suc- 
 cess has similarly been attained because of moral qualities 
 and in spite of very moderate mental power or of physical 
 weakness. But such cases are the exception. If you study 
 great masses of people, you will find that serious defects in 
 physical power are almost certain to hamper life's work. 
 That work may be done, but it involves -a severe struggle. 
 In a large percentage of cases it is not done, and life be- 
 comes a succession of failures. It is, after all, on the physi- 
 cal man that we build. The leaders in life's activities are 
 almost without exception men of strong physical constitu- 
 tion; a large percentage of the failures are men of weak 
 constitution ; and any system of education which impairs 
 physical vigor and leaves men physically unequal to the 
 
work of life is unworthy of encouragement, is, indeed, 
 radically wrong. 
 
 The physical condition or health of a human being at 
 any age until growth is completed is the result of a process 
 of physical development. In actual life, Athene does not 
 spring full-fledged from the brow of Jove, nor Venus from 
 the foam of the sea. For one hundred and seventy-five 
 thousand two hundred hours the most varied physiological 
 activities have been at work to make the man or woman of 
 twenty years; and, could we read but deep enough, we could 
 see that the conditions which obtained during each of those 
 hours have contributed their share to the final structure, 
 the health, the possibilities of that living being. 
 
 Development, in short, is the result of three factors : 
 
 1. Heredity. It is not necessary to attempt a definition 
 of this term. It is the expression of the structure and 
 characters of the fertilized ovum from which all the cells 
 of the body are derived. It gives us the living material 
 upon which we must work in education, and at once deter- 
 mines the possibilities, the limitations, and, to a certain 
 extent, the course of training. 
 
 2. Environment, both of the body as a whole and of each 
 of its units, the living cells. This would include the ex- 
 ternal conditions of life and the chemical and physical 
 characters of the blood. Under it we would include the 
 food supply, the surrounding temperature, clothing, the 
 care of the young, by the parents, the hygienic conditions 
 of the dwelling, bathing, and so on. 
 
 3. Activity of each cell and of the body as a whole. By 
 activity I do not mean simply muscular activity; that is 
 merely the activity of one kind of cell, the muscle fibre. 
 The discharge of a nervous impulse from a nerve-cell is a 
 case of similar activity in another kind of cell; the process 
 of secretion is similarly another case of activity in a gland- 
 
cell; and so with each kind of cell in the body. Now 
 we have satisfactory evidence in most cases that the growth 
 of the cell is profoundly influenced by its functional activ- 
 ity, and cannot be complete without this activity. If a 
 growing muscle fibre never contracts, it cannot develop 
 into a healthy adult fibre. A growing nerve-cell which 
 never sends an impulse over its axon cannot become an 
 efficient nerve-cell. A growing pancreas which never se- 
 cretes pancreatic juice cannot grow into a perfect gland. 
 The classical example of this is the failure of the motor- 
 cells of the cervical cord to develop when the arm has been 
 amputated about the time of birth ; under such circum- 
 stances the nerve-cells do not send impulses out over their 
 axons, and accordingly take on characteristic degenerated 
 forms. Moreover, within certain limits the efficiency of 
 an adult cell is proportional to the amount of activity it 
 has had during development; the muscle fibre which has 
 been used is capable of doing work which one which has 
 been used but slightly can never be trained to perform. 
 "You cannot teach an old dog new tricks," is one way of 
 saying that the greatest possibilities of training belong to 
 the period of growth ; and this is especially true of physi- 
 cal development. We can do for the physical man before 
 the age of twenty-one what it is absolutely impossible to 
 do between twenty and sixty. 
 
 The three factors, then, at work in development are 
 heredity, environment, activity. Heredity should deter- 
 mine what education is to attempt and the general course 
 which its operations should follow. Environment demands 
 attention to the hygienic conditions of the home and the 
 school, to clothing, feeding, bathing, etc. The greater 
 part of the work of education, however, is directed toward 
 giving such guidance to the activities of the body, and 
 especially to the volitional activities, as shall produce the 
 best physical, mental, and moral results. Now, if what 
 
has already been said be true, it is clear that muscular 
 activity is a necessary factor in the development of the 
 physical man. Not only is it necessary to the proper 
 development of the nervous and muscular systems, but, 
 over and above this, in subsequent life, health is so inti- 
 mately dependent on muscular activity, and muscular ac- 
 tivity is so hard to maintain in a physically defective body, 
 that some sort of physical training must go along with 
 study in youth to make our educational scheme complete. 
 
 When we examine further into the matter, we see that 
 not only does muscular activity play an important part in 
 general in the development of the child, but that different 
 neuro-muscular mechanisms develop best at different 
 periods of life. Accordingly, the muscular activity of the 
 child is directed chiefly toward the development of the 
 mechanisms of accustomed movements, such as those of 
 walking, running, and, in general, of movements which 
 involve the use of large masses of muscles and produce 
 co-ordination of these muscles. Later, activity takes on 
 more distinctively the character of skilled movements, 
 which cultivate manual dexterity, the more perfect use of 
 language, etc. Going along with these, we naturally find 
 the growth of the more complicated mental processes, this 
 mental development generally, though not always, contin- 
 uing in full force long after the motor mechanisms are 
 acquired. 
 
 Nature, however, does not make the adult man as a 
 machinist does a piece of mechansim, by completing one 
 thing before beginning another, and then, when every part 
 is complete, putting all together into a harmonious whole. 
 The curve of work on each mechanism would overlap the 
 curve of work on other mechanisms; but the maximum 
 points of these curves would be different. 
 
 A moment's consideration of the previous discussion 
 brings out clearly the fact that the mental education of the 
 
child begins at the time when his physical development is 
 sti.ll going on, and that the work of the school-room is a 
 direct hindrance to normal physical development. The 
 child must give up his play in order to learn his lessons. 
 He must sit still, and that, too, in what are frequently 
 unsuitable desks, made without reference to the proportions 
 of his body. It is, indeed, very doubtful whether the 
 highest physical development is ever consistent with the 
 best mental training; the boy as he leaves our schools 
 can never be capable of the same endurance that we find 
 among more uncultured peoples who live under otherwise 
 favorable surroundings; nor is there any physiological rea- 
 son why he should reach such a state of physical develop- 
 ment, considering the work which he has to do in life. 
 But it is not necessary that he should leave school with 
 impaired health ; it is not even necessary that he should be 
 hollow-chested, stoop-shouldered; it is not necessary that 
 he should have an awkward carriage; it is not necessary 
 that he should be physically lazy, disinclined to take the 
 very moderate amount of exercise which the maintenance 
 of his health demands. 
 
 The mental training of youth, in other words, has intro- 
 duced an unnatural physical environment, which, if not 
 corrected, will in nine cases out of ten tell upon subse- 
 quent bodily health, and so in too many cases upon mental 
 and moral health as well. If no attention were paid to 
 mental training, if our children never went to school, phys- 
 ical training would be for the greater part unnecessary. 
 It is, therefore, one of the main functions of physical edu- 
 cation to correct the injurious effects of the unnatural 
 environment created by mental education, and to do this 
 without endangering the efficiency of that mental training. 
 
 Such is the starting-point of the Swedish system, in' 
 common with most other systems. Whether it adopts the 
 
correct means or not, it goes to work with the right object 
 in view. Its purpose is not to train athletes, although it * 
 may be developed in that direction; it is primarily an 
 attempt to conserve the physical man during his mental 
 training, so that, when the period of schooling is over, he 
 shall have a body physiologically capable of sustaining him 
 in the work of his life. 
 
