University of California Berkeley 
 
 Gift of 
 Paul Padgette 
 
 | 
 
.. 
 
 j 
 
PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS, 
 
 SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES. 
 
 CATHARINE E, BEECHER, 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 FRANKLIN SQUARE. 
 1858. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1350. by 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New i'ork. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE following are the distinctive advantages offered in 
 this work : 
 
 1. A system of physiology divested of all needless technics. 
 Most school-books on this subject are so encumbered with 
 terms needed only by professional men, as to render them 
 repulsive, and to double the labor both of reading and study. 
 In this work no technical term is employed when a word in 
 common use will express the same idea. Those who prefer 
 the hard words can collect them and give them as a separate 
 
 2. A short, easy, and comprehensive course of physiology 
 and hygiene. There are thousands of the curious and won- 
 derful contrivances of the human body that must be omit- 
 ted. The proper rule for selection is to take those that can- 
 be made practical in enforcing the laws of health and life. 
 It is believed that this work contains a greater amount of 
 this kind of knowledge than any other school-book, and in 
 a much shorter compass. 
 
 3. A work that is so popular in form that it will be not 
 only interesting for children to study, but for their parents 
 to read. To effect this, a great portion of this work has 
 been tested with the humblest class of uneducated persons, 
 so as to make it both intelligible and interesting to them. 
 The main hope of the adult generation is through the knowl- 
 edge that may be carried by the children to their homes, 
 and there rendered practical. 
 
 4. A work whicli, while it is fitted to the comprehension 
 of the young and uneducated, is equally adapted to the 
 wants of the highest class of minds. The students of our 
 colleges and higher professional schools may here find 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 text-book that contains, in the shortest compass, all they 
 will find of any important practical use in the most cum- 
 brous tomes of scientific writers. 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 This word is pronounced Calis-then'-ics. It is formed by 
 the two Greek words kalos, signifying beautiful, and sthenos, 
 signifying strength. 
 
 It is the name of a course of exercises designed to pro- 
 mote health, and thus to secure beauty and strength. 
 
 Gymnastics, also, are exercises designed to secure health 
 and strength. They ordinarily are more severe than this 
 course, while they require apparatus, and a room set apart 
 for the purpose. 
 
 The following are the distinctive advantages offered : 
 
 1. This system can be practiced in schools of every de- 
 scription, in the family, in nurseries, in hospitals, and in 
 health establishments, without apparatus, and without a room 
 set apart for the purpose. 
 
 2. It excludes all those severe exercises that involve dan- 
 ger, either from excess or from accidents. It is maintained 
 that many athletic exercises suited to the stronger sex are 
 not suited to the female constitution. This is a system that 
 contains all that either sex needs for the perfect development 
 of the body. Any more severe exercises are useful only 
 for men whose professions require some unusual physical 
 strength or endurance. This method is adapted to mixed 
 schools, so that both sexes can perform them together. 
 
 3. This system is arranged on scientific principles, with tho 
 design of exercising all the muscles, and of exercising them 
 equably and harmoniously. It embraces most of what is to be 
 found in the French and English works that exhibit the 
 system of Ling, the celebrated Swedish Professor, whose 
 method has been widely adopted in European schools and 
 universities. 
 
 It also contains, in addition, many valuable exercises that 
 have been employed in Health Establishments for the cure 
 of disease and deformities. 
 
 4. This system is so illustrated by drawings, and so ex- 
 actly arranged as to mode and time, that any person, young 
 
SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. V 
 
 or old, can practice it without aid from a teacher, and in 
 any place. The members of a family in the parlor, the chil- 
 dren in the nursery, the invalid in the chamber, the seam- 
 stress and milliner in their shops, the student or profes- 
 sional man in his office, study, or counting-room, can open a 
 window twice or thrice a day, and have all the " fresh air 
 and exercise" needed for perfect health, by simply following 
 the directions in this work. In the Introduction to the 
 Calisthenics will be found the benefits to be hoped from, the 
 practice of these exercises. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS IN USING THIS 
 WORK. 
 
 THE two grand causes of the ill health and physical de- 
 terioration so common are, first, a want of knowledge of the 
 construction of the body and the laws of health ; and, next, 
 a want of thought and conscience on the subject. 
 
 Multitudes abuse their bodies because they do not know 
 the mischiefs they are perpetrating. 
 
 Perhaps as many more go on in courses that they know 
 to be injurious, because these matters are never urged on 
 their attention and conscience as ma^'^^s of duty. All the 
 strong motives of religion and of the eternal world are 
 brought to bear, from the pulpit and at the Sunday-school, 
 to enforce certain duties that are no more important to the 
 best interests of man than those " laws of health" which 
 are so widely disregarded. And yet they are as truly the 
 " laws of God" as any that were inscribed by his finger on 
 tables of stone. 
 
 What is needed, then, in every school, is "line upon line, 
 precept upon precept," urged daily on the attention and con- 
 science of the young. For this purpose it ought to be the 
 official duty of one person to take charge of all that relates 
 to the health and physical training of every collection of the 
 young for education. It is hoped that a time is at hand 
 when endowments will be provided to secure this object, as 
 
v i SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. 
 
 they now are furnished almost exclusively for the training 
 of the intellectual powers. 
 
 The teacher who has charge of the Health Department 
 might give out one lesson a week from this book to the 
 whole school. This should be preceded by a familiar lecture 
 on the subject, illustrated by specimens. The most important 
 bones of the body, the windpipe and lungs of some animal, 
 which can be obtained at some market, together with 
 models, drawings, and manikins, should all be presented, 
 to make the lecture interesting and lucid. After such a 
 lecture the youngest child in school could study any lesson 
 in this work intelligently and with interest. 
 
 Then half an hour each school session should be set apart 
 for physical training, during which a certain portion of this 
 lesson say the answers to six questions should be recited, 
 and then the Calisthenic exercises should follow. A sort 
 of monitorial recitation by the aid of the leaders and the sec- 
 tions would save much time for the active exercises. 
 
 Each number one of the section could hear number two re- 
 cite, and then recite herself in return, while the leaders 
 superintended the recitation. (See p. 40 of Calisthenics.) 
 
 In using a common school-room for these exercises, pupils 
 by standing in lines, so that one line will face say north, and 
 the line before it face east, will find that more room is thus 
 made for the arms. 
 
 In some cases a time must be set apart for the whole 
 school to exercise at once. In other cases, while one por- 
 tion are reciting another portion can attend to these exer- 
 cises. 
 
 In some cases a weekly recitation in the Physiology for 
 the whole school will be better than a daily one. 
 
 The great struggle will be to bring all the parties con- 
 cerned pupils, teachers, parents, and school committees 
 to take from the time now given exclusively to intellectual 
 training, sufficient to secure the health, strength, and beauty 
 of the physical system. 
 
CONTENTS. , 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Physical Education 9 
 
 II. Organs that Support the Body 15 
 
 III. Organs that Move the Body 27 
 
 IV. Organs that convey the Nourishment of the 
 
 Body 32 
 
 V. Organs that Purify the Body 39 
 
 VI. Organs that prepare Nourishment for the Body 47 
 
 VII. Organs of the Mind, or Spirit 54 
 
 VIII. Organs that Secrete and that Purify the Body 60 
 
 IX. Animal Heat 68 
 
 X. Organs of Sense 72 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 XI. Laws of Health and Happiness. The Bones 
 
 and Muscles 78 
 
 XII. Laws of Health for the Lungs 85 
 
 XIII. Laws of Health for the Organs of Digestion 
 
 and Nutrition 89 
 
 XIV. Laws of Health for the Organs of Digestion 
 
 and Nutrition 96 
 
 XV. Laws of Health for the Skin and Secreting 
 
 Organs 103 
 
 XVI, Laws of Health for the Brain and Nerves 110 
 
 XVII. Laws of Health for the Organs of Sense 117 
 
yiii CONTENTS. 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 LESSON PAGB 
 
 XVIII. Abuses of the Bodily Organs by the American 
 People. Abuses of the Bones, Muscles, and 
 
 Lungs 120 
 
 XIX. Abuses of the Digestive Organs 129 
 
 XX. Abuses of the Skin 138 
 
 XXI. Abuses of the Brain and Nerves 142 
 
 XXII. Abuses of Dress. Deformities 152 
 
 XXIII. Results of Abuses 163 
 
 XXIV. Modes of Remedy 172 
 
 XXV. Modes of Remedy 180 
 
 XXVI. Modes of Remedy 185 
 
 PART FOURTH. 
 
 CALISTHENIC EXERCISES. 
 
 Encouragement to Adopt this Course of Physical Train- 
 ing in Schools 3 
 
 FIRST COURSE SCHOOL-ROOM EXERCISES. 
 
 Exercises for the Chest and Lungs 10 
 
 Exercises to Perfect the Muscles of the Arms and 
 
 Hands 14 
 
 Exercise^ for the Muscles of the Trunk 20 
 
 Exercises for the Feet and Legs 28 
 
 SECOND COURSE HALL EXERCISES. 
 
 Construction of a Calisthenic Hall 39 
 
 Exercises for the Calisthenic Hall. Walking, Skipping, 
 
 Exercise with Weights 40 
 
 Exercise to cure Deformities 51 
 
 Water Cure Treatment for Families 54 
 
PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS, 
 
 LESSON FIRST. 
 
 PHYSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 THE design of this book is to teach the methods by which 
 children may be trained at school, so as to become healthful, 
 strong, graceful, and good-looking. 
 
 You have read often of the Greeks. Some twenty centu- 
 ries ago they were a small people, in a small country; and 
 yet they became the wisest and most powerful of all nations, 
 and conquered nearly the whole world. And they were re- 
 markable, not only for their wisdom and strength, but for 
 their great beauty, so that the statues they made to resemble 
 their own men and women have, ever since, been regarded 
 as the most perfect forms of human beauty. 
 
 The chief reason why they excelled all nations in these 
 respects, was the great care they took in educating their 
 children. They had two kinds of schools the one to train 
 the minds, and the other to train the bodies of their chil- 
 dren. And though they estimated very highly the educa- 
 tion of the mind, they still more valued that part of school 
 training which tended to develop and perfect the body. 
 . In the family, too, although the higher classes took care 
 that their children should improve the mind, all, from the 
 highest to the lowest, were earnest in efforts to train the ris- 
 ing generation to have healthy, strong, and beautiful bodies. 
 And when these people met at their national festivals, they 
 not only read or recited history and poetry before these 
 
 Questions. What is the design of this book ? Who were the Greeks ? 
 For what were they remarkable ? What was the reason that they ex- 
 celled others in the respects mentioned? What is said of their schools? 
 "What did they do in their families ? What at their national festivals ? 
 
10 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 great assemblies, but they still more delighted in games and 
 sports, which exhibited the beauty, strength, gracefulness, 
 and skill of the human body. 
 
 But the American people have pursued a very different 
 course. It is true that a large portion of them have pro- 
 vided schools for educating the minds of their children ; but 
 instead of providing teachers to train the bodies of their off- 
 spring, most of them have not only entirely neglected it, but 
 have done almost every thing they could do to train their 
 children to become feeble, sickly, and ugly. And those 
 who have not pursued so foolish a course, have taken very 
 little pains to secure the proper education of the body for 
 their offspring during the period of their school life. 
 
 In consequence of this dreadful neglect and mismanage- 
 ment, the children of this country are every year becoming 
 less and less healthful and good-looking. There is a great 
 change in reference to this matter within the last forty years. 
 In former times the children in school-houses, or on Sunday 
 in the churches, almost all of them had rosy cheeks, and 
 looked full of health and spirits. But now, the children in 
 churches and schools, both in city and country, a great por- 
 tion of them, either have sallow or pale complexions, or 
 look delicate or partially misformed. 
 
 The children of the former generation could go out in all 
 weathers, were not harmed by wetting their feet, would play 
 on the snow and ice for hours without cloaks or shawls, and 
 never seemed to be troubled with the cold. And the tender 
 parents of these days would be shocked to see how little 
 clothing was worn in the bitterest cold of winter. 
 
 But now, though parents take far more pains to wrap up 
 their little ones to save them from the cold and wet, the 
 children grow less and less healthy every year. And it is 
 rare to find a school-room full of such rosy-cheeked, strong, 
 fine-looking children as were common thirty years ago. 
 
 Every year more and more complaints are made of the 
 poor health that is so very common among grown people, 
 
 Questions. What has been the course of the American people ? What 
 have been the consequences? What is said of the looks of children in 
 former and present times ? How were children clothed in former times, 
 and how in present times? What is said of the health of women and 
 children at the present time ? 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION. H 
 
 especially among women. And physicians say that this is 
 an evil that is constantly increasing, so that they fear, ere 
 long, there will be no healthy women in the country. 
 
 At the same time, among all classes of our land, we are 
 constantly hearing of the superior health and activity of our 
 ancestors. Their physical strength, and their power of labor 
 and endurance, were altogether beyond any thing witnessed 
 in the present generation. 
 
 Travelers, when they go to other countries, especially 
 when they visit England, from whence our ancestors came, 
 are struck with the contrast between the appearance of 
 American women and those of other countries in the matter 
 of health. In this nation it is rare to see a married woman 
 of thirty or forty, especially in the more wealthy classes, 
 who retains the fullness of person and freshness of com- 
 plexion that mark good health. But in England, almost 
 all the women are in the full perfection of womanhood at 
 that period of life. 
 
 Now it is a fact that the health of children depends very 
 much on the health of their parents. Feeble and sickly 
 fathers and mothers seldom have strong and healthy chil- 
 dren. And when one parent is well and the other sickly, 
 then a part of the children will be sickly and a part healthy. 
 
 Thus the more parents become unhealthy the more feeble 
 children will be born. And when these feeble children 
 grow up and become parents, they will have a still more 
 puny and degenerate offspring. So the case will go on, 
 from bad to worse, with every generation. What then, if 
 these things be true, are the prospects of this nation, unless 
 some great and radical change is effected ? 
 
 Such a change is possible. The American people have 
 far better advantages than the Greeks had to train their 
 offspring to be strong, healthful, and beautiful. It is true 
 the Greeks had a climate that enabled them to pass most 
 of their time in the open air, to which they owed much of 
 their fine health and beauty. 
 
 Questions. What is said of the appearance of American women com- 
 pared with those of England ? On what does the health of children very 
 much depend ? What is the effect on their offspring when one or both 
 parents are unhealthy? To what did the Greeks owe much of their 
 health and beauty ? 
 
12 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 But we have other advantages which they had not, and 
 in this matter of pure air there is nothing to prevent every 
 man, woman, and child in the nation from enjoying it, both 
 by day and by night, but a want of knowledge of its import- 
 ance, and a want of proper care to secure it. The Creator 
 has spread this life-giving, beautifying element all around 
 us, and so abundantly, that it can not be kept from our skin 
 and lungs except by constant care and effort. Pure and 
 cool air and water are the two best friends of man, and yet 
 there is nothing that is so much shunned and feared by a 
 great majority of our nation. 
 
 It is not the ancient Greeks alone that have excelled us 
 in the physical education of their children. In most of the 
 European nations the best educated people give far more 
 attention to this matter than Americans do. And in some 
 countries a system of physical training has been introduced 
 into schools, which far exceeds any thing practiced in this 
 nation. 
 
 The kingdom of Sweden first took the lead in this im- 
 provement, under the guidance of a distinguished philan- 
 thropist by the name of Ling. He was the orphan son of 
 a poor clergyman, and was first distinguished by his genius 
 and perseverance in acquiring a superior education on the 
 most liberal scale. Being afterward employed as master of 
 fencing, he took up the profession in a scientific view, and 
 directed special attention to anatomy, physiology, and con- 
 nected sciences, in order to perfect a system of exercises in 
 harmony with nature. He assumed the principle of never 
 adopting any movement till he could detect its exact effects 
 on the whole organism, and apply it to use scientifically. 
 By this process he finally evolved a system which aims in 
 the first course to develop equally and perfectly the human 
 form, and in the second place to remedy both deformity and 
 disease. 
 
 After many years of trial and persevering efforts, this 
 humble youth became distinguished at the court of Sweden 
 
 Questions. Had the Greeks any advantages that the American peo- 
 ple can not secure if they will take proper pains to do so ? What is said 
 of air and water? What is said of the European nations on this suh- 
 ject ? What is said of Sweden ? Who was Ling, and what is his his- 
 tory f 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION. 13 
 
 as a public benefactor. He was knighted, and appointed 
 professor and head of a public institution for preparing 
 teachers to propagate his system. Several years ago it was 
 introduced into all military academies, universities, col- 
 leges, town-schools, country-schools, and orphan-asylums 
 of Sweden. And such were the results that the system has 
 been carried into several other European nations under the 
 authority of their governments. 
 
 A lady who has recently returned from Russia stated that 
 at St. Petersburg she saw nine hundred of the daughters of 
 the princes and nobles of Russia in one institution, where 
 they were trained, by such methods, to be healthful, grace- 
 ful, and beautiful. 
 
 She saw them performing their exercises, and says she 
 never met together so many noble, beautiful, and healthful- 
 looking girls. 
 
 It is the object of this work to introduce into American 
 schools a similar system of physical training, to promote 
 grace, health, strength, and beauty. 
 
 But in order to secure obedience to the directions that 
 will be given, and the practice of the exercises provided, it 
 is necessary that parents, teachers, and children should un- 
 derstand the construction of the human body, and the man- 
 ner in which its various internal operations are performed. 
 
 For unless the reasons for all these rules and exercises are 
 plainly set forth, children can not be made to feel any in- 
 terest in the matter, nor will parents and teachers be able to 
 induce them to pursue this course of training. These rea- 
 sons can be understood only by a knowledge of the con- 
 struction and uses of the various organs of the human body. 
 
 The first part of this work will consist of a description of 
 the various organs of the human body and of their uses. 
 
 The second part will present the rules for the proper 
 treatment of these organs and the laws of health. 
 
 In the third part there will be some account given of the 
 
 Questions. What is said of the Russian institution for the daughters 
 of nobles ? What is the object of this book ? What is necessary in order 
 to secure obedience to the directions given ? What will be the difficulty 
 if the reasons for these directions are not set forth ? How is the only 
 way in which these reasons can be understood ? Of what is the first por- 
 tion of this book to consist ? What the second ? Third ? 
 
14 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 manner in which these laws are often violated, and the evil 
 consequences that follow. 
 
 In the fourth part will be given a system of calisthenic ex- 
 ercises, designed to strengthen every part of the body, and 
 to promote health, gracefulness, and beauty. 
 
 In the last portion will be taught certain methods for 
 curing disease and deformities by means of these exercises* 
 
 Questions. Of what is the fourth portion of this book to consist ? 
 What the last? 
 
LESSON SECOND. 
 
 ORGANS THAT SUPPORT THE BODY. 
 
 IN this lesson will be described those organs of the body 
 which are its foundation and support. These are the bones. 
 There are two hundred and eight of them, besides the teeth. 
 
 There are no more curious and beautiful contrivances in 
 nature than the bones of the human body. They are made 
 of beautiful materials, the most solid portions being like 
 ivory, and the cartilages and muscles of equally fine con- 
 struction. Then they are united together with so much 
 skill and curious contrivance as to be subjects for constant 
 admiration. It is a great pity that so many have been 
 trained to look upon them with very different feelings. 
 But as refinement and cultivation increase, such feelings 
 will pass away. 
 
 On the two succeeding pages are drawings (Fig. 1 and 
 Fig. 2) which exhibit the front and back view of the human 
 skeleton. The questions connected with them should be 
 studied before proceeding farthe 
 
 The bones are composed oj both animal and earthy ma- 
 terials. The animal part gives them life, and the earthy 
 part gives strength. Throw a bone into a fire and the ani- 
 mal part burns out, and what remains is the earthy part, 
 called lime. Put a bone into sulphuric acid and water (one 
 part acid and six parts water), and in a few days the acid 
 will remove the earthy part, and what remains will be the 
 soft animal part, which will still retain the shape of the 
 bone. 
 
 In infancy the animal part of the bone predominates, and 
 thus children can fall with less danger than grown people, 
 as their bones bend instead of breaking. As age increases, 
 
 Questions. What is described in this lesson ? How many bones are 
 there ? What is said of the construction and beauty of the bones ? Of 
 what two materials are the bones composed ? How can you separate 
 them ? What is the difference between the bones of children and old 
 people? 
 
16 
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Fig. I. 
 
 a a the spine. 
 
 yy the collar-bone. 
 
 x the breast-bone. 
 
 r r the ribs. 
 
 bb the upper bone of 
 the arm. 
 
 cc and dd the two low- 
 er bones of the arm. 
 
 // bones of the hand, 
 
 gg bones of the fingers. 
 
 ss pelvic bones. 
 
 10 the sacrum. 
 hh hip joint. 
 
 i i upper bone of the leg. 
 
 1 I knee pan. 
 kk knee joint. 
 
 nn and mm lower 
 bones of the leg. 
 oo ankle joints. 
 pp bones of the foot. 
 
 Questions. What letter points out the spine? the collar-bone? the 
 breast-bone ? the ribs ? the upper bone of the arms ? the two lower bones 
 of the arm ? the bones of the hand ? the bones of the fingers ? the pelvic 
 bones ? the sacrum ? the hip joint ? the upper bones of the leg ? the knee 
 pan? the hip joint? the lower bones of the leg? the ankle joints? the 
 bones of the foot? 
 
ORGANS THAT SUPPORT THE BODY. 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 17 
 
18 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 when more caution is gained and more strength is needed, 
 the earthy portion is increased, while in old age it so pre- 
 dominates as to make the bones brittle. 
 
 The bones are covered with a thin skin or membrane, 
 filled with small blood-vessels which convey nourishment to 
 them. 
 
 Where the bones unite with others to form joints, they 
 are covered with cartilage, which is a smooth, white, elastic 
 substance. This enables the joints to move smoothly, while 
 its elasticity prevents injuries fr/om sudden jars. 
 
 The joints are bound together by strong elastic bands 
 called ligaments, which hold them firmly and prevent dislo- 
 cation. 
 
 Between the ends of the bones that unite to form joints 
 are small sacks or bags, that contain a soft lubricating fluid. 
 This answers the same purpose for the joints as oil in making 
 machinery work smoothly, while the supply is constant, and 
 always in exact proportion to the demand. 
 
 If you will examine the leg of some fowl you can see the 
 cartilage that covers the ends of the bones at the joints, and 
 the strong white ligaments that bind the joints together. 
 You must notice this the first opportunity you find. 
 
 The health of the bones depends on the proper nourish- 
 ment and exercise of the body as much as any part. When 
 a child is feeble and unhealthy, or when it grows up with- 
 out exercise, the bones do not become firm and hard as they 
 are when the body is healthfully developed by exercise. 
 The size as well as the strength of the bones, to a certain 
 extent, also depend upon exercise and good health. 
 
 The principal bones of the head are the skull and the 
 jaw-bones, with the teeth. The skull consists of several 
 bones, united by little projections called sutures, which inter- 
 lace and hook together. The advantage of this mode of 
 uniting the bones is, that falls and jars will not so easily 
 
 Questions. By what are the bones covered and nourished ? What fa 
 cartilage, and what is its nse to the bones? How are the bones fastened 
 together? What fluid is placed in sacks near the joints, and what is its 
 nse ? On what does the health of the bones depend ? What effect is 
 produced on the bones of children when they grow up with but little ex- 
 ercise ? Is the size of the bones affected by exercise ? What are the 
 bones of the head? What is said of the bones of the skull, and of the 
 ino^le of uni,inj them? 
 
ORGANS THAT SUPPORT THE BODY. 
 
 19 
 
 break the skull as if it was one solid piece. These sutures 
 yield somewhat when the head is struck, and thus the bone 
 is not easily broken. They can be seen in Fig. 1. 
 
 The upper portion of the body is called the thorax, and 
 its bones inclose the heart and lungs. Here is a draw- 
 ing of it. It consists of the back-bone, marked S: t>m 
 
 Fig. 8. 
 
 ribs, marked R ; the 
 breast-bone, mark- 
 ed B b ; the collar- 
 bone, marked C b ; 
 and the shoulder- 
 blade, marked S b. 
 
 The ribs are fas- 
 tened to the spine 
 behind, and to the 
 breast-bone before. 
 The lower ribs are 
 fastened only to the 
 spine. The collar- 
 bones are fastened 
 to the breast-bone 
 at one end, and at 
 the other end, to that 
 point of the shoul- 
 der-blade to which 
 the upper bone of 
 the arm is fasten- 
 ed. All these bones 
 are bound firmly to- 
 gether by strong lig- 
 aments. 
 
 At the bottom of 
 the thorax there is a 
 membrane or skin, 
 made chiefly of 
 muscles, called the 
 
 diaphragm. It is in c ^ tho collar-bone, S b the shoulder-blade, 
 fact an elastic floor B b the breast-bone, S the spine, R the ribs. 
 
 Questions. What is the upper portion of the body called ? AY hat avo 
 the bones of the thorax ? How are the ribs fastened ? II ow are the rol- 
 'ar-bones fastened ? What is the bottom or floor of the thorax called 'i 
 
20 
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 to the thorax, and divides the whole upper part of the body 
 from the lower part. The heart and lungs rest upon it, 
 while the stomach and liver are directly under it. It is 
 fastened in front to the breast-bone, behind to the spine, 
 and at the sides to the ribs. It is also fastened in the cen- 
 tre to the membrane that separates the two lungs. 
 
 Its muscles are so contrived that it can be drawn upward, 
 thus pressing upward the heart and lungs. It also can be 
 drawn downward, thus pressing the lower intestines down- 
 ward. This drawing represents the diaphragm in its most 
 
 elevated position, 
 the lungs and heart 
 being removed. 
 
 When we inspire 
 the air, the ribs are 
 drawn upward and 
 outward, making 
 the thorax larger in 
 circumference, and 
 the diaphragm, at 
 the same time, is 
 drawn down. When 
 we expire the air, 
 the ribs return to 
 their natural place, 
 while the diaphragm 
 is drawn up, as is 
 seen in Fig. 4. 
 
 As before stated, 
 the lungs and heart 
 rest on the dia- 
 The front half of the ribs being cut away, the phragm, and arc 
 interior of the chest is exposed. C c C c the moved up and down 
 cavity of the chest, empty. D D D D the dia- -, .. i M 
 
 phragm, rising high in the centre, and descend- when lt moves, while 
 ing very low at the sides and behind. The the liver, Stomach, 
 white space is its tendinous portion. The an( i S r>l een }{Q un _ 
 lower part is muscle that contracts to draw it . * 
 
 downward. A A the abdomen. der it. 
 
ORGANS THAT SUPPORT THE BODY. 
 
 21 
 
 The thorax is the portion of the body < 
 which is habitually trained to deformity 
 among American women, as much so as 
 is the foot of a Chinese belle. Every 
 possible method (and there are several) 
 is taken to alter its form, until, in a 
 vast number of cases, it becomes almost 
 inverted in its shape, so that what should 
 be the larger becomes the smaller por- 
 tion. And there are few women in the 
 more wealthy circles whose thorax is of 
 the proper and natural shape and size. 
 The manner in which this monstrous de- 
 formity is produced, and then perpetu- 
 ated through a degenerate offspring, and 
 the evils that result from it, will be shown 
 in another place. 
 
 The back-bone, or spine, which forms 
 the back portion of the thorax, is one of 
 the most curious contrivances of the body. 
 It is formed of twenty-four small bones, 
 fastened together. When viewed in front 
 
 i Fig. 5. 
 
 Questions. What is said of the treatment of 
 the thorax ? What are the effects of this treat- 
 ment? 
 
PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 it is straight, as you see 
 it in the skeleton, at 
 Fig. 2, p. 15. 
 
 When it is viewed 
 sideways it is the shape 
 of Fig. 5, on previous 
 page. The four small 
 bones at the lower part, 
 marked^ are separated 
 in early life, and grow 
 together as life advan- 
 ces. 
 
 It will now be shown 
 how the spine is con- 
 structed and held in this 
 curving shape. The 
 twenty-four bones of 
 which it consists are of 
 the shape of Fig. 6, on 
 previous page, some of 
 them exactly, and oth- 
 ers varying a little. 
 These bones are called 
 the vertebrce in the plu- 
 ral. The singular form 
 is vertebra. 
 
 All the vertebral 
 bones have such a hole 
 as is seen in the draw- 
 ing, and when placed 
 one above another, they 
 so match that the spi- 
 nal marrow can run 
 through the opening. 
 
 Between the verte- 
 bras are placed cartilage 
 discs, which are very cu- 
 riously contrived and ar- 
 ranged. They are little 
 
 Questions. How is the 
 spine constructed ? What 
 are the cartilage discs ? 
 
ORGANS THAT SUPPORT THE BODY. 23 
 
 thin cushions, made of cartilage, and placed between each 
 of the vertebral bones. These are elastic, yielding to press- 
 ure like India-rubber, and when the pressure is removed re- 
 suming their natural form. 
 
 Fig. 7 represents two vertebra? ; the dark part between 
 them represents the cartilage discs when the spine is in its 
 erect position. Fig. 8 represents the appearance of the disc 
 when the spine is bent forward ; and Fig. 9 is the appear- 
 ance when it is bent backward. The discs yield in the same 
 way when the spine bends to either side. 
 
 The bones of the spine are hooked together by a small 
 projection in the upper one sinking into an opening in the 
 lower one, as is shown by a dotted line in Fig. 7. They are 
 also bound together by elastic ligaments, and so strongly, 
 that no bones of the body are so difficult to break or to dis- 
 locate as those of the spine. 
 
 It is found by measurement, that the pressure of the 
 weight of the body on the discs of the spine during the day 
 diminishes the height of a person quite perceptibly. But the 
 recumbent position during sleep restores the discs to their 
 natural thickness. In this way, every one becomes a little 
 taller in the morning than at night. 
 
 The spine is held in its curving shape by means of the 
 cartilage discs, each of which is so formed as to do its part 
 in preserving this form. The curving form and elastic 
 discs save the brain and spine from heavy jars, as it thus 
 can gently yield. When the muscles draw the spine in any 
 direction, the elastic discs instantly will restore it to its 
 right form as soon as the force is removed. Thus is curi- 
 ously contrived a pillar strong enough to hold up the whole 
 body, which yet can bend every way, and while it is itself 
 crooked, it holds the body erect. 
 
 The spine is held in its position not only by the discs, but 
 by ligaments, by strong muscles, and by the close packing 
 of the intestines against it. 
 
 The manner in which this beautiful piece of mechan- 
 
 Questions. What is represented by Figs. 7, 8, 9 ? What causes us to 
 be a little taller every morning than at night ? How is the spine held 
 in its curving form ? What is the benefit from this form and the elastic 
 discs? How do the discs operate when the muscles bend the spine? 
 What else holds the spine in its position? 
 
PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 ism is turned to distortion and deformity will be shown 
 hereafter. 
 
 A the sacrum, or lowest 
 bone of the spine. 
 
 The two large bones marked 
 B B are united firm- 
 ly as one, and the sa- 
 cruin is fastened in 
 the opening 
 between 1 1. 
 These all uni- 
 ted form the 
 pelvis. 
 
 // are the sockets 
 where the hip bones 
 are fastened. 
 
 The lowest btfne of the spine, on which all the others 
 rest, is called the sacrum, which is represented in Fig. 10, at 
 A. The sacrum is inserted into the large bone marked 
 B B, at the open space, and firmly fastened. This large 
 bone, with the sacrum, are the strong foundation bones on 
 which the body rests in a sitting position, and together 
 form what is called the pelvis. The spine rests on the 
 sacrum, and the legs are fastened to the sides of the 
 pelvis at //. The portion of the body between the pelvic 
 bones and the diaphragm is called the abdomen. The sev- 
 eral organs in the abdomen are called the abdominal vis- 
 cera. 
 
 The pelvic organs are the portion of the body the cruel 
 
ORGANS THAT SUPPORT THE BODY. 
 
 25 
 
 abuses of which have made them the seat of intense suf- 
 fering to multitudes of both sexes, but especially to Amer- 
 ican women. 
 
 The methods by which this is done will also be pointed 
 out in another part of this book. 
 
 Two drawings that follow will illustrate the manner 
 in which the joints are fastened by ligaments and lubrica- 
 ted. 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 
 Fig. 12. 
 
 Fig. 11. 8, 9, the ligaments that extend from the hip-bone (6) to the 
 femur, or upper bone of the leg (5). 
 
 Fig. 12. 2, the socket of the hip-joint. 5, the head of the femur, 
 hicii is lodged in the socket. 8, the ligament within the socket. 
 
 whi 
 
 Fig. 11 shows the manner in which the ligaments fasten 
 the thigh-bone to the pelvis ; 8 and 9 are two of the largest 
 ligaments, their ends being fastened to the pelvis and the 
 thigh-bone. 
 
 Fig. 12 shows the manner in which the hip-joint is fastened 
 into its round, deep socket, by a ligament marked 3. These 
 ligaments are very strong, 
 
 Fig. 13 (on following page) shows how the sack is form- 
 ed that contains the synovial fluid that lubricates the joints. 
 
 . -Describe Figs. 11 and 12. 
 
26 
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 1 and 1 are two bones that form a joint. 
 
 2 and 2 are the cartilages enveloping 
 the ends of these bones. 3 and 3 are 
 dotted lines which run from 3 to 3, and 
 also run around the cartilages. These 
 dots represent the membrane that cov- 
 ers each of the cartilages, and then ex- 
 tends up to 3, where it is fastened to the 
 
 V Hf I IPi /a bone, an d then descends to the 3 below, 
 \ l| I Bj and is fastened there to the bone. Thus 
 *' this membrane is like a close bag laid 
 between the joints, into which oozes the 
 fluid that keeps this membrane soft and 
 moist. Thus the cartilages of the joints do not rub against 
 each other, but have this soft membrane and fluid between. 
 This synovial fluid is always soft and warm, and answers 
 far better than oil does when used to make machinery 
 move smoothly. 
 
 Qn<:^ior:s. Pescribc Fig. 1H. Wlii.t is t;;;i(l of the synovial fluid? 
 
LESSON THIRD. 
 
 ORGANS THAT MOVE THE BODY. 
 
 THE bones give strength and form to the body, but the 
 instruments by which it is moved are the muscles. They are 
 what in animals is called the fleph, or meat ; meaning, not 
 the fat but the red flesh. 
 
 The muscles are made of very fine threads, called mus- 
 cular fibres, put side by side, and bound up in a thin skin. 
 All these threads are elastic, so that when they are stretched 
 out they shrink back again like India rubber. Here is a 
 drawing that represents the bones of the arm, and of two 
 muscles which we use in bending and straightening it. 
 
 All the flesh around 
 the bones of the arm, 
 that make it look 
 plump, is made of 
 layers of muscles, each 
 bound up in a thin 
 case of skin, and fas- 
 tened strongly to the 
 bones. They are fit- 
 ted nicely around thejf 
 bones, the hollow 
 
 ID 
 
 places are filled with 
 fat to give entire 
 roundness, and then 
 the whole is covered 
 with the strong and 
 smooth outer skin. 
 Fig. 15 is a picture 
 of an arm, where the 
 
 M is a muscle fastened 
 at one end to the top of the 
 upper bone of the arm, and 
 at the other end to one of 
 the bones of the lower arm 
 below the elbow. When 
 this muscle contracts it 
 straightens the arm. 
 
 D is another muscle 
 fastened to the shoulder 
 bone at one end, and to 
 the bone of the lower arm 
 at the other. When this 
 muscle contracts it bends 
 tli ;> Jinn. Clasp your hand 
 tight above the elbow, and 
 you will feel the two mus- 
 cles contract as the aria is 
 bent or straightened. 
 
 Questions. What are the muscles, and how are they made ? In Fig. 
 14 what is said of the muscles M and D ? Of what is the flesh of the arm 
 made ? To what are the muscles fastened ? Of what use is the fat por- 
 tion of the body ? 
 
28 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 muscles are shown as they appear when the skin is re- 
 moved. Some of the muscles of the arm are used in turn- 
 ip. 15. m i^ some in lifting it up, some 
 in moving it backward and for- 
 ward, and some in moving the 
 fingers. Clasp your hand around 
 your arm below the elbow, then 
 shut and open your hand, and you 
 will feel the muscles that move the 
 fingers, some of. which open and 
 others shut the hand. Each of 
 the muscles has nerves in it that 
 run to the brain. When we will 
 to move any part, then the brain 
 sends the nervous fluid to the mus- 
 cles of that part, and this gives 
 them power to move as we choose. 
 Many of the muscles terminate 
 at one end in cords called tendons, 
 which are very strong, and take 
 up less room than the muscles. 
 You will see these tendons run- 
 ning across your hand when you 
 open or shut it, and you see 
 them in the drawing. 
 
 All the muscles of the body 
 are bound around or lapped 
 one over the others, some be- 
 ing one shape, and some an- 
 other, according to their uses. 
 There are over five hundred 
 of them; and every move- 
 ment that is made, either 
 within or without, is accom- 
 plished by two or more muscles, one set to draw the part 
 
 Questions, How are the various motions of the arm made? What 
 do the muscles move that are marked 5 and 6 in the drawing ? What 
 do the muscles marked 9, 18, 10, 14, and 15 move ? What and where are 
 the tendons, and what is their use ? How are the muscles of the body 
 arranged, and how many are there ? How is every movement of the 
 lK>dy made ? _ 
 
ORGANS THAT MOVE THE BODY. 29 
 
 one way, and another set to draw it back again. To swal- 
 low the food, to draw the breath, to move the eyes or head, 
 to bend the body and to move the limbs, all are done by the 
 muscles. 
 
 As before stated, the muscles are made of fine elastic 
 threads bound up in thin cases of skin. But winding in 
 among these threads are multitudes of little vessels through 
 which the blood flows. This blood is made of the food we 
 eat, and is constantly nourishing every part of the body. It 
 is brought from the heart by the arteries, and then is carried 
 back to the heart by the veins, as will be explained more at 
 large hereafter. 
 
 At present it is only needful to understand how the mus- 
 cles are nourished by this blood. 
 
 Here is a drawing in which is a small artery, a, that 
 brings blood from the heart, and then 
 branches out into multitudes of minute 
 blood-vessels. These are called capil- 
 laries, or capillary vessels. They are so 
 small that they can be seen only by very 
 powerful magnifying glasses. This draw- 
 ing is a magnified view of what in real- 
 ity is not so large as a pin-head. 
 
 The blood enters these capillaries 
 through the artery, and then meanders 
 through them, depositing its nourishing 
 particles where they are needed, and re- \ ; 
 ceiving in return the decayed and use- ~// 
 less particles. Then it gradually works ' 
 its way into the vein marked 6, and then the vein carries 
 it back to the heart. Thus the blood is constantly passing 
 from the arteries into the capillaries, and from the capilla- 
 ries into the veins. 
 
 Now every time we move a muscle, some portion of its 
 substance is changed, decays, and is ready to be carried off. 
 
 Questions. What is winding among the fine threads of the muscles? 
 Of what is the blood made, and what is its use ? By what is the hlood 
 brought from the heart to the muscles ? What carries the blood back to 
 the heart ? Describe Fig. 16. How much is this magnified ? What is 
 the use of the capillaiies ? What is done by the blood as it passes through 
 the capillaries ? What effect is produced whenever we move a muscle ? 
 
SO PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS, 
 
 At the same time this motion hastens the movement of the 
 blood from the artery which nourishes this muscle, so that 
 it may bring a new supply of nourishment and carry off the 
 dead matter* All exercise of the muscles, therefore, is a 
 process for building up that part of the body exercised with 
 fresh materials. And the more the muscle is exercised, the 
 more close and compact it becomes, 
 
 Now the peculiar power of the muscle to contract strongly 
 depends on the firmness and closeness of the muscular fibre. 
 And this firmness can be acquired only by exercise. A 
 muscle that is used but little has but little blood sent to 
 nourish it, and so it becomes pale and soft, and its elasticity 
 or power to contract is diminished. On the contrary, when 
 muscles are well exercised they become firm and compact, 
 have a bright, healthy color, and their contractile power is 
 increased. 
 
 The longer and the faster we exercise the muscles the 
 more their firmness and elasticity are increased until they 
 come to the perfect size and shape. If only a few are ex- 
 ercised, then only a small portion of them are strengthened 
 and purified by quicker action. All the rest receive less 
 nourishment, have less life and elastic power, and are con- 
 sequently imperfectly developed. 
 
 But there is a limit to which the exercise of tho muscles 
 must be confined, or the excess will be as injurious as a 
 deficiency in exercise. A muscle may be reduced in size, 
 strength, and elasticity by over-exercise; for in this case the 
 decay made by exercise exceeds the supply of nourishment 
 furnished by the blood. This is the reason why horses and 
 oxen that are overworked grow thin and weak. Their mus- 
 cles are exercised too much, and the decay of muscle ex- 
 ceeds the supply of nourishment furnished by the blood. 
 
 This shows the reason, too, why animals must be well 
 fed when they are to be worked hard. The blood must be 
 
 Questions. Why does exercising the muscles do good to them and to 
 the whole body ? What does the power to contract strongly in the imis 
 cles depend on ? How is this gained ? What is the effect on the mu:: 
 cles when they are exercised but little ? How do muscles that are exer 
 cised a good deal appear? What are the consequences if we exercise 
 only a few of the muscles ? Can the muscles be too much exercised 
 What is the effect of too much exercise ? Why should animals that work 
 hard be well fed ? 
 
ORGANS THAT MOVE THE BODY. 31 
 
 supplied with more nourishment from food to furnish the 
 supplies needed by the hard-working muscles that are thus 
 constantly decaying and passing away. 
 
 But the capillary vessels are not confined to the muscles. 
 The blood nourishes every part of the body, even to the 
 bones, and therefore every part is supplied with capillaries. 
 There is not a place as large as the point of a needle in our 
 whole body where there are not capillary vessels busily at 
 work in supplying all portions with strength and nourish- 
 ment. 
 
 Exercise not only tends to quicken the movement of the 
 blood in the muscles, but also in all parts of the body. 
 Every portion of the body is decaying and passing away. 
 It is calculated that in about seven years every particle in 
 the body is removed and new matter is supplied instead. 
 Now the more the muscles are used the faster this process 
 proceeds, and the more firmly and purely the body is re- 
 newed, provided always the food taken is proper and health- 
 ful. Thus the purity and strength of the whole body is 
 dependent on the proper exercise of the muscles. If they 
 are exercised too much or too little, debility and emacia- 
 tion ensue. If they are trained and exercised aright, health, 
 vigor, elasticity, and enjoyment are the result. 
 
 Questions. What is said of the capillaries ? What is said of the ef- 
 fect of exercise on the blood and on the whole body ? In what time is 
 the whole body changed and renewed ? What does the purity and strength 
 of the v.-holc body depend upon ? 
 
LESSON FOURTH. 
 
 ORGANS THAT CONVEY THE NOURISHMENT OF THE BODY. 
 
 WE have seen the manner in which the blood nourishes 
 the body when passing through the capillaries. The man- 
 ner in which it is carried to every part for this purpose is 
 very curious and wonderful. But it requires clear explana- 
 tion and good attention to understand it fully. 
 
 These particulars must be well fixed in the mind. 
 
 First, the heart sends the blood to all the capillaries 
 through one set of blood-vessels, called arteries. Then the 
 blood is brought back to the heart by another set of blood- 
 vessels, called veins. 
 
 Next, the blood which returns by the veins is impure, and 
 is sent by another set of arteries from the heart into the 
 lungs to be purified by the air we breathe. Then it is 
 brought back to the heart by another set of veins. 
 
 Thus there are two sets of arteries and veins, through 
 which the blood is all made to pass ; first through the body 
 and back to the heart for the purpose of nourishment, and 
 then through the lungs and back for the purpose of purifi- 
 cation. 
 
 This process is called the circulation of the blood. 
 
 On the opposite page is a drawing that will show how 
 this is done. 
 
 In Fig. 17, the right side of the heart receives and sends 
 out the impure blood. The upper division receives it from 
 the body through two large veins. Then the blood passes 
 to the lower division of the heart, where it is sent to the 
 lungs through one large artery with two branches, one for 
 each lung. This is the pulmonary artery. 
 
 Questions. What tv,-o particulars must be fixed in the mind? For 
 -\vhat are there two sets of veins and arteries? For what does the blood 
 pass through the body ? For what does it pass through the heart ? What 
 is this process called ? What does the right side of the heart receive and 
 send out ? Which portion of the right side receives the blood and which 
 portion sends it out ? 
 
ORGANS THAT CONVEY NOURISHMENT. 
 
 Aorta. 
 
 Pure blood, 
 left side. 
 
 Impure blood, 
 right side. 
 
 The left side of the heart receives and sends out ihQjwre 
 blood. The upper portion receives it from the lungs through 
 three large veins. Then the blood passes to the lower di- 
 vision of the heart, whence it is sent to the capillaries all 
 over the body through one large artery called the aorta. 
 
 The points marked V are the valves through which the 
 blood passes from the upper to the lower divisions of the 
 heart. 
 
 The upper divisions of the heart are called the auricles, 
 and the lower ones the ventricles. 
 
 The heart puts the blood in circulation by its muscles, 
 that contract and make it smaller. First the upper divisions 
 contract and force the blood into the ventricles below. Then 
 
 Questions. What does the left side of the heart receive and send out? 
 Which side of the heart receives blood from the body, and which from 
 the lungs ? What are the names of the two great arteries, and which 
 carries blood to the lungs, and which to the body ? Which are the valves, 
 and what is their use ? What are the names of the divisions of the heart ? 
 How does the heart put the blood in circulation ? What effect is produced 
 wbea the upper part contracts ? 
 
 C 
 
34 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 the ventricles contract and send the blood through the aorta 
 all over the body, and through the pulmonary artery into 
 the lungs. As soon as the heart returns to its natural size, 
 the blood flows into the upper divisions, on the right side 
 from the body, and on the left side from the lungs. 
 
 Thus the heart, by constantly contracting and then re- 
 turning to its natural size, produces the circulation of the 
 blood. 
 
 The valves are so made that the blood, as it is pressed 
 down by the contraction of the upper divisions, forces them 
 open. But when the pressure of the blood is the opposite 
 way, it closes these valves. Thus, when the upper part of 
 the heart contracts, the valves are forced open and the blood 
 passes down ; but when the lower divisions contract, the 
 valves are closed tight, and the only place of exit for the 
 blood is through blood-vessels that convey it to the lungs 
 and the body. 
 
 In the drawings of most other books the heart is repre- 
 sented, not as it is in the person holding the book, but as 
 it is in a person opposite. This perplexes the reader, by 
 having the right side of the heart on the left side of the page. 
 The drawing in this book prevents this difficulty, by placing 
 the right side of the heart on the right side of the page, and 
 Fig. 18. thus at the right side of the reader. 
 
 In the lesson on the muscles is a draw- 
 ( ing of the capillaries, which is repeated 
 here. There are two kinds of capillaries : 
 those of the body, where the blood is em- 
 ployed in nourishing every part, and those 
 of the lungs, where the blood is purified 
 by the air, as will be explained in the next 
 lesson. 
 
 It has been shown that the heart sends 
 the pure blood for nourishment through 
 the aorta. This great artery branches 
 ttf/ \{b out first into large trunks, two going to 
 
 Questions. What effect is produced when the lower part contracts? 
 How are the valves made, and how do they operate ? How is the heart 
 usually drawn in other hooks, and how is it in this hook ? How many 
 kinds of capillaries, and how are they employed ? What is said of the 
 aorta and it^ branches ? 
 
ORGANS THAT CONVEY NOURISHMENT. 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 the head, one to 
 each arm, one 
 to each leg, and 
 several to the 
 trunk. These 
 again branch 
 out into small- 
 er arteries, and 
 these into still 
 smaller, and so 
 on, till every 
 part of the body 
 receives a small 
 arteiy, which 
 terminates in 
 capillaries. 
 
 Fig. 19 is a 
 drawing repre- 
 senting, though 
 very imperfect- 
 ly, the manner 
 in which the 
 arteries branch 
 out. The small- 
 est arteries and 
 their capillaries 
 can not be 
 drawn. As the 
 blood wanders 
 through the cap- 
 illaries, the par- 
 ticles of nour- 
 ishment pass out 
 to the points 
 where they are 
 needed, and in 
 their place the 
 blood takes up all the unhealthy and decayed matter, that 
 it may be thrown off. 
 
 After this process, the smallest veins receive the blood 
 
36 
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
 from the capillaries, and 
 carry it to larger veins. 
 These cany it to still 
 larger, till finally it all 
 is conducted, by the two 
 great veins, to the right 
 side of the heart. 
 
 Here is a drawing 
 that represents the sys- 
 tem of veins, though 
 very imperfectly. They 
 are spread out more 
 than they are in reality, 
 and the smallest veins 
 and the capillaries are 
 not drawn. 
 
 Wherever we find a 
 large artery to carry 
 nourishing blood, near 
 it is as large a vein to 
 carry back the impure 
 blood. 
 
 The aorta has valves 
 at its junction with the 
 heart, so contrived that 
 the blood can flow read- 
 ily the right way; but 
 if it turns back it closes 
 the valves. The veini 
 also have similar valveg 
 that prevent the blood 
 from running back the 
 wrong way. 
 
 The veins are placed 
 nearest the surface, and 
 the arteries deeper. 
 
 The pure blood in the 
 
 Questions. "What does Fig. 20 represent? Do the large veins and 
 arteries run near together ? Where are valves placed, and for what pur- 
 pose ? Which are nearest the surface, the arteries or the veins? 
 
ORGANS THAT CONVEY NOURISHMENT. 37 
 
 arteries is a bright vermilion color. The impure blood in 
 the veins is darker, and more of a purple color. The blood 
 in the arteries flows with regular pulsations corresponding 
 with the beats of the heart ; but in the veins it flows in a 
 steady stream. 
 
 In a full-grown person there are about thirty pounds, or 
 fifteen quarts, of blood, and every beat of the "heart sends 
 out about two ounces, while there are from seventy to eighty 
 heart-beats a minute. Thus in each hour over a hogshead 
 of blood passes through the heart. Ah amount of blood 
 equal to the whole in the body passes through the heart in 
 from six to eight minutes. 
 
 In the extremities and capillaries the blood usually flows 
 slower than elsewhere. Thus, though the heart sends out 
 and receives a hogshead of blood every hour, and has an 
 amount equal to the blood of the whole body pour through it 
 every six or eight minutes, it is not true that all the blood 
 of the body passes through the heart thus often, for some 
 portions are returned more frequently than others. 
 
 Whenever any part of the body is chilled with cold, the 
 blood retreats from that part, and, of course, accumulates in 
 other organs. The health of the body very much depends 
 upon equalizing the circulation. It is probable that in a joer- 
 fectly healthy body the circulation is nearly equal in every 
 part. 
 
 The manner in which the exercise of the muscles quick- 
 ens the circulation of the blood will now be explained. . 
 
 It has been stated that the veins abound in every part of 
 every muscle, and that the large veins have valves which 
 prevent the blood from flowing backward. 
 
 If the wrist is grasped tightly, the veins of the hand are 
 immediately swollen. This is owing to the fact that the 
 blood is prevented from flowing toward the heart by this 
 pressure, while the arteries, being placed deeper down, are 
 
 Questions. What is said of the color and movement of the blood in 
 the veins and arteries ? How much blood is there in a full-grown per- 
 son ? How much passes through the heart at every beat ? How much 
 every hour ? How does the blood flow in the capillaries and extremities ? 
 Does all the blood of the body pass through the heart equally often ? 
 What is the effect when any part of the body is chilled ? What does the 
 health of the body depend upon ? Explain the effect that follow* tho 
 tight grasping of the wrist. 
 
38 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 not so compressed, and continue to send the blood into the 
 hand, and thus it accumulates. As soon as this pressure is 
 removed, the blood springs forward from the restraint with 
 accelerated motion. 
 
 This same process takes place when the muscles are ex- 
 ercised. The contraction of any muscle presses some of 
 the veins, so that the blood can not flow the natural way, 
 while the valves in the veins prevent its flowing backward. 
 Meantime the arteries continue to press the blood along 
 until the veins become swollen. Then, as soon as the mus- 
 cle ceases its cpntraction, the blood flows faster from the 
 previous accumulation. 
 
 If, then, we use a number of muscles, and use them 
 strongly and quickly, there are so many veins affected in 
 this way as to quicken the whole circulation. The heart 
 receives blood faster, and sends it to the lungs faster. Then 
 the lungs work quicker, to furnish the oxygen required by 
 the greater amount of blood. The blood returns with great- 
 er speed to the heart, and the heart sends it out with quicker 
 action through the arteries to the capillaries. In the cap- 
 illaries, too, the decayed matter is carried off faster, and 
 then the stomach calls for more food to furnish new and 
 pure blood. Thus it is that exercise gives new life and 
 nourishment to every part of the body. 
 
 Questions. How does using the muscles quicken the flow of the blood ? 
 "What is the benefit of quickening the circulation ? 
 
LESSON FIFTH. 
 
 ORGANS THAT PURIFY THE BODY. 
 
 WE have seen that the impure blood is sent from the 
 heart to the lungs to be purified. The process by which 
 this is effected will now be explained. 
 
 The air we breathe is composed of two invisible gases, 
 called oxygen and nitrogen. These are always mixed in ex- 
 actly the same proportions ; that is, every hundred pounds 
 of air consists of twenty-one pounds of oxygen and seventy- 
 nine of nitrogen. 
 
 There is another gas called hydrogen, and when this is 
 united with oxygen it forms water. The oxygen can be 
 taken from water, and then the hydrogen that remains burns 
 more readily than any other substance. Many persons 
 think that some day a way will be discovered of separating 
 the hydrogen of water from its oxygen, so that fires and 
 lights can be made by burning the hydrogen. 
 
 Carbon is a solid substance. Wood and charcoal consist 
 chiefly of carbon. When oxygen unites with carbon it pro- 
 duces fire with its light and heat. 
 
 Almost the whole of our bodies is formed by the combi- 
 nation of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen. 
 
 The oxygen of the air has a stronger attraction to some 
 bodies than it has to its own nitrogen ; so that, in certain 
 circumstances, it will leave the nitrogen and unite with 
 these bodies. When oxygen unites with carbon, in certain 
 proportions, il forms an invisible gas, called carbonic acid. 
 This is heavier than the air, so that, when pure, it can be 
 put in a bowl and poured out like water, and it will then 
 sink to the earth. 
 
 Questions. Of what is the air composed, and in what proportions? 
 Of what is water composed ? What is said about hydrogen ? Of what 
 four substances are our bodies chiefly composed ? How is carbonic acid 
 formed ? What is said of its weight ? 
 
40 
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Carbonic acid, if taken into the lungs instead of air, will 
 destroy life, though it may be mixed with the air in small 
 quantities, and inhaled without immediate injury. It is 
 never the case that the air is perfectly free from a small 
 quantity of this gas. 
 
 Having explained the construction of the air, we will now 
 notice that of the lungs. Here is a drawing {Fig. 21) which 
 represents the windpipe (or trachea) and the bronchial tubes, 
 Fig. 21. 
 
 L, larynx, or top of the wind- 
 pipe. 
 
 T, windpipe. 
 
 D, two branches of the wind- 
 pipe. 
 
 B, B 5, branches of the wind- 
 pipe inside of the lungs. 
 
 L L, outside of one lung. 
 
 B7/ 
 
 which convey air to the lungs, and are branches of the wind- 
 pipe. These branch out into innumerably fine tubes, each 
 one of which terminates in an air-cell. In this drawing 
 you see the outside of one of the lungs on the right hand, 
 and on the other side you see the branches of the wind- 
 pipe. Each of these very minute tubes has an air-cell 
 which is supplied with air through the tube. Whenever 
 
 Questions. What is the effect of carbonic acid if taken into the lungs 
 instead of air? What does Fi{j. 21 represent? What are the names of 
 the several parts? What is done by the windpipe and bronchial tubes? 
 
ORGANS THAT PURIFY THE BODY. 
 
 41 
 
 we inspire the air all these tubes and air-cells should be 
 filled. 
 
 The following drawing is an enlarged view of the air-cells 
 which are at the end of the air-tubes that run from the 
 windpipe. Fig. 22 shows them as cut open, and Fig. 23 
 presents the outside of them. 
 
 Fig. 22. 
 
 Fig. 23. 
 
 These air-cells are formed chiefly of capillaries, which 
 receive the blood sent from the heart to the lungs. Thus 
 when the air-cell is filled with the air we breathe, it at the 
 same time has its capillaries filled with blood. jp^. 24. 
 Thus the air and the blood have nothing but *s 
 a very thin skin, or membrane, to separate " * 
 them. Vein. || Artery. 
 
 Here is a drawing (Fig. 24) that repre- 
 sents an enlarged air-cell. It shows how the 
 blood is brought by an artery to the air-cell, 
 and then, after winding through the capilla- 
 ries, how it flows to the vein which conducts 
 it back to the heart. 
 
 Now, it is while the impure blood is thus 
 passing through these capillaries of the air- 
 cells that the process of its purification takes 
 place. The impure part of the blood consists 
 
 Questions -What is at the end of the windpipe and bronchial tubes ? 
 "What is at the end of these tubes ? Of what are these cells formed ? 
 When these cells are filled with air and the capillaries with blood, what 
 separates them? Explain Fig, 24. What kind of blood passes through 
 the capillaries of the air-cells ? 
 
42 
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 chiefly of carbonic add. This acid has a stronger attraction 
 for the air in the cell than for the blood, and so it passes 
 through the thin membrane and unites with the air. At 
 the same time the oxygen of the air has a stronger attrac- 
 tion for the blood than it has for its own nitrogen, and so 
 it also passes through the membrane and joins the blood in 
 the capillaries. 
 
 Thus the blood in the capillaries of the air-cells is puri- 
 fied by giving up its carbonic acid to the air, and receiving 
 the oxygen of the air in return. The air expired from our 
 lungs has thus lost a large portion of its oxygen, and re- 
 ceived as much carbonic acid in its place. 
 
 When the blood comes into the capillaries of the air-cells, 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 A, aorta. T, windpipe. L B, left branch of the windpipe. P A, artery 
 carrying blood to the lungs. P V, vein bringing blood back to the heart. 
 
 Questions. Of what does the impure portion of the blood consist ? For 
 what has this acid a strong attraction, and what is the consequence ? 
 For what has the oxygen of the air a strong attraction, and what is the 
 result? How, then, is the blood purified? What is said of the air that 
 is expired from our lungs ? 
 
ORGANS THAT PURIFY THE BODY. 43 
 
 it is impure with carbonic acid; when it returns from the 
 lungs to the heart, it is supplied with the life-giving and 
 purifying oxygen. 
 
 Fig. 25 (on the opposite page) shows the heart, with 
 parts of its great veins and arteries, and also one of the 
 lungs. 
 
 In this drawing of the lung the upper portion, which is 
 light, shows the manner in which the arteries and veins of 
 the lungs carry the blood to and from the heart. The large 
 artery marked P A is the pulmonary artery, and its many 
 branches carry the impure blood to the capillaries which 
 form the air-cells ; P V represents the pulmonary vein, whose 
 branches bring back the blood from the capillaries of the 
 air-cells to the heart ; L B is a branch of the windpipe, and 
 its many branches conduct the air to the air-cells. The 
 lower and dark portion of the lung represents the exterior 
 part. We have now seen how the blood is purified in the 
 capillaries of the lungs. We will now attend to the pro- 
 cess which takes place in the capillaries all over the body. > 
 
 The pure -blood is distributed to the capillaries in all 
 parts of the body by the aorta and its branches. This blood 
 consists of new chyle which the stomach has provided, and 
 the blood which has been purified by giving out carbonic 
 acid and receiving oxygen. 
 
 As it passes through the capillaries of the body the oxy- 
 gen is attracted by the carbon of the decayed portions which 
 need to be removed. This union of the oxygen and carbon 
 produces the carbonic acid which renders the blood dark 
 and impure. The veins collect this impure blood and carry 
 it to the heart. At the same time the fresh chyle of the 
 blood is deposited in place of the decayed matter, which has 
 been thus removed. 
 
 Thus, in the capillaries all over the body, the arterial 
 blood imparts oxygen to unite with the decaying particles 
 
 Questions. How is the blood when it enters the air-cells, and how is 
 it when it returns ? What does Fig. 25 show ? What does the light por- 
 tion of the lung represent ? What is represented by P A, P V, and L B ? 
 What does the lower and dark portion of the lung represent? By what 
 is the pure blood sent to the capillaries of the body ? Of what does this 
 blood consist ? What attracts the oxygen iu the capillaries, 'and what is 
 thus produced ? 
 
44 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 that are thus turned to carbonic acid, while the new chyle 
 fills up the vacancy. 
 
 Meantime the veins draw off the carbonic acid, and carry 
 it to the lungs to be thrown out. 
 
 We shall see, in another place, that this union of the 
 oxygen and carbon in the capillaries produces the animal 
 heat which keeps our bodies warmer than the air around 
 us. 
 
 The great thing, then, which is indispensable to the puri- 
 fying of the body is, that the lungs should have a full sup- 
 ply of oxygen. There are two ways in which this is pre- 
 vented : one is, by the mixture of carbonic acid w r ith the 
 pure air, and the other is, by thinning the air with heat. 
 
 We should take about half a pint of air at each inspira- 
 tion. Now, if a large portion of this is carbonic acid, in- 
 stead of the pure atmosphere, we lose the same proportion 
 of the needful supply of oxygen at every breath. Heat makes 
 the air thinner, so that there is less oxygen in half a pint 
 of warm air than in the same quantity of cold air. If we 
 breathe warm air, then, less oxygen is obtained than when 
 we breathe cold air. 
 
 We have seen how the air is thrown out from the lungs, 
 loaded with carbonic acid, and deprived of its oxygen. As 
 we breathe about twenty times a minute, and use half a pint 
 of air at each breath, it can be seen by calculation that every 
 pair of lungs vitiates one hogshead of air every hour. For 
 this reason, it is indispensable to the health of the body 
 that, when we are confined to any room, there should be 
 a gentle but constant current, that shall carry off every 
 hour just as much air as the lungs in that room have viti- 
 ated. This is the guide to the rule for ventilating rooms. 
 Just in proportion to the number of persons breathing in a 
 room or house, should be the amount of air brought in and 
 carried out by the arrangements for ventilation. 
 
 The membrane that forms the air-cells of the lungs, if 
 
 Questions. What part do the veins and chyle perform ? How Is ani- 
 mal heat produced ? What is indispensable to the purifying of the hody ? 
 In what two ways is this prevented ? How much air should be taken 
 into the lungs at each inspiration ? What is the effect of carbonic acid 
 and of heat ? How much air does one pair of lungs vitiate every hour ? 
 How much air should be removed from a room ? 
 
ORGANS THAT PURIFY THE BODY. 45 
 
 all united and spread out in one sheet, would cover the floor 
 of a room twelve feet square. Every breath that fills the 
 lungs brings a surface of air in contact with this extent of 
 membrane, and then the oxygen of the air and the car- 
 bonic acid of the blood change places. This shows more 
 vividly what mischief must ensue when the air inspired is 
 loaded with carbonic acid from other lungs, in place of the 
 pure and life-giving oxygen. 
 
 The air can not retain over ten per cent, of carbonic acid. 
 After thus much has been mixed with the air no more can 
 be received ; but it sinks and accumulates. Were it not 
 for this the air would be oftener rendered entirely deadly, 
 so that life would cease in great crowds. 
 
 It must be remembered that a portion of the oxygen car- 
 ried from the lungs to the capillaries unites with hydrogen, 
 and forms water. This is thrown out, by the lungs and skin, 
 with the carbonic acid. 
 
 There are two methods by which the lungs are filled with 
 air ; one is, by a rising and outward motion of the ribs en- 
 larging the space around the lungs. Then the air rushes in 
 and fills the air-vessels in the upper portion of the lungs. 
 
 The other method is, by the action of the diaphragm and 
 abdominal muscles. The diaphragm, by the contraction of 
 its muscles, is drawn downward, and thus the intestines are 
 pressed downward. This enlarges the space at the bottom 
 of the lungs, and the air fills the air-cells in that portion. 
 Then the muscles of the abdomen contract, and press the 
 intestines upward against the diaphragm, which also moves 
 upward. In this way the air is expelled from the lower 
 portion of the lungs. 
 
 There are more air-cells in the lower than in the upper 
 part of the lungs, and for this reason the abdominal breath- 
 ing is of more consequence than the breathing effected by 
 the ribs. 
 
 When the body is perfectly free, and breathing natural, 
 
 Questions. What is the extent of the air-cell membrane ? What is 
 said in reference to this extent of membrane in the air-cells ? What 
 quantity of carbonic acid can the air hold, and what becomes of the ex- 
 cess ? How is water formed in the capillaries, and how is it thrown off? 
 Describe the two methods of breathing. What part of the lungs has the 
 most air-cells? 
 
46 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 there is more motion of the abdomen than of the chest 
 in breathing. This may be observed in a healthy young 
 child. 
 
 It is important that this should be well understood, as 
 the modes of dress are often such as to stop the abdominal 
 breathing almost entirely, and thus to keep a large portion 
 of the lower cells of the lungs entirely without air, 
 
 It is probable that there is more decay of health and 
 strength, in this nation, from the breathing of impure air 
 than from any other cause. 
 
 As every minute point in the whole body depends, for its 
 strength and purification, on the oxygen that the air sends 
 to the capillaries, any failure in this affects the whole sys- 
 tem slowly but surely. And what makes the evil a peculiar- 
 ly difficult one to meet, this decay of constitution is so slow 
 and imperceptible that it is never realized. 
 
 Questions. What is a chief cause of decay of health in this nation ? 
 How is the evil effected, and why is it a difficult one to meet ? 
 
LESSON SIXTH. 
 
 ORGANS THAT PREPARE NOURISHMENT FOR THE BODY. 
 
 WE have seen how the blood is carried by the arteries 
 from the heart into the capillaries, and that the whole body, 
 is nourished by it in these minute vessels. We will now 
 attend to the process by which the blood is manufactured 
 from the food and drink. 
 
 The solid portions of food are first divided by chewing, 
 in order to mix it with the saliva or spittle. This liquid 
 exudes from small glands placed near the side of 
 the mouth. Its use is to moisten the food, so that it will 
 glide easily down to the stomach, and it also aids in dis- 
 solving it. 
 
 The stomach is a bag that will hold from a quart to three 
 pints, according to the size and age of a person. Here is a 
 drawing showing its shape. 
 
 Fig. 26. 
 
 Questions. In turning food to blocd what is the first thing don< 
 Where is the saliva, and what is its use ? How large is the stomach ? 
 
 e? 
 
48 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 The stomach has three coats. The outer one is strong 
 and smooth. The middle one consists of muscles, one set 
 running one way and the other set another. In the draw- 
 ing the outer coat is removed, and at LM are shown one 
 set and at CM the other set of muscles. The muscles move 
 the food by constantly contracting and relaxing. 
 
 The inner coat consists chiefly of blood-vessels, from 
 Avhich exudes the gastric juice furnished by the blood to dis- 
 solve the food. The blood-vessels in this inner coat also 
 draw into the blood all water or other liquid that enters the 
 stomach, except what may be needed to keep the food of a 
 proper consistency during the process of digestion. 
 
 As soon as food enters the stomach, these muscles begin 
 to contract and relax alternately; making a motion that 
 turns the food over and over, and moves it constantly from 
 one end of the stomach to the other, in order that it may be 
 thoroughly mixed with the gastric juice. 
 
 After the food enters the stomach, the veins of the inner 
 coat draw off the superfluous liquids, and then the gastric 
 juice pours into the stomach, and the muscles work with 
 strong and steady action, from two to four hours, until the 
 food is reduced to a thin paste. It then passes through a 
 small valve, or door, which opens at the smaller end of the 
 stomach to whatever food is well prepared ; but if any comes 
 that is still undigested, this valve closes tight and the food 
 returns till it is properly digested. Should there be food 
 that will not digest, it keeps returning to this valve till its 
 muscles are tired out, and then the undigested mass is al- 
 lowed to pass through. 
 
 After passing this valve (which is marked PO in the 
 drawing) the food receives bile from the liver, and also the 
 pancreatic juice from the pancreas, and these two liquids 
 change it into a thinner, whitish liquid called chyle; then, 
 it passes through the lower intestines. 
 
 Questions. How many skins has the stomach ? What is the outer 
 one? Of what does the middle one consist? Describe the drawing. Of 
 what docs the inner skin consist? What office do these blood-vessels 
 perform ? What follows as soon as the food enters the stomach ? How 
 long do the muscles work ? Where does the food pass after it is changed 
 to a thin paste ? What is done when food ife not well digested ? After 
 passing the valve what is added to the food, and what effect is thus pro- 
 duced Through what does the chyle pass ? 
 
ORGANS THAT PREPARE NOURISHMENT. 
 
 Fig. 2T. 
 
 49 
 
 L is the liver. 
 
 S s is the stomach. 
 
 P is the pancreas, 
 most of it hid. 
 
 G B is the gall-blad- 
 der that receives the 
 bile. 
 
 S is the spleen, most 
 of it hid. 
 
 D is the place where 
 the bile and pancreatic 
 juice enter. 
 
 SI are the small in- 
 testines through which 
 the chyle passes. 
 
 LI is the .colon, or 
 large intestine, and at 
 its end is the rectum, 
 marked R, which is the 
 outlet. 
 
 Fig. 27 is a drawing of the organs described, together 
 with the lower intestines, through which the chyle is car- 
 ried. They are not in their natural position, as they are 
 when packed closely in the body. 
 
 The chyle, when prepared, passes through the white, 
 smooth, satin-like intestines, that are about twenty-four feet 
 long, all neatly folded up in the abdomen. On the inside 
 of these intestines are the mouths of very small tubes, called 
 lactealsj about the size of a fine hair, which gradually draw 
 off this chyle and carry it to a reservoir called the thoracic 
 
 Questions. Describe Fiy. 27. How long are the intestines through 
 which the chyle passes ? What and where are the lacteals, and what do 
 they do? 
 
 D 
 
50 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 duct. This empties it into a vein near the heart, to be 
 mixed with the other blood. 
 
 Fig. 28 (on the next page) is a picture of a small portion 
 of the intestines, with the little vessels drawing off the chyle, 
 and carrying it to the thoracic duct. It should be exam- 
 ined by aid of the key before proceeding. 
 
 It has been shown that the body is constantly decaying, 
 and its dead particles are carried away by the veins, while 
 the arteries bring a new supply of fresh blood from the heart 
 to the capillaries. It is here shown how the capillaries are 
 all depending on the stomach to furnish them with fresh 
 chyle, which is to supply the place of the particles removed. 
 
 The stomach is so made that as soon as the capillaries 
 need more chyle the sensation of hunger corned. This is the 
 call of the stomach for more food, and if the needful supply 
 is not obtained, a feeling of weakness and faintness pervades 
 the whole body. Every part is calling for its needed food, 
 and if it is withheld very long the suffering becomes intol- 
 erable. There is no suffering more distressing than this 
 pining of every part of the body for the nourishing particles 
 that the capillaries receive from the chyle, which the stom- 
 ach alone can supply. 
 
 One of the most important portions of this subject is the 
 manner in which the intestines in the thorax and abdomen 
 are packed and retained firmly in their right position through 
 all the labors, accidents, and injuries to which the body is 
 exposed. 
 
 It has been shown that the thorax is filled with the lieart 
 and lungs. The foundation or elastic floor on which they 
 rest is the diaphragm, whose muscles, by contracting and 
 relaxing, lift the heart and lungs upward when we expire, 
 while they sink when we inspire the air. 
 
 Directly under the diaphragm are the stomach, liver, 
 spleen, and pancreas. Under these are the long intestines 
 through which the chyle passes ; and beneath the whole are 
 the pelvic organs. 
 
 Questions. Where does the thoracic duct empty ? What does Fig. ?S 
 represent? Explain it. On what do the capillaries depend for fresh 
 chyle ? When does hunger come ? What follows if no supply is given ? 
 "What organs fill the thorax ? How are the other intestines arranged ? 
 
ORGANS THAT PREPARE NOURISHMENT. 
 
 Fig. 28. 
 
 S, the windpipe. 
 
 T D, the thoracic duct. 
 
 J v > jugular vein into which the thoracic duct empties the chyle. 
 
 R C, a reservoir that receives the chyle from the intestines. 
 
 L M, a portion of the smaller intestines where the lacteala are seen draw- 
 ing the chyle and carrying it to the reservoir, R C. 
 
 A A are lacteals coming from other parts of the intestines with chyle 
 to be emptied into the reservoir, R C. 
 
52 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Fig. 29 and its key illustrate the position of these organs, 
 and should be examined here. 
 
 Packing of the Intestine*. 
 
 c, the -windpipe. 
 , the aorta. 
 
 A, the heart. 
 
 B B, the two lungs. 
 
 d, the diaphragm at its low- 
 est position when the hmgs 
 are inflated. 
 
 c, the liver. 
 
 D, the stomach. 
 
 S, the spleen. 
 
 Z, the gall-bladder. 
 
 o, the pancreas. 
 
 in m, the two kidneys. 
 
 ww, the smaller intestines 
 through which the chyle first 
 passes. 
 
 //, the colon, or largest in- 
 testine, that terminates with 
 the rectum, which is the final 
 exit from the body. 
 
 o o, the two ovaries.) p , . 
 
 ?, the uterus. 
 
 p, the bladder. 
 