 Not only is its purpose correct, but its general attitude 
 in approaching the practical problems is also correct. Its 
 /work, in other words, does not run to doing difficult feats 
 \] I on particular pieces of apparatus; the Swedes claim - 
 and with justice that they do not adapt their work to 
 apparatus, but their apparatus to their work. Far be it 
 from me to claim that this is a virtue found only in this 
 particular system ; but in certain other systems this point 
 is not properly guarded; and in any system corrective 
 exercises, to be effective, must be carried out under the 
 guidance of trained teachers. It is a fact not fully appre- 
 ciated, even among those who believe in exercise in gen- 
 eral, that the best physical development comes from the 
 proper use of very many different movements; that the use 
 of one group of muscles going along with the improper use 
 of other groups of muscles, although for the time being 
 serving the general hygienic purposes of exercise, may pro- 
 duce anatomical results which can only be described as de- 
 formities; and that this is especially apt to be the case 
 where movements are improperly executed. 
 i Gymnastics, moreover, as developed in Sweden, has kept 
 in view another matter of very considerable practical im- 
 portance; it is necessary in our schools that comparatively 
 large numbers of students shall receive physical training 
 at the same time; and it is impossible to avoid this con- 
 dition entirely, even with the most favorable arrangement 
 of the study schedule. Largely for this reason the use of 
 large and cumbersome apparatus, which occupies an amount 
 
1 1 
 
 of floor-space entirely out of proportion to the number of 
 students which it can accommodate, is avoided; and the 
 work is done either by using free standing movements 
 alone, or else these with the addition of work on appa- 
 ratus which can be arranged along the walls or ceiling of 
 the room, or can readily be removed, leaving the entire 
 floor clear for the class drill.* The movements chosen at 
 the same time exercise all the muscles of the body and yet 
 can be carried out simultaneously by large classes. Thus 
 we have introduced the gymnastic drill, which is employed 
 not solely for its value as a drill, but because a single in- 
 structor can do effective work with a large number of stu- 
 dents at the same time. This is a matter of great practical 
 importance. The drill is far superior to individual gym- 
 nasium work. This is seen at once if one realizes the fact 
 that, if physical training is to accomplish the very desir- 
 able end of producing correct proportions, form, and car- 
 riage of the body, the instructor must be able to observe 
 quickly the work of a large number of students in every 
 movement they make. With ordinary apparatus work T such 
 as is used in m^st " f w\ r gymnasia, this 15 impossibly fre,- ^ 
 cause fifty or a hundred different students are each doing a 
 different thing. The drill likewise has the advantage of 
 supplying an incentive to every student to do the move- 
 ment correctly, in that others are doing the same thing at 
 the same time. For these practical reasons the gymnastic 
 drill, whether with apparatus or without it, is the ideal 
 form of gymnasium work. 
 
 We often hear critics sneer at this feature of the system. 
 In a recent article in the American Physical Education Re- 
 view we read of "that nervously exhausting and deaden- 
 ing drill, known as the Swedish gymnastics, which, by the 
 name of educational gymnastics, adds fatigue to fatigue 
 
 *The word drill is always used in this paper in a sense similar to its use in military drill, 
 and never in the sense in which it is frequently employed in the literature of gymnastics, where it 
 means a definite series of movements performed in unison by a class, as, for example, in a " dumb- 
 bell drill." 
 
12 
 
 by taking the initiative away from the child, and forcing 
 him to pay constant and close attention to the orders of 
 the teacher, that he may execute with precision entirely 
 uninteresting and conventional movements." I have no 
 disposition to underrate the value of spontaneous play in 
 the development of the child. By all means encourage the 
 child to play, and make this a part of the school day. Nor 
 clo I advocate undue attention to gymnastic work. I advo- 
 cate giving only so much of this as is necessary to correct 
 the physical or physiological faults resulting from school- 
 room work. Nor do I deny that any drill, any gymnastic 
 work, may be "nervously exhausting and deadening," this 
 depending on the teacher, the main factor upon which the 
 success of all gymnasium work depends; but, granting all 
 this, I must insist that gymnastics, when properly used,jfp 
 can produce advantageous physiological results, which can-lv 
 not be producedbyplay alone. It does not do to forget the ' 
 fact that, while play will do for a savage or a kitten what 
 we try to do for our school children by gymnastics, the 
 "material upon which the factor of play works in these cases 
 has not been subjected to conditions which actively pro- 
 duce deformities or deficiencies. Superintendent Seaver 
 well stated the purpose of school gymnastics as the anti- 
 dote of the school desk. Take the most common example, 
 that of stoop shoulders and contracted chest. Will it be 
 claimed that these can be corrected by spontaneous play 
 alone ? Personally, I have seen too many cases which 
 could not be brought into agreement with such a theory to 
 allow me to accept it; and, even in many cases where play 
 exerts a corrective influence, the same results can be more 
 surely and more economically accomplished by gymnastics. 
 And we deny absolutely that gymnastics need be a bore. 
 
 The last paragraph indicates the position of Swedish 
 gymnastics in physical training, and this must not be lost 
 sight of by those who would understand it. It will be 
 
C'3 
 
 more fully shown in later parts of this paper that physical 
 training presents two distinct although not mutually ex- 
 clusive sides, the general hygienic and the corrective. 
 While Swedish work gives to a very considerable extent the 
 general hygienic effects of exercise, it is primarily con- 
 cerned with the corrective side; and it may be well to 
 define clearly at this point what is meant by corrective 
 gymnastics. The effects of the physically specialized life 
 of the school, and, indeed, of most forms of specialization, 
 manifest themselves in two ways, in anatomical changes 
 and ' in awkwardness or peculiarity of movement of the 
 body as a whole. Strictly speaking, the term "corrective" 
 should be used only with reference to that gymnastic work 
 which attempts to remove anatomical and physiological* 
 faults. In point of fact, the exercises which are used to 
 do this are essentially the same as those used to prevent the 
 same faults; and no hard-and-fast line can be drawn be- 
 tween remedial and preventive gymnastics. It is therefore 
 convenient to include the two under the single term cor- 
 rective, which is thus used in this paper. It will subse-* 
 quently be shown how gymnastics can have this corrective 
 effect. 
 
 The most distinctive feature of Swedish work is the fact 
 that it never loses sight of the corrective element. This 
 is its primary purpose. G^^jia^tjc__jnoy^m^n^J..which, 
 in themselves, have a marked tendency t( 
 
 produce some anatomical fault, are rigorously excluded. 
 Even those which, though not open to this criticism, only 
 result in the ability to do some gymnasium trick of little 
 or no use in practical life are relegated to a subordinate 
 place. The basis of training of its teachers is kinesiology. 
 The anatomy of the skeleton, the joints, and the muscles, is 
 studied most carefully, not, as Du Bois-Reymond would 
 have us believe, in order that the pupil may be con- 
 scious of what particular muscle he is contracting, but 
 
14 
 
 because it furnishes the only means of understanding the 
 effect of a definite movement on the skeletal parts, and so 
 of estimating its corrective value. Such study is for the 
 preparation of the teacher, not for the pupil on the gym- 
 nasium floor; it is not even necessary that the teacher 
 should think of the kinesiology of a movement at the time 
 he gives a command; but his use of a certain movement 
 should ultimately, consciously, or unconsciously, rest on 
 this basis. 
 
 This characteristic of Swedish work is at once its great- 
 est strength and its greatest weakness. It is its greatest 
 strength because no other physical trainers can show such 
 theoretical knowledge of kinesiology or such successful 
 practical application of that knowledge in corrective work. 
 The Swedes have worked out this part of the subject with 
 singleness of purpose, and they have made the field their 
 own. On the other hand, it is its greatest weakness. At 
 times individual teachers have forgotten that corrective 
 work is not the whole of physical training. It has been 
 pushed to a needless extent and, at times, to the exclusion 
 of outdoor work, which is more attractive and which also 
 produces an amount of endurance which indoor corrective 
 work cannot. Nor can there be any doubt that these cor- 
 rective exercises have at times been given in a manner that 
 strongly suggests an operation in orthopedic surgery with- 
 out anaesthetics. There is a right way and a wrong way of 
 doing all things; and it would be strange indeed if some 
 teachers had not taken the wrong way, and failed to infuse 
 into their work that personal element of interest and 
 enthusiasm upon which its success very largely depends. 
 I will even go farther, and say that there are few fields 
 which offer such opportunities for the successful exercise 
 of all the qualities of a bore as does that of Swedish gym- 
 nastics. This follows from the fact that it is systematic, 
 and anything systematic is peculiarly liable to such abuse. 
 