 In the front outer covering of the abdomen are very im- 
 portant muscles which press the intestines firmly inward and 
 upward. These are called the abdominal muscles. Some 
 run across the abdomen from side to side, and are fastened 
 to the hips and ribs. Some run upward and downward, 
 
 Questions. Explain Fig. 29. Where are the abdominal muscles, and 
 how are they fastened ? 
 
ORGANS THAT PREPARE NOURISHMENT. 53 
 
 and are fastened above to the breast-bone, and below to the 
 pelvic bone. Besides holding up the intestines in their place, 
 these muscles have a most important office in aiding res- 
 piration. When the diaphragm contracts it is drawn down- 
 ward, and thus presses the abdominal viscera downward. 
 This makes room for air in the lungs, which rushes in and 
 fills the lowest air-cells. Then the diaphragm relaxes, and 
 the abdominal muscles contract, pressing the intestines up- 
 ward, and thus pressing the air out of the lungs. 
 
 This alternate pressing of the diaphragm downward, and 
 then of the abdominal muscles upward, is the process of 
 abdominal respiration. 
 
 Some of the most dreadful evils that afflict both sexes re- 
 sult from a debility and relaxation of the abdominal muscles, 
 which lessen their power to sustain the intestines that de- 
 pend on them for support. In consequence of this there 
 are displacements and disordered action that inflict the ihost 
 terrible suffering, especially on the female sex. The evils 
 from this cause will be explained hereafter. 
 
 Questions. Explain the method of abdominal respiration. What 
 consequences follow the debility of the abdominal muscles ? 
 
LESSON SEVENTH. 
 
 ORGANS OF THE MIND OR SPIRIT. 
 
 THE body has no power to move itself, but is a collection 
 of instruments to be used by the mind in securing various 
 kinds of knowledge and enjoyment. The organs through 
 which the mind controls the body are the brain and nerves. 
 The drawing on the next page (Fig. 30) represents them. 
 
 The brain lies in the skull, and is divided into the large 
 or upper brain, and the small or lower brain. From the brain 
 runs the spinal marrow through the spine or backbone. 
 From, each side of the spine the large nerves run out into 
 innumerable smaller branches to every portion of the body. 
 The drawing shows only some of the larger branches. 
 
 The brain and nerves consist of two kinds of nervous 
 matter; the gray, which is supposed to be the portion that 
 originates and controls a nervous fluid which imparts power 
 of action ; and the white, which seems to conduct this fluid 
 to every part of the body. 
 
 The brain and nervous system are divided into distinct 
 portions, each having different offices to perform, and each 
 acting independently of the others. One portion of the 
 brain is employed by the mind in thinking, in feeling pleas- 
 urable or painful emotions, and in choosing or willing. The 
 nerves that run to the nose, ears, eyes, and tongue, are em- 
 ployed in seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting. 
 
 The front portion of the spinal marrow and the nerves 
 that run from it are employed in sensation, or the sense of 
 feeling. These nerves extend over the whole body, but are 
 
 Questions. What are the organs by which the mind controls the 
 body? What does Fig. 80 represent? How is the brain divided ? What 
 runs from the brain, and what branches from it ? Of what kinds of ma- 
 terial does the brain consist, and what is done by each ? How are the 
 brain and nervous system divided ? What is said of one portion of the 
 brain ? What of the nerves running to the eyes, ears, nose, and tongue ? 
 What of the front portion of the spinal marrow, and the nerves running 
 from it ? What are they named ? Where do these nerves extend ? 
 
ORGANS OF THE MIND OR SPIRIT. 
 
 Fig. 30. 
 
 ""* Upper brain. 
 
 Lower brain. 
 Spinal marrom 
 
 55 
 
 largely developed in the net-work of nerves in the skin. The 
 back portion of the spinal marrow and its branches are em- 
 ployed in moving those muscles in all parts of the body 
 
56 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 which are controlled by the will or choice of the mind. 
 These are called the ne?-ves of motion. 
 
 The nerves of sensation and nerves of motion, although 
 they start from different portions of the spine, are united in 
 the same sheath, or cover, in the muscles. Thus, every 
 muscle is moved by nerves of motion, while alongside of 
 this nerve, in the same sheath, is a nerve of sensation. 
 All the nerves of motion and sensation are connected with 
 that part of the brain which is used when we think, feel, 
 and choose. By this arrangement the mind knows what is 
 wanted in all parts of the body by means of the nerves of 
 sensation, and then it acts by means of the nerves of motion. 
 
 For example, when we feel the cold air on the skin, the 
 nerves of sensation report to the brain, and thus to the mind, 
 that the body is growing cold. The mind thus knows that 
 more clothing is needed, and wills to have the eyes look for 
 it, and the hands and feet move to get it. This is done by 
 the nerves of sight and of motion. 
 
 Next are the nerves of involuntary motion, which move all 
 those parts of the head, face, and body, that are used in 
 breathing, and in other operations connected with it. By 
 these we continue to breathe when asleep, and whether we 
 will to do so or not. There are also some of the nerves of 
 voluntary motion that are mixed with these, which enable 
 the mind to stop respiration, or to regulate it to a certain 
 extent. But the mind has no power to stop it for any great 
 length of time. 
 
 There is another large and important system of nerves 
 called the sympathetic or ganglionic system. It consists of 
 small masses of gray and white nervous matter, that seem 
 to be small brains with nerves running from them. These 
 are called ganglia, and are arranged each side of the spine, 
 while small nerves from the spinal marrow run into them, 
 thus uniting the sympathetic system with the nerves of the 
 spine. These ganglia are also distributed around in vari- 
 
 Questions. What is said of the back portion of the spinal marrow 
 and its branches ? What are these nerves called ? How are the nerves 
 of motion and sensation united ? By what does the mind know what is 
 wanted ? By what does it act ? What example is given ? What is done 
 by the nerves of involuntary motion ? Of what does the sympathetic or 
 ganglionic system consist ? What and where are the ganglia ? 
 
ORGANS OF THE MIND OR SPIRIT. 57 
 
 ous parts of the interior of the body, especially in the intes- 
 tines, and all the different ganglia are connected with each 
 other by nerves, thus making one system. 
 
 It is the ganglionic system that carries on the circulation 
 of the blood, the action of the capillaries, lymphatics, arte- 
 ries, and veins, together with the work of secretion, absorp- 
 tion, and most of the internal working of the body, which 
 goes forward without any knowledge or control of the mind. 
 
 The following is a recapitulation of the preceding divis- 
 ions of the nervous system : 
 
 First, the brain, by which we think, will, and feel pleas- 
 urable or painful emotions. 
 
 Second, the nerves of seeing, hearing, tasting, and smelling. 
 
 Third, the nerves of respiration, and the operations con- 
 nected with it. 
 
 Fourth, the nerves of sensation and of motion. 
 
 Fifth, the ganglionic or sympathetic nerves. 
 
 There are a few nerves not included in this classification, 
 but there is no need of describing them. 
 
 Every portion of the body has nerves of sensation coming 
 from the spine, and also branches of the sympathetic or 
 ganglionic system. The object of this is to form a sympa- 
 thetic communication between the several parts of the body, 
 and also to enable the mind to receive through the brain 
 some general knowledge of the state of the whole system. 
 It is owing to this, that when one portion of the body is af- 
 fected, other portions sympathize. For example, if one part 
 of the body is diseased, the stomach may so sympathize as 
 to lose all appetite until the disease is removed. 
 
 All the operations of the nervous system are performed 
 by the influence of the nervous fluid, which is generated in 
 the gray portions of the brain and ganglia. Whenever a 
 nerve is cut off from its connection with these nervous cen- 
 tres, its power is gone, and the part to which it ministered 
 becomes lifeless and incapable of motion. 
 
 The brain and nerves can be overworked, and can also 
 
 Questions. What is performed by the ganglionic system ? What are 
 the five divisions of the brain and nervous system as recapitulated ? 
 How is a sympathetic communication established between all parts of 
 the body ? By what fluid are all operations of the nervous system per- 
 formed ? Where is this fluid generated ? 
 
68 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 suffer for want of exercise, just as the muscles do. It is 
 necessary for the perfect health of the brain and nerves that 
 the several portions be exercised sufficiently, and that no 
 part be exhausted by over-action. For example, the nerves 
 of sensation may be very much exercised, and the nerves of 
 motion have but little exercise. In this case, one will be 
 weakened by excess of exercise, and the other by the want 
 of it. 
 
 It is found by experience that the proper exercise of the 
 nerves of motion tends to reduce any extreme susceptibility 
 of the nerves of sensation. On the contrary, the neglect of 
 such exercise leads to produce an excessive sensibility in 
 the nerves of sensation. 
 
 Whenever that part of the brain which is employed in 
 thinking, feeling, and willing, is greatly exercised by hard 
 study, or by excessive care or emotion, the blood tends to 
 the brain to supply it with increased nourishment, just as it 
 flows to the muscles when they are exercised. Over-exer- 
 cise of this portion of the brain causes engorgement of the 
 blood-vessels. This is sometimes indicated by pain, or by 
 a sense of fullness in the head ; but oftener the result is a 
 debilitating drain on the nervous system, which depends for 
 its supply on the healthful state of the brain. 
 
 The brain has, as it were, a fountain of supply for the 
 nervous fluid, which flows to all the nerves, and stimulates 
 them to action. Some brains have a larger, and some a 
 smaller fountain, so that a degree of mental activity that 
 would entirely exhaust one, would make only a small and 
 healthful drain upon another. 
 
 The excessive use of certain portions of the brain tends 
 to withdraw the nervous energy from other portions, so that 
 one part is debilitated by excess, and the other by neglect. 
 For example, a person may so exhaust the brain power in 
 the excessive use of the nerves of motion by hard work, as 
 
 Questions. What is necessary for the perfect health of the brain and 
 nervous system ? What example is given ? What is said of the nerves 
 of motion and sensation ? How is the brain affected by hard study, and 
 excessive care or emotion ? WTiat are the indications of this ? What is 
 still oftener the result ? What fountain has the brain ? How are differ- 
 ent brains in this respect ? What effect has an excessive use of certain 
 portions of the brain on other portions ? What example is given ? 
 
ORGANS OF THE MIND OR SPIRIT. 59 
 
 to leave little for any other faculty. On the other hand, 
 the nerves of feeling and thinking may be so used as to 
 withdraw the nervous fluid from the nerves of motion, and 
 thus debilitate the muscles. 
 
 Some animal propensities may be indulged to such excess 
 as to produce a constant tendency of the blood to a certain 
 portion of the brain, and to the organs connected with it, 
 and thus cause a constant and excessive excitement, which 
 finally becomes a disease. Sometimes a paralysis of this 
 portion of the brain results from such an entire exhaustion 
 of the nervous fountain and of the overworked nerves. 
 
 So, also, the thinking portion of the brain may be so over- 
 worked as to drain the nervous fluid from other portions 
 that thus are debilited by the loss. And in this way, also, 
 the overworked portion may be diseased or paralyzed by the 
 excess. 
 
 The necessity for the equal development of all portions of 
 the brain by an appropriate exercise of all the faculties of 
 mind and body, and the influence of this upon happiness is 
 the most important portion of this subject, and will be more 
 directly exhibited in another lesson. 
 
 Questions. What is said of some animal propensities ? What is said 
 of overworking the thinking portion of the brain ? What is the most 
 important part of this subject ? 
 
LESSON EIGHTH. 
 
 ORGANS THAT SECRETE, AND THAT PURIFY THE BODY. 
 
 WE have seen that the lungs provide the oxygen for the 
 capillaries, and also throw out the decayed particles of the 
 body, as it day by day is decomposed and passes away. 
 This labor of purifying is not done by the lungs alone ; the 
 kidneys, lower intestines, and skin, all aid. Experiments 
 show that Jive-eighths of this waste matter passes off through 
 the skin. 
 
 There is no part of the body that is so complicated with 
 curious and wonderful contrivances as the skin ; nor is there 
 any that is so effective in causing either good or bad health. 
 It consists of two layers : the outside skin, called the cuticle, 
 which is very thin; and the under skin, which is much 
 thicker, called the true skin. 
 
 The cuticle is at first a transparent fluid that exudes 
 from the blood-vessels of the skin, is spread over the true 
 skin, and becomes hardened into a thin layer. The cuticle 
 is constantly forming and passing away. The external part, 
 by evaporation, changes into thin, dry scales, which rub or 
 drop away, while the blood constantly renews the under 
 portion. The white, scurfy substance that passes off so 
 distinctly in taking a warm bath, is the refuse portion of 
 the cuticle. It is the under portion of the cuticle that 
 gives color to all complexions, and which appears so di- 
 versely in the European and African races. The cuticle 
 serves to protect the delicate texture of the true skin from 
 injury. 
 
 Questions. What is done by the lungs? What other organs aid in 
 purifying the body ? What organ does the most in this way, and in 
 what proportion ? What is said of the contrivance and action of the 
 skin? Of what does it consist? How is the cuticle formed and re- 
 moved ? What part of the skin gives its color? What is the use of tha 
 cuticle ? 
 
ORGANS THAT PURIFY THE BODY. 
 
 61 
 
 The true skin consists chiefly of a net-work of blood-ves- 
 sels, nerves, lymphatics, oil glands, and perspiration tubes ; 
 while on the head and fig, 31. 
 
 several other parts of 
 the body hair is also 
 embedded and nour- 
 ished in it. Fig. 31 is 
 a drawing which repre- 
 sents some of the blood- 
 vessels of the skin, and 
 two hairs. It is very 
 greatly magnified. In 
 all parts of the skin are 
 capillaries with small 
 arteries that bring the 
 blood to them, andsmall 
 veins that carry it back 
 to the heart. The blood 
 thus winding through 
 the capillaries of the skin, exceeds in quantity what is con- 
 tained in all the other capillaries of the body. 
 
 Fig. 32 is a drawing, greatly magnified, which shows the 
 Fig. 82. 
 
 .^^Rat _ ^ 
 
 1 is the cuticle. 
 
 2 is the colored part 
 of it. 
 
 3 and 4 show the net- 
 work of nerves in the 
 true skin. 
 
 5 is the lower portion 
 of the true skin, show- 
 ing two points where 
 two nerves from tho 
 spinal marrow enter 
 and spread out into 
 the net-work above. 
 
 Questions. Of what does the true skin consist ? What does Fig. 81 
 represent ? What are in all parts of the skin ? What proportion of tho 
 blood is in the capillaries of the skin ? What does Fig. 82 illustrate ? 
 Explain it. 
 
C2 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 manner in which the nerves are spread through the true skin. 
 The nerves and capillaries interlace; and so minute and 
 close are they, that the point of a needle can not touch any 
 poinj; in the skin without touching both a nerve and a blood- 
 vessel. 
 
 Fig. 33 is a drawing that represents a greatly magnified 
 Fig. S3. view of the lymphatics or 
 
 absorbents. These are ex- 
 tremely minute vessels 
 that interlace with the 
 nerves and blood-vessels 
 of the skin. What fills 
 them is called lymph. 
 Their office is to aid in 
 collecting the useless, in- 
 jurious, or decayed mat- 
 ter, and cariy it to certain 
 reservoirs, from which it 
 passes into some of the 
 large veins to be thrown 
 out through the lungs, bowels, kidneys, or skin. 
 
 These absorbent or lymphatic vessels have mouths opening 
 on the surface of the true skin. Though under the cuticle, 
 they can absorb both liquids and solids that are placed in 
 close contact with the skin. In proof of this, one of the 
 main trunks of the lymphatics in the hand can be cut off 
 from all communication with other portions, and tied up. 
 Then if the hand is immersed in milk a given time, it will 
 be found that the milk has been absorbed through the cuti- 
 cle, and fills the lymphatics. In this way long-continued 
 blisters on the skin will introduce the blistering matter into 
 the blood through the absorbents, and then the kidneys will 
 take it up from the blood passing through them to carry it 
 out of the body, and thus become irritated and inflamed by it. 
 There are also oil tubes imbedded in the skin that draw 
 
 Questions. How close and minute are the blood-vessels and nerves 
 of the skin ? What does Fig. S3 represent ? What is the office of the 
 lymphatics ? Where do their months open ? Does the covering of the 
 cuticle prevent their absorbing ? What is a proof of this ? How do long- 
 continued blisters operate ? Where are the oil tubes, and what do they 
 do? 
 
ORGANS THAT PURIFY THE BODY. 
 
 63 
 
 off oil from the blood. This issues on the surface and 
 spreads over the cuticle to keep it soft and moist. 
 
 But the most curious part of the skin is the innumera- 
 ble minute perspiration tubes. Fig. 34: is a drawing of 
 
 The space 
 /it between 4 and 
 
 __ r -r.^/ ( ^^5 2 represents a 
 
 1 magnified view 
 
 2 of the skin with 
 
 a perspira- 
 -.-^...3 tion tube 
 ' running 
 
 ^zs^s= through it. 
 The upper por- 
 tion is the cu- 
 ticle, the lower 
 V.^;;W5S3? portion is the 
 ! true skin, and 
 ^ : ?f ----. = the dark part 
 is the colored 
 part of the cu- 
 ticle. The coil 
 of the tube is at 
 1, im- 
 bedded 
 ..2 in fat. 
 
 2... 
 
 one very greatly magnified. These 
 tubes open through the cuticle, and 
 the openings are called pores of the 
 skin. They descend into the true 
 skin, and then form a coil, as seen 
 in the drawing. These tubes are 
 hollow, like a pipe-stem, and their 
 inner surface consists of wonderful- 
 ly-minute capillaries filled with the 
 impure venous blood. And in these 
 small tubes the same process is go- 
 ing on as takes place when the car- 
 bonic acid and water of the blood 
 are exhaled from the lungs. The 
 capillaries of these tubes through 
 the whole skin of the body are 
 thus constantly exhaling the 
 noxious and decayed particles 
 of the body, just as the lungs 
 pour them out through the 
 mouth and nose. It is calcu- *"r 
 lated that about three or four 
 pounds of waste matter pass 
 *ff through the skin every twenty-four hours, and chiefly in 
 'he form of carbonic acid and water. 
 
 It has been shown that the perspiration tubes are coiled 
 up into a ball at their base. The number and extent of 
 these tubes are astonishing. In a square inch on the palm 
 of the hand have been counted, through a microscope, thirty- 
 five hundred of these tubes. Each one of them is about a 
 quarter of an inch in length, including its coils. This makes 
 
 Questions. What is the most curious part of the skin ^ What does 
 Fig. 84 exhibit ? Where do these tubes open ? How are they placed in 
 the skin ^ Of what does their inner surface consist ? What process 
 takes place in these tubes? How much in weight passes the skin every 
 twenty-four hours, and in what form? How many of these tubes are 
 there iu a square inch of the skin? 
 
64 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 the united lengths of these little tubes to be seventy-three 
 feet to a square inch. Their united length over the whole 
 body is thus calculated to be equal to twenty-eight miles! 
 What a wonderful apparatus this! And what mischiefs 
 must ensue when the drainage from the body of such an 
 extent as this becomes obstructed ! 
 
 MUCOUS MEMBRANE. 
 
 But the inside of the body also has a skin, as have all its 
 organs. The interior of the head, the throat, the gullet, 
 the lungs, the stomach, and all the intestines are lined 
 with a skin. This is called the mucous membrane, because 
 it is constantly secreting from the blood a slimy substance 
 called mucus. When it accumulates in the lungs it is called 
 phlegm. This inner skin also has nerves, blood-vessels, and 
 lymphatics. The outer skin joins to the inner at the mouth, 
 the nose, and other openings of the body, and there is a 
 constant sympathy between the two skins, and thus between 
 the inner organs and the surface of the body. 
 
 The skin has the office of regulating the heat of the body 
 by a process that will be explained in another place. 
 
 SECRETING ORGANS. 
 
 Those vessels of the body which draw off certain portions 
 of the blood and change it into a new form to be employed 
 for service or to be thrown out of the body, are called secret- 
 ing organs. The skin in this sense is a secreting organ, as 
 its perspiration tubes secrete the bad portions of the blood 
 and send them off. 
 
 Of the internal secreting organs the liver is the largest. Its 
 office is to secrete from the blood certain portions for certain 
 uses, all of which, as yet, are not fully known. A set of veins 
 carry the blood of all the lower intestines to the liver, where 
 a part is drawn off in the form otbik, and accumulated in a res- 
 ervoir called the gall-bladder. From thence it passes into the 
 
 Questions. If all the tubes were united, how long would the whole be ? 
 What is said of the internal skin ? Why is it called the mucous mem- 
 brane ? What is called phlegm t Where do the outer and inner skins join ? 
 What other office has the skin ? What are the secreting organs ? Why 
 is the skin one of them? What is the largest internal secreting organ? 
 What is its office ? How is this done ? What is said of the bile ? 
 
ORGANS THAT PURIFY THE BODY. 65 
 
 intestines, mixes with the food from the stomach, and aids 
 in its digestion. The liver also has arterial blood sent to 
 nourish it, and corresponding veins to return this blood to 
 the heart. So there are two sets of blood-vessels for the 
 liver, one to secrete the bile, and the other to nourish the 
 organ itself. 
 
 The kidneys secrete from the arteries that pass through 
 them all excess of water in the blood, and certain injurious 
 substances. These are carried through small tubes to the 
 bladder, and thence thrown out of the body. 
 
 The pancreas secretes from the arteries that pass through 
 it the pancreatic juice, which unites with the bile from the 
 liver in preparing the food for nourishing the body. 
 
 There are certain little glands near the eyes that secrete 
 the tears, and others near the mouth that secrete the saliva 
 or spittle. 
 
 These organs all have arteries sent to them to nourish 
 them, and also veins to carry away the impure blood. At 
 the same time they secrete from the blood the peculiar fluid 
 which it is their office to supply. 
 
 All the food that passes through the lower intestines 
 which is not drawn off by the lacteals or by some of these 
 secreting organs passes from the body through a passage 
 called the rectum. 
 
 Learned men have made veiy curious experiments to as- 
 certain how much the several organs throw out of the body. 
 It is found that the skin throws off five out of eight pounds 
 of what passes from the body, or probably about three or four 
 pounds a day. The lungs throw off one quarter as much 
 as the skin, or about a pound a day. The remainder is 
 carried off by the kidneys and lower intestines. 
 
 There is such a sympathy and connection between the 
 secreting organs of the body, that when one of them is un- 
 able to work, the others perform the office of the feeble one. 
 Thus, if the skin has its perspiration tubes closed up by a 
 
 Questions. What are the two sets of blood-vessels provided for the 
 liver ? What do the kidneys secrete ? What does the pancreas ? How- 
 are the tears and saliva secreted? What passes through the rectum? 
 What proportion of the food and drink is thrown off by the skin, lungs, 
 kidneys, and lower intestines ? When one of the secreting organs is un- 
 able to do its work what follows ? 
 
 E 
 
66 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 chill, then all the poisonous matter that would have been 
 thrown out through them must be emptied out either by the 
 lungs, kidneys, or bowels. 
 
 When all these organs are strong and healthy, they can 
 bear this increased labor without injury. But if the lungs 
 are weak, the blood sent from the skin by the chill engorges 
 the weak blood-vessels, and produces an inflammation of the 
 lungs. Or it increases the discharge of a slimy mucous sub- 
 stance, that exudes from the skin of the lungs. This fills 
 up the air-vessels, and would very soon end life, were it not 
 for the spasms of the lungs, called coughing, which throw 
 off this substance. 
 
 If, on the other hand, the bowels are weak, the chill on 
 the skin, sending the blood into all the blood-vessels of the 
 intestines, produces inflammation there, or else an excessive 
 secretion of the mucous substance, which is called a diar- 
 rhea. Or, if the kidneys are weak, there is an increased 
 secretion and discharge from them to an unhealthy and in- 
 jurious extent. 
 
 This connection between the skin and internal organs is 
 shown, not only by the effects of a chill on the skin, but by 
 the sympathetic effect on itself when these internal organs 
 suffer. For example, there are some kinds of food that 
 will irritate and influence the stomach or the bowels, and 
 this, by sympathy, will produce an immediate eruption on 
 the skin. 
 
 Some persons, on eating strawberries, will immediately 
 be affected with a nettle-rash. Others can not eat certain 
 shell-fish without being affected in this way. Many humors 
 on the face are caused by a diseased state of the internal 
 organs with which the skin sympathizes. 
 
 This short account of the construction of the skin, and 
 of its intimate connection with the internal organs, shows 
 the philosophy of those modes of medical treatment that are 
 addressed to this portion of the body. 
 
 It is on this powerful agency that the steam doctors rely, 
 
 Questions. When the secreting organs are all strong, how is it ? But 
 if the lungs are weak, how does a chill of the skin operate ? What is 
 coughing ? What is the effect of a chill when the howels are weak ? What 
 is the effect of a chill when the kidneys are weak ? How else is the 
 sympathy bs|we,e.a Uii Outer skin and inner organs shown ? 
 
ORGANS THAT PURIFY THE BODY. 57 
 
 when, by moisture and heat, they stimulate all the innumer- 
 able perspiration tubes and lymphatics, to force out from the 
 body a flood of unnaturally excited secretions ; while it is 
 "kill or cure," just as the chance may meet or oppose the 
 demands of the case. 
 
 It is the skin also that is the chief basis of medical treat- 
 ment in the Water Cure, whose slow processes are as much 
 safer as they are slower. 
 
 At the same time it is the ill-treatment or neglect of the 
 skin which, probably, is the cause of disease and decay to 
 an incredible extent, as will be pointed out in the follow- 
 ing pages. 
 
 Questions. What is said of steam doctors and Water Cures? What 
 is said of the ill-treatment of the skin ? 
 
LESSON NINTH. 
 
 ANIMAL HEAT. 
 
 IT has been stated that the lungs and skin are the organs 
 which provide and regulate the warmth of the body. The 
 method by which this is done will now be explained. 
 
 There is an invisible agent called caloric or heat, which is 
 the cause of warmth to the body, and to every thing else. 
 Cold is simply the want of this heat. 
 
 Caloric tends to disuse itself equally ; that is, whenever 
 bodies have different degrees of heat, the caloric is con- 
 stantly passing from the warmer to the colder substances, 
 till they all come to the same temperature. 
 
 Thus, when we go into air colder than our bodies, the 
 caloric passes from us to the surrounding atmosphere. But 
 when we are surrounded by air, or touch any substance that 
 is warmer than our bodies, the caloric passes from it to us. 
 Clothes prevent the heat from passing from our bodies to 
 the air. 
 
 When water changes to ice, it gives out the caloric that 
 kept it in a fluid state ; and when it melts, and changes back 
 to water, it takes in caloric from the air or from objects that 
 are around. This is the reason why it is so chilly in a 
 thaw. The caloric needed to melt the ice and snow is 
 taken not only from the sun's rays, but from the air and 
 other things around. 
 
 When water changes to vapor, it take in caloric; and 
 when vapor changes back to water, it gives out the caloric 
 that held it in the vapor form. 
 
 Questions. What are the organs that provide and regulate the heat 
 of the body ? What is caloric ? What is cold ? What is the manner in 
 which caloric tends to diffuse itself? Explain this, and give the exam- 
 ples. What is it that clothing does ? When water changes to ice, what 
 does it give out ? When ice melts, from what does it obtain caloric ? Why 
 is it so chilly in a thaw ? What is the process when water changes to 
 vapor and vapor changes to water? 
 
ANIMAL HEAT. 69 
 
 This, then, is the general rule in regard to changes mado 
 by caloric. When a more solid body changes to a thinner 
 or less dense one, caloric is absorbed ; but when it changes 
 from a less dense to a more solid form, caloric is given 
 out. 
 
 There are certain changes that arc made in combining 
 one body with another that produce heat. Thus when cold 
 water is poured into aquafortis, or sulphuric acid, heat is 
 produced by the mixture. 
 
 When oxygen combines with combustible bodies, heat is 
 produced, and sometimes light. Thus, when a candle burns, 
 the light and heat are produced by the union of the oxygen 
 of the air with the carbon of the tallow. So, when wood or 
 coal are burned, the light and heat are made by the union 
 of the oxygen of the air with the carbon of the wood and 
 coal. When we blow a fire it burns faster, because more 
 air is thus furnished, from which the oxygen is taken. 
 
 The burning of any substance is its union with oxygen, 
 and those bodies that can be thus burned are called com- 
 bustibles. Our bodies are composed chiefly of carbon, hy- 
 drogen, and nitrogen, which are combustibles, and also of 
 oxygen, which unites with the other three. This union, 
 which takes place in the capillaries, always produces heat. 
 
 The blood, before it passes through the lungs, receives a 
 supply of chyle from the stomach, and in the lungs it takes 
 its supply of oxygen. Then it passes to the capillaries, and 
 there the oxygen unites with the decayed portions of the 
 body, thus changing them to carbonic acid and water. This 
 is a process of combustion the same as when oxygen unites 
 with wood or coal. The oxygen of the new blood burns up 
 a portion of the carbon and hydrogen in the capillaries, 
 forming carbonic acid and water, and thus heat is given out. 
 
 Questions. What is the general rule in regard to changes made by 
 caloric ? What other changes produce heat ? What example is given ? 
 What is the effect of the combination of oxygen with combustible bodies? 
 What examples are given? What is the burning of any substance? 
 What are combustibles ? Of what are our bodies composed ? Which are 
 the combustibles ? What does their union with oxygen produce ? Be- 
 fore the blood passes through the lungs, what does it receive from the 
 stomach ? What docs it take in the lungs ? When it passes to the capil- 
 laries, what takes place ? What does the oxygen of the new blood burn ? 
 What is given out? 
 
70 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 At the same time the fresh chyle is deposited in the place 
 of the particles that are consumed. . 
 
 The carbonic acid, formed by the combustion in the ca- 
 pillaries, and thrown out of the lungs and skin, is similar to 
 the smoke of burning wood. Another product of this com- 
 bustion, which is drawn off from the blood by the .kidneys, 
 is similar to ashes. Thus our bodies are kept warm by 
 myriads of little fires in the innumerable capillaries. 
 
 In this process of warming the body, the stomach provides 
 the fuel to burn, the lungs provide the oxygen to consume 
 it, and the arteries carry the fuel and fire to the capillaries, 
 where the combustion takes place. The veins then carry 
 off the carbonic acid, which, like smoke from a chimney, 
 pours out of our mouth and nose and through the skin, 
 while the kidneys empty out the ashes. 
 
 By this process of combustion in the capillaries the body 
 is always kept nearly at a uniform temperature, which is 
 about 98 by the thermometer. This is as warm as is the 
 air in some of the hottest summer weather. 
 
 The air is usually cooler than our bodies, and is thus 
 drawing off the caloric constantly. Clothing is useful only 
 as it prevents the passing off of heat faster than the capil- 
 laries can keep up the supply. 
 
 We will now attend to the method by which the body is 
 kept sufficiently cool. 
 
 It has been shown that the skin is filled with little per- 
 spiration tubes which are constantly sending off carbonic 
 acid and water from the blood. The carbonic acid passes 
 into the air, but much of the water is retained on the 
 skin. Here the warmth of the body changes it to a 
 vapor. In this change it abstracts its caloric from the 
 
 Questions. What is deposited in the place of the particles thus burn- 
 ed ? To what is this carbonic acid similar ? What is similar to ashes ? 
 How are our bodies kept warm ? In the process of warming the body 
 what provides the fuel? What provides the oxygen? What carries 
 the fuel and fire to the capillaries? Where does the combustion take 
 place? What carries off the carbonic acid? What is it like, and 
 through what does it pour out ? What empty out the ashes of this com- 
 bustion in the capillaries ? What is the temperature of the body? How 
 is the heat drawn off from our bodies, and what is the use of clothing ? 
 What are the perspiration tubes constantly sending off? What becomes 
 of the water? How is it changed? What effect is produced by this 
 change ? 
 
ANIMAL HEAT. 71 
 
 body, and thus cools it. Thus the more heat is made in 
 the capillaries the more perspiration is exhaled ; and this 
 being turned to vapor cools the body as fast as the capillar 
 ries heat it. 
 
 It is owing to this cooling process, by the changing of 
 perspiration to a vapor, that persons can stay in ovens hot 
 enough to cook potatoes without being burned. The heat 
 generates perspiration; this turns to vapor, and thus the 
 body is cooled by the evaporation. 
 
 'Thus the combustion in the capillaries keeps the body 
 warmer than the surrounding air when it is cold, while, if 
 the air becomes hotter than the body, the emission and 
 evaporation of perspiration tends to cool it. 
 
 Questions. How is the increase of heat in the capillaries regulated by 
 the perspiration? Why can persons stay in hot ovens without being 
 burned? What keeps the body warmer than the cold air around it? 
 When the air is warmer than the body, what tends to cool it ? 
 
LESSON TENTH. 
 
 ORGANS OF SENSE. 
 
 THE nerves by which we feel, see, hear, taste, and smell, 
 are called the nerves of sense, and the organs to which they 
 run are called the organs of sense. They also are called the 
 nerves of sensation, feeling, or touch, and are distributed all 
 over the body, but chiefly abound in the skin. The draw- 
 ing here presented is repeated to show again the manner in 
 which these nerves, by their loops and net-work, are multi- 
 plied in extent through the skin. 
 
 ,,. OK The nerves of sen- 
 
 sation, feeling, or 
 touch, run from the 
 j 2 front part of the spi- 
 nal marrow. Those 
 1 3 branches that go to 
 the muscles are 
 84, bound up in the same 
 case with the nerves 
 5 of motion, as has 
 been explained. At 
 5, in Fig. 35, will be 
 seen two branches of 
 the nerves of sensa- 
 
 tion, coming from 
 the spinal marrow, and ramifying through the under skin. 
 The object of these nerves is to protect the body from 
 danger, and to enable us to learn the qualities of ob- 
 jects. 
 
 As there are but few nerves of sensation in other parts of 
 
 Questions What are the nerves of sense ? "Where are the nerves of 
 sensation, and by what other names are they called ? Explain Fig. 35. 
 What is said of these nerves ? What is seen at 5, in Fig. 35? What ia 
 the object of these nerves? 
 
ORGANS OF SENSE. 73 
 
 the body compared with the skin, there is but little pain 
 caused by cutting and bruises except on the skin. 
 
 The sensibility of the nerves of touch is increased or di- 
 minished by various causes. If a nervous branch is severed 
 from its connection with the spine, all that part to which it 
 sends nerves loses the sense of feeling. If the blood retreats 
 from the skin by cold, the sense of feeling is diminished. 
 Thus when the fingers are very cold, the sense of touch is 
 O one. This sensibility is also diminished when the blood is 
 impure from either bad food or bad air. 
 
 The sense of touch can be much cultivated and elevated, 
 as is seen in the case of the blind, whose fingers can detect 
 extremely minute qualities to which others are insensible. 
 The cloth-dresser also, by touch, can detect qualities in cloth 
 which others can not perceive. So can the miller detect 
 the quality of flour by touch as others can not do. 
 
 The upper surface of the tongue is the organ of taste. 
 The tongue is composed chiefly of muscular fibres that run 
 in every direction, and thus give the power of innumera- 
 ble motions. It is also provided largely with nerves of 
 motion from the back of the spine. Then it has nerves of 
 touch, or feeling, from the front of the spine. Then it has 
 nerves of voluntary motion. Finally, it has the nerves of 
 taste. These are arranged in two sets of papillae, or little 
 elevations. One set are very small and oval-shaped, over 
 the whole surface of the tongue, and give its rough appear- 
 ance. The other set are larger, and are small heads sup- 
 ported on stalks. The nerves of taste ramify through both 
 these sets of papilla. A strong acid applied with a fine 
 hair pencil will cause these papilla to be curiously elevated 
 and lengthened. 
 
 When fluids are taken into the mouth, the papilla dilate 
 and erect themselves, while their nerves transmit to the 
 brain the sensation of taste. When dry food is taken, the 
 
 Questions. Why do internal cuts or bruises cause less pain than those 
 on the skin ? Mention some causes that diminish the sensibility of the 
 nerves of touch. Can this sense be improved ? What cases illustrate 
 this ? What is the organ of taste ? Of what is the tongue chiefly com- 
 posed? What nerves has the tongue from the back of the spine, and 
 what from the front ? What other nerves has it ? How are the nerves of 
 taste arranged ? Describe them. How will an acid affect them ? What 
 is the process when fluids and when solids are taken into the mouth ? 
 
74 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 tongue carries it to the back of the mouth, to be moistened 
 by the saliva, which flows from the salivary glands in the 
 cheeks. 
 
 The savory taste is also carried by the saliva from the 
 food to all the papillae of the tongue, and thus to the brain. 
 The principal object of taste is to guide in the selection of 
 food. 
 
 The organ of smell is the mucous membrane that lines 
 the nose, which has the nerves of smell ramified through it. 
 The odoriferous particles in the air come in contact with 
 these nerves, and thus the sensation of smell is transmitted 
 to the brain. The chief object of this sense is also to aid 
 man in the selection and care of food. 
 
 The eye is the organ of sight. This figure exhibits the 
 two balls of the eyes, and 2 is the optic nerve running into 
 
 each, by which the 
 
 Fig. 86. . J f - , . 
 
 sensation of sight 
 
 is conveyed to the 
 brain, and thus to 
 the mind. The 
 eyeball is a most 
 curious and won- 
 derful instrument. 
 It has three cover- 
 ings, and the in- 
 terior consists of 
 three humors. 
 
 Fig. 37 (on the opposite page) represents one of these 
 balls cut through the middle, as we look at the eye side-' 
 ways. 
 
 The outer line is the outer covering marked 1. This, 
 in the part seen, is the white of the eye. The dark line 
 (marked 3) is the middle coat, which is black, and useful 
 to absorb the light not needed. The inner line (marked 
 8) is the retina. It consists of a net-work made of branches 
 
 Questions. How is the taste carried from solid food to the brain? 
 "What is the object of this sense ? What is the organ of smell ? How is 
 the smell transmitted to the brain? What is the object of this sense? 
 What is the organ of sight ? How many coverings has the eyeball ? 
 How many humors has it ? What is the outer line of Fig, 8T ? The 
 middle line ? The inner line ? 
 
ORGANS OF SENSE. 
 Fig. 87. 
 
 Fig. 87. A sideAvays view of the eyeball cut open, so as to view the in. 
 terior. 1, the outer covering. 8, the dark middle covering. 8, the re- 
 tina, or optic nerve. 2, the front of the eye. 7, the pupil, or small open- 
 ing through which the light passes. 6, the iris, or colored border around 
 the iris. 10 and 11, the watery humor filling that space. 12, the crys- 
 talline lens, or humor. 14, the vitreous humor. 15 and 16, the optic 
 nerve, and a blood-vessel running with it and spreading over the retina. 
 
 of the optic nerve, and small veins and arteries. It is light 
 falling on this inner lining of the eyeball that causes us to 
 see ; that is, it produces the sensation of sight on the brain, 
 and thus on the mind. 
 
 The three humors are thus arranged : The vitreous (mark- 
 ed 13, 14) is the dark portion, and fills the largest portion 
 of the eyeball. It looks like jelly. At 2 is the front part 
 of the eye, and at 10 and 1 1 is the pure aqueous humor that 
 looks like water. At 12 is the crystalline humor, which is 
 white, hard, and shaped like a lens. At 7 is the pupil, or 
 window of the eye, through which the light passes. 6, 6 re- 
 presents the iris, or colored border around the pupil. 15 is 
 the optic nerve, that spreads out into the retina. 16 shows 
 the main artery, that sends its branches all over the retina 
 and other parts of the eye. 
 
 Questions. How is the retina formed ? What causes us to see ? How 
 are the humors of the eye arranged ? Where are the pupil and iris 2 
 Where are the optic nerve and the main artery of the eye ? 
 
76 
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Fig. 38 is a drawing that represents the muscles that movo 
 the eyeball. One of them runs through a loop that acts aa 
 a pulley. 
 
 Fig. 88. A view of the eye and its muscles, a, &, c, <?, e, five of 
 these muscles. /, the optic nerve. G, the trochlea, or pulley over 
 which one of the muscles passes. The bone is seen above and below 
 the eye. 
 
 There are many other beautiful and curious contrivances 
 about the eye that can not be described here. 
 
 Fig. 39 (on the following page) is a drawing that repre- 
 sents the contrivance for furnishing and carrying off the 
 tears. 
 
 1 is the bag or gland which secretes tears from the blood. 
 It is under the upper eyelid. 2 are the vessels conducting 
 the tears to the eye. 3 are openings to receive and convey 
 the tears to the sac ; 4, that opens into the nose. The 
 chief use of tears is to keep the eye moist, and carry off all 
 light substances that get into it. 
 
 Question. Describe the figure that exhibits the muscles of the eye. 
 Describe the figure that illustrates the tear gland and sac. 
 
ORGANS OF SENSE. 
 
 1, tear gland. 
 
 2, conducting vessels to the eyelid. 
 8, tear duct to the sac of the nose. 
 4, sac of the nose. 
 
 The organ of hearing is the interior portion of the ear, 
 over which is ramified the auditory nerve. The vibrations 
 of the air strike on this nerve, and this causes the sensation 
 of sound. The construction of the ear is very complicated, 
 and not entirely understood. 
 
 Questions. What is the organ of hearing ? What causes sound ? 
 
PAET SECOND. 
 
 LESSON ELEVENTH. 
 
 LAWS OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS. 
 
 WE have now completed a description of some of the 
 most important organs of the human body. Surely no one 
 can have contemplated them, even in this imperfect exhibi- 
 tion, without the frequent exclamation, "How fearfully and 
 wonderfully made !" 
 
 The laws by which these curiously-arranged and nicely- 
 adjusted instruments of happiness are to be made to fulfill 
 their benevolent design, will now be considered. 
 
 The rules for the proper treatment of the various organs 
 of the body are called the laws of health and happiness, be- 
 cause our Creator has connected the reward of enjoyment 
 with obedience to these rules, and the penalty of suffering 
 with disobedience to them. 
 
 God has created all his creatures with the desire and in- 
 tention of making them happy. He has placed them in a 
 world where every thing will promote their happiness, if 
 used aright. He has given us reason and conscience to 
 guide and regulate, so that when we find, by experience, 
 that any thing tends to injure us, we know that we ought 
 to avoid it, and we sin against both God and ourselves when 
 we do not. 
 
 Any person who knowingly violates one of the laws of 
 health, sins against God as really as when disobeying his 
 commands recorded in the Bible. 
 
 Questions. What are the rules for treating our hodily organs called, 
 and why ? For what has God created all his creatures ? What is said 
 of the world ? What has God given to guide us ? When we find, by ex- 
 perience, that any thing tends to injure us, what do we know? Do we 
 commit sin when we indulge in what tends to injure us? What is said 
 -f a person who knowingly violates one of the laws of health ? 
 
LAWS OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS. 79 
 
 We will now present the principal laws of health which 
 should guide us in the care and treatment of our bodily 
 organs. 
 
 LAWS OP HEALTH FOR THE BONES. 
 
 It has been shown that the size, strength, and health of 
 the bones, as well as every other part of the body, depend 
 on good blood and pure air. If the stomach is supplied 
 with unhealthy food, or if it is loaded with more than the 
 body requires, the blood becomes impure, and consequently 
 the bones, in common with all other parts, suffer more or 
 less from this cause. So also if the air we breathe is loaded 
 with the effluvia from the lungs and skin, or is diluted by 
 excess of heat, the bones suffer with the rest of the system 
 for want of oxygen and of properly-prepared nutriment for 
 the capillaries. 
 
 This shows the necessity of the first law of health for the 
 bones : Take care that the stomach has food of a proper kind 
 and quality, and that the lungs are fully supplied with cool and 
 pure air. 
 
 We have learned that the bones also are in a measure 
 dependent on exercise for size and strength. A child that 
 grows up with but little exercise will have bones that are 
 softer and weaker than those of one who is trained to vigor- 
 ous exercise. This debility will more readily induce deform- 
 ity or disease from causes that would not affect a vigorous 
 system. From this results the second law of health for the 
 bones : 
 
 Take care that the body has sufficient exercise in pure air 
 every day. 
 
 We have seen how curiously the spine is arranged with 
 its vertebrae one above another, with the cartilage discs be- 
 tween, and the spinal marrow passing through the whole. 
 Now it is indispensable to the health and perfect growth of 
 the spine that it should have a great variety of motions, and 
 
 Questions. What has been shown in regard to the bones ? What is 
 said of the influence of the stomach on the bones ? What of the air ? 
 What is the first law of health for the bones? What effect has exercise 
 on the bones? What is the second law of health for the bones? What 
 is said of the arrangement of the spine ? What is necessary to the health 
 of the spine ? 
 
80 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 that it never should be habitually kept out of its natural po- 
 sition. For any long-protracted unnatural position will fre- 
 quently result in the hardening of the cartilage discs in the 
 portions where they are thus compressed, until permanent 
 distortion is induced. This shows the reason for the third 
 law of health for the bones : 
 
 Take care that the sjrine shall never habitually be kept out of 
 its natural position either when awake or asleep. 
 
 It has been shown, that the body is compressed around 
 the waist, when the left side being over the stomach yields 
 more readily than the right side, which is more firmly sus- 
 tained by the liver. In consequence of this, the ribs of the 
 left side are forced by any compression more strongly toward 
 one side of the spine than toward the other. This makes a 
 slow and steady sidewise pressure until the spine yields and 
 the discs gradually harden, and a permanent curvature of the 
 spine is the result. This is seen by the elevation of one 
 shoulder and the projection of one hip, or one shoulder blade. 
 
 Another result of tight dressing is the entire change in 
 the shape of the thorax. The bones of the body in early 
 life are soft and yielding. Constant pressure on the short 
 ribs brings them nearer together in front, while the internal 
 organs are pressed downward, reduced in size, and often- 
 times misplaced. 
 
 This deformity of the thorax in a mother is often trans- 
 mitted to her offspring as a hereditary misfortune, to be 
 perpetuated from generation to generation. This illustrates 
 the importance of the fourth law of health to the bones : 
 
 Take care that the spine and thorax are not pressed into 
 deformity by tight clothing around thf, waist. 
 
 LAWS OF HEALTH FOR THE MUSCLES. 
 
 It has been shown that the muscles, as well as every other 
 part of the body, are nourished by the blood. Consequently 
 
 Questions. What is the third law of health for the bones? What is 
 said of compressing the body ? How is a curvature of the spine pro- 
 duced ? What are the three indications of a lateral (or sidewise) curv- 
 ature of the spine ? What is the effect of tight dressing on the thorax ? 
 What is the consequence to the offspring when a mother is thus de- 
 formed ? What is the fourth law of health for the bones? What is said 
 of the blood, and its intlucncu on the niu.clcs? 
 
LAWS OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS. 81 
 
 the health and strength of the muscles depend on the quality 
 of the blood. If the stomach is supplied with unhealthy 
 food, or is loaded with more than is needed, unhealthy blood 
 is the result. And if the lungs are supplied with impure 
 air, the capillaries in all parts of the body lose their life- 
 giving oxygen, which alone can purify the body from its un- 
 healthful portions. Therefore the first law of health for the 
 muscles is the same as for the bones : 
 
 Take care that the stomach has food of proper quality and 
 quantity, and that the lungs are supplied with pure air. 
 
 We have seen that every movement of every muscle is at- 
 tended with the decay of some of its particles, which must 
 then be first changed by the oxygen brought by the arterial 
 blood and then thrown out of the body through the lungs 
 and skin. At the same time the fresh chyle takes the place 
 of the particles thus removed. It has also been shown that 
 whenever a muscle is exercised the arterial blood flows more 
 abundantly into it in order to furnish an increased supply 
 of oxygen and chyle. In this way the more the muscles are 
 exercised the more strength and nourishment they receive 
 from the blood, till they attain their full and perfect size. 
 This is the reason for the second law of health : Take care 
 that all the muscles of the body are brought to their full size and 
 strength by a proper amount of exercise for each. 
 
 The exercise of the muscles may be so prolonged that the 
 decay of their particles will exceed the supply of nutrition 
 furnished by the blood. In this case the muscles will grow 
 smaller and weaker from over-action. Some persons injure 
 themselves as much by excess of exercise as others do by the 
 want\)f it. This shows the reason for the third rule: Take 
 care that none of the muscles are weakened by excess of exercise. 
 
 When the muscles have become small and feeble from 
 want of proper exercise, a change in this respect must never 
 be a sudden one. It should commence with but a small in- 
 crease of exercise, and the daily additions should be very 
 
 Questions. What of the stomach ? What of the lungs ? What is the 
 first law of health for the muscles ? What is said of the movement of the 
 muscles ? How is the arterial blood affected by exercise ? What is the 
 second law of health for the muscles ? What is said of too much exer- 
 cise ? What is the third law of health for the muscles ? What is said of 
 sudden changes in regard to exercise ? 
 F 
 
82 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 moderate. If this is not attended to, the muscles will "be 
 injured rather than benefited by increase of exercise. This 
 is the reason for the fourth rule : When an inactive habit of 
 the muscular system is to be changed, it should be by a slow and 
 gradual process. 
 
 As increase of exercise increases the flow of blood to the 
 muscles, it is very important that it should be done in pure 
 and cool air. For if there is an increased amount of blood, 
 and this blood has not been properly supplied with oxygen 
 in the lungs, the action in the capillaries of the muscles is 
 imperfect. This shows the importance of the fifth rule: 
 Never increase the ordinary amount of exercise till cool and pure 
 air is abundantly provided for the lungs. 
 
 Light is very favorable to the perfect development of the 
 human body. Vegetables that grow in the dark become 
 pale and spindling ; and so do children when they grow up 
 in dark rooms and alleys of a city. This shows the reason 
 for the sixth rule : Let all vigorous exercise be taken by day- 
 light, and not in the night. 
 
 There is nothing more important to the health of certain 
 muscles than a proper attitude in sitting and standing. In 
 the natural position of the spine it is held in its upright 
 form by its cartilage discs, so that there is no strain on any 
 of the muscles of the trunk. But when we sit or stand 
 crooked certain muscles are constantly in exercise to sustain 
 the body in that position. After a habit of this kind is 
 formed, the discs between the vertebrae gradually harden, 
 and thus assist the muscles in their labor. But the result 
 is, the spine becomes fixed in a deformed position, so that it 
 can not be restored except by a long and laborious process. 
 
 But before this hardening process of the spine takes place 
 the muscles that aid in supporting the spine are gradually 
 reduced in strength, by constant labor in holding the body in 
 an unnatural position. This shows the importance of the sev- 
 
 Questions. What is the fourth law of health for the muscles ? Why 
 is it important that exercise be taken in pure air? What is the fifth 
 rule of health for the muscles? What is said of light, and how is it illus- 
 trated ? What is the sixth rule ? In its natural position, hy what is the 
 spine held upright ? What is the effect when we sit or stand crooked ? 
 What effect has such a habit on the discs of the spine ? Before the hard- 
 ening process takes place, how are the muscles weakened ? 
 
LAWS OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS. 83 
 
 enth rule : Take care that the muscles of the trunk are not weak- 
 ened by means of long -continued unnatural positions of the spine. 
 
 Wherever any portion of the body is compressed by tight 
 clothing the blood can not run freely into the muscles of 
 that part. The consequence is, these muscles are reduced 
 in size and strength. The muscles that sustain the spine 
 should especially be protected from any such pressure. 
 
 Ti^ht articles of dress around the neck, or legs, or arms, 
 interfere with the full health and strength of the muscles. 
 This shows the folly of attempting to cure crookedness or 
 round shoulders by corsets or bracers. The grand rem- 
 edy for any such deformities, is a proper training of the 
 muscles in pure air. This shows the reason of the eighth 
 rule : 
 
 Take care that the muscles, especially those of the trunk, 
 be not weakened by any kind of tight dress. 
 
 In cases where the muscles are injured, or are so weak 
 that little exercise can be taken, rubbing, beating, and pinch- 
 ing them, so as to increase the ffow of blood into them, is 
 very important. There is nothing that so comforts and 
 strengthens the weak as having t}ie muscles rubbed and 
 otherwise exercised by intermitting pressure, especially when 
 it can be done in pure air and after a bath. 
 
 In hot countries, where the inhabitants are too indolent 
 to use their own muscles in the proper way, it is deemed a 
 great luxury to take a bath and then have the muscles 
 kneaded, pinched, and otherwise manipulated by bath at- 
 tendants. This shows the reason for the ninth rule : When 
 a person is too weak to use the muscles, let another person in- 
 crease thejlow of blood into them by manipulations. 
 
 There is nothing so indispensable to beauty of form as 
 the proper exercise of all the muscles. It is rarely, if ever, 
 the case in this nation that any care is taken in this respect. 
 Children, in their sports, do not fail especially if they have 
 
 Questions. What is the seventh rule of health for the muscles ? What 
 is the effect of compression on the muscles ? What muscles should be 
 especially guarded from this ? What is said of curing crookedness ? 
 What is the true remedy? What is the eighth rule? When the mus- 
 cles are too weak to be used much, what can be done instead ? What 
 do people in hot countries do ? What is the ninth rule ? What is indis- 
 pensable to beauty of form? 
 
84 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 full run in the country to accomplish this ; but grown per- 
 sons generally confine their exercise to a small portion of 
 the body. In this way the perfect and rounded form of 
 childhood is rarely preserved to mature life as it might be 
 with proper care. This shows the need of the last rule : 
 Let special care be directed to the universal development of all 
 the muscles during the period of childhood and youth, and take 
 care that, all through life, the muscles of the whole body be duly 
 exercised. 
 
 Questions. Do grown persons usually secure this ? What is the last 
 rule of health for the muscles ? 
 
LESSON TWELFTH. 
 
 LAWS OF HEALTH FOR THE LUNGS. 
 
 WE have seen that the lungs have two offices to perform : 
 one is, to prepare the food sent from the stomach by adding 
 the oxygen of the air to the chyle ; the other is, the empty- 
 ing out from the body the carbonic acid and water which are 
 formed in the capillaries by the union of this oxygen with 
 the decayed particles of the body. The combination of 
 oxygen with carbon and hydrogen in the capillaries also 
 produces the animal heat which keeps the body warmer than 
 the air around us. 
 
 Every inspiration takes in about half a pint of fresh air, 
 which is added to the air already in the lungs, this being 
 about three pints. We inspire about twenty times every 
 minute, taking about one hogshead of new air into the lungs 
 every hour, and expire the same quantity of bad air. Thus 
 every pair of lungs requires, every hour, a hogshead of pure 
 air, and vitiates the same quantity. 
 
 Carbonic acid is a little heavier than common air; but 
 when it is mixed and warmed, as it is in our lungs, it be- 
 comes lighter than the surrounding cooler atmospheres, and 
 rises. Thus, in large assemblies in churches, the air at the 
 upper part of the room is more impure than that below, 
 which is supplied with air from without by the doors and 
 windows. When cold and warm air are brought together, 
 the warm air rises and the cold air presses downward. This 
 is the cause of the motion in air which keeps the carbonic 
 
 Questions. What two offices do the lungs perform ? What produces 
 the animal heat of our bodies? How much air is taken at each inspira- 
 tion ? How many times a minute ? How much new air do we inspire, 
 and how much bad air do we expire each hour ? How much pure air is 
 needed every hour by every pair of lungs ? What is said of the weight 
 of carbonic acid? In what is the air most impure in churches and large 
 assemblies ? When cold and warm air come together, which rises ? What 
 keeps the carbonic acid from the lungs and skin of people from accu- 
 mulating ? 
 
86 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 acid from accumulating in any one place where many peo- 
 ple are breathing. 
 
 But the more the air is warmed, and the more houses are 
 made close so that the outer air can not enter, the more the 
 breathing of those in these houses increases the carbonic 
 acid and uses up the oxygen. 
 
 As has been said, every pair of lungs vitiates a hogshead 
 of air every hour ; and therefore this quantity of pure air is 
 needed each hour, by every individual, both by night and 
 by day, in order to secure the most perfect health and en- 
 joyment of life. 
 
 There is no way in which houses can be supplied with 
 pure air but by some mode of ventilation which secures the 
 continuous entrance and exit of as much pure air as is 
 breathed by the inmates of these houses. Of course, the 
 more persons are in one room or one house, the greater ne- 
 cessity of increased ventilation. 
 
 The introduction of warm air at the bottom of a room, 
 and the construction of properly-placed ventilators for the 
 escape of this air out of the room, is a sure mode of supply- 
 ing a room with pure air. But unless great care is taken, 
 the air thus heated will be too dry and too warm. 
 
 Open fire-places, that make a constant draught of the air 
 of a room upward and outward, insure a constant supply of 
 fresh air from the doors and windows. 
 
 But close stoves, with tight doors and windows, make it 
 almost certain that the inmates of a room will constantly 
 breathe impure air, which will act as a slow poison in under- 
 mining the constitution. And when the constitution is thus 
 weakened, diseases of all sorts find ready entrance. 
 
 These remarks illustrate the first law of health for the 
 lungs : JLvery pair of lungs should have a supply of pure air at 
 the rate of one hogshead for every hour. 
 
 It has been shown that there are two processes for filling 
 
 Questions. What is the effect of warming the air and making houses 
 very tight and close ? How much pure air should each person in a house 
 have every hour ? How is the only way to secure this ? What is a sure 
 mode of supplying a room with pure air ? Why does this require care ? 
 What is the benetit of open fire-places and grates ? What is the evil of 
 close stoves and tight windows? How does impure air affect the consti- 
 tution ? What is the consequence of this ? What is the first law of health 
 for the lungs ? What are the two processes of filling the lungs with air? 
 
LAWS OF HEALTH FOR THE LUNGS. 7 
 
 the lungs : one by the expanding outward and upward of 
 the ribs ; and the other by the action of the diaphragm and 
 the muscles of the abdomen. Of course, any tight clothing 
 around the ribs prevents their action in breathing ; and tight 
 dressing around the lower part of the body serves also to 
 lessen the abdominal breathing. All such compressions 
 make it certain that a portion of the air-cells of the lungs 
 will never receive any air. In consequence of this the blood 
 will not be properly supplied with oxygen, and the consti- 
 tution is gradually weakened. This illustrates the import- 
 ance of the second law of health : The body should never be 
 so constrained by the dress as to impede, in the least degree, the 
 movement of the ribs or abdominal muscles in breathing. 
 
 It has been shown how the body may be so altered in 
 form as to become permanently crooked, and the shoulders 
 rounded. Both these distortions diminish the space allowed 
 to the lungs. A person with back bent must have the lungs, 
 stomach, arid abdomen pressed together in front so as to di- 
 minish the capacity for a full inflation ; while round shoul- 
 ders make a flat and narrow chest, and give little space for 
 the lungs, This shows the importance of the third law of 
 health for the Jungs ; The habitual positions of the body it 
 ivalking, sitting, and sleeping should be such as to givejull ex- 
 pansion to the lungs in breathing, 
 
 It is probable that there is no law of health BO universally 
 violated by all classes of persons as the one which demands 
 that every pair of lungs should Jiave fresh air at the rate of 
 a hogshead an hour, If all the poisonous matter that pours 
 from nose and mouth, and exhales from the skin, were 
 colored, so as to be visible, and we should see a black or 
 blue vapor accumulating around us as fast as the air of a 
 room was vitiated, there would be an instant change in the 
 feeling and conduct of mankind, 
 
 But as it is, the decayed particles of our bodies are float- 
 
 Questimrut. What is the effect of tight clothing around the ribs ? What 
 around the lowest part of the body ? What does all such compression do ? 
 What is the consequence ? What is the second law of health for the 
 lungs? What effect is produced when a person is crooked and round- 
 shouldered ? What is the effect of a back bent ? What is the effect of 
 round shoulders? What is the third law of health for the lungs ? What 
 law of health is the most violated ? What would be the effect if the ex- 
 halations from the lungs and skin were colored? 
 
88 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 ing about us, and accumulating around our sleeping pillows, 
 every day and every night. At every inspiration we take in 
 air thus adulterated. This is spread through the multitudi- 
 nous air-cells, whose membranous extent equals the floor 
 of a room twelve feet square, and then is expired with a 
 still larger amount of unhealthful mixture. 
 
 And the richer our people grow the tighter they make 
 their doors and windows, and the more they multiply stoves 
 in sitting and sleeping rooms, and the less they exercise in 
 pure air. While in some wretched country hovel the poor 
 drink abundantly the life-inspiring and pure breath of heav- 
 en every hour of the day and night, the children of wealth 
 sip it only for an hour or two, as they ride abroad in their 
 luxurious equipages for "exercise and air." 
 
 Questions. What is said of the decayed particles of our bodies ? What 
 is the extent of the membrane of the air-cells if all were united ? What 
 is the effect of growing richer ? How are the poor better provided ? 
 
LESSON THIRTEENTH. 
 
 LAWS OF HEALTH FOR THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION AND 
 NUTRITION. 
 
 WE have seen that the nourishment for the body is pre- 
 pared in the stomach and other intestines, and then carried 
 through the lacteals and thoracic duct to a large vein which 
 conducts it to the heart. Then it passes from the heart to 
 the lungs, to obtain oxygen from the air, which completes its 
 preparation. 
 
 The health of the body is greatly dependent on the kind 
 of food taken, some being much more favorable to health 
 than others ; and we will first notice some facts that arc 
 useful to guide in the proper selection of nourishment. 
 
 ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FOOD. 
 
 All kinds of food are composed chiefly of the four ele- 
 ments oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen. It is the dif- 
 ferent proportions in which these elements are combined that 
 cause all the varieties in both animal and vegetable food. 
 Wheat and potatoes, for example, have precisely the same 
 ingredients as beef or any other meat, only in different pro- 
 portions. 
 
 But the health of the body requires that, in certain cir- 
 cumstances, one kind of food, in which one of these ele- 
 ments abounds, shall be avoided, while in other cases it is 
 necessary. 
 
 HEAT-FORMING AND FLESH-FORMING FOOD. 
 
 The two purposes of food are, first, to supply the nour- 
 
 Questions. Where is the nourishment for the body prepared K Where 
 and by what is it carried ? For what does it pass from the heart to the 
 lungs ? On what is the health of the body greatly dependent ? Of what 
 four elements are all kinds of food composed ? What is it that cause's all 
 the varieties of food ? What is said of wheat, potatoes, beef, and other 
 meat ? What does the health of the body require ? What are the two 
 purposes oi food? 
 
90 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 ishment that takes the place of the old and decayed particles 
 of the body ; and, second, to furnish the fuel needed in the 
 capillaries to warm the body. When the atmosphere is 
 warm, less heat needs to be manufactured within ; but in 
 very cold air a large supply of carbon and oxygen must be 
 carried to the capillaries, to supply the heat that is carried 
 off by the surrounding atmosphere. With reference to this, 
 food is divided into the two classes called heat-forming and 
 flesh-forming. Those substances that contain the most 
 carbon are those which best supply fuel for warming the 
 body. Among these, sugar, molasses, the fat of animals, 
 butter, and oils of all kinds, are the most common. On the 
 other hand, the flesh of animals divested of the fat, and 
 some of the vegetables, have least carbon. 
 
 From this it is manifest that it is needful to regulate the 
 food with reference to the quantity of carbon required to 
 warm the body. If an excess is taken into the system, all 
 the organs are overworked in throwing it off. 
 
 Nitrogen is one of the ingredients of muscle or flesh, and 
 therefore no animal can live a long time on food which is 
 destitute of this element. 
 
 The flesh of animals furnishes this element in larger pro- 
 portion than vegetable food. But nitrogen is a constituent 
 in wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, and various vegetables, thougli 
 not in so large a proportion as in animal food. Thus an- 
 imal and vegetable food both supply all the elements need- 
 ed for the perfect health of the body, and we need only 
 proper knowledge and self-control to regulate the selection 
 according as circumstances vary. 
 
 STIMULATING FOOD. 
 
 It is found that those articles are most stimulating which 
 contain the most nitrogen. Such food makes the heart beat 
 quicker, and all the organs of the body work faster than less 
 
 Questions. What is the difference when the atmosphere is warm or 
 cold ? How is food divided with reference to this ? What substances are 
 best for warming the body ? What are those that contain the most car- 
 bon '? What have least carbon ? What is the effect when too much car- 
 bon is taken in the food ? What is said of nitrogen ? What food fur- 
 nishes the most nitrogen ? What vegetable articles contain nitrogen ? 
 What is said of both animal and vegetable food ? STIMULATING FOOD : 
 What articles are most stimulating ? How do they affect the system ? 
 
ORGANS OF DIGESTION AND NUTRITION. 91 
 
 stimulating articles. The most stimulating of all food is 
 the flesh of animals, which, as before stated, contains more 
 nitrogen than any other article. 
 
 NOURISHING FOOD. 
 
 Articles that contain, in a given weight, the largest 
 amount of the elements that both warm and nourish the 
 body, are the most nourishing or nutritious. There are 
 calculations made by chemists which show the amount of 
 nourishment in each article of food. By these it appears 
 that the common idea that animal food contains more nour- 
 ishment than vegetable is incorrect. 
 
 Beans and peas are found to have more nutriment in a 
 given weight than any other common food. And wheat 
 and rye flour have more nourishment in a given weight 
 than beef, or any kind of meat. It is the stimulating prop- 
 erty of meat which has led to the impression that it is more 
 nourishing than a vegetable diet. 
 
 The tables made by chemists, giving the amount of nutri- 
 ment in each kind of food, show that while the flesh of an- 
 imals (not the fat) in every hundred pounds has twenty-five 
 of solid matter to seventy-five of water, bread has just the 
 reverse; that is, seventy-five pounds of solid matter to 
 twenty-five pounds of water. 
 
 All the experiments that have been made show also that 
 vegetable food digests quicker than animal. Thus, bean 
 soup, boiled rice, potatoes, stale bread, and several other 
 articles, digest sooner than any kind of meat or any kind of 
 meat broth. 
 
 The w r orking people in almost every nation are obliged to 
 live almost entirely on vegetable diet, because it is so much 
 cheaper ; for it takes fifteen times as much land to provide 
 
 Questions. Which is the most stimulating of all food ? NOURISHING 
 FOOD: What kind of articles are the most nourishing? Which is most 
 nourishing animal or vegetable food? What food has most nutriment? 
 Which has most nutriment in a pound wheat, bread, or beef? Why 
 has meat been considered more nourishing than a vegetable diet? In 
 the flesh of animals what proportion is solid matter? What is the pro- 
 portion in bread? Which, then, has most nourishment in a pound? 
 Which digests the quickest? What articles are mentioned as examples? 
 What do working people live on in most nations, and why? How much 
 more land is required to supply animal food than vegetable ? 
 
92 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 animal food as it does to supply a vegetable diet. The 
 working people in Ireland live on potatoes. The peasantry 
 of Lancashire and Cheshire, who are the handsomest race 
 in England, live chiefly on potatoes and butter-milk. The 
 bright and hardy Arabs live almost entirely on vegetable 
 food. The brave and vigorous Spartans never ate meat. 
 Most of the hardiest soldiers in Northern Europe seldom 
 taste of meat. From the creation to this day more than 
 two-thirds of mankind never have eaten animal food ; and, 
 except in America, it is rare that the strongest laborers eat 
 any meat. 
 
 It is also a fact, that when, in past time, various great 
 men wished to have their heads unusually clear for intellect- 
 ual labor, they gave up animal food. 
 
 These things are stated to aid in removing the false no- 
 tion that meat is more nourishing than other food, and to 
 show that it is not necessary to the perfect development 
 both of mind and body. 
 
 When men, from any cause, need to be not only nour- 
 ished but stimulated by food, then animal food is the best. 
 When they need to have their body well nourished, and yet 
 not stimulated, then vegetable food is the best. 
 
 HIGHLY CONCENTRATED FOOD. INNUTRITIOUS FOOD. 
 
 There is a certain amount of bulk necessary to enable 
 the stomach to perform the digestive process. For this rea- 
 son, food that is so highly concentrated as to supply much 
 nutrition in little space is not healthful. In order to render 
 such articles digestible there must be a certain mixture of 
 innutritious matter, that passes through the intestines with- 
 out digestion or assimilation. The use of such innutritious 
 food is to increase the bulk and to stimulate the organs. It 
 is owing to this that bread of unbolted wheat is more easily 
 digested than that made of fine wheat. 
 
 Questions. What is said of the working people of Ireland ? Of Lan- 
 cashire and Cheshire ? Of the Arabs ? Of the Spartans ? The hardiest 
 soldiers of Northern Europe ? What proportion of mankind never eat 
 animal food ? When great men wish to have their heads clear, what have 
 
 unbolted wheat bread best ? 
 
ORGANS OF DIGESTION AND NUTRITION. 93 
 
 DIGESTIBLE FOOD. 
 
 Food is digestible in proportion to the facility with which 
 it is acted on by the gastric juice. 
 
 Some articles of food that contain abundant nourishment 
 really yield but a small supply, because they do not easily 
 digest ; while others, that digest more readily, afford more 
 nourishment, though their relative amount of nutriment is 
 small. It is owing to this fact that those kinds of meat 
 which digest readily are more nourishing, in certain states 
 of the stomach, than much more nutritive articles, such as 
 beans and peas, which are more difficult of digestion. 
 
 The above facts in regard to the nature of different kinds 
 of food, are the foundation of the rules that are to guide in 
 its selection. 
 
 RULES FOR SELECTING FOOD. 
 
 No person should be confined exclusively to one kind of 
 food, unless it be one which combines all the elements re- 
 quired in nourishing all parts of the body. Experiments 
 have been tried on dogs and cats, which show that an ani- 
 mal fed exclusively on fat, or sugar, or any article that is 
 chiefly carbon, without any nitrogen, will become unhealthy, 
 and live but a short time. 
 
 Milk and eggs have all the elements needed by the body 
 in good proportions. So have wheat, rye, corn, potatoes, 
 and many other vegetables, as well as some of the fruits. 
 This, then, is the first rule for selecting food : There should 
 always be such variety in food as to furnish all the elements need- 
 ed to nourish the body. 
 
 In a warm climate the body does not need much heat 
 generated within. And the air, being diluted with heat, 
 contains less oxygen to burn the carbon in the capillaries. 
 In reference to this, food that contains much carbon, such 
 as oil, sugar, fat, and the like, should be avoided. And as 
 
 more nounsning tnan otnersr wnat is said 01 one exclusive Kina 01 
 food ? What have experiments shown ? What articles contain all the 
 elements needed in the body ? What is the first rule for selecting food ? 
 Why should food containing much carbon be avoided in a warm climate ? 
 What kinds of food are of this class ? 
 
94 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 heat is stimulating and exhausting, it is important that the 
 food taken in warm weather should be cooling and unstim- 
 ulating. For this reason, in a hot season or climate, animal 
 food, which is the most stimulating of any, should be avoid- 
 ed, and the diet consist chiefly of bread, fruits, and vege- 
 tables, which are nourishing but not stimulating. As cold 
 weather comes on, meat and oily substances may be eaten 
 with more safety. Then, again, when spring returns, they 
 should be relinquished, or reduced in quantity. This, then, 
 is the second rule : The selection of food should vary with 
 temperature and seasons. 
 
 The organs of young children are more sensitive and ex- 
 citable than those of mature persons. For this reason, a 
 nutritious diet of milk, bread, fruit, and vegetables is more 
 suitable than stimulating animal food. 
 
 Regard should also be paid to temperament, both in chil- 
 dren and in adults. Some persons are of a very excitable 
 temperament, and such insure longer life and better health 
 by a nourishing unstimulating diet. Others are cool, slow, 
 and phlegmatic. Such can safely eat more stimulating 
 food, and, in certain cases, it is more healthful than any 
 other. A person of full habit and excitable temperament, 
 in order to secure long life, should be confined almost ex- 
 clusively to a diet of bread, fruit, and vegetables. This, then, 
 is the third rule : In selecting food regard should be had to age 
 and temperament. 
 
 The state of health, especially of the digestive organs, is 
 to be regarded. When there is a tendency to constipation, 
 highly concentrated food, such as candies, cakes, rice, and 
 fine flour, should be avoided, and fruits, coarse bread, and 
 vegetables be sought. When there is a tendency to diar- 
 rhea, then rice, fine flour, and other concentrated food should 
 be sought, and fruits and vegetables avoided. 
 
 When the digestive organs are very sensitive and easily 
 
 Questions. Why should animal food be avoided in warm weather? 
 What is the second rule for selecting food ? What is said of young chil- 
 dren ? What diet is best for them ? What food should persons of excit- 
 able temperament seek? What should the phlegmatic seek? What is 
 said of persons of full habit and excitable temperament ? What is the 
 third rule ? When there is a tendency to constipation, what sort of food 
 should be avoided, and what should be sought ? Wha* should be done 
 when there is a tendency to diarrhea ? 
 
ORGANS OF DIGESTION AND NUTRITION. 95 
 
 affected, it is important to adopt an unstimulating, yet nu- 
 tritious diet as soon as warm weather approaches. Many 
 young children would be saved from early death by atten- 
 tion to these rules. 
 
 Owing to habit or constitution some kinds of food are 
 better adapted to the stomach of one person than to that 
 of others. Experience is a better guide than theories. Such 
 food as disturbs the stomach should be avoided, whatever it 
 may be. And food that is difficult to digest should be whol- 
 ly avoided, especially by those of delicate constitution or 
 poor health. Nothing taxes all the organs of the body so 
 much as food that will not digest properly, and yet must in 
 some way be carried out of the body. 
 
 Universal experience has shown that unmixed and simple 
 food digests more easily than rich and complicated articles. 
 New bread is far more difficult of digestion than stale, be- 
 cause mastication changes it to a compact dough form, 
 which does not readily, unite with the gastric juice. It is 
 quite the reverse with stale bread. 
 
 Oils and fats are much more difficult to digest when cook- 
 ed than in their natural state. All articles made rich w r ith 
 butter, sugar, and spices, are difficult to digest. From these 
 facts the fourth rule is derived : In selecting food regard 
 should be had to its relative digestibility and to the state of 
 health, especially of the digestive organs. 
 