15 
 
 But this is no valid argument against the use of the system. 
 Is it a valid argument against the study of the English lan- 
 guage and literature that so many of its teachers do most 
 fearfully and wonderfully bore their pupils with it? 
 
 Having dealt with these more general features of the 
 problem, we may now pass to the consideration of these 
 which have to do with the system itself. And, first, let us 
 say that the Swedes are right in having a system. The 
 "day's order" is the point of most attacks. Some critics 
 seem utterly unable to understand that anything systematic 
 should be anything but monotonous; and so it would be, 
 were each day's work like that of each preceding day. The 
 "day's order," however, involves no such idea. Apart 
 from the fact that, as the pupils work more and more in 
 the gymnasium, new exercises are introduced, a thing not 
 easily done, by the way, with large numbers in the ordi- 
 nary apparatus work, the "order" only affects the gen- 
 eral classes of movements; and within each class of span- 
 bend, heave, back, abdominal movements, a very large 
 amount of variety is possible, and, in point of fact, is 
 utilized in the work of different days. There can be no 
 doubt that a poor teacher can make a Swedish drill an in- 
 sufferable bore; but a poor teacher can make anything a 
 bore, and usually does so. 
 
 One of the main points of physiological interest is the 
 matter of progression, as seen from day to day and in the 
 day's order itself. As to the former, all must agree that 
 in any course of training one should begin with simpler 
 work; and, as the body improves in physical condition, 
 more and more difficult work should be attempted. This 
 is the essence of training. The heart, the vaso-motor 
 system, the respiratory system, the mechanism of heat 
 regulation, and the nervous co-ordination of the more fun- 
 damental positions and movements must all be trained by 
 
use to work together. Pupils can do the more difficult 
 exercises properly only as they have become fitted to do 
 them by having experienced the benefits of simpler work. 
 It is not my purpose to show how the Swedish system does 
 this, as I am not aware that any one has denied that it is 
 capable of any degree of refinement in this kind of pro- 
 gression. I shall linger long enough on the subject only 
 to say that any system of physical instruction should make 
 clear the necessity of this factor of training if the greatest 
 benefits are to be obtained from muscular exercise at any 
 
 J 
 
 time of life. Many a man loudly, but ignorantly, proclaims 
 that exercise does not benefit him, simply because he began 
 with a fifty-mile bicycle ride or a hard bit of mountain 
 climbing. 
 
 Coming to the second kind of progression, the day's 
 order itself, let us say again that, even if the particular 
 sequence of movements adopted is not required by the 
 nature of the case, it is better in general that the majority 
 of teachers shall have some system to guide their work. It 
 is putting it very mildly to say that very few teachers of 
 gymnastics will ever have that commanding genius which 
 will enable them to conduct classes upon the basis of 
 general knowledge of muscular exercise; few even have 
 that originality which would enable them to work out for 
 themselves a rational method of work in physical training. 
 Even if there were no system, each teacher would inevi- 
 tably evolve one; in other words, most teachers would soon 
 fall into certain ruts; and it is simply a question whether 
 you are going to have a system which represents the ruts 
 into which the individual mind has more or less uncon- 
 sciously fallen or a system which is the result of organized 
 effort, both on the theoretical and on the practical side, for 
 many years. In other words, the work of the teacher of 
 gymnastics is the practice of an art; and it is obviously 
 better that accumulated experience should form the basis 
 
17 
 
 of work, even though we grant at the same time that every 
 effort should be put forth to encourage independence and 
 originality. 
 
 The Swedes insist that their system is based on correct 
 physiological principles. This may or may not be true. 
 Advocates of the system should, however, avoid making 
 the statement that, as a matter of history, it was deduced 
 from the physiology of the human body. The fact is that' 
 the Swedish system of gymnastics was for the most part 
 developed to its present form before modern physiology was 
 more than in its infancy. Ling died in 1839, and it was 
 not until 1860 or 1870 that the several discoveries of phys- 
 iology began to be co-ordinated into a satisfactory body of 
 scientific knowledge. No doubt Ling and his successors 
 made good use of the physiological knowledge they pos- 
 sessed; no doubt they constantly endeavored to work from 
 physiological knowledge as a starting-point; no doubt they 
 subjected their work to the best physiological criticism 
 they could give it; and no doubt a great deal of this was 
 good physiology, and produced good results. But, granting 
 all this, it is not wise to claim that the system was de- 
 duced from physiology. It is an art; and, whatever use 
 may have been made of pure science in its development, 
 yet, if it is successful, that success is quite sure to be due 
 to practical experience of results, the true test of any art 
 which deals with the human body. A bridge can be built 
 on the basis of scientific knowledge alone, but only be- 
 cause we know all about its parts and can calculate exactly 
 what each one can do; it is quite conceivable that a civil 
 engineer should design a new kind of bridge which intro- 
 duces entirely new features for sustaining the weight, and 
 yet know beforehand that the structure will do exactly what 
 he expects of it. That is one of the highest triumphs of 
 exact science. But the science of the workings of the 
 
IS 
 
 human body, or physiology, has not yet reached such a 
 degree of exactness. Much less had it reached it in Ling's 
 day. It is with gymnastics as it is with medicine. Physi- 
 ology suggests, and often its suggestions are correct. It 
 aids in interpreting results, and so may be an indispensable 
 aid; but, after all, a physician does a certain thing be- 
 cause he has done it before and found that it produced the 
 effect he desired. And the practical teacher of gymnastics 
 gives certain movements because, although what he knows 
 of physiology may have suggested them, and although he 
 feels more confident in using them, because he believes 
 they are physiologically correct, yet, after all, he uses them 
 because he has tried them in the past and found that they 
 work. And, if the Swedish system is worthy of confidence 
 as a practical method, it is because it rests ultimately on 
 this basis. 
 
 I have spent the time I have in emphasizing this point 
 because I know that incorrect physiological claims have 
 been made in support of certain things done. Various 
 writers present us a body of so-called physiological knowl- 
 edge which, to say the least, does not commend itself to 
 physiologists; and I may as well tell you frankly that, if 
 an uncandid opponent of the system should desire to make 
 fun of it, he would find ample occasion for doing so in 
 many of the physiological statements which have been 
 given in explanation of its day's order. I have seen this 
 done myself, and that with most pronounced success. 
 
 But any one who should make this a reason for rejecting 
 the system in part or in whole would only advertise his 
 own lack of common sense. The Swedish system of gym- 
 nastics, like every other system, is not what is written in 
 books, but what is practised on the floor of a gymnasium. 
 As I have said, it is an art which has been developed with 
 a certain end in view, and is built upon practical experi- 
 ence of results. If good results are achieved, the system 
 
19 
 
 is sure to rest to that extent on a sound physiological 
 basis. 
 
 Now the Swedish system does achieve good results. 
 Comparison of the entering Junior and the graduating 
 Senior classes of this school proves this, not a comparison 
 of the two classes during the drill hour in the gymnasium, 
 but more especially off the gymnasium floor; and I have 
 never seen it questioned that the results obtained in 
 Sweden are eminently satisfactory, at least from the point 
 of view of corrective work. What, then, are the strong 
 points of the system which enable it to pro*luce its physi- 
 ological effects? 
 
 1. Every group of muscles in the body is given its ap- 
 propriate functional activity. We have thus produced the 
 effects of use upon these muscles and upon the nerve-cells 
 which innervate them. The various neuro-muscular mech- 
 anisms become more perfect machines, capable of doing 
 the work demanded of them at any time. In connection 
 with this valuable secondary effects are produced upon 
 other organs, such as the aid to peristalsis with abdominal 
 movements, the increased efficiency of the respiratory 
 mechanism,- etc. 
 