 Questions. What should be done when the digestive organs are very 
 sensitive, and easily affected ? What is said of food that disturbs the 
 stomach, or is difficult to digest ? What severely taxes all the organs of 
 the body ? What is said of simple food ? Of new bread ? Of stale bread ? 
 What articles are difficult to digest ? What is the fourth rule for select- 
 ing food ? 
 
LESSON FOURTEENTH. 
 
 LAWS OF HEALTH FOR THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION AND 
 NUTRITION. 
 
 PHYSICIANS and physiologists maintain that there is more 
 sickness and death caused by excess in the quantity of food 
 taken than by the violation of any other law of health. The 
 reason of this is that men have so abused nature that appe- 
 tite has ceased to be a guide to most persons as to the amount 
 of food needed. Mankind collect a great variety of articles 
 to tempt the .palate, and then eat one thing after another 
 till they feel full, and can eat no more. In this way the 
 stomach receives far more than is required to nourish the 
 body, and thus the nervous powers, together with the lungs, 
 kidneys, bowels, skin, and lymphatics, are overtaxed to 
 throw out of the system this excess. The energies of the 
 body are slowly and gradually worn down by this excess of 
 useless labor. 
 
 ON THE QUANTITY OF FOOD. 
 
 The following presents what should guide in reference to 
 the quantity of food. 
 
 Persons who labor or exercise any way demand more 
 food than those of sedentaiy habits. Whenever, therefore, 
 any changes are made from active to sedentary habits, great 
 care should be taken to diminish the quantity of food. This 
 is especially important to young persons, who change from 
 active home-duties to the inactive habits of students. Such 
 ought to deny themselves, even when their appetite would lead 
 to as large an allowance as common. Thus, in a short time, 
 the appetite will accommodate to the real wants of the body. 
 
 Questions. What is the cause of more sickness and death than any 
 thing else ? What is the reason ? How do mankind tempt the palate to 
 excess? What is the consequence ? What is said of persons who labor? 
 What is said of changes from active to sedentary habits ? To whom is 
 it especially important ? What should such do ? 
 
ORGANS OF DIGESTION AND NUTRITION. 97 
 
 The fact that the stomach of most persons in this nation 
 of plenty has been so accustomed to more food than the 
 system requires, is the reason why the appetite can not guide, 
 and reason must take its place. Most persons eat more than 
 they need, and the stomach accommodates till a habit is 
 formed. And then there may be a feeling of emptiness, even 
 when food is not needed. 
 
 The great preservative against excess in food is a simple 
 diet. When the food is plain, and no tempting variety stim- 
 ulates the palate, most persons will take only what the wants 
 of the system require. But where there is a succession of 
 articles, and those of a tempting nature, almost every per- 
 son will eat more than is needful, and thus overtask the 
 organs of the body in throwing off the excess. 
 
 There is a class of articles called condiments, that stimu- 
 late the appetite to an unnatural degree. Pepper, mustard, 
 and spices, are those most commonly used. These articles 
 have very little nourishment, are entirely needless, and al- 
 ways tend to create a false appetite. Besides this, they are 
 inflammatory in their nature, and stimulating to the nervous 
 system. The excessive use of salt, sugar, and molasses, is a 
 method of stimulating the appetite by food which, in proper 
 quantities, is healthful. Articles preserved in salt, sugar, 
 or vinegar, are neither as easily digested, nor as healthful 
 as those in the natural state. In reference to these facts, 
 the following rule is very important: The quantity of food 
 should vary with the amount of exercise taken, and excess should 
 be guarded against by a simple diet, and the avoidance of con- 
 diments. 
 
 ON THE TIME AND MANNER OF TAKING FOOD. 
 
 There is no way in which children have their stomachs 
 weakened so frequently as by irregular and frequent eating. 
 
 Questions. What is the reason why the appetite can not guide? 
 Why do some feel an emptiness when they do not need food ? What 
 is the great preventive against excess in food ? What is the conse- 
 quence of a variety of tempting articles? What are condiments? 
 Mention some of them. What is the effect of eating them ? What is 
 said of salt, sugar, and molasses? What is said of articles preserved 
 in them ? What is the rule in regard to the quantity of food ? What 
 is the way in which children have their stomachs most frequently weak- 
 ened ? 
 
 G 
 
98 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 None of the muscles of the body are taxed so severely as 
 those of the stomach, and they need periods of rest. If, 
 therefore, there is a constant entrance of food into the stom- 
 ach, there is no time for rest, and a constant mixture of 
 partly-digested and newly-arrived food interrupts the nat- 
 ural process of digestion. From two to three hours pass 
 before the stomach ceases its muscular action, and then it 
 needs two or three hours to rest. The meals, therefore, 
 should be five or six hours apart for grown persons. Chil- 
 dren, who are growing, and whose organs act faster, may 
 eat a small luncheon between meals with advantage, if they 
 feel hungry enough to eat bread alone, but not otherwise. 
 The above shows the importance of the first rule: Food 
 should be taken at regular times, and at intervals of jive or s?> 
 hours. No food should be put into the stomach while the digest- 
 ive process is incomplete. 
 
 It has been shown that whenever any of the muscles are 
 exercised, the blood flows more abundantly to them to sup- 
 ply the nourishment needed. Every movement of a muscle 
 hastens the decay of its particles, and increases the demand 
 for fresh nutriment. Therefore, when the stomach has a 
 full meal to digest, a portion of the blood must leave other 
 parts of the body for this service. But if during the time 
 of digestion the muscles of the body are thrown into vigor- 
 ous exercise, they draw off the blood, and thus the stomach 
 is robbed of its proper proportion. So if the brain is set to 
 work vigorously after a full meal, it draws off the blood 
 which is needed by the stomach. This shows the need of 
 the second rule : Immediately after eating a full meal, vigor- 
 ous exercise, either of body or mind, should be avoided. Slight 
 exercise, like riding, or agreeable mental activity, such as 
 lively conversation, are favorable to good digestion. 
 
 When the body is exhausted by labor or vigorous exer- 
 
 Questions. What is said of the muscles of the stomach ? What is the 
 effect of mixing new and partly digested food? How long do the mus- 
 cles of the stomach work after taking food ? How much rest do they 
 need before eating again ? How far apart should the meals be ? What 
 is said of children ? What is the first rule in regard to the time and 
 manner of taking food ? What is said of the exercising of tl) muscles? 
 What effect does it have on the blood when the stomach has a full meal 
 to digest? What is the effect if the brain is set to work after a meal? 
 What is the gecond rule ? 
 
ORGANS OF DIGESTION AND NUTRITION. 99 
 
 cise, the stomach should not be taxed by the labor of di- 
 gestion ; for the nervous energies of the whole system 
 have been employed in labor, and there is not a proper sup- 
 ply for the stomach till a period of rest intervenes. So after 
 protracted mental labor, the whole body needs a period of 
 repose before the stomach can properly be called to labor. 
 This shows the reason for the third rule : A half hour or an 
 hour of rest should intervene after vigorous exercise, either of 
 mind or body, before eating. 
 
 During the period of sleep, the brain being inactive does 
 not send out its supply of nervous fluid as in waking hours, 
 and consequently all the functions of life go on slower, and 
 the system has not its full power. This is shown by the 
 respiration, which is slower during sleep than at other times. 
 Of course the stomach shares in this temporary diminution 
 of power. Though many persons have strong stomachs, so 
 that they can digest food well even in the feebler hours of 
 sleep, still it is imposing labor on the stomach at a wrong- 
 tin^. This is especially injurious to such as have a weak 
 constitution or weak digestive powers. The fourth rule, 
 then, is important : Let two or three hours intervene between 
 eating and sleeping. 
 
 The position of the body has an important influence on 
 the health of the stomach. A habit of standing and sitting 
 crooked interferes with the functions of the stomach and 
 bowels. These organs are thus crowded into an unnatural 
 position, and have not room to perform their operations 
 properly. Therefore the fifth rule is important : Be careful 
 not to interfere with the process of digestion by bad positions of 
 the body. 
 
 There is no portion of the body so intimately connected 
 with the stomach and the liver as the skin. We have shown 
 that the lining of the stomach and intestines is in fact only 
 a continuation of the outer skin. The custom of physicians 
 
 Questions. Why should not the stomach be taxed by digestion after 
 severe labor of body or mind ? What is the third rule in regard to the 
 time and manner of taking food? How is the brain during sleep? What 
 is the consequence ? How is respiration during sleep ? What is the 
 fourth rule ? What is said of the position of the body ? How does crook- 
 ed sitting and standing operate ? What is the fifth rule ? What organ 
 is the most intimately connected with the stomach ? What is the lining 
 of the stomach and intestines ? 
 
100 PHYSIOLOGY 'AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 to examine the tongue results from the fact of a sympathy 
 which exists between the interior skin and the skin of the 
 tongue, so that any diseased state within the body extends 
 more or less to the mouth, especially to the tongue. This 
 sympathy between the outer and inner skin makes it im- 
 portant to the stomach that we should, by ablution, and all 
 other methods, keep the outer skin in perfect health. There- 
 fore the sixth rule is important : Attend to the health and 
 purity of the skin as one mode of securing a healthy stomach. 
 
 It has been shown that the process of respiration, when 
 perfect and natural, involves the mutual action of the dia- 
 phragm and abdominal muscles, by which the lower intes- 
 tines are constantly kept in gentle motion. This is a very 
 important stimulus to the process of digestion. Of course 
 any mode of dress that restrains the movement of the ribs 
 and abdominal muscles interferes with this process. From 
 this results the importance of the seventh rule : Be careful 
 not to interrupt the process of digestion by tight clothing around 
 the middle or lower portions of the body. 
 
 The health and well-being of all the organs of digestion 
 and nutrition very much depend upon the daily evacuation 
 of the lower intestines. Regular habits in this respect should 
 be formed and carefully preserved. Such arrangements 
 should be made in every family and in every school, that no 
 person shall ever be obliged to delay when nature prompts 
 to this necessary duty. Such delays always tend to pro- 
 duce constipation. Every parent and every teacher should 
 carefully guard the young from such violations of the 
 laws of health. There is no rule of health more import- 
 ant than the eighth : Take all proper methods to prevent con- 
 stipation. 
 
 The experiments in the Water Cure establishments prove 
 that some notions in regard to drink have been mistaken 
 ones. It has been shown that veins of the stomach draw 
 off the superfluous liquids before digestion commences. A 
 
 Questions. Why do physicians examine the tongue? What is the 
 sixth rule in regard to the time and manner of taking food? How do 
 the motion of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles aid digestion ? How- 
 would tight clothing operate ? What is the seventh rule ? What is the 
 eighth law of health for the stomach and bowels ? When water is in the 
 stomach, what draws it off iiito the blood ? 
 
ORGANS OF DIGESTION AND NUTRITION. 101 
 
 pint of water will be thus taken off in five or six minutes, 
 as has been witnessed in experiments made on St. Martin, 
 a man who had a large opening made into his stomach, 
 which healed up in such a way that all the processes within 
 could be seen. 
 
 When liquid food such as broths, soups, or juicy fruits 
 are taken, the first processes the absorption of the excess of 
 liquid. This shows that no special harm is done by taking 
 drink with our meals. It is as well to eat solid food and 
 drink water at the same time, as to take bread and milk, or 
 eat soup and broth. In either case, the stomach performs 
 the same duty, and removes the excess of liquid. Very 
 cold drinks interrupt the digestive process, and should not 
 be taken while eating. 
 
 The notion, too, that there is any danger from drinking 
 freely of cold water at times when the stomach is empty, is 
 also exploded by multitudes of experiments. Nothing is 
 more serviceable to digestion, or better promotes the health- 
 ful action of all the functions of the body, than drinking two 
 or three tumblers of cold water before a meal, especially be- 
 fore breakfast. There is no danger of "thinning the blood" 
 so long as the kidneys perform their office of removing from 
 the body any excess of liquids. Pure cold water is a tonic 
 to the capillaries, and instead of thinning, tends to purify 
 the blood. It is also a remedy for constipation and inaction 
 of the liver. 
 
 The rules, therefore, that have been given by some writ- 
 ers and physicians, not to drink freely of cold water, are not 
 founded on a correct philosophy or a sufficiently extended 
 observation. 
 
 There is no way in which the stomach and whole body 
 has been so much abused as by the use of stimulating drinks. 
 It is found by the experience of ages, that alcohol and 
 opium, tea and coffee, simply stimulate the brain and nerv- 
 ous system, and furnish little or no nourishment. This 
 stimulus is always followed by a reaction of debility, which 
 Is proportioned to the degree of previous stimulation. 
 
 Questions. How fast can water In the stomach be taken off? What 
 is said of liquid food ? What does this show ? What is said of the ben- 
 efit of drinking cold water? At what times should it be done ? Which 
 are the stimulating drinks ? How do they operate ? 
 
102 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 The body always accommodates, more or less, to any kind 
 of abuse, so that such stimulants may be taken often and 
 long without any immediate or perceptible injury. But this 
 no more justifies the use of these articles than it does the 
 taking of arsenic or any other poison to which the body may 
 in some degree become habituated. In some countries of 
 Europe the people use small quantities of arsenic, because 
 the first effect is both to stimulate and to increase flesh and 
 beauty of countenance. And when the habit and a love of 
 the excitement are thus formed, the practice is continued, 
 though emaciation and death are the final results. Ani- 
 mals, having no reason to guide them, are formed so that 
 they usually have an instinct to warn them from those kinds 
 of food that would harm them. But man, having reason 
 bestowed for his guidance, is expected to form habits of vir- 
 tue and self-control, so that when experience shows any 
 practice to be pernicious it will be avoided. 
 
 There is nothing so abundantly proved as that narcotic 
 and alcoholic drinks are never needed except as medicinal 
 agents, and that their habitual use always tends to injury 
 and excess. Men are debilitated by alcoholic drinks and 
 tobacco. Women are almost as much injured in their health 
 and comfort by the use of tea and coffee. Multitudes of 
 wives and mothers become feeble, irritable, and miserable 
 from the daily exhaustion caused by these narcotic stimu- 
 lants. They feel the loss of their tea or coffee almost as 
 much as the inebriate misses his daily libations. And yet 
 they are so ignorant of physiology as often to imagine that 
 the little strength they have is the gift of the baneful cups 
 which yield only poison. They drink and feel better be- 
 cause a new stimulus is applied to the brain and nerves, to 
 be followed by a new, secret, but certain drain on their nerv- 
 ous fountain. This ninth law of health, then, is imperious : 
 Never use stimulating drinks, except for medicinal purposes. 
 
 Questions. What is said of the mode in which the body accommo- 
 dates to abuses ? What is said of the use of arsenic? What is the differ- 
 ence between animals and man ? What is proved in regard to narcotic 
 and alcoholic drinks? By which are men, and by which are women 
 most injured ? What is said of wives and mothers ? When they use 
 these drinks, why do they seem to be better ? What follows ? What is 
 the ninth law of health for the stomach? 
 
LESSON FIFTEENTH. 
 
 LAWS OF HEALTH FOR THE SKIN AND SECRETING ORGANS. 
 
 WE have attended to the curious and wonderful construc- 
 tion of the skin, and the various important functions it ful- 
 fills in protecting the body, in acting as the organ of touch, 
 in purifying the blood, and in warming or cooling the body 
 as its varying temperature may require. 
 
 Inasmuch as so large an amount of unhealthful matter 
 is to be sent out of the system through the skin, we can 
 perceive the importance of keeping the pores, which are its 
 outlets, free from all accumulations. The pressure of the 
 clothing tends to confine these excretions to the surface, 
 while heat and moisture stimulate the lymphatics to absorb 
 any thing on the skin. Thus a double evil may ensue, in 
 preventing the outflow of unhealthful matter, and the reab- 
 sorbing of what is already sent out. This shows the im- 
 portance of the first rule of health for the skin. Take care 
 that every portion of the skin is purified by washing the whole 
 body at least once a day. 
 
 It has been stated that there is more blood in the capil- 
 laries of the skin than in those of all the rest of the body. 
 This being the case, there is nothing more necessary to the 
 equal and proper circulation of the blood, than that the ca- 
 pillaries of the skin be at all times well filled. Nothing is 
 a surer sign of health than a skin whose capillaries are in 
 full circulation. And whenever any internal trouble exists, 
 the main reliance for relief should be to draw the blood to 
 the skin, and thus reduce the internal inflammation. All 
 
 Questions. What are the several functions of the skin ? "Which are 
 the pores of the skin ? Why should they be kept free from accumula- 
 tions? What effect has the pressure of clothing? What is the effect of 
 heat and moisture ? What double evil may ensue ? What is the first 
 rule of health for the skin? What proportion of blood has the capil- 
 laries of the skin ? What, then, is necessary to the equal and proper 
 circulation of the blood ? What is a sign of health ? What should be 
 the main reliance when there is any internal trouble ? 
 
104 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 inflammations are the effect of the engorgement of the ca- 
 pillaries with an excess of blood. 
 
 This shows the philosophy of the steam-doctor's cure, in 
 certain cases, and of the use of blisters. The steaming of 
 the whole body brings the blood into the skin, and thus in- 
 flamed internal organs are relieved, and much bad matter 
 thrown off through the pores. But this process tends to 
 debilitate the skin. Blisters are put on the skin near the 
 place where some internal inflammation exists, and by ex- 
 citing another point excessively, draw the blood from the 
 inflamed part. Thus, inflammation on the lungs can some- 
 times be relieved by a blister on the chest. But both these 
 remedies involve evils, and are inferior to certain safe pro- 
 cesses of the Water Cure that will hereafter be explained. 
 
 This shows the reason for the second law of health : 
 Whenever the body has been in any way chilled, and internal 
 disorder results, relief should be sought by drawing the blood 
 into the capillaries of the skin. 
 
 It has been found that both light and air are healthful 
 tonics to the skin. A tonic is any thing that imparts strength. 
 A child that grows up in a dark cellar or any dark room, 
 will always have a pale and unhealthy countenance. The 
 effect of air and light in strengthening the skin is shown by 
 the face and exposed parts of the neck, which become so 
 strong to bear changes of temperature as scarcely to feel 
 them. This shows another advantage of universal washing 
 of the person, as thus the skin obtains an air bath, and the 
 genial influence of light. There is much advantage, also, in 
 prolonging the exposure of the skin to the air, so long as it 
 can be done and yet retain a warm and healthful glow. But 
 as soon as a chilly feeling commences, the clothing should 
 be resumed. The object of clothing is to prevent the ani- 
 mal heat generated in the capillaries from passing to the 
 surrounding air. If tljere is too little covering, then the 
 
 Questions. What are all inflammations ? What is the effect of steam- 
 ing the skin ? What is the tendency of this process ? How do blisters 
 operate ? What is the second law of health for the skin ? What is said 
 of air and light ? What is a tonic ? What is the effect on children that 
 grow up in dark rooms ? What show the effect of air and light in strength- 
 ening the skin ? WTiat is said of bathing, and of long exposure of the 
 skin to air and light ? What is the object of clothing ? 
 
THE SKIN AND SECRETING ORGANS. 1Q5 
 
 skin becomes chilled, and its pores closed, and we take a cold. 
 Sometimes, when one part of the body is chilled, the cold 
 settles in some of the muscles whose capillaries are en- 
 gorged by the blood retreating from the skin. This is called 
 a rheumatism. Sometimes the capillaries of the nerve-cases 
 become engorged by a chill, and this is one species of neural- 
 gia. Sometimes the face has been chilled, and then the ca- 
 pillaries of the teeth and jaws become engorged, and tooth- 
 ache ensues. These particulars show the reasons for the 
 third rule : Take care to save all parts of the body from chills 
 that will close the pores. 
 
 It has been found by experience, that when cold water is 
 applied to the skin, there is, in good health, an immediate 
 contraction of the capillaries, which sends the blood for an 
 instant inward ; but immediately there is a reaction of the 
 system, which returns the blood to the skin in greater quan- 
 tities. This has the same benefit on the capillaries of the 
 skin which exercise has on the muscles. It increases their 
 capacity of holding blood, and their action in sending off bad 
 material, and replacing it with new ; and it is thus the skin 
 is strengthened to bear changes of temperature without feel- 
 ing uncomfortable or being injured. 
 
 On the contrary, it has been found by experience, that 
 the application of heat to the skin, though it draws the blood 
 into the capillaries, does it by a process that debilitates in- 
 stead of strengthening. Thus, a person in good health 
 may take a cold bath every day, and gain vigor. But if he 
 should take a hot bath as often and as long, it would de- 
 bilitate. It has been found, however, that if a hot bath is 
 followed by a cold one, this debilitating influence on the 
 skin is lessened. As a general rule, then, cold is a tonic to 
 the skin, and heat debilitates it. From this follows the third 
 rule of health for the skin : Take care that no part of the body 
 be kept so warm by clothing as to debilitate it by excess of heat. 
 
 Questions. What is the effect of too little clothing ? What is rheu- 
 matism ? What is one species of neuralgia ? How is toothache some- 
 times caused ? What is the third rule of health for the skin ? What is the 
 first effect of cold water on the skin ? What is the next effect ? How does 
 this benefit the capillaries? HOAV is the skin affected by it? What is 
 the effect of the application of heat to the skin ? What prevents the evil 
 of a warm bath ? What is a general rule about cold and heat? What 
 is the third rule of health for the skin ? 
 
106 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 It has been found, also, that the power of the body to 
 bear cold depends much upon habit. When the skin has 
 been kept very warm with too much clothing, it becomes 
 very sensitive to cold. On the contrary, cold bathing, and 
 light clothing, and frequent exposures to the cold air, so 
 strengthen the whole body, and especially the skin, that 
 very much less clothing is needed than where the habits are 
 the reverse. So persons who take a great deal of exercise 
 outdoors, generate so much animal heat, and have their skin 
 so strengthened by cold air, that they require much less 
 clothing than those who go out but little, exercise but little, 
 and keep their skins overheated by fires and clothing. The 
 fourth rule, then, is important: Take care to keep the body 
 warm by exercise, cool air, and bathing, instead of relying on 
 clothing and fires, which tend to debilitate the skin. 
 
 There is always danger of excess in applying the fore- 
 going rules. Some constitutions are so weak that they have 
 not nervous power enough to bear much exercise, or to re- 
 sist the cold. Many such have been seriously injured by 
 cold bathing, by exposures to cold weather, by deficient 
 clothing, and by over exertions. There is almost an unerr- 
 ing index to guide such in these attempts to secure good 
 habits in the above particulars. Whenever the skin is too 
 delicate, or the body too feeble to bear cold bathing, there 
 is a sensation of discomfort, a chilliness, or a consequent 
 debility, which should immediately be heeded. And so in 
 regard to clothing and exposure to the air. Whatever makes 
 a person chilly and uncomfortable should be avoided. There 
 should always be a slow and cautious method pursued in all 
 attempts to change the habits, especially in the manage- 
 ment of the skin. 
 
 A delicate person, unaccustomed to expose the skin to 
 cold air and cold water, should begin to bathe in a warm 
 room, and use tepid water at first, and follow bathing with 
 
 Questions. Upon what does the power to bear cold depend ? What 
 is the effect of too much clothing ? What is the effect of cold bathing 
 and cold air ? What is the effect on the skin of air and exercise ? Of 
 what is there danger in applying these rules ? What is said of some con- 
 stitutions? What index is there to guide in regard to bathing, clothing, 
 and exposure to the air ? How should a delicate person proceed in cold 
 bathing ? 
 
THE SKIN AND SECRETING ORGANS. 107 
 
 a good deal of friction. Then each day the water should 
 very slowly and gradually be reduced in temperature, and 
 the air of the room in warmth. The fifth rule, therefore, 
 is very important : Never use water so cold or clothing so thin 
 as to cause a sense of chilliness and discomfort. Change the 
 habits in these respects very slowly, and always stop when dis- 
 comfort is induced. 
 
 In regard to bathing, it must be remembered that, while 
 warm bathing tends to debilitate, cold bathing draws off 
 the animal heat, and may be carried to such an extent as 
 to undermine the constitution. Many children have been 
 seriously injured by bathing too often, or staying too long 
 in cold water. The animal heat is thus drawn off faster 
 than the powers of the body can supply it, and the process 
 becomes debilitating. So, while some children have their 
 skin weakened by wearing too much clothing, both while 
 sleeping and waking, others are equally injured by being 
 forced to go about chilly from want of enough covering. In 
 general, young children need more clothing than adults. 
 This is a safe rule for children : Keep as little clothing on 
 children as is consistent with their comfort, but add more when 
 they complain of chilliness. 
 
 Age and disease both reduce the powers of the system to 
 generate heat and to react when cold is applied. For this 
 reason the invalid and the aged should wear more clothing than 
 the young and vigorous, and be more cautious in using cold 
 baths. 
 
 Currents of air on certain parts of the body are more in- 
 jurious than a general cooling of the whole body. The rea- 
 son is, that heat is withdrawn much faster by a current of 
 air than by a still atmosphere. And when this current is 
 confined to a small portion of the body, it causes the blood 
 to retreat from that to the inner organs, and thus renders 
 the circulation unequal, and the system less prepared to act 
 vigorously against the evil. This rule, therefore, is import- 
 
 Questions. What is the fifth rule of health for the skin ? To what 
 does warm bathing tend? What does cold bathing do? How have 
 children been injured ? Why ? How does too much or too little cloth- 
 ing injure some children ? What is the rule for clothing children ? What 
 for invalids and the aged ? What is said of currents of air on certain 
 parts of the body ? 
 
108 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 ant : Currents of air on the head or neck, or any particular part 
 of the body, should be avoided. Any part of the body that has 
 been habitually covered, should not be exposed without a gradual 
 process to 'inure it to the change. Any change in amount of 
 clothing worn should be made in the morning, because the body is 
 then most vigorous. 
 
 It has become a very prevalent notion that it is danger- 
 ous to bathe or to go into the cold air when the skin is very 
 warm. This has arisen from the fact that in a perspiration, 
 the clothing being wet, cold air carries off the heat much 
 faster than when the clothing is dry. At the same time, 
 the sweating process sometimes proceeds so far as to de- 
 bilitate the skin. 
 
 But the experience of Water Cures has proved that the 
 best time to bathe is when the skin is warm and flushed 
 with exercise. 
 
 It is when the capillaries are filled with blood that the 
 nerves and blood-vessels are at the highest point of vigor. 
 On the contrary, when the skin is cool there is less blood 
 and less vigor to resist cold. 
 
 This rule, then, is important : When the body is to be sud- 
 denly exj)osed to cold air or cold water, the capillaries of the 
 skin should be filled with blood by exercise or friction. 
 
 As the impurities of the body sent out through the skin 
 collect in the clothing and bedding, and as the absorbents 
 of the skin take back impurities that are pressed on to it, it 
 is very important that the clothing should be changed often. 
 And as fresh air has a direct effect in carrying off these im- 
 purities, it is important that bedding and clothing should be 
 well aired. This, rule, then, is necessary : Take care to air 
 the bedding and night clothes, and to change frequently the gar- 
 ments worn next the skin. 
 
 Inasmuch as there is more blood in the capillaries of 
 the skin than in all the other capillaries of the whole body, 
 we can see how important it is to the health of this organ 
 that the stomach should be supplied with proper food and 
 
 Questions. What is the rule as regards currents of air ? What is said of 
 bathing when the skin is very warm ? When is the best time to bathe, 
 and why ? What is the rule in regard to this ? Why is it important that 
 the clothing should often be changed ? Why should bedding and cloth- 
 ing be aired ? What is the rule in reference to this matter ? 
 
THE SKIN AND SECRETING ORGANS. 1Q9 
 
 in proper quantities. It is probable that most evils that are 
 developed in cutaneous eruptions, result from excess in 
 eating, or from a wrong selection of food. This rule, then, 
 is important : Take care that the health of the skin be secured 
 by moderate supplies of properly selected food. 
 
 It has been shown that the skin is intimately connected 
 with the lungs, liver, kidneys, and bowels, and that any 
 abuse of any one of these may affect the health of any of 
 the others. Whenever, therefore, any internal organ suf- 
 fers, care should immediately be taken that all the functions 
 of the skin are in full and perfect operation. And special 
 caution should be directed to prevent any increase of disease 
 by any chill of the skin. 
 
 In climates that are deemed unhealthy, or where un- 
 healthy miasmas abound, special care should be taken that 
 the skin be kept clean, and the capillaries well-filled by 
 exercise, food, and warmth. In moving among contagious 
 disorders, the keeping of the skin clean and warm, and 
 properly nourished by simple and wholesome food, is the 
 surest preventive from disease. This rule, then, is import- 
 ant : In times of sickness or of exposure to epidemic or conta- 
 gious disease, take great care to keep the skin clean, and warm, 
 and well-nourished. 
 
 We have seen that the secreting tubes of the skin that 
 draw off the unhealthful portions of the blood amount, if 
 all united, to twenty-eight miles in length. All this apparatus 
 is dependent on the purity of the air to secure the requisite 
 amount of oxygen for the performance of its functions. 
 There is no portion of the body that suffers more directly 
 and severely from an impure atmosphere than the skin. 
 This rule, then, is .imperative : Guard the health of the skin 
 at all times by surrounding it with pure air. 
 
 Questions. Why is it that the food especially affects the skin '( "What 
 is the rule in reference to this? With what is the skin intimately con- 
 nected ? When any internal organ suffers, what should be done ? What 
 special caution should be taken ? What should be done when the climate 
 is unhealthy, and when contagious disorders prevail ? What is the rule 
 on this subject? What is the united length of the perspiration tubes of 
 the skin ? What does all this depend on "i What is the rule on this subject ? 
 
LESSON SIXTEENTH. 
 
 LAWS OF HEALTH FOR THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 
 
 WE have seen that the brain and nerves are the organs 
 by which the mind controls the other parts of the body. 
 We have also seen that they are divided into distinct por- 
 tions, each having different offices to perform, and that a 
 nervous fluid generated in the brain is the medium of influ- 
 ence between the mind, and brain, and nerves. 
 
 We have seen that the fountain that supplies this fluid 
 may be so overdrawn by excesses as to be exhausted, and 
 also that certain portions of the ferain and nervous system 
 may be overworked, and thus debilitated, while other por- 
 tions may become equally debilitated by inaction. 
 
 Before proceeding to set forth the laws of health for the 
 brain and nerves, some preliminary remarks are needful in 
 reference to the nature of true happiness, and the mode of 
 attaining it. 
 
 We will first assume, what probably few will dispute, that 
 in the formation of our minds and bodies, our benevolent 
 and wise Creator aimed to secure to his creatures the best 
 happiness by the best methods, and that he has placed us 
 in a system wisely adapted to secure this end. Being thus 
 endowed and thus placed, we are to learn, by our own ex- 
 perience and that of others, how we are to use our various 
 powers and susceptibilities so as to secure the happiness 
 which we are formed to enjoy. 
 
 By this experience we have learned that there are two 
 methods which may be adopted. One is to seek and enjoy 
 
 Questions. What are the organs by which the mind controls the body ? 
 How are the brain and nerves divided, and for what end ? What is the 
 medium of influence between the mind and the brain and nerves ? Wlu.t 
 is said of overdrawing the nervous fountain, and of overworking the 
 brain and nerves ? What was the design of our Creator in forming our 
 minds and bodies ? How has he placed us ? How are we to learn to se- 
 cure the happiness for which we are formed ? 
 
LAWS OF HEALTH FOR THE BRAIN AND NERVES. HI 
 
 temperately a great variety of intellectual, social, and moral 
 pleasures, giving to each its due proportion, and allowing no 
 injurious excess in any. Where this course is pursued the 
 happiness of life is made up of multitudes of successive en- 
 joyments, no one of which is very exciting or ecstatic, but 
 the united sum producing a calm, steady, satisfying happi- 
 ness. 
 
 By the other method all the feelings and energies are di- 
 rected to a few objects, which, if secured, are enjoyed to ex- 
 cess, while other resources remain closed, and the mind ia 
 unharmoniously developed. 
 
 Experience also teaches that there are some kinds of 
 happiness much more elevating and satisfying than others. 
 Thus intellectual pleasures exceed those of a merely phys- 
 ical nature, social pleasures are superior to selfish, while 
 moral and religious enjoyments are the most elevating and 
 perfect of them all. 
 
 True and abiding happiness, then, is to be found in the 
 proper and equal development and exercise of all the fac- 
 ulties of body and mind, and in the appropriate selection 
 and proportion of the objects of enjoyment. 
 
 We will now consider the laws of health for the brain and 
 nerves. 
 
 One of the most important of these laws is what has been 
 repeated in reference to every other portion of the body. 
 The quality of the blood that nourishes the brain depends 
 on the right selection and quality of food, and on the full 
 supply of oxygen which pure air alone can afford. When 
 the blood is surcharged with heavy and gross material from 
 excess in diet, it clogs the operations and impedes the 
 health of the brain and nervous system. And when the air 
 inspired by the lungs is impure, the brain loses in the same 
 proportion its healthful stimulus. The brain never acts so 
 freely and clearly as in a perfectly pure atmosphere, while 
 
 Questions. What is the first method by which happiness may bo 
 sought ? What is the result of this course ? What is the other method ? 
 What does experience teach as to the different modes of happiness? 
 What is the order in which they are placed ? How is true and abiding 
 happiness to be found ? On what does the quality of blood that nour- 
 ishes the brain depend ? When the blood is loaded by excess, how does 
 it affect the brain and nerves? What is the effect of bad air on them? 
 When does the brain act most freely ? 
 
112 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 dullness and debility are the certain results of impure air. 
 I have known a teacher, when he found his class in math- 
 ematics weary and perplexed with a difficult problem, in- 
 stantly relieve them, and procure a speedy result, by letting 
 down the tops of the windows, and thus sending a fresh sup- 
 ply of oxygen to the brain. Pure air adds as much to every 
 other enjoyment as it does to the exercise of the intellect. 
 This rule, then, may stand as first : Take care that the brain 
 is nourished with healthful blood and pure air. 
 
 It has been shown that the nerves of feeling or sensation 
 run from the front portion of the spinal cord, and the nerves 
 of motion from its back portion. They then are united in 
 the same cases, and are spread all over the body, thus united 
 whenever motion is required. But the skin receives its sup- 
 ply from the nerves of feeling alone, which are abundantly 
 multiplied in a close net-work of nerves. It is found by 
 experience that there is an intimate connection between 
 the exercise of the nerves of motion and the health of the 
 brain and other nerves, so that these may be regarded as 
 the balance-wheel of the whole nervous system. The neglect 
 of the nerves of motion tends to produce a morbid sensitive- 
 ness of the other portions, while their appropriate action 
 yields vigor, quietude, and enjoyment to every other func- 
 tion. Our Creator designed his creatures for industiy and 
 activity, in gaining good for themselves and for their fellow- 
 beings, and to secure these a heavy penalty is affixed to in- 
 activity of the muscular system. Every other instrument of 
 the body becomes less susceptible to enjoyment, and more 
 sensitive to suffering in proportion to the use or neglect of 
 the nerves of motion. From this we see the importance of 
 the second rule : Take care that the health of the brain and 
 nerves is secured by the daily and abundant exercise of the 
 nerves of motion. 
 
 Questions. What example illustrates the influence of pure air on the 
 brain ? What is the first rule of health for the brain ? From whence do 
 the nerves of feeling and nerves of motion originate, and how are they 
 united ? From what does the skin receive its supply ? What is said of 
 the nerves of motion ? What does neglect of these nerves produce ? 
 What is the result of their appropriate action ? How did the Creator de- 
 sign that his creatures should gain good? And how has this been se- 
 cured ? How does neglecting to exercise these nerves affect other parts 
 of the body? What is the second law of health for the brain and nerves? 
 
LAWS OF HEALTH FOR THE BRAIN AND NERVES. H3 
 
 The nerves of sensation, it has been shown, most abound 
 in the skin, while in their origin and branches they are in- 
 timately connected and bound up with the nerves of motion. 
 In this way the state of the skin influences very extensively 
 the whole nervous system, more so than any other bodily 
 organ. Therefore, the third rule is important: Take care 
 that the health of the brain and nerves is secured by a proper 
 attention to the health and cleanliness of the skin. 
 
 It has been found by experience that the health and 
 strength of the brain and nerves is dependent on sleep. In 
 this state the drain on the nervous fountain ceases, and it 
 has a season for accumulating its resources. If there is not 
 enough time allowed for sleep, there is a slow draining of 
 nervous power which finally exhausts the nervous reservoir. 
 On the contrary, if too much time is given to sleep, the 
 system is exhausted by excess. Seven hours of sleep is the 
 average, some require eight, and some but six. Eight hours 
 of sleep is all that is needed by any healthy person, and 
 more than this tends to debilitate the nervous system. 
 
 Any excessive fatigue, either of body or mind, demands 
 an additional period of repose for the brain. Persons who 
 use the brain a great deal, and under a strong pressure of 
 care and feeling, require extra periods for sleep. The fourth 
 rule, then, is important : Take from six to eight hours of sleep 
 as the general practice, but add more in cases of excessive ac- 
 tivity of mind or body. 
 
 In many cases the health of the brain and nervous sys- 
 tem demands amusements. Any pursuit is an amusement 
 which is sought simply for the present pleasure it affords, 
 without reference to its future results. Pleasure is a health- 
 ful stimulus to the brain and nerves, while anxiety, care, 
 and sorrow, have the opposite influence. And no mind or 
 body can be a healthy one when every waking hour is de- 
 
 Questions. Why does the state of the skin influence the whole nerv- 
 ous system ? What is the third law of health for the brain and nerves ? 
 What is said of the influence of sleep on the brain ? What is the state 
 of the nervous fountain during sleep ? What is the effect of too little 
 sleep ? What is the effect of too much sleep ? How many hours should 
 be given to sleep? When should extra periods of sleep be taken ? What 
 is the rule in regard to sleep ? What is an amusement ? What effect has 
 pleasure on the brain ? What effect have care and sorrow ? Can any one 
 be perfectly heajthy in mind and body without some time for recreation ? 
 II 
 
114 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 voted to what are the business and duties of life without in- 
 tervening periods of recreation. 
 
 There are no amusements so useful as those that excite 
 laughter. There are a set of nerves called the risible, and 
 portions of the brain and body which are exercised by laugh- 
 ter. These the Creator designed should be used, and all 
 who have attended most to physiology and the laws of 
 health, declare that nothing is more promotive of good 
 health than a hearty laugh. In every family some portion 
 of every day should be devoted to social and domestic en- 
 joyments, in which amusements should form a part. 
 
 So strong is the love of amusements, and especially of 
 those that excite merriment, that there is danger of excess. 
 This danger has led many conscientious persons to shun 
 altogether what requires only to be taken in moderation. 
 From a want of just views on this subject there has been 
 too often a marked line of separation between those who 
 seek amusements and those who avoid them one class 
 going to one extreme, and the other to the opposite. At 
 the same time, those who seek amusement are usually the 
 class who least need it, while those who most need recrea- 
 tions entirely avoid them. There is no nation in the world 
 that give so much time to study, care, and business, with so 
 little intervening amusements, as the Americans, and this 
 is one reason of the general decay of health. The fifth law, 
 then, is important : Let some portion of each day be allowed 
 for recreation, especially by persons whose minds are burdened 
 by cares and duties. 
 
 It is found that a simple change of pursuits has a health- 
 ful and refreshing influence on the brain, even when these 
 pursuits are severe. This is owing to the fact that a differ- 
 ent portion of the brain, and different sets of nerves, are 
 called into action, allowing others to rest. It is found, also, 
 that regularity and system have a great influence in lessening 
 
 Questions. What amusements are most useful ? What nerves are 
 exercised by laughter ? What did the Creator design them for ? What 
 is said of a hearty laugh ? What should some portion of every day be de- 
 voted to ? What 'danger is there in this ? What two extremes have there 
 been on this subject? What is said of the Americans in this respect? 
 What is the rule of health in regard to amusements ? What is said of a 
 change of pursuits ? To what is this owing ? What is said of regularity 
 and system ? 
 
LAWS OF HEALTH FOK THE BKAIN AND NERVES. H5 
 
 fatigue and care, so that a person that is systematic can ac- 
 complish far more labor, and with much less care, than can 
 be done by one who has no such habits. The sixth rule, then, 
 is important : Let there be change and variety in employments, 
 and at the same time system and order. 
 
 The brain can be made to suffer as severely from inac- 
 tivity as from any other cause. The want of some noble 
 and engaging pursuit in life, leaving all the faculties and 
 affections without appropriate objects, is one of the most 
 serious evils that is suffered by the wealthy and prosperous. 
 The selfish pursuit of pleasure soon cloys, and the mind 
 pines for something noble to relieve. And this longing is 
 always proportioned to the amount of talent and sensibility 
 of each mind. A small, or a phlegmatic, or a low and un- 
 cultivated mind, can more readily become reconciled to in- 
 activity, or a life filled up with trifles. 
 
 But the higher a mind rises in the scale of being, the 
 nobler the intellect and feelings, and the more cultivated the 
 powers, the greater the suffering consequent on inactivity, 
 and the greater the longing for high and noble objects of 
 pursuit. The seventh, and grand law, then, of health for the 
 brain and nerves is, that all the powers and feelings of the 
 mind be engaged in the pursuit of noble and benevolent objects. 
 
 But the brain and nerves can be made to suffer severely, 
 even when the intellect and feeling are engaged in noble 
 pursuits, by an unbalanced and unequal exercise of the 
 faculties and sensibilities. This may be seen in the case 
 of some benevolent persons, who select some single depart- 
 ment of benevolent effort to turn all their energies and feel- 
 ings into that channel alone. Their domestic affections, 
 their social duties, the enjoyments of taste, the relief of rec- 
 reations, and many other departments of mental activity 
 included in a well-balanced and well-developed mind, are 
 neglected. In this way the character is deteriorated rather 
 
 Questions. What is the rule in regard to regularity and system ? 
 What is said of inactivity of brain ? What is one of the chief evils suf- 
 fered by the wealthy ? What is said of selfish pleasure ? What is the 
 difference, in this matter, between a superior and a small mind ? What 
 is said of the increase of mental power and cultivation? What, then, is 
 the chief and grand law of health for tho brain and nerves ? What is 
 said of an unequal exercise of the faculties of mind ? What case illus- 
 trates this ? How is character affected by this course ? 
 
116 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 than improved, while the brain and nervous system suffer 
 from an excess in one direction of activity, and from an 
 equal neglect in another. Our Creator has given us no 
 faculties of action or feeling which he did not design to 
 have duly exercised in securing enjoyment to ourselves and 
 to our fellow-beings. The eighth, then, is an important law 
 of health for the brain : Take care that all the faculties and 
 susceptibilities of the mind and body be duly exercised so as to 
 secure a well-balanced mind in a healthful body. 
 
 Question. What is the law of health in regard to the unequal exer- 
 cise of the faculties of mind ? 
 
LESSON SEVENTEENTH. 
 
 LAWS OF HEALTH FOR THE ORGANS OF SENSE. 
 
 THE organs of sense are as dependent for health on their 
 right use and proper treatment as any other portions of the 
 body. 
 
 SENSE OF FEELING OR TOUCH. 
 
 The chief organ of this sense is the net-work of nerves 
 of sensation in the skin. The health of these nerves de- 
 pends mainly on these things : 
 
 First, that the blood be well oxydized in the lungs. Next, 
 that the blood be made by simple and proper food. Next, 
 that the skin be kept clean, and its capillaries well filled 
 with blood. Lastly, that the nerves of motion and sensa- 
 tion, which are so intimately connected, be kept healthy by 
 exercise. 
 
 SENSE OF TASTE. 
 
 In childhood the sense of taste is very acute, and children 
 usually prefer food of mild and delicate flavor. The first 
 use of pepper, vinegar, and the like, usually brings tears 
 into the eyes. But the use of condiments and stimulating 
 drinks so exhausts and dulls this sense, that a false appetite 
 is created for unhealthful and mixed articles of diet. The 
 use of tobacco lessens the sensibility of taste, and awakens 
 an unnatural longing for stimulus. 
 
 The simple and natural taste of childhood can be restored 
 by drinking nothing but cold water, and a perfectly simple 
 
 Questions. On what does the health of the organs of sense depend ? 
 What is the organ of touch or feeling ? What are the four particulars 
 that contribute to the health of this organ ? When is taste most acute ? 
 What food is then preferred ? What is the effect of the first use of pep- 
 per, vinegar, and other condiments? What effect do they produce? 
 What is said of tobacco ? How can a simple and natural taste be re- 
 stored ? 
 
118 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 and healthful diet. When this is secured the appetite be- 
 comes healthful, and is a safe guide to the proper quantity 
 of food. The rule of health, then, for this sense, is to avoid 
 every article that tends to debilitate this sense by over-stimula- 
 tion. 
 
 SENSE OF SMELL. 
 
 This sense is kept healthy and acute by proper use. But 
 excesses in stimulating it diminish its sensibility. 
 
 Snuff* is the great enemy of this sense. It diminishes the 
 nervous sensibility, and thickens the membrane that lines 
 the nose so as to obstruct the passage of air through it. 
 This often affects the voice and mode of breathing. The 
 same rule as the previous applies to this sense : Avoid all 
 excessive stimulation. 
 
 SENSE OF SIGHT. 
 
 The organ of sight, like all others, can be debilitated by 
 overaction. The eye may become inflamed by too much 
 light, or it may be debilitated by too much use. This is 
 especially true of those who have naturally a delicate or- 
 ganization. The first rule, then, is : Avoid excess of light, 
 and excess in using the eye. Always stop when the eye feels 
 pained or tired. 
 
 The iris is formed to contract when too much light enters 
 the eye. But the process is a gradual one, so that sudden 
 changes from darkness to light injure the nerve by excess 
 of stimulation. A paralysis of the optic nerve (called am- 
 aur-o-sis) is sometimes caused by this. This second rule, 
 then, is important : Avoid all sudden changes from darkness to 
 light. 
 
 If objects are placed too close to the eye for long periods 
 it produces shortness of sight. If objects are viewed for a 
 long time obliquely, it strains the muscles of the eye, and 
 
 Questions. What is the consequence of this return to healthful diet :' 
 What is the rule of health for this sense? What is the effect of ex- 
 cessive stimulation of the sense of smell? What is the effect of snuff? 
 What is the law of health for this sense ? What are the two Avays in 
 which the organ of sight can be injured by excess ? What is said of the 
 action of the iris ? What is sometimes the effect of excess of light ? What 
 is the second rule ? What is the effect of putting objects too close to the 
 eye ? What of long-continued oblique vision ? 
 
THE ORGANS OF SENSE. 119 
 
 sometimes produces squinting. Therefore this third rule 
 is important : Take care that the eye be not injured by too 
 close, or by oblique inspection. 
 
 When the eyes are weak, two things are especially injuri- 
 ous. One is using them early in the morning before break- 
 fast, and the other is using them by candle-light. Gas-lights, 
 which are a very strong light, should always be shaded for 
 weak eyes. Local applications for weak eyes are danger- 
 ous, and should be avoided. 
 
 Rest and protection from light are the best remedies. 
 Pouring cold water on the back of the neck is a safe, and 
 often an effective application. 
 
 SENSE OF HEARING. 
 
 The ear is a very delicate organ, and its construction is 
 not fully understood. Therefore, it is very important to 
 preserve it from injury, and try no experiments with it. 
 
 Deafness is sometimes caused by an accumulation of wax 
 in the ear. Great care should be taken not to use hard 
 methods for extracting it. The cleaning of the ear with 
 pin heads, or any hard thing, is dangerous. 
 
 A drop of oil in the ear will soften any hard wax, and 
 then syringing the interior gently with tepid water, will re- 
 move the excess of wax. If this method does not relieve, 
 recourse should be had to a physician. 
 
 Questions. What is the third rule ? What rules are given for weak 
 eyes? How is deafness sometimes caused? What caution is given? 
 What is the proper method of cleansing the ear from excess of wax, 
 which sometimes causes deafness t 
 
PART THIRD. 
 
 LESSON EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 ABUSES OF THE BODILY ORGANS BY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 WE have noticed, in the two former portions of this book, 
 the construction of the most important organs of the human 
 body, and the laws of health in the treatment of these or- 
 gans. The next portion of the work will point out the 
 methods by which the American people violate these laws, 
 and thus bring disease, deformity, and death on themselves, 
 and educate their children for the same sad experience. 
 This will be done under the same heads as have been taken 
 in the previous pages. 
 
 ABUSES OF THE BONES AND MUSCLES. 
 
 In another portion will be shown how the American 
 people take such a course in regard both to diet and fresh 
 air, that the bones and muscles are provided only with im- 
 pure and unhealthy blood. In shops, manufactories, offices, 
 counting-rooms, sleeping-rooms, sitting-rooms, churches, 
 school-houses, railroad cars, and almost every other place 
 where human beings live, arrangements are made that, in 
 nine cases out of ten, provide only impure air to breathe. 
 Thus the capillaries of the bones and muscles never receive 
 their proper supply of oxygen. This tends to make them 
 weaker, softer, and smaller than they would be if nourished 
 by blood properly oxygenized in the lungs. 
 
 At the same time the stomach being loaded with an 
 excess of food, and this food wrong in its selection, can not 
 
 Questions. What has been noticed in the two former portions of this 
 book ? "What is to be pointed out in this third part ? What course is 
 taken by Americans both as to diet and pure air ? What cases are men- 
 tioned to illustrate ? What is their treatment of the stomach, and the 
 consequence ? 
 
ABUSES OF THE BONES AND MUSCLES. 121 
 
 provide healthful chyle, and consequently there is a failure 
 of proper nourishment for the bones and muscles. 
 
 It has been shown how much the health of the whole 
 system depends upon the proper and uniform action of all 
 the muscles, and also that this exercise is most serviceable 
 when the mind is at the same time interested in attaining 
 some worthy object by this exercise. 
 
 Now the labor appointed to man in cultivating the earth, 
 in preparing its fruits, and in many mechanical pursuits, 
 will be found to be that which exercises all the muscles of 
 the body appropriately and healthfully. So also the labor 
 appointed to woman in the family state, involves just that 
 variety of employment which, if wisely adjusted, would be 
 exactly what is best calculated to develop every muscle 
 most perfectly, while in the performance of these duties the 
 mind has healthful occupation. 
 
 And yet every man who can do so, avoids these healthful 
 pursuits as less honorable, and seeks in preference those 
 that shut him up in study, office, or store, to overwork his 
 brain and leave his muscular system to run down for want 
 of vigorous exercise and fresh air. And so almost every 
 woman, who has it in her power, turns off the work that 
 would make herself and her daughters beautiful, graceful, 
 and healthful, to hirelings, and takes sewing, reading, and 
 other inactive pursuits as her exclusive portion. 
 
 By this method of dividing the labor of life, one portion 
 of the world weaken their muscular system, either by entire 
 inaction of both brain and muscle, or by the excess of brain- 
 work and the neglect of muscular exercise. Another large 
 portion, having all the work that demands physical exercise 
 turned off upon them, overwork their bodies and neglect 
 their brains. And almost the whole fail in the equal train- 
 ing of the muscular system, which alone secures that per- 
 fect development on which health and beauty so much 
 depend. 
 
 Owing to the above causes, the great majority of the pres- 
 
 Questions. What has been said of the exercise of the muscles ? What 
 is said of the labor appropriated to man and to woman ? What are the 
 practices of men and women in respect to these labors ? What is the con- 
 sequence of this wrong method of dividing labor ? 
 
122 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 ent generation have grown up with bones and muscles to a 
 greater or less extent weaker, smaller, and less healthful, 
 than their Creator designed they should be. His work has 
 been marred and enfeebled by their own abuse and neglect, 
 or by that of their parents or other ancestors. 
 
 Having thus prepared the bones and muscles by debility 
 to yield readily to any injurious influences, a large majority 
 of the mothers and daughters of the nation adopt a style of 
 dress that is exactly calculated to produce disease and de- 
 formity. 
 
 In the first place they dress the upper portion of the body 
 so thinly, that the spine and chest are exposed to sudden and 
 severe changes of temperature in passing from warm to cold 
 rooms, and this tends to weaken that portion. Then they 
 accumulate such loads of clothing around the lower parts 
 of the body, as debilitate the spine and pelvic organs by 
 excess of heat. At the same time, they bind the ribs so 
 tight, that there is a constant lateral pressure against one 
 side of the spine, tending to produce a curvature that dis- 
 torts one shoulder and one hip. At the same time the 
 weight of clothing on the hips and abdomen presses down 
 on the most delicate and important organs of life to move 
 them from their proper positions, while pointed bodices, 
 with whalebone pressure, co-operate as a lever in front, to 
 accomplish the same shocking operation. The efforts of 
 the Chinese mother in binding up her child's foot for dis- 
 tortion, is wisdom compared with the murderous folly thus 
 perpetrated or tolerated by thousands of mothers and daugh- 
 ters in this Christian and enlightened age and nation. And 
 the most terrible feature in this monstrous course is, that 
 the evil thus achieved by a mother is often transmitted to 
 her deformed offspring. 
 
 Besides these methods for distorting the muscles and 
 bones others quite as effective are adopted. 
 
 Questions. What is said of the effects of this division of labor on the 
 bones and muscles ? What do a majority of women do as it respects 
 dress '? What is there wrong in the fashion for the upper portion of the 
 female form ? What for the lower portion ? What evil is done around 
 the ribs ? What is done by the weight of clothing ? What whalebone 
 pressure has been added ? Can the deformity thus induced become he- 
 reditary ? 
 
ABUSES OF THE BONES AND MUSCLES. 123 
 
 Some children are made to sit still for hours on seats at 
 school that do not properly support the body. Thus some 
 of the muscles are debilitated, by over-exertion, to hold up 
 the body, and finally failing, the discs of the spine are forced 
 into the hardening process to supply the place of the mus- 
 cles. 
 
 Other children are allowed to sit so many hours in wrong 
 positions, either while reading or writing, as to bring on de- 
 formity by a similar process. Other children sleep on high 
 pillows and in such uniformly wrong positions as induces 
 deformity. Others are allowed to sit and stand in positions 
 that lead to deformity. 
 
 Then again, when the evil results of those methods begin 
 to develop, and the child is seen to be growing up with 
 crooked back, or projecting neck, or round shoulders, or all 
 together, instead of ceasing the wrong treatment and secur- 
 ing proper exercise, diet, and fresh air as the only true rem- 
 edy, braces are girt around the bones and muscles to increase 
 the very evil they are used to remedy. 
 
 Then, when it is discovered that exercise is needed for 
 a remedy, the habit is so suddenly invaded as to weaken 
 instead of giving strength. The slow and gradual change 
 would, indeed, meet the evil, but the sudden jerk only adds 
 to it. And then the plea is made that exercise is found by 
 trial to do more harm than good. 
 
 There is one mode of exercise that is very common, and is 
 earnestly defended on the ground of its healthful tendencies, 
 and that is the dance. There is no doubt that the Creator, 
 when he implanted that strong love of measured exercise to 
 the sound of music, intended that it should be gratified. 
 And were it the custom for families to go abroad into the 
 open air, in proper habiliments, at proper times, and dance 
 to the sound of music, and this were the only mode adopted, 
 it is probable that no such prejudice as now exists against 
 this amusement would have arisen. But how is the dance 
 usually conducted ? 
 
 Question*). How are children injured in schools by the seats used ? 
 How are they injured by wrong positions ? How by positions in sleep- 
 ing ? When deformities are thus created, what wrong remedies are used ? 
 What mistakes in regard to exercise ? In what circumstances would the 
 dance be healthful ? 
 
124 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 In the first place, it is commonly in the night season, 
 when quiet is better than exercise. Next, it is in rooms 
 where the air is vitiated by many lights and many breaths, 
 and where quiet is far better than a quickened circulation. 
 Next, the clothing of the female portion of the performers 
 is usually the very worst that could be selected for such an 
 occasion too thin about the chest and too heavy below it. 
 Then, before the night is passed, the stomach, which should 
 rest when the muscles are exercised, is loaded with the most 
 unhealthful of all kinds of food, condiments, and drinks. 
 Finally, after the skin, stomach, and lungs have been de- 
 bilitated by hours of abuse, and the whole brain and nervous 
 system exhausted by mental and physical excitement, the 
 company adjourn to cold halls and robing-rooms, and go 
 forth to ride through the night air, with weary, sleepy driv- 
 ers, to weary, sleepy servants or friends, whom selfish amuse- 
 ments have deprived of proper repose and sleep. When 
 another generation has been trained to understand and obey 
 the laws of health, the beautiful and health-giving dance 
 will be rescued from its profanation and abuse. But in its 
 present state of degradation entire abstinence is probably 
 the safer rule, for those who venture only a few steps will 
 probably be soon drawn far beyond their first intentions, 
 while their views of right and expediency will gradually sink 
 to the standard of their wishes, or yield to those of their 
 children. 
 
 ABUSES OF THE LUNGS. 
 
 It is the universally-acknowledged fact, that the present 
 generation of men and women are inferior in health and in 
 powers of endurance to their immediate ancestors. And in 
 all quarters the cause is sought, while many varying answers 
 are given. 
 
 It is probable that no one cause can be assigned as the sole 
 reason. But it can be made to appear probable that the 
 
 Questions. What is wrong as to time in regard to dancing as usually 
 conducted? What is wrong as to the air? What in regard to dress? 
 What in the treatment of the stomach? What is the last evil de- 
 scribed ? When will the dance be probably rescued from such abuses ? 
 What is the safer course till this is done ? What is an acknowledged 
 fact? 
 
ABUSES OF THE LUNGS. 125 
 
 abuse of the lungs by supplies of impure air has had more 
 influence than any one thing in the general decay of health. 
 Our ancestors always slept in cold and well-ventilated cham- 
 bers. And in the family by day, the broad-mouthed chim- 
 ney and uncorked doors and windows secured a constant 
 flow of cool and pure air, while daily exercise in family 
 work by women and children, and out-door work by men 
 and boys, secured the cheerful spirits and healthful exercise 
 most favorable to body and mind. 
 
 But as wealth and luxury have increased, houses have 
 been made tight, windows have been corked, fire-places 
 have been shut up, and close stoves and furnaces introduced. 
 Men work in heated counting-rooms, offices, stores, shops, 
 and manufactories, with brain stimulated and muscles in- 
 active, or with both muscles and brain stimulated, while 
 the fetid effluvia of many skins and lungs accumulate as 
 the only fountain of supply to the lungs and the dependent 
 capillaries all over the body. Then they go home and sleep 
 with wives and children in close, unventilated, and some- 
 times heated rooms. And even when they travel, especially 
 in winter, when the cold and pure air would most invigor- 
 ate, they are packed in close cars, with a stove burning up 
 the oxygen and thinning the air, while windows are fastened 
 down and every crack made air-tight with frozen breaths. 
 The idea that every pair of lungs needs a hogshead of pure 
 air every hour as much as the stomach needs its daily food, 
 is one that has never been acted on by one man in a thou- 
 sand in arranging for his house, his place of business, and 
 his family. 
 
 If society understood this subject as it will some day be 
 considered, there would be health-officers to inspect every 
 house in the land, and bring indictments for crime against 
 every man that arranges to poison himself and his family 
 by an unhealthful atmosphere. 
 
 One grand difficulty on this subject is, that the philosophy 
 
 Questions. What has had more influence than any one cause in pro- 
 ducing a general decay of health ? How was sleeping and work done in 
 a former generation ? What has attended wealth and luxury ? How do 
 men work, how do they sleep, and how do they travel ? How much fresh 
 air is needed every hour for every pair of lungs? What sort of health- 
 officers will exist when this subject is properly understood ? 
 
126 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 of ventilation lias been so little attended to, practically, that 
 not one in a thousand even of educated persons, not one in, 
 a hundred even of those who have studied physiology, and 
 consider pure air as important to health, really know what 
 is necessary to secure a proper ventilation. 
 
 The thing to be done is" to secure a gentle current of air, 
 which shall constantly pass in and out of a room or building 
 where the lungs and skin of human beings are vitiating the 
 atmosphere. 
 
 This being so, it is a very easy matter to ventilate any 
 room, by simply having an opening at the top of one window 
 and another at the top of a door. The size of this opening 
 must be proportionate to the number of lungs that are to 
 use the air. In a common-sized chamber, with two lodgers, 
 an inch at the top of a window and an equal opening over 
 the door, will ventilate sufficiently. 
 
 In ventilating a room, care must be taken that the cur- 
 rent be not so large and so strong as to be sensibly felt by 
 the inmates, as this will cause colds. There must be a 
 gentle, imperceptible current established; and where a great 
 deal of air is needed, to meet the wants of many inmates, 
 several small openings must be made instead of any large 
 one. 
 
 Churches and school-houses are best ventilated by fur- 
 naces placed under, and opening at one end of the room, 
 while the ventilators at the top of the room should be at the 
 opposite extremity. This makes a current pass through the 
 whole 'house. 
 
 But if the furnace and ventilators are placed over each 
 other, the current does not so entirely affect every part of 
 the room, while the warm air passes oft' faster. 
 
 The collecting of large numbers of human beings in one 
 building, to spend both day and night, always involves the 
 gradual dilapidation of constitution to all, especially to the 
 most susceptible, unless uncommon care is taken to provide 
 a proper supply of pure air. All the rooms should open 
 
 Questions. What is one grand difficulty? What is to be done in 
 order to obtain proper ventilation ? What arrangement would secure 
 this ? What care is needful in ventilating ? How is it to be managed ? 
 How are churches and schools beet ventilated ? Where many persons 
 live in one large building, how should it be ventilated ? 
 
ABUSES OF THE LUNGS. 10/7 
 
 into long halls that are constantly swept by the outer air 
 from opposite doors and windows. At the same time A r en- 
 tilators should open from each room to these halls, and then 
 another opening be made to the outer air at the top of each 
 window in every room. 
 
 But institutions could now be pointed out, where physi- 
 ology has been taught for years, and yet where two or three 
 hundred live, month after month, breathing chiefly impure 
 air. In neither basement, kitchen, nor dining-hall, where 
 the inmates perform daily exercises, are any proper arrange- 
 ments for carrying off the impure air, vitiated by hundreds 
 of lungs. School-rooms and lodging-roorns are equally un- 
 provided with proper ventilation. Meantime the young in- 
 mates have their brain and nervous system on a constant 
 drain by intellectual activity and moral responsibility. And 
 then as, year after year, we hear that fevers and various dis- 
 eases sweep off the young inmates by death, or send them 
 home to recruit, their friends are all wondering what can be 
 the reason there is so much sickness there ! 
 
 So in our manufactories and shops of labor, thousands of 
 the young congregate to labor in poisonous air, till their con- 
 stitutions are undermined, and then return home to remain 
 invalids for life. 
 
 To add to all the mischief of vitiated air, young women 
 are generally girt so tight around the body, that the lower 
 part of the lungs, where the air-cells most abound, are rarely 
 used. Abdominal breathing has ceased among probably a 
 majority of American women. The ribs also are girt so 
 tight, in many cases, that even the full inspiration at the 
 top of the lungs is impossible. And this custom has oper- 
 ated so, from parent to child, that a large portion of the 
 female children now born have a deformed thorax, that has 
 room only for imperfectly-formed lungs. The full round 
 chest of perfect womanhood is a specimen rarely seen, and 
 every day diminishing in frequency. 
 
 To these abuses of the lungs are to be added the multi- 
 
 Questions. What cases are mentioned showing the evils of a want of 
 proper ventilation ? What is said of shops and manufactories ? What is 
 said of the dress of American women, and its effects ? What common 
 distortions serve to cramp and injure the lungs? 
 
128 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 plied distortions caused by long-continued unnatural posi- 
 tions at school or at work, that cause round shoulders and 
 bent forms, by which the lungs are cramped in size and action. 
 
 In many cases the attempt to ventilate rooms by ignorant 
 or heedless persons is a serious evil. Such will wait till a 
 room is hot, and its air almost poisonous, and then when 
 the skin of all its inmates is reeking with perspiration open 
 a door or window, and make a strong and direct draft, that, 
 of course, causes colds and injurious chills. By this method 
 many are so annoyed as to really hate ventilation and all 
 its advocates. 
 
 The only proper and safe method is to have such arrange- 
 ments made that a room is always perfectly ventilated at all 
 times, and by such a process that no strong current is made 
 in any direction. A window open at top, with a thin curtain 
 over, on one side of a room, and another window or door, 
 with a moderate opening, on the other side, suffices where 
 there are few persons. When there are many, there must 
 be a multiplication of the number of ventilating openings. 
 
 Questions. How are persons sometimes injured by ventilation ? What 
 is the only proper and safe method ? 
 
LESSON NINETEENTH. 
 
 ABUSES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 
 
 IT has been shown that the health of the body is very 
 dependent on the proper selection and proper amount of 
 food. 
 
 In regard to the selection of food, it has been shown that 
 there are these general classes : 
 
 First, animal and vegetable, which do not differ essen- 
 tially in their constituents, both having exactly the same 
 primary elements. The main respect in which they differ 
 is, that animal food is more stimulating (not more nourish- 
 ing) than vegetable, by which is meant that it tends to make 
 all the organs of the body work faster. It is the predom- 
 inance of nitrogen in animal food that gives it this stimula- 
 ting quality. 
 
 Next, there is the heat-forming and the flesh-forming kinds 
 of food. The heat-forming are those that supply most 
 abundantly the carbon which is to combine with oxygen in 
 the capillaries, and thus furnish fuel for the fires that cause 
 animal heat. The stomach supplies, the carbon to burn, 
 and the lungs supply the oxygen to consume it. Butter, fat, 
 oil, sugar, and molasses are the most prominent articles of 
 this kind. The flesh-forming food is that portion which is 
 most readily incorporated into the body as muscle, and does 
 not furnish so large a prbportion of carbon for animal heat. 
 All kinds of grain, vegetables, and fruits, contain both the 
 flesh-forming and the heat-forming ingredients. Indeed so 
 do a greater portion of the articles of food. The classifi- 
 
 Questions. On what is the health of the body very dependent ? What 
 is the first division of food? What is the chief point of difference? 
 What is meant by food that is more stimulating? What gives this 
 quality ? What is the second division ? What is the heat-forming kind ? 
 What is done by the stomach, and what by the lungs ? Which are the 
 chief articles of this kind of food ? "What is the flesh-forming ? Do most 
 kinds of food contain both? 
 
 1 
 
130 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 cation relates only to the predominance of one or the other 
 quality. 
 
 Next, there are the nutritious and innutritious kinds of food. 
 The most nutritious are those that yield the largest quantity 
 of nourishment in a given bulk. The innutritious food is 
 that which is not assimilated into the body, but is useful, by 
 bulk and stimulation, in forwarding the process of digestion. , 
 For food that is highly concentrated, so as to have a great 
 deal of nourishment in a small bulk, does not digest alone 
 so readily as when mixed with innutritive matter. 
 
 Finally, there are the digestible and indigestible kinds of 
 food, which are classed with reference to the ease and 
 speed with which they are carried through the process of 
 digestion. 
 
 This account of the different kinds of food is recapitulated 
 to show the philosophy of those laws of health that regulate 
 the selection of diet. These rules indicate that knowledge, 
 prudence, and discretion are needed in order to regulate the 
 selection of food with reference to climate, seasons, age, tem- 
 perament, state of health, and nature of employments. Those 
 who live in a hot climate need a different diet from those 
 living in a cold. The food of the summer should be modified 
 from that of winter. The young should not eat some- food 
 that is suitable for the aged. Persons in one state of health, 
 or with weak powers of digestion, should not take certain 
 articles that are proper in other circumstances; while per- 
 sons who are engaged in sedentary employments may not 
 take what would be safe to persons exercising constantly in 
 the open air. 
 
 If the American people were a strong, hardy, unexcitable 
 race, like the German laborers that come among us, such 
 rules for the selection of diet would be of less importance. 
 But if it should appear that probably a majority of our peo- 
 ple are either invalids, or fast hastening to that condition, 
 the matter becomes far more worthy of attention. 
 
 Questions. What does the classification relate to 'i What is the third 
 kind ? AVhat are the most nutritious ? For what is the innutritious part 
 of food useful ? W r hat is the fourth kind ? What is needed in order to 
 regulate the selection of food ? What is said of those who live in a hot 
 climate? What of food in summer and winter? W T hat of the young? 
 What of those with weak digestion ? What of sedentary persons ? What 
 is said of Americans as compared with Germans ? 
 
ABUSES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 13-1 
 
 The course which has been pursued by a large number 
 who have attempted to teach the public on this subject, has 
 served greatly to embarrass and perplex. A great portion 
 of such writers seem to be mounted on hobbies. Some ad- 
 vocate an exclusive vegetable diet, and in such an extrava- 
 gant way as to make the impression that nothing is quite 
 so bad for the human race as eating meat, and that most of 
 the physical and moral evils of society would be ended by 
 the adoption of a farinaceous and vegetable diet. 
 
 On the other hand, those who advocate a mixed diet, in- 
 cluding animal food, write as if no man could become per- 
 fectly developed physically without meat. The impression 
 is made that bread and vegetables, which really contain far 
 more nourishment in a given bulk than any meat, is a low 
 diet ; that there is nothing that is so nourishing as a good 
 piece of beef-steak ; and that the poor creatures who have 
 been kept for months on bread and butter, milk, fruits, and 
 vegetables, must be " strengthened and built up" by porter, 
 wine, and meat. 
 
 Then, again, certain articles of food will be hunted down 
 as if in all cases and all circumstances they were rank pois- 
 on; while others will be selected as good for all mankind 
 in all circumstances. 
 
 But what is needed on this subject is, that the people 
 should learn the construction of their own bodies, the na- 
 ture of different kinds of food, and the laws that should reg- 
 ulate their selection, and then that they should use their 
 judgment and common sense in this as in all other matters. 
 At the same time habits of self-control and principles of 
 duty are needed to secure obedience to the dictates of dis- 
 cretion. For want of all this, the great bo^ of the Amer- 
 ican people are following a course which, in multitudes of 
 cases, leads to certain disease, and shortens life. 
 
 In the animal kingdom there is no creature that does not 
 succeed better than man in raising its young. It is calcu- 
 
 Questions. What injudicious methods have been pursued by persons 
 who have taught the public on this subject ? What has been said of ani- 
 mal and vegetable diet by such ? What of certain kinds of food ? What 
 is needed on this subject? What is the consequence of the want of 
 this ? What is said of the comparative success of men and other animals 
 in raising their young? 
 
132 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 lated that nearly one-third of the human race perish before 
 they reach their third year ; while no such mortality as this 
 exists among the young of irrational animals. We shall 
 see the reasons for this, as we trace the various methods 
 which are taken that are destructive to the health and life 
 of young children. 
 
 In regard to the selection of food, there is no physician 
 of any school but what allows that meat is more stimulating 
 than any other food, and should be avoided whenever there 
 are any tendencies to fevers or inflammation. All concede, 
 also, that children are more excitable, and more liable to 
 inflammatory attacks than grown persons. And yet the 
 great mass of children in this country begin to eat meat the 
 first and second year of life, which is the period of greatest 
 danger from feverish and inflammatory attacks of all kinds. 
 And it is often the case that meat is allowed twice, and 
 sometimes thrice a day. 
 
 Little attention is paid to the peculiar temperament of 
 children in regulating diet. A child of full habit that tends 
 to inflammation, needs one course ; while a child of thin 
 blood, phlegmatic temperament, and slow movement, is safe 
 with a diet that would destroy the other. 
 
 So in cold weather, a diet which is safe and proper, may 
 be very injurious in the heat of summer. As a general 
 rule, children are safest and healthiest who eat little meat, 
 little sugar, molasses, butter, and fats, and live chiefly on 
 bread, milk, fruits, and vegetables. 
 
 The combustion in the capillaries, which produces animal 
 heat, requires that there should be some carbonaceous food, 
 especially in cold weather. Butter, sugar, and molasses, 
 being of this class, therefore need not be entirely relin- 
 quished, except where there is an excess of bile, or certain 
 corruptive humors. 
 
 But the American people use these articles to an excess 
 
 some carbonaceous food proper? Which are the articles of this class? 
 When only should they be entirely relinquished ? 
 
ABtfSES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 133 
 
 such as is seen in no other country. It is only those who 
 exercise a great deal in pure air that can afford to use these 
 carbonaceous articles freely. 
 
 This being so, the 'quantities of butter, molasses, and sugar 
 heaped on to hot cakes the meats, gravies, and fatty cook- 
 ing the stimulating condiments, and the candies and con- 
 fectioneries that abound, are all so many sources of debili- 
 tation, disease, and death to the young. 
 
 In addition to this, children are allowed tea and coffee, 
 which stimulate the nerves and brain, while the heat of 
 these drinks tends to debilitate the stomach. 
 
 The adult population of our country pay little regard to 
 the rules of prudence in selecting their food. Men of full 
 habit and excitable nerves will eat meat and drink tea and 
 coffee and other stimulating drinks, without the least knowl- 
 edge or fear of the probable consequences. In summer 
 meat and carbonaceous food is taken just the same as in 
 winter, while the stimulating condiments are freely used. 
 In our newer settlements, where most care and caution 
 are important, meat at every meal, coffee twice or thrice 
 a day, and hot bread, with other of the most indigestible 
 kinds of cooking, abound ; and in summer the same as in 
 winter. 
 
 Of this kind of unhealthy cooking, one of the most per- 
 nicious is articles in which soda and saleratus abound. The 
 immense quantities of alkalies thus introduced into the 
 stomach is astonishing. 
 