 2. Closely connected with this is the correction of faults 
 of posture by properly chosen contractions of the various 
 groups of muscles in the body. The muscles adapt them- 
 selves to the work of the skeleton, and the skeleton adapts 
 itself to the work of the muscles. Thus the dorsal muscles 
 of the neck will lengthen and the ventral muscles shorten, 
 when" the weight of the head is allowed to bend the neck 
 forward. When the pectoral muscles are exclusively used 
 and the pull they exert on the shoulders is not corrected by 
 contractions of the muscles of the back, the latter group 
 of muscles lengthen, while origin and insertion of the pec- 
 torals come closer together. The result is round shoulders, 
 
20 
 
 the skeletal parts accommodating themselves more or less 
 to this condition. When the erect posture is not care- 
 fully maintained and improper curvatures of the spine 
 result, the antagonistic muscles and ligaments of the spinal 
 column likewise acommodate themselves to the changed 
 condition, those on the concave side growing shorter and 
 those on the convex side growing longer. Consideration 
 of these deformities show that they are produced in two 
 ways, by improper positions and by the use of one set of 
 muscles with concomitant disuse of their antagonists. In 
 both cases one set of muscles becomes longer, i.e., origin 
 and insertion come to lie further apart, while the other 
 becomes shorter, i.e., origin and insertion come to lie 
 closer together. 
 
 The trouble is corrected, first, by such work as will 
 passively stretch the shortened muscles and ligaments; in 
 response to which stretching, they lengthen. Thus the 
 correction of the fault of round shoulders begins with the 
 stretching of the pectoral muscles by contractions of the 
 back muscles or by other means. In addition to this, 
 we must strengthen by use the muscles whose antagonistic 
 play maintains the proper relation of the skeletal parts, the 
 purpose of this obviously being to make such muscles sus- 
 tain the continuous contraction demanded of them without 
 undue fatigue.* Mere difference in the strength of antag- 
 onistic muscles will not of itself produce skeletal defor- 
 mity. Such deformity is apt to result, however, when this 
 difference of strength goes to the extent that one group of 
 muscles is too weak to sustain efficiently the work de- 
 
 * Not only does a fatigued muscle exert a less powerful pull than a fresh muscle, but the 
 feeling of effort under these conditions becomes an unreliable indication of the amount of work 
 done. If a dynamometer be arranged so as to record the work done at every moment of the 
 effort, and not merely the maximum pull, it is found that, toward the last, when every effort is 
 being made and, to judge from our feelings, with more or less success to add one pound more to 
 the record, in point of fact the muscle is not doing half the work it did at first ; and, when we 
 remember what an important part these afferent impulses of the " muscular sense " must play in 
 guiding the work of the antagonistic muscles which maintain proper position, it at once becomes 
 clear what a difference it makes whether or not we rely for such work upon muscles which are 
 strong enough to sustain it. 
 
21 
 
 mandecl of them. When they fatigue in this way, exactly 
 the same thing happens as in a " tug of war," when the 
 greater fatigue of one side gives the victory to the other. 
 These considerations also make it clear that, where both 
 antagonistic muscles are too weak and consequently relax 
 their support to such skeletal structures as the vertebral 
 column, skeletal deformities may result, even when the 
 muscles in question are of equal strength. Undoubtedly, 
 many cases of improper curvature of the spine have their 
 origin in this cause. 
 
 Whether or not this is the complete physiological expla- 
 nation, there can be no doubt that such deformities, when 
 not too grave, can be corrected in the manner indicated; 
 and it is in this field that gymnastic work in our schools 
 does what play alone cannot do. When, for example, 
 stooped shoulders have been acquired by faulty position, 
 spontaneous play gives no stimulus to bring about that 
 contraction of back muscles which will correct the fault. 
 Indeed, in many cases play only accentuates the fault 
 because of the natural tendency to use the stronger muscles 
 and to disuse the weaker ones. This must be especially 
 true of unregulated play; and, even with supervision, at- 
 tention cannot, in general, be given to the manner in which 
 a movement is made. Play is, therefore, not a practical 
 method of corrective work. 
 
 3. The work not only trains the neuro-muscular mechan- 
 isms of isolated movements to a high degree of efficiency, 
 but also trains these mechanisms to work together. In 
 other words, it trains the power of nervous co-ordination 
 of movements. Just as the separate cells of the body be- 
 come more efficient by being used, so these cells learn, 
 as it were, to work together by performing as accurately 
 as possible those movements which call for their co-opera- 
 tion. Hence the stress which is laid upon balance move- 
 ments and also upon the proper execution of movements 
 
22 
 
 involving considerable co-ordination. Awkwardness is, 
 for the most part, only another name for the bad habits 
 formed by doing things in the wrong way. It is avoided 
 or corrected by doing them in the right way. 
 w Every effort is made, moreover, to facilitate this correct 
 performance of more or less complicated movements; and 
 it is partly for this reason that the element of unclue 
 fatigue is avoided. The same rule is insisted upon in one 
 of our most successful methods of language study. The 
 lesson must not exceed fifteen or twenty minutes, and must 
 be interrupted as soon as fatigue shows itself. The correct 
 idiomatic use of the language is acquired by the correct 
 repetition of the idioms of the language; i.e., by the 
 acquisition of habits which can be acquired only by cor- 
 rect use; to attempt to speak these idioms when one is 
 fatigued with previous study means that a large percentage 
 of them will be incorrectly given, with the result that, if 
 bad habits are not acquired, the mental path of easiest 
 conduction for the correct habit is no longer the clear and 
 unmistakable one it should be. Precisely the same thing 
 is true of what may be called the grosser movements of the 
 body. To do them correctly is to blaze a clear and unmis- 
 takable trail of nervous conduction. To do them incor- 
 rectly is to confuse that trail with misleading signs which 
 must be unlearned. 
 
 A very striking feature of the highly co-ordinated move- 
 ments used in the Swedish gymnastics is the fact that so 
 many of them are performed with one or both feet on the 
 ground and supporting the weight of the body. Such is 
 the case with all balance movements. The significance of 
 this is at once seen when it is remembered that it is exactly 
 this co-ordination which is of greatest use in every-day life. 
 An equally great sum total of co-ordination is required by 
 the more difficult feats on the horizontal or parallel bars or 
 the trapeze; but the skill thus acquired is useful, for the 
 
23 
 
 greater part, only in the performance of similar tricks on 
 such pieces of apparatus. I can personally recall cases of 
 men who were most excellent athletes of this kind and yet 
 whose gait was anything but graceful. Now it is a legiti- 
 mate demand on any gymnastic training in schools that it 
 shall produce not only correct proportions of the body at 
 rest, but also graceful carriage of the body in locomotion; 
 and the principle of training by use shows us clearly that 
 this is to be accomplished chiefly by the use of movements 
 and positions in which, the weight of the body bejng sup- 
 ported on the feet, equilibrium must be maintained m^ 
 d ifficu_lt_pQ-it4on s . 
 
 4. The need for training to do the more difficult work 
 is kept_jn view. Students attempt particular .movements 
 only as they are provided with the proper physiological 
 agents therefor by previous work. The exercises, in other 
 words, progress from the simpler to the more difficult, 
 and are so chosen that the former directly prepare for the 
 latter. No other work compares with the Swedish in this 
 respect. 
 