 It is probable that a description of the most unhealthy 
 and improper meal that could possibly be provided would 
 include exactly what is found on the tables of a very large 
 portion of, as it respects wealth, our most thriving popula- 
 tion. And thus it is that the wear and tear on the constitu- 
 tion prepares the way for acute attacks that end life, or for 
 chronic disease that beclouds all its enjoyments. 
 
 But the greatest evil is probably accomplished by the ex- 
 cesses in quantity of food. The great evil of condiments is 
 
 Questions. What is said of the use of these articles by the American 
 people ? Who can use them freely with safety ? What are the causes 
 of disease and death to many children ? What other mischievous arti- 
 cles are allowed to the young? What pernicious courses are pursued by 
 adults ? What is said of the quantity of food taken ? 
 
134 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 not so much their influence on the circulation as the un- 
 natural stimulation of appetite that they produce. This 
 leads almost every person who uses them to take more food 
 than the body demands, which overtaxes the system in 
 throwing off the excess. In addition to this, the great va- 
 riety of food which our country's abundance provides is an- 
 other temptation to excess. Many persons eat after the 
 appetite is satisfied simply to gratify the palate with some 
 tempting viand. 
 
 The evils of excess in quantity of food are particularly 
 injurious to children. The strength which would otherwise 
 be employed in perfecting all their organs and functions is 
 used up in relieving the system from the excess of needless 
 food. 
 
 As a general fact, the more wealthy and prosperous a 
 community becomes the more food a-nd the less exercise is 
 taken. To those who exercise a great deal in the open 
 air there is less need of care, both as to selection and quan- 
 tity of food ; for the quickened circulation and good supply 
 of oxygen meet the evil with less injury. But to those who 
 have little air and little exercise the tempting varieties of 
 the table, instead of a blessing, are a daily curse. 
 
 Here, however, there is need of caution in reference to 
 books and papers that attempt to prescribe by weight how 
 much every body should eat. Some persons require more 
 food than others, and more is needed by the same person 
 at one time than at another ; and it is folly to guide all by 
 one rule. If all will exercise enough, live in pure air, 
 avoid stimulating condiments, and persevere in a plain 
 and simple diet, a healthy appetite will return ; and this 
 will be a steady and safe guide. Until this is secured, it 
 is always safest to stop before there is a sense of fullness and 
 satiety. 
 
 In regard to the time and manner of taking food, the 
 Americans are celebrated for violating the rules of health. 
 
 Questions. "What is the chief evil of condiments^ What tempts to 
 excess besides condiments ? What are the consequences to children of 
 excess in food ? What is the common effect of Avealth and prosperity ? 
 What is a loaded table to those who exercise but little? Can all persons 
 be regulated by the same rule as to quantity of food? How can a healthy 
 appetite be restored ? What is a safe rule when it is wanting ? 
 
ABUSES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 185 
 
 In the first place, the rule requiring that there should be 
 a period of rest to the brain and muscles before taking food 
 is rarely regarded. Students and men of business rush to 
 their noontide meal with brains throbbing with excitement 
 and the circulation all disarranged. And the laboring classes 
 do the same in reference to their excited muscular system. 
 Both should allow half an hour of quiet to mind and body 
 before setting the stomach to its labors. 
 
 In the same way the stomach is hurried in all its opera- 
 tions. Food is thrust into it half masticated, and one bolus 
 follows another before the needful process for each can be 
 effected. Half an hour is the shortest time that should 
 be allowed for a meal ; and yet probably a majority of the 
 busy workers of this nation do not allow much more than 
 half this time. 
 
 Then, as soon as the stomach is thus improperly loaded, 
 the brain, nerves, and muscles are all set to work again 
 thus drawing off the blood needed by the stomach to per- 
 form its digestive process. 
 
 Many persons, after eating their three meals a day, will 
 load the stomach just before going to sleep, and thus keep 
 up the labor of the system during its feeblest period, and 
 when all its powers should rest. 
 
 Irregular periods of eating for children, and the candies 
 and other confectionery so common in these days, are a 
 prolific source of debility and disease. By these indul- 
 gences the stomach is taxed at all hours of the day, with 
 short periods to rest. New food is constantly mixed up 
 with that which is partially digested, while sweets of all 
 kinds are the carbonaceous food that requires much exer- 
 cise and much oxygen from the air to dispose of it safely. 
 And yet city children and little pets, who seldom are allow- 
 ed to romp in fresh air, are most abundantly supplied with 
 these pernicious articles. 
 
 Questions. Do Americans obey the rule that requires rest after exer- 
 cising the muscles or brain before eating ? How much rest should be 
 allowed before eating ? Do Americans give time enough to masticating 
 and digesting their meals ? What is the shortest time proper for a meal ? 
 What is the effect on the stomach if the brain or muscles are set to 
 work immediately after eating? Why is it bad to sleep immediately 
 after a meal ? What is said of irregular times of eating, and of cakes and 
 canflirs for childron ? What ovils follow ? 
 
136 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Candies and sweet articles are highly concentrated nour- 
 ishment that ought, when eaten, to be mixed with coarser 
 food in order to secure proper digestion. This kind of food 
 is more likely to turn acid on a weak stomach than any oth- 
 er, while none so surely tends to produce constipation. 
 
 An enormous abuse of the stomach and other digestive 
 organs is from the quantities of quack medicines that are 
 taken in this country ; while the giving of family medicines 
 by parents is scarcely less an abounding evil. 
 
 The grand objection to the taking of medicines, except 
 when prescribed by a judicious and well-educated physician, 
 is, that most of them are either poisonous substances or 
 strong stimulants that strain all the animal economy to dis- 
 charge them from the body ; while their operation and re- 
 sults are matter of mere chance and guess-work. What- 
 ever is put into the stomach is quickly taken into the circu- 
 lation, and carried all over the body ; and if it does good 
 in one point of the wonderfully complicated organs, it may 
 do as much harm to other portions. 
 
 Besides this, there are curious chemical changes going 
 forward in our bodies that none fully understand ; and how 
 these medicinal agents will operate to produce new and 
 mischievous combinations no one can tell. 
 
 And yet men, women, and children, all over the land, 
 are pouring down medical liquids and pills to an incredible 
 extent; while vast fortunes are made by ignorant quacks 
 who, by lying advertisements, succeed in poisoning their 
 fellow-creatures by slow processes. 
 
 The abuse of the stomach, brain, and nerves by stimu- 
 lating drinks, has become so terrible in this nation that the 
 whole country is roused to put an end to one kind, i. e., the 
 alcoholic articles. 
 
 But the tea and coffee stimulants that are undermining 
 the constitution of women and children, and the tobacco 
 smoking and chewing which are ruining the health and cre- 
 ating dangerous appetites for so many young men, still hold 
 
 Questions. What is said of candies and sweet articles? What is said 
 of quack medicines? What is the objection to most medicines ? What 
 is said of chemical changes in our bodies ? What is said of alcohol and 
 of tea and coffee ? 
 
ABUSES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 187 
 
 their place even among conscientious and Christian people. 
 The light that drives away the demons of alcoholic stimula- 
 tion, it is hoped, will gradually chase these kindred associates 
 that hover over the feebler sex and helpless childhood. 
 
 The "temperance reformation," as it is called, rests en- 
 tirely on this principle, that "whatever is found by expe- 
 rience to prove extensively destructive to health and morals, 
 and at the same time entirely needless, shall be relinquished 
 both for use and traffic. And where individuals, without 
 apparent injury to themselves, can continue the indulgence, 
 they shall relinquish it as an example, and to save others 
 from temptation." 
 
 This principle applies as exactly to opium, tobacco, tea, 
 coffee, and condiments as it does to alcohol. All these con- 
 tain a stimulating principle that is not ever necessary to the 
 health of the body except as medicine, which creates an un- 
 natural excitement of the brain and nerves, and which expe- 
 rience has shown to be destructive to health, and thus also 
 to morals. Some of these are worse than others in their 
 effects, but all are alike in being needless and the cause of 
 extensive injury. 
 
 Whenever, therefore, conscientious persons become con- 
 sistent, they will abandon both the traffic and use of all stim- 
 ulating drinks and drugs. 
 
 But, at present, thousands of such persons are going on in 
 daily violation of as decided a law of health as any that God 
 has established. For there is no maxim that physiology and 
 medicine have more clearly proved, than that the stimulation 
 of the nervous system by alcohol, opium, tea, coffee, tobacco, 
 and condiments,, is invariably followed by a debility exactly 
 proportioned to the degree of stimulation. It may be un- 
 perceived, but it is certain. And thus a thousand little daily 
 drains are silently emptying the fountain of nervous energy 
 on which long life and the power to resist disease are de- 
 pendent. 
 
 Questions. What is the principle on which the temperance reforma- 
 tion rests ? To the use of what articles does this apply ? What kind of 
 article do they all contain ? In what do they differ, and in what are all 
 alike ? What will be the result when conscientious persons become con- 
 sistent ? What maxim is established by physiology and medicine ? What 
 is the result ? 
 
LESSON TWENTIETH. 
 
 ABUSES OF THE SKIN. 
 
 WE have seen the curious construction of the skin, and 
 the important work it performs in regulating the heat of 
 the body, and in discharging through its pores decayed 
 and poisonous matter that is drawn off by the veins and 
 lymphatics. Twenty-eight miles of perspiration tubes, all 
 lined with infinitely small capillaries, are placed all over the 
 skin, and through these Jive-eighths of the weight of daily 
 food and drink are discharged. 
 
 The decayed particles of the body accumulate on the 
 skin, and thus every portion of it needs to be washed every 
 day. And yet probably more than one half the American 
 people never wash the whole body from one end of the year 
 to the other ; the face, neck, arms, and feet, being the only 
 portions enjoying this privilege. Even a large part of those 
 who occasionally wash the whole skin, do it only once a 
 week, or perhaps once a month. 
 
 In consequence of this, not only the skin itself becomes 
 unhealthy, and less and less able to perform its functions, 
 but the internal organs so intimately connected with it be- 
 come weak and disordered, being forced to do a portion of 
 the duty that, in a healthy state, the skin would perform. 
 The liver and the lungs are the special sufferers from this 
 neglect and abuse. 
 
 The skin is a great sufferer from the methods taken by 
 multitudes to keep it warm. The true method is to supply 
 the blood of its capillaries with enough oxygen through the 
 lungs, and to keep it in a healthy state by washing, friction, 
 
 Questions. What are the two offices performed by the skin ? How 
 many miles of perspiration tubes are there in the skin ? How much is 
 discharged through these tubes each day ? What is needed every clay ? 
 What is the common practice among the American people ? What is the 
 consequence of this ? What two organs are the chief sufferers from this 
 neglect ? What is the true method of keeping the skin warm ? 
 
ABUSES OF THE SKIN, 139 
 
 and exercise. When the blood-vessels are habitually filled 
 with good, healthful blood, there is a warmth generated on 
 the surface of the body, so that but little clothing is required. 
 But when the skin grows weak, and its capillaries imperfectly 
 filled, there is a necessity for increasing the amount of cloth- 
 ing to prevent injurious chilliness. 
 
 Too much clothing tends to debilitate the skin : in the 
 first place, by excess of warmth ; next, by causing frequent 
 perspiration when sitting in warm rooms ; and finally, by 
 excluding all access of the surrounding air. The unequal 
 method of arranging the clothing of American women is a 
 most fruitful cause of evil to the skin, as well as of diseases 
 that have been referred to elsewhere. The upper portion 
 of the body is dressed too thin, while the lower portion has 
 such an excess gathered around it, as is a constant cause of 
 debility to the skin as well as the internal organs. By this 
 arrangement, on passing into cold rooms the upper portion 
 of the skin is chilled, and the blood retreats to other parts 
 of the body. Then when in warm rooms the lower portion 
 of the body becomes excessively heated and debilitated by 
 the consequent perspiration and warmth. The spinal cord, 
 which is the parent of most of the nerves, is thus debilitated 
 by chills in its upper portion and heat in its lower. 
 
 Instead of this, the whole body should be dressed very 
 nearly with the same amount of covering, except that the 
 feet need more care than any other part. The reason of 
 this is, that the circulation is slower in the extremities, and 
 any interruption there affects the whole body more injuri- 
 ously than in any other quarter. 
 
 And yet there is no part of the person which fashion so 
 much excludes from needful warmth and protection as the 
 feet, especially among the most delicate and sensitive classes 
 of the community. Multitudes of fashionable ladies, and 
 the foolish women and young girls that imitate them, wear 
 
 Questions.* What is the effect of keeping the blood-vessels of the skin 
 filled with good blood ? What results from the opposite course ? What 
 is the effect of too much clothing ? What is said of the style of dress 
 among American women ? What is the consequence when the upper 
 part of the body has too little clothing? What is the effect of having 
 the lower portion loaded with too much clothing ? What is the effect of 
 both on the spinal cord ? How should the whole body be dressed ? Why 
 do the feet need most care ? 
 
140 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 only a thin pair of hose and thin slippers in damp and cold 
 weather, both in walking over cold fioors and in the streets. 
 Thus the circulation in the lower limbs is impeded, and the 
 blood accumulates in the organs above to an unhealthful 
 amount. There is another abuse of the feet which few un- 
 derstand. It is thus set forth by an able hand : 
 
 "There might be much said on the subject of shoes, as 
 connected with health, and it is of more importance than it 
 would at first sight appear. 
 
 " Shoes are generally made without the slightest regard 
 to the form of the foot a mere matter of fashion. The 
 want of width find fullness at the toes is the great evil. 
 
 " The effects upon health are the pressure impeding cir- 
 culation seriously, destroying the elasticity of the foot and 
 all spring in walking, making it so painful that the neces- 
 sary exercise is avoided. 
 
 " The deformity is a secondary matter, yet it is a painful 
 subject to one who has examined the general run of feet with 
 reference to a model for a sculptor among them." 
 
 The skin also is abused both by neglect of ventilation 
 and by the foolish methods taken to promote it. No part 
 of the body suffers so much as the skin from a close, heated, 
 and impure atmosphere. In this condition all its capillaries 
 are deprived of the oxygen needed to purify the blood, 
 while they are stimulated to excess, and debilitated by heat 
 and perspiration. 
 
 Then some wiseacre will discover that the room needs 
 ventilating, and open a window and door, which let in a 
 current of cold air on to the skin at just the very time it is 
 least able to bear it. Thus a cold is taken, and the sufferer 
 is made to feel that all attempts to ventilate a room are 
 folly and cruelty. 
 
 The skin is also abused by mistakes and excesses in bath- 
 ing. A person unused to cold water should always com- 
 mence its use with caution and moderation, beginning with 
 tepid water in a temperate atmosphere, and increasing the 
 
 Questions. What is said of the usual treatment of the feet ? What 
 is the consequence ? What is said of improper ventilation and its effects 
 on the skin ? What wrong mode of ventilating is mentioned ? Can 
 bathing be so abused as to injure the skin ? How should one unused to 
 cold bathing proceed in attempting it ? 
 
ABUSES OP THE SKIN. 141 
 
 cold as the skin and nerves gain strength. And the time 
 and frequency of bathing should be regulated by the amount 
 of animal heat and nervous power. Unaware of the need 
 of these precautions, many persons injure the health of the 
 skin and other organs by bathing in too cold water, or by 
 practicing it too often or too long. The cold shower bath is 
 a very strong and stimulating bath, and is not safe for chil- 
 dren or for persons of a nervous or excitable temperament. 
 
 Questions. By what should the time and frequency of bathing be 
 regulated ? What has resulted from a want of these precautions ? What 
 is said of the shower-bath ? 
 
LESSON TWENTY-FIKST. 
 
 ABUSES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 
 
 THE following particulars have been illustrated in form- 
 er lessons : 
 
 First ; that the brain and nerves are the organs by which 
 the mind controls the body, and that they are divided into 
 distinct portions, each of which has a peculiar work to per- 
 form. 
 
 Secondly; that each brain has a fountain of nervous 
 fluid which excites the nerves, and that the capacity of this 
 fountain varies in different persons. 
 
 Thirdly; this fountain may be exhausted by excess of 
 mental feeling and action. 
 
 The unequal action of the several functions of mind and 
 body, by which some are strained by excess, and some de- 
 bilitated by inaction, also tends to exhaust the nervous fount- 
 ain. 
 
 Whenever there are violations of the laws of health, the 
 brain and nervea are taxed, by unnatural or excessive action, 
 to remedy the evil. This tends to exhaust the nervous 
 fountain, and thus to undermine the constitution. 
 
 For example, when the lungs inhale impure air, the brain 
 suffers, first, by the loss of its own proper supply of oxygen, 
 and next, by the increased and unnatural supply of nervous 
 fluid sent to the organs that must work harder to remedy 
 the evil. 
 
 Again, if the stomach is loaded with excessive or inap- 
 propriate food, the brain suffers from the bad blood furnish- 
 ed, and also is forced to send extra supplies of nervous fluid 
 to the organs that must labor unnaturally to relieve the sys- 
 tem. 
 
 Questions. What is the first particular that has been illustrated? 
 What is the second ? What is the result of violations of the laws of 
 health ? What evil results from this ? What three examples are given 
 to illustrate this? 
 
ABUSES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 
 
 143 
 
 So, also, if the skin is neglected, the brain must minister 
 unnatural supplies to the other organs that labor to relieve 
 the eviL 
 
 Now every drain on the nervous fountain is a slow and 
 sure undermining of the constitution, which shortens life, and 
 renders the body more subject to diseases of all kinds. 
 
 As there is no law of health that is of more consequence 
 than that which relates to the nerves of motion, the following 
 drawing is presented to impress the subject more strongly. 
 Fig. 40. 
 
 A, the spinal marrow. E, a portion of its membrane, or skin, loosened 
 to show the nerves. D, a nerve of sensation starting from one side of the 
 spine. C, a nerve of sensation starting from the other side of the spine. 
 B, the union of the two in one case. 
 
 Most of the branches from these trunks contain nerves of sensation and 
 nerves of motion united in one case. 
 
 The drawing shows a small portion of the spinal marrow 
 at A. On each side is a nerve of motion starting from the 
 back portion of the spine. A nerve of sensation on each 
 side also starts from the front portion of the spine, and 
 then unites with the nerves of motion. The branches of 
 these run to the muscles, and each branch has a nerve of 
 motion and a nerve of sensation united in the same case. 
 Thus in all the muscles the nerves of sensation feel and 
 report to the brain, while the nerves of motion move the 
 muscles. 
 
 Now it seems to be the one great office of the nerves of 
 motion to equalize the nervous fluid and regulate its health- 
 
 Questions. What is every drain on the nervous fountain, and what 
 is the effect ? Describe the draining ? What is the office of the nerves 
 of motion and sensation in the muscles ? 
 
144 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 ful flow to all portions of the system. For this reason, in- 
 activity of the muscles tends to an irregular and inharmo- 
 nious flow of nervous energies, until finally there ceases to 
 be a healthful and natural distribution of it. From this re- 
 sults many of the strange and troublesome feelings that go 
 by the general name of nervousness. 
 
 The more the thoughts and feelings flow with great 
 strength and for a long time in one direction, the more 
 need there is for that equalization of the nervous fluid which 
 muscular activity alone can secure. And when this is with- 
 held, the sensibility of the other portions of the brain is 
 liable to become excessive, unnatural, and less under the 
 control of the will. 
 
 We are now prepared to notice the abuses of the brain 
 and nerves that prevail among the American people. 
 
 In the first place, then, there is a slow, yet almost uni- 
 versal undermining of the constitution going forward by those 
 violations of laws of health that most drain the nervous 
 fountain. 
 
 It is probable that a great majority of this nation sleep 
 in badly-ventilated rooms, take improper food in excessive 
 quantities, and in wrong times and modes. 
 
 Thus the brain is overworked to aid the other, suffering 
 organs when its own supplies are imperfect. 
 
 Probably more than one-half of the nation entirely neg- 
 lect the proper care of the skin, thus taxing the brain again, 
 in sending unnatural supplies to the other organs that must 
 remedy the evil. 
 
 Next, a large portion of the people abuse the brain either 
 by want of sleep or by excess of it. Eight hours of sleep is 
 as much as is needed by any healthy person who labors 
 hard either with brain or muscles. Yet most of those who 
 labor least spend far more than this in sleep. All excess 
 of sleep is a slow and gradual drain on the constitution, 
 and the want of sleep is still more so. 
 
 Then the people of this country are more excited by 
 cares, business, politics, and religion, than any other. And 
 
 Questions. What is the first abuse mentioned ? What is said of bad 
 food and ventilation, and the effects ? What is said of the neglect of the 
 skin ? What are the abuses in regard to sleep ? 
 
ABUSES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 145 
 
 yet multitudes overwork the brain and nerves of feeling 
 with study, business, care, and agitated feelings, without 
 seeking that equalizing and healthful influence that the ex- 
 ercise of the nerves of motion would secure. The great body 
 of students and professional men are great sufferers in this 
 respect. 
 
 Then a large portion of the laboring classes exhaust the 
 nervous fountain by excess in muscular labor, unrelieved by 
 amusement and intellectual pursuits. 
 
 Thus the men of study, or those of business, sleep all 
 night in bad air; then they go to their office, store, or shop, 
 with uncleansed skin to breathe bad air all day ; then at their 
 ineals they take meat, which is the most stimulating food, 
 and condiments to stimulate appetite. These make them 
 eat more than they need, or they have such a variety as 
 tempts to an overloaded stomach. Then they drink tea, 
 coffee, and perhaps alcohol, to stimulate the brain and 
 nerves to increased action. Then they keep tobacco in the 
 mouth, to stimulate another portion of the brain. Then 
 they stimulate the brain with anxiety, or business cares, or 
 study, or deep thought, all day long, without the relaxation 
 of amusement or the refreshment of muscular exercise. 
 And then at night they return, exhausted, to sleep again in 
 bad air, and next day renew the same exhausting process. 
 Thus it is stimulate, stimulate, stimulate the brain, from year's 
 end to year's end, till disease interrupts or death ends the 
 career. Or, in other cases, the man becomes a pale, deli- 
 cate, infirm being, every function and every organ minister- 
 ing feebly to a half-living man. Thus it is that an active, 
 vigorous, well-formed, healthy manhood is so rarely seen in 
 this nation. 
 
 At the same time, a vast portion of the women of our na- 
 tion are pursuing a course equally abusive of the brain and 
 nervous system. As a general rule, woman originally is or- 
 ganized more delicately than the other sex, having a consti- 
 
 Questions. What is said of the over-excitement of the nerves of thought 
 and feeling ? What class are great sufferers from this cause ? What 
 class exhaust the nervous fountain by excess of exercise ? What is the 
 course pursued by men of study by day and by night ? What are th 
 consequences ? How is woman organized ? 
 K 
 
146 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 fcution that can not bear either labor or long or strong men- 
 tal excitement as can the more vigorous sex. Then all her 
 physical training is less invigorating than that of man. 
 Then her pursuits, as a wife, mother, and housekeeper, are 
 more complicated, less systematized, and less provided with 
 well-trained assistants than the professions of men. Ameri- 
 can women have inherited from the English nation the no- 
 tions of thrift, economy, industry, system, thoroughness, 
 and comfort, which show so strongly in contrast to the 
 habits of the lower classes of the Irish, German, and Afri- 
 can races. And yet all their plans and efforts must be 
 carried out mainly by poorly-trained menials of these na- 
 tions. 
 
 At the same time, the style of dress, and housekeeping, 
 and the claims of social life also, are continually multiply- 
 ing the complexity and number of domestic cares. 
 
 Thus the larger portion of wives and mothers have the 
 numberless and perplexing cares of nursery, kitchen, and 
 parlor pressing on the brain from morning to night, while 
 unsteady servants often leave them to perform heavy drudg- 
 eries for which neither strength nor training has prepared 
 them. 
 
 The hours in which the great majority of American moth- 
 ers and housekeepers are free from care, and can go forth to 
 breathe the pure air or join in social amusements, as is so 
 common in other nations, come few and far between. 
 
 To this add all the mischief done by impure air, improper 
 food, and neglect of the skin, which they share equally with 
 the other sex. 
 
 But worst of all, add to these disadvantages the pernicious 
 customs of dress, by which one half the body is subjected to 
 extreme changes from heat to cold, while the other portion 
 is compressed by tight girding, heated by accumulated gar- 
 ments, pressed downward by whalebones, and by heavy skirts 
 resting over the most delicate organs. 
 
 Questions. What is her physical training ? What is said of her pur- 
 suits ? What is said of the inherited notions of American women ? What 
 sort of servants have they ? What is said of dress, housekeeping, and 
 social life ? What is said of their periods of freedom from care ? What 
 other mischief is added ? What is the worst evil they suffer ? 
 
ABUSES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 147 
 
 Into our rural towns, even, these pernicious customs of 
 dress have been carried by mantua-makers from the city, 
 and still more by the miserable fashion-plates in our litera- 
 ture, that set forth the distortions of deformity and disease 
 as models of taste and fashion. 
 
 In our country towns and among the industrial classes it 
 will be found that the taxation of care and labor on the 
 brain of women is even worse and greater than it is in the 
 same class of our cities. The wives of rich farmers often 
 are ambitious to carry out plans of labor and wealth with 
 their husbands, while, at the same time, their daughters 
 must be sent to boarding-school, and all the habits and 
 tastes of city life must in consequence be mingled with oth- 
 er cares. 
 
 In former days, when women spun and wove, and made 
 butter and cheese, their daughters were their intelligent and 
 well-trained assistants; and the style of dress and all the 
 details of life were simple, and easy, and comfortable. These 
 days have passed away. 
 
 The great majority of American women have their brain 
 and nervous system exhausted by too much care and too 
 much mental excitement in their daily duties ; while an- 
 other class, who live to be waited on and amused, are as 
 great sufferers for want of some worthy object in life, or 
 from excesses in seeking amusement. 
 
 Our benevolent Creator designed his creatures to learn 
 to live out of themselves, and for the good of their fellow-be- 
 ings, and in this course to exercise their highest and noblest 
 powers. Those who follow this design gain worthy objects 
 to engage and interest all their higher faculties, and thus 
 find true happiness. But the selfish, the indolent, and 
 pleasure-seeking, soon learn that happiness is far from the 
 path they pursue. 
 
 But the most melancholy view of all is the course pur- 
 sued in training the generation now coming on to the stage. 
 
 Questions. How are these fashions spread abroad ? How is it in coun- 
 try towns with women ? What is said of the wives of rich farmers ? 
 "What is said of mothers and daughters of former days ? What is said of 
 two classes of American women ? How did our Creator design his creat- 
 ures should learn to live ? What is the consequence to those who fol- 
 low this design ? What to those who do not ? 
 
148 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 In the first place, the children of over-taxed and over-ex- 
 cited parents come into being with an unnatural tendency to 
 brain and nervous affections. It is probable that the pro- 
 portion of children who are born with a vigorous and healthy 
 constitution is smaller, in reference to the whole number 
 born, than at any former period. 
 
 Next, there never has been any previous generation of 
 children who have been so extensively deprived of pure and 
 cool air in nursery, school-room, and parlor, as those now 
 on the stage. The air-tight stoves in bedrooms and sitting- 
 rooms, the cooking stoves in kitchens, the close stoves in 
 school-rooms, and the far greater care taken to make win- 
 dows and doors tight, have secured this result. 
 
 Then the furnaces that are so generally used, keep the 
 atmosphere of a house far warmer than it ever becomes 
 with open fires. For when the body is warmed by radiated 
 heat from a fire, the air never becomes so heated as when 
 all warmth is to be gained from the surrounding atmos- 
 phere. And as the upper part of the room is always warm- 
 est, both stoves and furnaces keep the head warmer than the 
 feet, and furnish to the lungs only a heated atmosphere to 
 breathe. 
 
 In former days little girls took cold air baths all over 
 their person whenever they went out. In these days they 
 are covered from all cool air, and they stand over registers 
 and take hot air baths when they feel a chill or have cold 
 feet. 
 
 Beside this, the school-rooms are made tighter and heat- 
 ed hotter than they ever could be in former days. At the 
 same time, they are crowded w r ith occupants whose brains, 
 while struggling with bad air, are stimulated with intellect- 
 ual drills and exciting motives to exertion, such as never 
 were known to a former generation. 
 
 It is true, that much care has been taken in many cases 
 to ventilate school-rooms. But the methods are such as 
 
 Questions. What is said of the children of over-taxed and over-ex- 
 cited parents? What is said of the proportion of children with vigorous 
 constitutions ? What has been the treatment of children in regard to 
 pure air in this generation compared with the former? What is said of 
 furnaces ? Of radiated heat ? How do stoves and furnaces affect the 
 head and feet ? What is said of air baths and registers ? How are school- 
 rooms arranged as compared with those of former days ? 
 
ABUSES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 149 
 
 usually entirely fail of the object aimed at. The fact that 
 a school demands the entrance and discharge of a hogshead 
 of fresh air every hourjfor each one of its fifty, one hundred, 
 or two hundred pupils, is rarely made the basis of the ar- 
 rangements for ventilation. But by far the greater portion 
 of children at schools suffer alternations of heat and cold 
 made by poisonous and heated air at one time, diluted oc- 
 casionally by currents of cold air from open doors or win- 
 dows that come unequally, bearing deadly chills to the deli- 
 cate pupils. 
 
 Little girls are especial sufferers in all that appertains to 
 health. They must be housed most of the time in heated 
 and impure air, and then when allowed to go abroad, they 
 must wear thin slippers, and must not romp and run like 
 the boys. And then, as they come to the most trying and 
 critical period of life, the stimulation of brain increases, the 
 exercise diminishes, and the monstrous fashions that bring 
 distortion and disease are assumed. 
 
 In England, the higher classes rarely send a daughter to 
 a boarding-school, but parents secure teachers to educate 
 them at home, and take the greatest pains to secure a 
 healthy and perfect physical development. But in this 
 country, the greater portion of the wealthy classes send 
 their daughters, at the most critical age, to be close packed 
 in ill-ventilated chambers and school-rooms by night and 
 by day, while all physical training is neglected, and the 
 brain and nerves are stimulated by exclusive intellectual ac- 
 tivity. As the result of this, twenty years ago, a distinguish- 
 ed medical man gave it as his opinion that a majority of 
 school girls had more or less of the curvature of the spine. 
 A still more terrific deformity than this is now added as the 
 result of our miserable neglect and abuse of the young. 
 
 In multitudes of families constituting the more wealthy 
 classes, the following is a fair account of the manner in 
 which the brain and nerves of young girls are trained to 
 disease, and their bodies to deformity and suffering: 
 
 First, then, their brains struggle all night with impure 
 
 Questions. What is said of modes of ventilating school-rooms ? What 
 fact is not regarded properly ? What is said of the greater part of children 
 at schools ? What of little girls ? What are the different modes of teaching 
 young girls iu England and this country ? What evils have followed ? 
 
150 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 blood in warmed and unventilated rooms. Then they dress 
 with skins all polluted by the effluvia of the night, washing 
 only the face and neck and arms. Next, they take strong 
 tea and coffee to stimulate the brain and nerves, and then 
 load the stomach with hot cakes, saturated with butter and 
 sugar or molasses, or take stimulating animal food, done up 
 in stimulating condiments. Next, they set the brain to 
 work on school-lessons, and then proceed to the close and 
 crowded school-room, to tax the brain for hours with bad 
 blood and intellectual labor. 
 
 Then comes a dinner of stimulating meat, condiments, and 
 puddings or pies. Then three hours more of brain work in 
 bad air. Then perhaps a solemn and decent walk around 
 a few squares, and then the rest of the time, till the bed 
 hour, is spent in a bad atmosphere, where, a good part of 
 the time, study again taxes the brain. The tea hour also 
 comes in to excite the nerves with another stimulating bev- 
 erage. 
 
 Meantime all that art and fashion in dress can do to dis- 
 tort the bones, and misplace the most delicate organs, and 
 interrupt every health function, is every day performed. 
 
 This is no imaginary picture ; it is what is going on prob- 
 ably in the majority of families of the wealthy classes all 
 over the land, both in city and country. 
 
 The work that Providence has appointed for woman in 
 the various details of domestic life, is just that which, if 
 properly apportioned, is fitted to her peculiar organization. 
 If all the female members of a family divided all the labors 
 of the cook, the nurse, the laundress, and the seamstress, so 
 that each should have four or five hours a day of alterna- 
 ting light and heavy work, it would exercise every muscle 
 in the body, and at the same time interest and exercise the 
 mind. Then the remaining time could be safely given to 
 intellectual, social, and benevolent pursuits and enjoyments. 
 
 But no such division is made. One portion of the wo- 
 men have all the exercise of the nerves of motion, and an- 
 other have all the brain-work, while they thus grow up defi- 
 
 Questions. "What is the manner pursued by most young girls in their 
 education ? What is said of house-work when properly divided and ar- 
 ranged ? What is said of two classes of American women ? 
 
ABUSES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 151 
 
 cient and deformed, either intellectually or physically, or 
 both. And so American women every year become more 
 and more nervous, sickly, and miserable, while they are 
 bringing into existence a feeble, delicate, or deformed off- 
 spring. 
 
 Question. What is the consequence ? 
 
LESSON TWENTY-SECOND. 
 
 ABUSES OP DRESS. DEFORMITIES. 
 
 THE chief object of dress is to protect the skin from in- 
 jurious loss of animal heat. In addition to this, it pro- 
 motes modesty, and is an adornment. 
 
 The most terrible evils and deformities that afflict human- 
 ity have arisen from the abuses of dress, in connection with 
 a debilitated constitution. 
 
 The present fashion of dress, which demands that a wo- 
 man's form be drawn in at the centre, like that of a wasp, 
 and then flare out below like an umbrella, has led to horri- 
 ble results. 
 
 There are exceptions to all general rules, and there may 
 be a few cases where a woman is born with a small waist, 
 or has induced it by tight dress, and still her internal 
 organs seem unharmed. But as a general rule, there is a 
 shocking and diseased state of the internal organs connect- 
 ed with a small and taper waist. The whole style of 
 modern fashionable dress is a most ingenious and success- 
 ful contrivance to produce the most distressing disease and 
 deformity. 
 
 On the following page are two figures, one of which {Fig. 
 41) represents the most perfect model of a beautiful female 
 form. The other (Fig. 42) represents the fashionable waist 
 of modern days, which is secured only by deforming the 
 bones, and displacing the most delicate and important in- 
 ternal organs. 
 
 Questions. "What is the chief object of dress ? What is said of per- 
 tain evils and deformities? What effects are produced by it? What 
 fashion of dress is spoken of? 
 
ABUSES OF DRESS. DEFORMITIES. 
 
 153 
 
 Question. What do Figs. 41 and 42 represent ? 
 
154 
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Here is a drawing of the skeletons of these female figures 
 the one as Nature designed it, and the other as Art deforms it. 
 Fig. 43. 
 
 Fig. 44. 
 
 The skeleton as Nature formed it. The skeleton as deformed by Art. 
 
 Fig. 45. 
 
 The poor young girl whom 
 the mother is dressing for a 
 sacrifice to this horrid fashion, 
 remorselessly girds the waist 
 just where the bones have least 
 internal support and yield the 
 easiest. The small floating 
 ribs are pressed unequally and 
 laterally against the spine, be- 
 cause the intestines can not 
 yield the equal support re- 
 quired. The result often is 
 another distortion of this kind, 
 called curvature of the spine, 
 which injures all the internal 
 organs. Fig. 45. 
 
 Questions. What do Figs. 43 and 44 show? How is the deformity 
 shown at Fig. 45 often produced ? 
 
ABUSES OF DRESS. DEFORMITIES. 
 
 155 
 
 Any mother can discover when this deformity is secured 
 by examining these drawings Fig. 46 showing the external 
 appearance of the back as Nature designed it should be, and 
 Fig. 47 the deformity caused by tight dress. These views 
 are presented, because in many cases this evil, if discovered 
 soon enough, can be remedied by methods to be hereafter 
 indicated. 
 
 Fig. 46. 
 
 Fig. 47. 
 
 The same deformity of the spine is sometimes caused or 
 increased by wrong positions in sleeping. If the body is 
 placed in a perfectly horizontal position as may be seen in 
 the drawing at Fig. 48 all pressure is taken from the car- 
 
 Fig. 48. 
 
 Questions. What do Figs. 46 and 47 represent ? How does a wrong 
 sleeping position tend to deformity? 
 
156 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 tilage discs of the spine, and thus, for seven or eight hours 
 out of the twenty-four, they are enabled gradually to return 
 to their natural form. It is found by measurement that, in 
 this way, the spine is every night lengthened these discs recov- 
 ering by their elasticity a slight increase of thickness. Thus, 
 every person is a little taller in the morning than at night. 
 But when a person sleeps with a high pillow, so that the 
 spine is bent through the night, this relieving process is not 
 allowed to certain portions of the spinal discs. (Here is a 
 drawing, Fig. 49, to illustrate.) The result is, in certain 
 
 Fig. 49. 
 
 cases where delicacy of constitution particularly affects the 
 bony portion of the body, that the spine becomes more or 
 less distorted. This shows why it is that children should 
 not be allowed high pillows. The pillow should be just 
 high enough to keep the head in the natural position; and 
 the child should be taught to sleep on both sides, if there is 
 any danger of a departure from this ordinary practice. 
 