 5. Full and free respiration is always insisted upon. 
 In many forms of physical exertion there is a tendency to 
 diminish or even suppress entirely for a time the respira- 
 tory movements. At times, of course, this is absolutely 
 necessary, as when, in lifting heavy weights by the arms, 
 the thorax must be made rigid to assure a firm point of 
 origin for the working muscles. The condition is even 
 then, however, objectionable from the standpoint of the 
 organism as a whole. Probably one of the chief benefits 
 of muscular exercise is brought about through the accom- 
 panying increase in the breathing movements. We cannot 
 at present positively affirm or deny that this is because of 
 the increased amount of oxygen taken to the tissues,* 
 
 * We have good reason to believe that merely increasing the ventilation of the lungs does not 
 increase the percentage of oxygen in the blood nor the amount taken up by the tissues. The tis- 
 sues do not take more oxygen because more enters the lungs. On the contrary, their consump- 
 
2 4 
 
 although such an explanation is frequently given with an 
 assurance which betrays complete ignorance of some well- 
 known physiological literature. It must be remembered, 
 however, that the respiratory movements produce other 
 effects upon the organism than ventilation of the lungs. 
 They aid in the return of blood to the heart; and they are 
 an important factor, if not the most important factor, in 
 causing the .flow of lymph in the lymphatics. Thus their 
 increase during muscular exercise aids the heart at a time 
 when it is apt to be overworked, and increases largely 
 the flow of lymph, not from the working organs alone, 
 but from all organs of the body. This is not the place to 
 describe the physiological importance of the lymph flow. 
 Let it suffice to say that there is good reason to believe 
 that a good, steady lymph flow from an organ is an impor- 
 tant condition of its healthy nutrition, and that the increase 
 of lymph flow from all organs of the body brought about 
 through the increased respiratory movements is one of the 
 chief agents through which muscular exercise favorably 
 affects the body as a whole. 
 
 It is, therefore, quite conceivable that the breathing 
 movements may be sufficient to supply all the oxygen 
 needed for muscular work and to remove the large amounts 
 of carbon dioxide produced thereby, and yet not be the aid 
 to the circulation of blood nor to the flow of lymph that 
 they should be; and, if this be true, it is a proper function 
 
 tion of oxygen is conditioned upon the amount of chemical change taking place in them ; and this, 
 in turn, is largely dependent upon their work. It is almost certainly, moreover, a mistake to 
 assume that during muscular exercise all cells of the body profit by a quickened circulation and a 
 more ready access to oxygen ; the percentage of oxygen in arterial blood being practically con- 
 stant, the amount of oxygen offered any organ will be determined by the amount of blood flowing 
 through it, and not by the ventilation of the lungs ; indeed, we know that, in general, the blood 
 supply to internal organs is distinctly diminished during muscular exercise, in order to compen- 
 sate for the increased supply to the muscles and the skin. Whenever there is an increased amount 
 of blood flowing through an organ, more oxygen will, it is true, be offered to its cells, but it will be 
 taken up by them only as their chemical processes call for it. We have, moreover, good reason 
 to think that the mechanism of respiration, including the heart, provides, under ordinary condi- 
 tions, far more oxygen than even the working tissue can use. The blood leaving an organ fre- 
 quently, if not generally, has half the oxygen with which it entered the organ ; and this remains 
 true even when the organ is working, the increased blood-flow being more than sufficient to com- 
 pensate for the increased consumption of oxygen. 
 
of physical training to train the power of full and free res- 
 piration under all possible conditions. It is a matter of 
 common experience that there is a marked tendency to in- 
 sufficient respiration whenever work presents the least ele- 
 ment of effort. I have seen this frequently among bicy- 
 clists in going up even slight inclines; they seem to put 
 all their energy into volitional muscular contractions 
 and to have little left for respiration; respiration is, as 
 it were, held in abeyance until the effort is over; and then 
 they must stop to "puff and blow." Now it is just as 
 , eas y -nay, easier to maintain full and deep respiratory 
 movements during the performance of most work; and, 
 when this is done, there is less of subsequent fatigue. 
 Moreover, as I have attempted to show, the general hy- 
 gienic effects of the exercise are most probably enhanced 
 by this deep breathing. It would, indeed, seem that all 
 considerations point to the advisability of gymnastic train- 
 ing cultivating the habit of deep breathing; and, whether 
 the Swedes give the correct reason for the practice or not, 
 it is a fact that its importance is everywhere recognized in 
 their practical work. The mobility of the ribs is kept at 
 its maximum, the capacity of the thorax is enlarged where 
 that is possible or advisable, while the special respiratory 
 exercises do their part in training the breathing mechanism 
 to the full measure of its working capacity. 
 
 6. The carrying out of definite movements with accuracy 
 and precision is a training in volitional control. It in- 
 creases the efficiency of the mechanism of skilled move- 
 ments. One who has had such training in carrying out 
 great numbers of movements at the word of command can do 
 with the muscles what it is unlikely that he would be able 
 to do otherwise. The body becomes more "supple," which 
 means largely that the number of its possible movements 
 is largely increased, or, more correctly expressed, the num- 
 ber of its possible movements is not reduced as life ad- 
 
26 
 
 vances, and we tend to limit the movements of the body to 
 the few which some sedentary occupation calls for. It 
 prevents the narrowing of the field of volitional control, 
 and it is especially important that the field of volitional 
 control shall not be narrowed during the period of develop- 
 ment. 
 
 To prevent any misconception, it may be well to state 
 clearly that this increase of volitional control does not 
 mean that a person can at once perform some new kind of 
 work as well as those who have become accustomed to that 
 work by long practice. Almost all special kinds of work 
 involve the more or less constant use of certain groups of 
 muscles, or else, as in swimming or rowing, they involve 
 the acquisition by practice of a co-ordinated nervous mech- 
 anism of accustomed movements. A man with such com- 
 plete volitional control will have to strengthen still more 
 the muscles which rowing, for example, involves; he will 
 also have to acquire the nervous mechanism of the move- 
 ment; but he can learn to row accurately and easily sooner 
 and with less expenditure of effort than can a man without 
 such volitional control. 
 
 This effect is of psychological importance. Health de- 
 pends on exercise, and whether we are inclined to take 
 exercise or not depends partly on the use we can make of 
 our bodies. Exercise is necessarily monotonous to the 
 man who has but few muscles to use, few movements to 
 make. There is an impulse to take the exercise that health 
 demands when the individual has the conscious power which 
 comes from volitional control of many movements. In 
 other words, there is a love of movement, natural to the 
 child, and a priceless possession from the hygienic point 
 of view to the adult, which we should never allow to slip 
 away from us. 
 
 7. In a later portion of this paper we shall have occa- 
 sion to discuss the relations to each other of the two pur- 
 
poses of physical training, corrective work and the general 
 hygienic effects of exercise, as well as the extent to which 
 the day's order fulfils the latter purpose. We may here 
 anticipate these discussions, however, merely to say that 
 Swedish gymnastics, properly done, produce in a high 
 degree those general effects of exercise which favorably 
 affect the health of the organism as a whole. 
 
 I must not be understood as saying that each of the 
 above seven objects is accomplished only by Swedish gym- 
 nastics. Some of them are distinctive, while others are 
 not. The essential characteristic of Swedish work is that 
 it aims at and secures in a remarkable degree all these re- 
 sults; and I believe that the secret of its success is to be 
 sought here rather than in minor details of the "day's 
 order," which is simply the practical method adopted of 
 achieving these physiological ends. 
 
 The exact form of the "day's order" is not simply the 
 expression of a physiological idea. Certain things are 
 done because they are the most feasible under given con- 
 ditions. Moreover, in gymnasium work there is a psychical 
 as well as a purely physiological element; and nothing can 
 be worse than to neglect this in practice; a class is not 
 put directly to executing back or lateral trunk movements; 
 the effect of such a course upon the interest of the class in 
 its work had better be left to the imagination. It is, more- 
 over, only partly for physiological reasons that each move- 
 ment is given at the time when it can best be performed 
 or least interfere, by introducing the element of fatigue or 
 otherwise, with the proper execution of other movements. 
 Any explanation of the work must therefore take account 
 of other considerations than those which are purely physio- 
 logical. 
 
 The exercises of the day's order may be classified as 
 follows: 
 
1. Introductory movements, which include order movements and 
 movements of the extremities. 
 
 2. Span-bending movements. 
 
 3. Heave movements. 
 
 4. Balance movements. 
 
 5. Back movements. 
 
 6. Abdominal movements. 
 
 7. Lateral trunk movements. 
 
 8. Running, jumping, vaulting, and games. 
 
 9. Slow-leg and respiratory movements. 
 
 The common nomenclature is retained as far as possible, 
 although certain objections may be made to it. Indeed, 
 the names are denotative rather than connotative; and, so 
 long as this is understood, there is but little objection to 
 the use of the common terms. I have, however, dropped 
 the old term "leg movements," and substituted therefor the 
 more accurate term, movements of the extremities. The old 
 term is not only misleading, but is associated with certain 
 very questionable physiological explanations, and should 
 be abandoned. 
 
 Postponing for the moment the description of these 
 classes of movements and the reasons for their sequence, 
 we may classify the exercises of the "clay's order" from 
 the physiological point of view, as follows: 
 
 Span-bending 
 Heave 
 
 Activities of limited motor mechanisms . . . . ^ 
 
 Abdominal 
 
 Lateral trunk 
 ^ Extremities 
 
 2. Activities involving a high degree of general co- J Balance 
 
 ordination ''If Vaultin S 
 
 3. ( reneral bodily activities of considerable intensity J ! 
 
 Running 
 
 (^ Games 
 
 The order movements have been omitted from this classi- 
 fication because they are not of physiological importance; 
 
29 
 
 likewise, the slow-leg and respiratory movements, because 
 of the very special function for which they are used. The 
 purpose of the first group is to correct or prevent deformi- 
 ties; of the second, to give ease and grace of carriage; of 
 the third, to produce as far as possible the general hygienic 
 effects of exercise. Finally, the three groups overlap to 
 a very considerable extent. 
 
 The term activity is used to emphasize the fact that it is 
 not simply the muscles which are being trained, but the 
 nervous system as well. Indeed, it is more than this; for 
 still other organs, notably those of the vascular and Fespira- 
 tory systems, take part in such muscular work. 
 
 The course of the day's order and t ne reasons for using 
 each kind of movement at its particular time may then be 
 given as follows : 
 
 I. Introductory Exercises. Included under this head are 
 a great number of movements which have previously been 
 classified under order movements and leg movements. The 
 term order movements really denotes the purpose rather than 
 the character of the movement. They have been described 
 as " intended to attract the minds of the pupils to the 
 approaching gymnastic work; to induce them to assume 
 that fundamental position and carriage best suited to the 
 physiological interests of the body, from which other gym- 
 nastic movements start and to which they return before a 
 relaxed position of rest is assumed." There can be no 
 question that a large number of exercises do actually serve 
 this purpose, and that the ordinary drill begins with them; 
 and I can see no objection to the continued use of this term 
 to indicate the purpose of many of the introductory com- 
 mands of the day's order. On the other hand, as has been 
 pointed out, the term does not describe the character of the 
 movement as do the others; nor do order movements con- 
 stitute a well-defined class of exercises. To the term leg 
 
30 
 
 movements I have two objections : it gives a false impres- 
 sion of the real character of the work, and it is connected 
 historically with what is quite indefensible physiology. 
 With regard to the latter objection, I have no intention of 
 discussing the point here. The purpose of this paper is 
 not to discuss what has been written about the Swedish 
 system, but to describe what it is in actual practice on the 
 floor of the gymnasium. I shall therefore confine my- 
 self to the statement of what is done during this part of the 
 day's order and the physiological results achieved thereby. 
 As to fhe former objection, while it is perfectly true that 
 leg movements are used and form a large percentage of the 
 work done, yet it is also true that movements of the neck, 
 shoulder, and arm, are used often simultaneously with those 
 of the legs. The former have, no doubt, been regarded as 
 order movements, and, as used, serve this purpose; but they 
 serve other purposes as well. The stretching of the shoul- 
 der muscles, for example, which is the most prominent 
 characteristic of the various "arm extensions," has a very 
 important corrective effect upon the form of the shoulder 
 region; and, while it may be claimed that this is included 
 in the statement about order movements that "they are in- 
 tended to induce the pupils to assume that carriage best 
 suited to the physiological interests of the body," yet we 
 should then be compelled to include in the same category 
 span-bend, heave, and back movements, in short, all activ- 
 ities of limited mechanisms which correct faults of posture 
 and carriage. Moreover, these leg movements would then 
 not form, as a matter of sequence, a separate class from 
 order movements; and, finally, the movements of the upper 
 extremities play their part and a very considerable part it 
 is in the redistribution of blood, which has been improp- 
 erly attributed to leg movements alone. 
 
 It seems to me that we should describe more accurately 
 what is done by grouping both under the head of introduc- 
 
tory exercises ', which have two objects in vjievv : first, to 
 serve the general purpose of order movements; and, sec- 
 ondly, by calling into use the largest muscular masses of 
 the body, to produce, without undue fatigue, some of the 
 most important results of muscular exercise, among which 
 may be especially noted a marked redistribution of the 
 blood, more going to the working muscles and the skin and 
 less to abdominal organs. Such work is not so specialized 
 as that which immediately follows, and for this reason is 
 most suitable for beginning the lesson. Incidentally, it 
 serves corrective purposes, both in the training of simpler 
 motor mechanisms and also to some extent in co-ordination. 
 
 2. Span-bending movements, which consist of certain back- 
 ward flexions of the trunk which have the effect of straight- 
 ening the thoracic region of the spine, of vaulting the chest 
 forward, and of increasing the chest capacity and mobility 
 of the ribs. 
 
 3. Heave movements, which consist of various exercises 
 in a hanging position and others which have the effect of 
 expanding the upper part of the chest by lifting it upward. 
 Incidentally, they also develop the arms and upper trunk 
 muscles. Heave movements follow span-bending move- 
 ments, because they are more vigorous in character; and 
 it is claimed that, as a matter of experience, they are apt to 
 produce a certain amount of soreness in the abdominal 
 muscles, which is for the most part avoided, if they are pre- 
 ceded by span-bending movements. 
 
 In these first three movements a considerable amount of 
 work has been done, the intensity of the work increasing to 
 a maximum in the heave movements. This work involves 
 -indeed, is the result of katabolic muscular changes 
 which produce heat and discharge on the lymph and blood 
 large quantities of waste substances. The body reacts tcr- 
 these conditions, and the general physiological results of 
 exercise follow. These are directed primarily to getting 
 
32 
 
 rid of waste products; incidentally, they provide food and 
 oxygen for the anabolic processes which at once begin to 
 make good the loss of muscular fuel substance. In order 
 to get rid of the heat, the cutaneous arterioles dilate, and 
 the secretion of perspiration is greatly increased; these 
 agents are aided by the increased volume of air heated in 
 the lungs and the increased evaporation of water from the 
 surfaces of the respiratory tract. The temperature of the 
 blood rises slightly, though perhaps not more than a degree 
 centigrade. In order to get rid of the carbon-dioxide, the 
 breathing movements and the rate of the heart-beat are 
 increased; the circulation through the lungs is conse- 
 quently quickened, but it is a mistake to assume that the 
 amount of blood flowing through all organs of the body is 
 increased. In point of fact, the arterioles of the intestine, 
 the kidney, and probably the liver and spleen, constrict, 
 thus diminishing the blood-flow through them. It is prob- 
 able, though not proved, that the blood-flow through the 
 brain is usually somewhat increased, though at times it may 
 be unchanged or even diminished. In all these vascular 
 changes the cardiac, the vaso-constrictor, the vaso-dilator 
 centres work together, so as to maintain the aortic pressure 
 at the normal height or somewhat above it. The pump- 
 ing action of the contracting muscles aids in the flow of 
 blood and lymph away from them ; and the augmented 
 respiratory movements, by increasing the aspiration of the 
 thorax, aids the return of blood and lymph from all organs. 
 Especially important is this effect upon the lymph-flow, 
 since an increased lymph-flow from an organ means in- 
 creased circulation of lymph in the tissue spaces around the 
 cells, and hence a more equal and rapid distribution over 
 the surface of the cell of the food material and oxygen 
 derived from the capillaries, and a more effective return of 
 waste products to the capillary wall for removal. Other 
 organs are thrown into activity to complete the oxidation of 
 
33 
 
 certain katabolic products of muscular activity; and the 
 presence of an increased amount of some of these products 
 in the blood changes the chemical character of the blood, 
 and so the environment of all cells of the body. It is, 
 moreover, not improbable that, so long as these are not 
 present in excessive amounts, the changes thus produced 
 may favor the healthy life of other cells; muscular activ- 
 ity would, from this point of view, produce an internal se- 
 cretion ; but the matter needs further experimental study. 
 
 These are the general physiological effects of all muscu- 
 lar exercise, and their amount is proportional to the inten- 
 sity of the exercise taken. It is to them that the "freshen- 
 ing " effects of exercise are due. The movements of the 
 extremities, span -bend movements, and heave movements, 
 therefore, in addition to the special corrective function 
 which each performs, by calling into play large groups of 
 muscles serve the additional purpose of "freshening up" 
 the class without producing such fatigue as may interfere 
 with the proper execution of subsequent co-ordinative or 
 corrective movements; and it is only after these are given 
 that the general physiological effects are pushed to their 
 maximum point of intensity in vaulting, jumping, running, 
 and games. 
 
 In accordance with this plan we now pass to 
 
 4. Balance movements, "which bring about a co-ordina- 
 tion of muscular contraction in all parts of the body, and by 
 demanding equilibrium in difficult positions train the sense 
 of correct and graceful posture." Movements of the ex- 
 tremities, back and lateral trunk movements, and others 
 involve co-ordination of muscular contraction in all parts of 
 the body, and hence are to that extent balance movements. 
 The training of the sense of equilibrium, in other words, is 
 not confined to this part of the day's order, but is merely its 
 chief feature and special purpose. 
 
 Balance movements are introduced at this time for sev- 
 
34 
 
 eral reasons. They make an agreeable change in the nature 
 of the work, which in the immediately preceding move- 
 ments has been confined to activities of limited motor 
 mechanisms; since more of these follow in the various 
 trunk movements, a certain amount of monotony in the 
 general character of the work is avoided. Moreover, no 
 muscles important in maintaining equilibrium on the feet 
 have been worked very hard; and hence, in the absence'of 
 local and general fatigue, finer co-ordinative work can be 
 executed. Finally, balance movements throw most work 
 on the leg muscles, and hence to a certain extent rest the 
 trunk, which, having been concerned in heave movements, 
 has still to perform those movements which involve the 
 various flexions of the spinal column. When the various 
 balance movements have once been learned, they are profit- 
 ably introduced elsewhere, and especially where fatigue is 
 present; their use in that case trains still more the sense 
 of equilibrium in difficult positions. It is clear, however, 
 that they should first be learned under the most favorable 
 conditions before being used under unfavorable conditions. 
 
 The previous corrective movements of limited motor 
 mechanisms have to deal with muscles which act upon the 
 upper ribs or with their immediate antagonists. After 
 balance movements we pass to a group, (5) back, (6) ab- 
 dominal, and (7) lateral trunk movements, which produce 
 flexions of the spine (dorsal, ventral, and lateral). Such 
 movements not only train the use of the muscles concerned, 
 but are also the chief means of correcting and preventing 
 faults in the growth of the spine. This is especially true 
 of back movements, which also correct the carriage of the 
 shoulder blades. In addition to this, abdominal and lateral 
 trunk movements, "by alternating increase and decrease of 
 abdominal pressure, favorably affect the work of the di- 
 gestive organs. " 
 
 The comparatively short space devoted to the description 
 
35 
 
 of these three classes of movements does not indicate their 
 relative importance in the day's order. In point of fact, 
 they are surpassed by no other class in corrective value. 
 Through them we secure correct carriage of the trunk, 
 depending, as this does, upon the proper play of the great 
 groups of antagonistic muscles especially concerned in and 
 strengthened by such movements; and it is the weakening 
 of these muscles through disuse which is the chief cause of 
 the tendency to "slump," against which a recent magazine 
 editorial enters a timely protest, as being all too character- 
 istic of American life. 
 
 The order in which they are given is, for the most part, 
 immaterial. 
 
 8. Vaulting, Jumping, Running, and Games. These ex- 
 ercises at the same time command a high degree of co-ordi- 
 nated muscular action and constitute the most severe work 
 of the day's order. The previous balance movements train 
 the sense of what has been called "statical " equilibrium, or 
 equilibrium of the body at rest. Vaulting and jumping, 
 on the other hand, train the sense of "dynamical " equilib- 
 rium, or equilibrium of the body in motion, and in this 
 case of motion which involves considerable muscular work. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add that they are not features 
 peculiar to Swedish gymnastics, and that they serve the 
 same purpose, no matter by whom used. They form, in 
 fact, an indispensable part of all gymnastic training. The 
 greatest stress, however, should be laid on the proper exe- 
 cution of the movements. It is not, for instance, the 
 'height of the jump which is of importance, but the way in 
 which it is carried out and the proper landing which fol- 
 lows. In addition to the co-ordinative value of these 
 movements, they, together with running and games, involve 
 rather intense physical work, and produce in the highest 
 degree the general physiological effects of muscular exer- 
 cise already described. These effects are allowed to "ap- 
 
36 
 
 proach, but never to exceed, the limit where breathlessness 
 in its graver form sets in. " 
 
 9. Sloiv-leg and respiratory movements. It is a well- 
 known fact that, on stopping suddenly any very vigorous 
 exercise, certain disagreeable symptoms are apt to result. 
 These are characterized by a very evident heart-beat, at 
 times grave breathlessness, and feelings of fulness about 
 the head, in which the throbbing of the pulse can often be 
 distinctly felt. These symptoms are most pronounced im- 
 mediately upon stopping, at least it is at that time that 
 they most affect consciousness. For the present it is suffi- 
 cient to understand that at times symptoms of distress fol- 
 low exercise, and that in practically all cases which do not 
 involve actual exhaustion, these symptoms are much less 
 pronounced so far, at least, as consciousness is concerned 
 if we do not stop at once, but gradually pass from the 
 more intense work through less intense forms to rest. 
 This is a recognized practice in the care of horses. No 
 jockey is allowed to stop a horse immediately after the 
 finish of a race, and it is hard to believe that the popular 
 impression that such a course is more or less apt to produce 
 temporary or permanent injury to the animal is entirely 
 without basis in fact. It cannot be said that all severe 
 work is sure to be followed by symptoms of distress, nor 
 need we be surprised to find that these symptoms may or 
 may not appear under what seem at first sight identical con- 
 ditions. In a class of twenty people, perhaps not more 
 than half would show marked distress after a given run, for 
 the simple reason that the same work may be severe to one 
 and easy to another; and in the same individual the same 
 work may be severe one day and easy the next. But, grant- 
 ing all this, it would seem a safe course to avoid this dis- 
 tress as far as possible; we do not know that it is always 
 harmful; but it looks suspicious, and we certainly do not 
 know that it is never harmful. The history of many patho- 
 
37 
 
 logical conditions of the heart and the circulation points 
 too clearly to excessive muscular work as having to do with 
 their causation to justify us in ignoring any warning that 
 may accompany such work. It is for this reason that the 
 severe exercises of the day are immediately followed by 
 slow-leg movements (such as comparatively rapid march- 
 ing), accompanied or followed by respiratory movements. 
 The reason usually given for this that " the accelerated 
 action of the heart must be normalized " and "free respira- 
 tion restored" -is unsatisfactory. The accelerated heart 
 action will, in point of fact, come back to the normal if the 
 organism be left to itself; and free respiration will also be 
 restored. It seems much more accurate to say that these 
 movements afford very great assistance to the heart in 
 maintaining an efficient circulation. They thus prevent dis- 
 tress, and hence, no doubt, danger, while the organism is 
 adjusting itself to the changed conditions of rest. 
 
 As I have said, it cannot be claimed that these move- 
 ments are necessary in all cases. They are probably un- 
 necessary, for example, in very strong individuals, in whom 
 vigorous work does not produce the cardiac acceleration 
 seen in those not so strong ; but they are advisable with the 
 majority of people, and probably necessary with a large 
 number. It must not be forgotten that the mission of gym- 
 nastics is not primarily to the athlete, nor is its chief pur- 
 pose the training of athletes. In accomplishing the pur- 
 poses of physical training outlined in the beginning of this 
 paper, we have no reason to believe that the cultivation of 
 great strength is necessary; nor, in view of the conditions of 
 life among people to-day, is it desirable. The athlete is as 
 much a specialist as the student of Sanskrit literature; and 
 the great muscular strength and bodily endurance under 
 physical strain which is his specialty is no more necessary 
 for the health of the business man or student than is a thor- 
 ough training in astronomy or physics to the athlete as 
 
such. I am convinced that it is a mistake to attempt to 
 cultivate a healthy sentiment for rational physical training 
 among people generally by means of the athletic ideal 
 alone. So far from encouraging the rational use of exer- 
 cise by all, it certainly at times tends to discourage it, 
 simply because the ideal is unattainable to the vast majority 
 of men, and it is entirely out of place among women. The 
 Swedes have avoided this error successfully. Without 
 discouraging athletics, they recognize that the athlete is a 
 specialist, and that there is a physical training needed by 
 all classes, by people who can never be athletes, the vast 
 majority of whom react less rapidly and less perfectly to 
 sudden changes in the state of the body as regards muscular 
 activity than do those trained to the highest degree of phys- 
 ical endurance. Hence it is advisable with drill work with 
 large classes "to warm up " to the more intense work more 
 or less gradually, and not to pass immediately from this to 
 rest. 
 
 Any account of the day's order fails to do it justice 
 which does not emphasize the element of progression so 
 skilfully carried out. In each group of movements the 
 student passes to those requiring greater co-ordination and 
 greater strength only after he can do simpler movements 
 involving the same general groups of muscles. This is 
 merely the principle of training, but nowhere is more 
 attention given to it than in the system we are considering. 
 Compare it, for example, with the method of giving direc- 
 tions to individual students for the use of apparatus for the 
 next three or four months, and then giving new directions 
 for more difficult work only after that time. The Swedish 
 drill can stand this comparison and should invite it, for it 
 is clear that only in drill work can any proper system of 
 daily progression be carried out successfully in large 
 classes; and daily progression in large classes is a thing 
 which, it seems to me, we have a right to demand of any 
 
39 
 
 gymnastic work which professes to be physiologically cor- 
 rect and practically available. 
 
 The mere recount of these groups of movements of the 
 day's order certainly sounds uninteresting enough. In 
 point of fact, it is only the skeleton upon which the system 
 is built, and no more describes a day's drill with a good 
 teacher than does the human skeleton betray the life of the 
 human body. I have already said that a poor teacher can 
 make a Swedish drill an insufferable bore. In fact, the 
 ability to make gymnasium work attractive and interesting 
 is absolutely necessary to any one who is to undertake that 
 work. Swedish gymnastics will not be a success without 
 this. But will any other gymnasium work be a success 
 without it ? 
 
 Critics of the system have made, it seems to me, two very 
 great mistakes : one class has deluded itself into thinking 
 that it has criticised the system, when it has only criticised 
 certain physiological or other statements which have been 
 made about the system ; another class goes no further than 
 the skeleton upon which the whole thing is built, and then 
 pronounces the system itself "as dry as bones." Neither 
 mistake would have been made, had the system been studied 
 on the floor of the gymnasium and with reference to the 
 aims which it seeks to accomplish. 
 
 In physical training two aims are pre-eminently impor- 
 tant : 
 
 1. The general effects of bodily exercise, including the 
 acquisition of that amount of physical endurance which the 
 special conditions of each individual life demand. I place 
 this first, for it is the chief object of physical training. 
 
 2. Correction of physical faults, both deformities of the 
 muscular and skeletal- systems and deficiencies in the ner- 
 vous control of the body. I have tried to show that this is 
 rendered necessary by the specialization of life, and is espe- 
 cially necessary with that specialization which marks the 
 
40 
 
 period of development, and which may be summed up in the 
 two words, "the school desk." 
 
 The primary purpose of the Swedish system of gymnas- 
 tics is the second of these objects. Its system of move- 
 ments is based on a most careful study of kinesiology. It 
 studies the effects of the innumerable possible movements 
 upon the development of the body, that is to say, upon 
 form and carriage, and it makes use of such movements as 
 are known to be fitted to accomplish the corrective effects 
 desired. It gives these movements in that way which will 
 best insure with all members of the class their proper exe- 
 cution and greatest corrective value, that is, in the form 
 of a drill and to the word of command; and it gives them 
 with constant reference to such progression, both in the 
 work of each day and especially in the work of successive 
 days, as to secure the effects of training without undue 
 fatigue or strain. 
 
 * It does not entirely satisfy the demands of the body for 
 general exercise. No gymnasium work does. The Swed- 
 ish system is not all of physical training; and, if some of 
 its advocates have claimed that it is, such claims are 
 merely the result of over-enthusiasm, and do not demand 
 serious consideration. It starts with the assumption that 
 corrective work is needed, and that this must bean essential 
 part of all gymnastics; but it endeavors to give this in such 
 a way as shall not sacrifice the more general hygienic 
 effects of muscular activity. To what extent it accom- 
 plishes this depends largely on the teacher, partly upon the 
 gymnasium facilities. It is not automatic: it will not 
 succeed in incompetent hands; but, unless you are ready to 
 deny the need of all corrective work in physical training, it 
 does not demand qualities of its teachers other than those 
 which all physical training requires. 
 
 We hear much to-day about the immense superiority of 
 outdoor games to indoor gymnastic work; and there can be 
 
41 
 
 no doubt that in most, if not all, our American colleges for 
 men there is a marked tendency away from the gymnasium. 
 Nor need we be surprised at this. When gymnasia were 
 first built at our colleges, the entire work of physical train- 
 ing, apart from that of class and college teams, was confined 
 to the gymnasium, which thus came to assume a rank of ex- 
 clusive importance to which it was not entitled. Moreover, 
 this gymnasium work has rarely, if ever, been under suffi- 
 cient supervision. It is not too much to say that the Ameri- 
 can idea of a gymnasium has been an elaborate building 
 with expensive apparatus, in which the innocent student in 
 search of health might pull on various weights "with ner- 
 vously exhausting and deadening monotony." Such has 
 been the experience of the majority of men who have tried 
 such work, and the tendency to the exclusive use of games 
 is simply the unanswerable proof of the failure of the sys- 
 tem. It is not a valid argument against well-directed gym- 
 nastics. In fact, both the gymnasium and outdoor games 
 have special functions in physical training, and one cannot 
 replace the other. On the contrary, one supplements the 
 work of the other. For producing the general physiologi- 
 cal results of exercise, outdoor work is immeasurably supe- 
 rior. Bicycle riding, canoeing, rowing, tennis, golf, skat- 
 ing, etc., not to mention the games of earlier life, should 
 constitute and, as a practical matter, must constitute the 
 chief means of physical training; but, while they well serve 
 these more general and more important purposes, they are 
 not conveniently used at all times of the year, and they have 
 only limited corrective value; they do not remedy faults 
 of posture, of carriage, of gait ; and those interested in 
 physical training should see to it that the welcome increase 
 of interest in outdoor exercise does not produce neglect of 
 the corrective work which the gymnasium alone can give. 
 

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