 Another, and still more frequent mode of distorting the 
 spine is by the positions that children assume at school, or 
 in study and writing at home. The drawing (Fig. 50 and 
 Fig. 51) on the following page represents the right and the 
 wrong methods of sitting when drawing and writing. 
 
 When children sit on high benches so that their feet can 
 not rest on the floor, when they are obliged to sit long with 
 the back unsupported, and when they bend over to study 
 and read, the muscles that hold the body in its proper posi- 
 
 Questions. What do Figs. 50 and 51 represent ? What deformities 
 are caused by wrong practices at school ? 
 
ABUSES OF DRESS. DEFORMITIES. 
 
 Fig. 50. Fig. 51. 
 
 157 
 
 tion become exhausted, the discs of the spine gradually 
 harden, and various deformities such as projecting necks, 
 round shoulders, and crooked backs are the result. 
 
 In childhood, and often among adults, most of these de- 
 formities can be remedied by methods to be hereafter indi- 
 cated. 
 
 But the most terrible evil that a debilitated constitution 
 and mischievous fashions in dress have induced is certain 
 internal displacements and change of form exhibited in the 
 next drawing, at Fig. 53. These are caused by the com- 
 bined influence of tight dress, pressing the central organs 
 downward on the lower ones, and the debility and pressure 
 induced by the heat and weight of clothing around the hips. 
 Observe, first, the beautiful curves of the chest and spine of 
 the perfect form, as viewed sidewise at Fig. 52, and then 
 compare it with the distorted one at Fig. 53. 
 
 The outline of a healthy, finely-formed child, entirely 
 corresponds, in a side view, with this drawing of a perfect 
 form. But most of the female forms in a drawing-room 
 sink inward in front, instead of showing the beautiful out- 
 ward curve. The effort to gain the " slender waist," which 
 novelists and dress-makers set forth to admiration, as the 
 Chinese do the stump foot, often produces this outward dis- 
 tortion, with little consciousness of the still more shocking 
 internal results. 
 
 To understand the internal as well as external evils, it 
 
 Questions. What do Figs. 50 and 51 represent ? What is the most 
 terrible result of debility and mischievous fashions ? 
 
158 
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 will be needful to notice in the two drawings the packing of 
 the internal organs. At Fig. 53 is a distorted form, in which 
 - the internal organs have sunk, downward; h is the heart, d 
 the diaphragm, S the stomach. 
 
 In the perfect form, at Fig. 52, it is seen that the dia- 
 phragm curves, and the heart rests on it, while the stomach 
 is supported by the intestines below it. Notice also the 
 beautiful curve of the chest and spine. 
 
 In the distorted form it is seen that the diaphragm has 
 sunk to a nearly straight line, so that the heart is unsup- 
 ported, while the stomach has lost its support by the falling 
 of the abdominal viscera. 
 
 Fig. 52. 
 
 Fig. 53. 
 
 Questions. How do you explain the results of debility and mischiev- 
 ous fashions as illustrated in Figs. 52 and 53. 
 
ABUSES OF DRESS. DEFORMITIES. 159 
 
 Compare the two figures with both the perpendicular and 
 the horizontal lines, and notice the difference. The distor- 
 tion is caused by debility and tight dresses. The evils that 
 result will now be indicated. 
 
 The internal organs, when closely folded and packed, 
 must be strongly sustained both in front and below to keep 
 them in the natural form. This sustaining power is exerted 
 by what are called the abdominal muscles, which run upward, 
 downward, and crosswise in front ; their attachments being 
 to the breast-bone, hips, pelvic bones, and spine. There are 
 also muscles at the extreme base, within the pelvic cavity, 
 that have a similar function. 
 
 The combined influences of bad air, bad food, excess in 
 eating, want of exercise, and excessive stimulus of the brain 
 and nerves, produce a general delicacy and debility of the 
 whole organism, in which the abdominal muscles especially 
 suffer. They lose their vigor and elasticity, become flabby 
 and easily stretched, without power to recover their natural 
 functions. 
 
 In this state of debility the present style of dress does 
 every thing that can be done to deprive them of what little 
 functional power would otherwise have remained. The re- 
 sult has been thousands and thousands of such distorted 
 specimens of humanity as are exhibited in Fig. 53. A 
 m really perfectly formed woman, on the true model of beauty 
 .and proportion, designed by the Creator, and perpetuated in 
 marble statues by artists, is but rarely seen among our coun- 
 trywomen. Every woman who has a waist to correspond 
 with the fashion plates, usually has her interior organs in 
 such a shocking and disgusting situation as is here portray- 
 ed, or is fast approximating toward it. 
 
 Disorders connected with these internal Displacements. 
 
 "When, as has been shown, the abdominal muscles have 
 lost their power, the whole system of organs mainly resting 
 on them for support can not continue in their naturally 
 snug, compact, and rounded form, but become separated, 
 elongated, and unsupported. The stomach begins to draw 
 
 Questions. What is said of the office of the abdominal muscles ? What 
 causes their debility ? What is said of fashion plates ? 
 
100 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 from above instead of resting on the viscera beneath. This 
 in some cases causes dull and wandering pains, a sense of 
 pulling at the centre of the chest, and a drawing downward 
 at the pit of the stomach. Then as the support beneath is 
 really gone, there is what is often called " a feeling of gone- 
 ness" This is sometimes relieved by food, which, so long as 
 it remains in a solid form, helps to hold up the falling su- 
 perstructure. This displacement of the stomach, liver, and 
 spleen, interrupts their healthful functions, and dyspepsia 
 and biliary difficulties not unfrequently are the result. 
 
 As the stomach and its appendages fall downward, the 
 diaphragm, with the heart and lungs, must descend also. In 
 this state of things, the inflation of the lungs is less and less 
 aided by the abdominal muscles, and is confined chiefly to 
 their upper portion. Breathing sometimes thus becomes 
 quicker and shorter on account of the elongated or debil- 
 itated condition of the assisting organs. Consumption not 
 unfrequently results from this cause. 
 
 The heart also feels the evil. " Palpitations," " flutter- 
 ings," "sinking feelings," all show that, in the language of 
 Scripture, "the heart trembleth, and is moved out of its 
 place." 
 
 But the lowet* intestines are the greatest sufferers from this 
 dreadful abuse of nature. Having the weight of all the un- 
 supported organs above pressing them into unnatural and 
 distorted positions, the passage of the food is interrupted, 
 and inflammations, indurations, and constipation, are the 
 frequent result, and one in which both sexes are equal suf- 
 ferers. Dreadful ulcers and cancers may be traced in some 
 instances to this cause. 
 
 Although these internal displacements are most common 
 among women, the other sex are adopting customs of dress, 
 in girding the central portion of the body, that tend to sim- 
 ilar results. 
 
 But this distortion brings on woman peculiar distresses. 
 The pressure of the whole superincumbent mass on the 
 
 Questions. What effect is produced on the stomach by this falling of 
 the intestines ? What evils are suffered in consequence ? What is the 
 effect on the diaphragm ? What is the consequence ? How is the heart 
 affected ? How are the lower intestines affected ? What is the conse- 
 quence ? "What is said of customs of dress among men ? 
 
ABUSES OF DRESS. DEFORMITIES. 161 
 
 pelvic organs induces sufferings proportioned in acuteness 
 to the extreme delicacy and sensitiveness of the parts thus 
 crushed. And the intimate connection of these organs with 
 the brain and whole nervous system renders injuries thus 
 inflicted the causes of the most extreme anguish, both of 
 body and mind. This evil is becoming so common, not only 
 among married women, but among young girls, as is a just 
 cause for universal alarm. 
 
 How very common these sufferings are, few but the med- 
 ical profession can realize, because these are troubles that 
 must be concealed. Many a woman is moving about in 
 uncomplaining agony who, with any other complaint, in- 
 volving equal suffering, would be on her bed surrounded by 
 sympathizing friends. 
 
 The terrible sufferings that are sometimes thus induced 
 can never be conceived of or at all appreciated from any use 
 of language. Nothing that the public can be made to be- 
 lieve on this subject will ever equal the reality. Not only 
 mature persons and mothers, but fair young girls sometimes 
 are shut up for months and years as helpless and suffering 
 invalids from this cause. This may be found all over the 
 land. And there frequently is a horrible extremity of suffer- 
 ing in certain forms of this evil, which no woman of feeble 
 constitution can ever be certain may not be her doom. Not 
 that in all cases this extremity is involved, but none can say 
 who will escape it. 
 
 In regard to this, if one must choose for a friend or a 
 child, on the one hand the horrible torments inflicted by 
 savage Indians or cruel inquisitors on their victims, or on 
 the other, the protracted agonies that result from such de- 
 formities and displacements, sometimes the former would 
 be a merciful exchange. 
 
 And yet this is the fate that is coming to meet the young 
 as well as the mature in every direction. And tender 
 parents are unconsciously leading their lovely and hapless 
 daughters to this horrible doom. 
 
 There is no excitement of the imagination in what is here 
 
 Questions. What is said of the peculiar sufferings to women from 
 these displacements? What classes are found as sufferers from these 
 evils ? What is said of tho horrible extremity of such sufferings > 
 1. 
 
162 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 indicated. If the facts and details could be presented, they 
 would send a groan of terror and horror all over the land. 
 For it is not one class, or one section, that is endangered. In 
 every part of our country the evil is progressing. 
 
 And, as if these dreadful evils were not enough, there 
 have been added methods of medical treatment at once use- 
 less, torturing to the mind, and involving great liabilities to 
 immoralities. 
 
 These things should be presented not only to parents and 
 teachers, but the young of both sexes should be apprised of 
 these dangers, and taught how they may escape them. 
 
 Questions. What is said of the extent of these dangers? Who should 
 be apprised of these dangers ? 
 
LESSON TWENTY-THIED. 
 
 RESULTS OF ABUSES. 
 
 IN the preceding lessons have been set forth the construc- 
 tion of the organs of the human body ; the laws of health 
 and happiness in the use of these organs, and the abuses of 
 them which are most common. In this lesson will be 
 pointed out more distinctly the result of such abuses on the 
 health and happiness of the American people. 
 
 In a review of all the abuses perpetrated on the curious 
 and complicated organs of the body, the only wonder is 
 that so many escape disease and death so long. 
 
 But the power of resisting evil treatment, and the power 
 of recovery given to the human frame, although a proof of 
 Divine mercy, have been made the occasions of still greater 
 abuses. " Because sentence against an evil work is not exe- 
 cuted speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully 
 set to do evil.'* 
 
 This is the language of Holy Writ, which eveiy day is 
 illustrated. If, whenever men violated any law of health, 
 they were immediately smitten with some penalty, it would 
 prove a restraint. But because the penalties are slow, im- 
 perceptible, and often long delayed, the abuses are multi- 
 plied and continued without fear or compunction. 
 
 Every violation of every law of health probably takes 
 away something from the constitutional stamina which de- 
 cides the length of life, and the power of encountering dis- 
 eases and accidents. 
 
 As the first result, then, of the abuses set forth should be 
 placed the general decay of constitution among the whole 
 
 Questions. What have been set forth ? What will be pointed out in 
 this lesson ? What is remarked in review of the abuses perpetrated ? 
 What merciful arrangement has occasioned greater abuses ? What text 
 of the Bible is thus illustrated ? What is probably the effect of every 
 violation of the laws of health ? What is the first result of the abuses 
 set forth ? 
 
164 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 people. This is true of both sexes, but is more strikingly 
 seen in the state of health among American women com- 
 pared with that of preceding generations. Physicians in 
 all quarters testify that there is a delicacy of constitution, 
 and an increase of disease, both among mature women and 
 young girls, that is most alarming, and such as was never 
 known in any former period. 
 
 In all sections of our country a vigorous and perfectly 
 healthy woman is an exception to the ordinary experience. 
 Statistics have been obtained which make it probable that, 
 of the wives and mothers in this nation, not three out of ten 
 can be classed as healthy women. And as the health of 
 these mothers decides the constitution of their children, the 
 prospects of the next generation are still more gloomy, both 
 as it respects sons and daughters. 
 
 The great difficulty in this respect is, that no one per- 
 ceives the slow and silent drain that violations of the laws 
 of health make on the constitution. And when diseases 
 finally occur, it is not understood that these are the results 
 of an enfeebled constitution. 
 
 It is a knowledge of the nature of man, and of the laws 
 of his being, which alone can remedy this difficulty. 
 
 Another result of the abuses that have been set forth, is 
 the melancholy influences of the ill health of women on do- 
 mestic happiness. When the wife and mother is suffering 
 from the debility and pain of ill health, it not only ends her 
 enjoyment of life, but a cloud of gloom settles over the 
 whole family circle. The following extract from a medical 
 writer illustrates this : 
 
 "My heart aches when I see how the mass of women, 
 by ignorance and by blind bondage to custom and fash- 
 ion, bring on themselves pangs innumerable and prema- 
 ture old age. Many a blooming bride at twenty, finds 
 herself, at thirty, wrinkled and care-worn ; unhappy as a 
 
 Questions. Where is the result of these abuses seen most strikingly? 
 What do physicians testify ? What is said of the proportion of perfectly 
 healthy women ? What is said of the prospects of the next generation ? 
 What great difficulty is mentioned ? What can alone remedy this diffi- 
 culty ? What is another result of these ahuses ? What is the effect of 
 the ill health of a wife and mother ? What is said of the mass of women 
 by a medical writer ? What is said of many a blooming bride ? 
 
RESULTS OF ABUSES. 165 
 
 wife, unreasonable as a mother, and almost useless as a 
 citizen. 
 
 " While some have inherited too much physical depravity 
 to be preserved by any methods in good health, the majority 
 of women have been most miserably spendthrift in using up 
 their vital powers, thus rendering the joy of their married 
 life as evanescent as the morning cloud. 
 
 " Many a wife who, but for her physical condition, would 
 have been happy in her social relation, says to me, with a 
 sigh, * I ought never to have been married, for my life is one 
 prolonged agony. I could endure it myself alone, but the 
 thought that I am, from year to year, becoming the mother 
 of those who are to partake of and perpetuate the misery 
 that I endure, makes me so wretched that I am well-nigh 
 distracted.' 
 
 " A wife of more than ordinary intelligence and attain- 
 ments, who had, during the ten years of her married life, 
 been suffering from these evils, asked me, after I had ex- 
 amined her case, if I thought it curable. I told her she 
 could be made more comfortable, but such organic changes 
 could never be cured. She burst into tears, and said, ' Oh, 
 that I might die, then!' I asked if she was weary of 
 life ? She said, * No, it is not on my own account, but my 
 condition is such a trial to my husband ; I wish I could give 
 him freedom by taking rest to myself in the grave.' 
 
 "The young girl who wickedly wastes her health, and 
 receives with an indifferent toss of the head all cautions in 
 regard to health, little dreams of the bitter tears she will 
 shed when it is too late for repentance to avail. 
 
 "The prospective husband may take great care to protect 
 the fair but frail one of his choice ; he may in after years 
 fondly cherish the wife of his youth when she aches con- 
 stantly and fades prematurely ; still he has no help- 
 mate no one to double life's joys or lighten life's labors 
 for him. 
 
 "Some sick women grow selfish, and forget that, in a 
 
 Questions. What is said of the majority of women ? What is often 
 said by wives that are diseased ? What example is given of the expe- 
 rience of a wife ? What is said of the young girl who wastes her health ? 
 What is said of the prospective husband ? What is said of some sick 
 women ? 
 
166 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 partnership such as theirs, others suffer when they suffer. 
 Every true husband has but half a life who has a sick wife. 
 
 " A few days since a gentleman living with his third wife, 
 whom he had just placed under my care, said, ' There is 
 nothing that I have so much desired as a companion in good 
 health ; but it is what I have seldom enjoyed in all my mar- 
 ried life.' Then, with a sigh, he rose, and walked quickly 
 to and fro in his spacious parlors, saying, ' My home is again 
 shaded by sickness and sorrow, and my last hope of domes- 
 tic joy is blighted.' His elegant residence and political 
 honors could give him no enjoyment while his wife was an 
 invalid. 
 
 "A young husband, in thriving business, of naturally a 
 hopeful heart, presents the case of his wife, and asks, * Can 
 she ever be well ? Will she ever have her former hopeful, 
 loving, patient spirit ?' Then the tears gathered as he said, 
 ' We used to be happy, but now, when I come from business, 
 she can only tell of her suffering, and reproach me because 
 I do not try more to relieve her.' Then he added, by way 
 of self-defense, * I do try to nurse her, and tend baby when 
 I can be spared from business ; I get the best help I can, 
 but nothing satisfies she is so nervous /' The wife, I found, 
 had been brought up elegantly but indolently, and so neither 
 body nor spirit were developed sufficiently to bear health- 
 fully the changes which maternity induces. 
 
 " There is no class of infirmities more likely to induce 
 irritability of temper and depression of spirit than those that 
 affect the female organization. A husband, whose wife had 
 spent some months with us as a patient, said afterward that 
 he should consider her stay there the best investment he 
 ever made, even if there had been no other improvement in 
 his wife than the change in her temper." 
 
 Nor is the suffering less when the husband and father be- 
 comes an invalid. For, besides the sufferings of his family 
 from sympathy with him, or perhaps from the irritability of 
 disease, which men exhibit quite as much as women, there 
 
RESULTS OF ABUSES. 167 
 
 are the anxiety and suffering consequent on the withdrawal 
 of the family support which a father provides. Or there is 
 the fear of it, which often is as great an evil as the reality. 
 
 One of the saddest features of domestic evils from this 
 cause is the suffering of young children from a feeble or dis- 
 eased constitution. 
 
 A perfectly healthful infant sleeps peacefully by its mother 
 through the night, while its waking hours seem the perfection 
 of quiet enjoyment. But a nervous, sickly infant is a most 
 piteous object, as its nightly as well as daily wails distress 
 both parents, and disturb the whole family. And the effect 
 of weakened and irritable nerves on the temper and habits 
 of young children is most melancholy. A young girl, whose 
 childhood had been one of gloom and irritability, and who 
 was finally restored to health by long-protracted exercise in 
 the open air, thus lamented to her mother : 
 
 " My whole childhood was made miserable by the state 
 of my health. Now I am well, I find out that I have an 
 amiable disposition. Before this, I always thought I had a 
 hateful one !" 
 
 Thus parents with feeble constitutions become irritable 
 themselves, and entailing the same evil on their offspring, 
 the care and labor of rearing a family is increased a hun- 
 dred fold. 
 
 Another sad item of domestic suffering resulting from these 
 causes, is the early loss of so many mothers by young children. 
 
 There is no period in a woman's life when her constitu- 
 tion is so severely tried as while she is at once performing 
 all the complicated duties of wife, mother, nurse, and house- 
 keeper. And this is the period when death oftenest comes 
 to end her career, while her little flock must then pass to 
 the hands of strangers. The love and care of a tender 
 mother can never be restored, as thousands and thousands 
 of tearful eyes will testify. 
 
 Questions. What is one of the saddest features of domestic evils from 
 this cause ? What is said of healthy and sickly infants ? What is said 
 of the effect of disease ou the character of children ? What case is given 
 to illustrate this ? How do feehle constitutions affect both parents and 
 children ? What is another sad item resulting from these jcauses ? When 
 Is a woman's constitution most severely tried ? And what is often the 
 result ? 
 
168 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 It would be a sad yet interesting item, could our census 
 present the number of men whose first, second, and even 
 third and fourth wives are in the grave, leaving motherless 
 children to bewail their loss. 
 
 Another evil result from the abuses set forth has been 
 the frightful amount of poisons and other mischievous agents 
 taken as medicines. This is set down in the preceding list of 
 abuses, and also here as the result of such abuses, inasmuch 
 as it is both. For medicines tend to produce diseases, and 
 then, as a consequence, more medicines are taken. 
 
 To illustrate still farther the evils thus produced, we need 
 to refer to the fact set forth in the lesson on abuses of the 
 stomach, viz., that the excesses in quantity, and the wrong 
 selections of food, keep the blood and the whole system in 
 an overloaded state. This being so, the true remedy for the 
 greater portion of temporary ailments would be to stop 
 pouring into the stomach, and give nature time and strength 
 to dispose of this excess. A fast of one, two, or three days 
 will remedy multitudes of sicknesses ; as thus all the over- 
 tasked functions of the body can rest, and the excreting 
 organs throw off the excess. 
 
 Instead of this, some medicine is thrown into the stomach 
 which is of the nature of a poison. Then the whole organ- 
 ism is instantly aroused to resist the intruder. The brain 
 sends its nervous mandates to every part to summon aid. 
 The blood hastens to the stomach and intestines, a general 
 agitation ensues, while this operation destroys all appetite. 
 Thus the blood is relieved of some of its excess, and the 
 stomach is kept from receiving food for a day or two. This 
 being done, the patient feels better, and the poison that 
 made all this commotion is called the cure. 
 
 But such an operation as this never takes place without 
 a drain on the constitution, while in many cases some por- 
 tion of the poison thus thrown into the stomach is absorbed 
 by the blood, and being earned through the body, lodges 
 
 Questions. What would present a sad and interesting item in our 
 census ? What is another evil result ? Why is the use of medicine an 
 abuse and also a result of abuse ? What is the effect of too much and 
 bad food ? What would be the true remedy for this ? What is done in. 
 stead ? What is the effect on the body ? How does such an operation 
 affect the constitution ? What other bad effect fallows? 
 
RESULTS OF ABUSES. 1C9 
 
 here and there in its minute and delicate tissues. This is 
 especially the case with the metallic medicines. 
 
 Most of the popular quack medicines, advertised as cures 
 for almost every disease, contain either calomel or quinine, 
 or strong metallic or other poisons, that stimulate the brain 
 or drain the blood in the way above stated. Most of them, 
 at the same time, tend to induce costiveness by debilitating 
 the intestinal canal. Many of them induce a tendency of 
 blood to those parts, producing inflammations, piles, and 
 other distressing complaints. 
 
 Every thing taken into the stomach is either food and 
 drink that nourish the body, or it is inert, unassimilating 
 matter that simply passes off, or it is what is more or less 
 of the nature of poison which, whether as stimulant or sed- 
 ative, produces unnatural and unhealthful action of all the 
 parts influenced. Tonics tend to destroy tone, cathartics 
 tend to produce constipation, emetics tend to debilitate 
 stomach, liver, and bowels, while such medicines as mer- 
 cury, arsenic, antimony, iodine, and the like, are insidious 
 poisons that establish themselves in the delicate tissues of 
 the body, debilitating the constitution, and generating in- 
 numerable evils. It is the wise and skillful physician alone 
 who can use these dangerous agents properly, in the few cases 
 where they may be needed. 
 
 The poisons that have probably done the most mischief 
 are calomel and quinine. These are what are deemed the 
 grand remedies for the chief diseases of our newer States, 
 resulting from the climate, habits of diet, and the malaria 
 of decayed vegetable matter in fresh soil. 
 
 Bilious complaints usually result from excess in eating, 
 and a diet unsuited to a warm climate. Carbonaceous food, 
 such as oils, butter, pork, sugar, and molasses, all tend to 
 fill the blood with an excess of carbon. It is the office of 
 the liver to draw off this excess. When it is overtaxed it 
 
 Question*. What do most quack medicines contain ? What effects 
 do they produce ? What are the three classes into which we can place 
 all articles put into the stomach ? What is the tendency of tonics ? Of 
 cathartics? Of emetics? What metallic medicines are mentioned, and 
 what is said of them ? What two poisons have done most mischief? 
 From what do bilious complaints usually result ? What is carbonaceous 
 fuod, and what is said of it '? What is the office of the liver? 
 
170 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 ceases its work. Mercury, or calomel, has the power of 
 stimulating this organ. Instead of reducing the food, and 
 selecting that which has least carbon, a dose of calomel 
 is taken. This stimulates the liver to unnatural action, 
 and it is roused from its attempt to rest and forced to 
 double duty. Then " a cathartic" is taken to "clear out the 
 calomel." Thus the system is for a time relieved of its excess. 
 
 But every time this is done the constitution is under- 
 mined, till finally a chronic weakness settles on the liver, 
 stomach, or bowels. Meantime appetite fails, and the sys- 
 tem, not so greatly taxed by food, accommodates to the 
 weakened organs, and a sort of dying half life is the result. 
 
 In the case of chills and fever, the inhaled malaria of a 
 bad atmosphere poisons the whole organism, and at periodic 
 turns there is a grand effort of nature to shake it off. Qui- 
 nine is a medicine that acts as a quiet, unperceived stimu- 
 lant to the brain and nervous system. This being put into 
 the stomach, acts on the brain and nerves, and gives them 
 temporary strength, and for a time the enemy retires. In a 
 good constitution it is sometimes the case that there is no 
 great harm done, and the person is thus made well. But 
 the repetition of this method often undermines the nervous 
 system fatally. There are multitudes who, from the fre- 
 quent use of quinine, have brought on deafness, vertigo, 
 heart disease, and many nervous evils that will probably 
 follow them through life. 
 
 In cases where biliary, stomach, and other intestinal af- 
 fections are brought on by care, anxiety, or any overwork- 
 ing of the brain, simple diet, rest, sleep, and a great deal 
 of exercise in the open air are better than any medicines. 
 When these affections are caused by a chill on the skin, by 
 excess of food, or by the wrong selection, the evil can be 
 starved out. Three or four days of fasting will do it far 
 more safely than calomel or any medicine. 
 
 Questions. When tho liver is overtaxed what is the result? What 
 power has mercury or calomel ? What is done instead of reducing the 
 food, and choosing that which has little carbon ? What is the effect of 
 this medicine ? What is the effect on the constitution ? What on the 
 general health ? What is said of chills and fever, and the common treat- 
 ment of them ? What is the best remedy for bilious affections caused by 
 overworking the brain and nerves? What is the true remedy when they 
 are caused by excess of diet ? 
 

 RESULTS OF ABUSES. 171 
 
 But this safe course is rarely pursued. A family medi- 
 cine-chest, filled with destructive drugs, is kept on hand 
 probably by a majority of the families of this nation, and 
 every ailment brings forth some of these poisons to agitate 
 and reduce the constitutional fountain. Besides this, lying 
 quack medicines, that promise to cure every disease, are 
 found in the hands of millions, who blindly swallow these 
 pernicious drugs. It is probable that on the grave-stones 
 of half the dead in our grave-yards Truth would write, 
 *"* Poisoned to death by medicines !" 
 
 Questions. What is said of family and quack medicines? What 
 might Truth probably write on half the grave-stones ? 
 
LESSON TWENTY-FOURTH. 
 
 MODES OF REMEDY. 
 
 THE design of this lesson is to present the remedies for the 
 evils that have been set forth in the previous lessons. 
 
 The first thing to be done is to make the whole people of 
 this nation properly understand this subject. 
 
 Mankind will never obey the laws of health till they 
 know what they are, and what are the penalties of disobe- 
 dience. To secure this, they must be made to understand 
 the construction of their bodies, the functions of the differ- 
 ent organs, and their modes of healthful action. They must 
 learn the nature of the air they breathe, of the fluids they 
 drink, and of the food they eat and the influence of their 
 habits, customs, and employments on the health of their 
 bodies. When they do understand all this, then reason, 
 conscience, self-love, domestic affection, and religion will 
 all furnish motives to secure obedience to laws that are seen 
 to be wise, and sustained by penalties that, though slow, are 
 inevitable. 
 
 This knowledge is as necessary for children as for grown 
 peisons. They can be made to understand the construction 
 of their own bodies, the laws of health, and the penalties of 
 disobedience. Nothing can be made more interesting or 
 intelligible to the young than these matters, and it is such 
 knowledge that alone will secure an intelligent and cheerful 
 obedience to the rules that should regulate their appetites 
 and propensities. 
 
 Now the surest and quickest method that will extend this 
 knowledge both to children and adults all over this nation, 
 
 Questions. What is the design of this lesson ? What is the first thing 
 to be done ? What must men know in order to obey the laws of health ? 
 What must they understand and learn in order to secure this ? What 
 will follow when all this is understood ? What is said of such knowledge 
 for children ? Can such knowledge be made interesting to them ? What 
 will it secure to them? 
 
MODES OF REMEDY. 173 
 
 is the introduction of such a book as this into all our schools 
 and seminaries. If children have a school-book of this kind 
 in which they are interested they will take it home, the pa- 
 rents will read it, and thus the curious and wonderful con- 
 struction of God's master-piece of wisdom, the human frame, 
 will become a daily topic of conversation in the family. The 
 laws of health, as studied at school, will be constantly pre- 
 sented by the children at home, and by this method a strong, 
 steady, silent, unresisted influence will be brought into most 
 . of the families of the nation. 
 
 When the requisite knowledge is secured, then the changes 
 that are to be made in the habits and practices of the people 
 will be found to be very easy, and not at all burdensome. 
 The following presents the principal points : 
 
 PURE AIR AND VENTILATION. 
 
 This topic takes the lead of all others in importance and 
 difficulty. The fact that the Greeks lived most of the year 
 out-doors, and that in their houses they never breathed any 
 but pure air, gave them an advantage in developing the 
 beauty, strength, and health of their children, which it is 
 not so easy to secure with our climate and habits. And the 
 steady and equable climate of the old countries, which has led 
 their inhabitants to out-door life, and thus secured vigorous 
 constitutions, gives them also a great advantage over us. 
 
 But then our difficulties can be met and overcome. 
 
 Every householder should be sure that every member of 
 his family breathes pure air, not only all day but all night, 
 by this simple arrangement : In every room of his house let 
 at least one window be let down at the top two inches, and 
 one door have an opening of two inches over the top. Let 
 this be done in such a way that no person can alter it. For 
 if ventilators are fixed so that they can be closed, they will 
 be, in the majority of cases, by the ignorant, or timid, or 
 falsely economical. 
 
 Questions. What is the surest mode of extending a knowledge of the 
 laws of health ? What will be the effect of this in families ? What is said 
 of the changes that will follow ? What is the most important topic ? What 
 advantages had the Greeks ? What advantages have some old countries 
 in regard to climate ? How can every householder provide pure air for 
 all in the house ? 
 
174 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 A house thus arranged will require more fuel to warm 
 it, but the additional expense of this will not be a tenth 
 part of that which would result from the loss of labor and 
 health consequent on the debility and disease always re- 
 sulting, more or less, from the habitual inhalation of impure 
 air. 
 
 In a house thus arranged, stoves- though less healthful 
 than open fires would still be far less injurious than they 
 now are. 
 
 And here one common prejudice against "night-air," re- 
 sulting solely from ignorance, must be met. 
 
 It has been shown that every pair of lungs vitiates a 
 hogshead of air every hour, by withdrawing from it one 
 half its oxygen, and replacing it with the same quantity of 
 carbonic acid. Now, at night, the inmates of a house must 
 either breathe night air, that constantly flows in from with- 
 out, and thus drives out the impure air within, or they must 
 keep on breathing over and over again the confined day air 
 of the house, that every hour grows more and more poison- 
 ous and debilitating. 
 
 The common objections to night-air are, that it is cold, 
 or damp, or loaded with unhealthful miasmata. But if a 
 person has bed-clothing enough to keep warm, the colder 
 the air the better every way for all who are healthy, and 
 often for invalids. And if the air is damp, so as to ren- 
 der the atmosphere of the room damp also, still no harm is 
 done, provided the body is kept warm. The most delicate 
 patients in health establishments sleep for hours with wet 
 sheets packed around them, without the least evil or dan- 
 ger. A damp night-air never can harm the most delicate 
 person if every part of the body is covered so as to be duly 
 warm. 
 
 In regard to air taken into the lungs, there is no time 
 when there is more water held suspended in the atmosphere 
 
 Questions. Why is it cheaper to use more fuel in this way ? How 
 much air is vitiated every hour by every pair of lungs ? What two kinds 
 of air does every one breathe through the night ? What are the common 
 objections to night-air? When is cold air better than warm? When 
 will not damp air do any harm ? What is said of persons in health estab- 
 lishments ? What is said of the quantity of water in the air on a hot 
 day? 
 
MODES OF REMEDY. 175 
 
 than in a hot day. When the air becomes cold this damp- 
 ness becomes sensible to the eye and feeling. But often 
 there is really not so much water inhaled into the lungs in 
 breathing a cold, damp air, as in breathing a warm and ap- 
 parently dry atmosphere. 
 
 No reason, then, exists for excluding the night-air from 
 the lungs when cold and damp. More clothing is required, 
 and more care to avoid a draft on any exposed part of the 
 body. Of course, where lungs are diseased, any extremes 
 in temperature must be avoided. 
 
 As to unhealthful miasmata in the night-air, nothing can 
 be worse than the exhalations of decaying bodies, as sent 
 forth from the lungs and skin of sleepers. It is precisely 
 the same evil as is found in proximity to grave-yards and 
 decaying carrion. The effluvium from the lungs and skin 
 is precisely the same as that from carrion. Those who have 
 entered the pent-up sleeping rooms of persons who do not 
 wash their skins or breathe a pure air, very well understand 
 the close resemblance. 
 
 In the summer season, while vegetation is in life, the 
 leaves of all trees and plants are respiring. That is, they 
 are giving out oxygen and taking in carbonic acid by day, 
 and then at night throwing out carbonic acid and taking in 
 oxygen. But this respiration of vegetable nature outside 
 of our dwellings, and all the effluvia of decaying vegetation 
 at any period of the year, are never so effective in destroy- 
 ing the healthfulness of the air around our dwellings, as the 
 lungs of the inhabitants within them. 
 
 Let it also be considered that the air we do breathe un- 
 less the house is air-tight, which no house can be must be 
 night-air, more or less mixed with the portion which has been 
 breathed over and over again through the day and evening. 
 So that every body does breathe night-air, or, what is worse, 
 the dry air vitiated by the breath and skin of the household. 
 
 Questions. What is the effect of cooling the air ? When is there the 
 most water taken into the lungs ? Is there any good reason for exclud- 
 ing night-air even when it seems damp ? What precaution is required ? 
 What is said of diseased lungs? What is the most unhealthy miasma 
 in night-air ? What is it like ? What is the process of respiration of 
 leaves in summer ? How does this compare with the effect of the res- 
 piration within the house ? What is said of the air we breathe at night ? 
 
176 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 These things are presented in order to remove that bale- 
 ful prejudice and fear that so many ignorant persons indulge 
 toward their best friends, air and water. 
 
 If every person who has charge of a family make some 
 sure arrangement thus to secure to every one in the house 
 an abundance of pure air for the lungs and skin both by 
 day and night, the grand cause that, above all others, is 
 gradually deteriorating the vigor, health, and beauty of the 
 American people will disappear. 
 
 Add to this, appropriate care that all the school-rooms in 
 the land have the same arrangement made to provide pure 
 air for the pupils. Keep the tops of the windows down both 
 in winter and summer, and pay for the increase of fuel in- 
 stead of paying the doctor and grave-digger. In every com- 
 munity where there are colleges and seminaries, as well as 
 the public schools, there ought to be inspectors appointed, 
 the same as other civil officers, to go around and see whether 
 any parent or teacher is poisoning the rising generation with 
 impure air. How many families, and schools, and boarding 
 establishments would be found in which this evil, even to 
 this hour, is perpetuated ! 
 
 No parents, no guardians of the young should ever retire 
 to rest till fully assured that every one under their care is 
 furnished with the full supply of pure air for the night. And 
 employers, in all kinds of business, should be taught that 
 they are committing a great sin against the life and welfare 
 of those they employ, if they force them to labor in impure 
 air. 
 
 Every minister of the gospel should take care that his own 
 spiritual concerns, and those of his hearers are not checked 
 and interrupted by bad air ; and he should teach his people 
 their obligations in this matter, both to themselves and to 
 all under their care. The physician, too, is especially bound 
 to use his influence in the same direction. 
 
 Questions. Why are these things presented ? How would the chief 
 cause of ill health in this nation be remedied ? What should be done for 
 schools ? What health officers are needed ? What should be done by all 
 parents, teachers, and employers ? What should be done by ministers ? 
 
MODES OF REMEDY. 177 
 
 EXERCISE AND AMUSEMENT. 
 
 Next to pure air, healthful exercise and amusements are the 
 most important remedies for the evils set forth. 
 
 The modes for securing these are not so easily indicated. 
 A great part of the American people exercise certain por- 
 tions of their muscular system too much, while their intellect 
 has little activity, and their spirits are rarely cheered and 
 animated by amusements. Another portion keep their brain 
 in constant labor, without the balancing influence of mus- 
 cular activity, or the relief of recreation. And still another 
 portion give up their whole being to pleasure-seeking and 
 nmusement, without any useful activity either of body or 
 mind. 
 
 There are various measures which might be adopted, that 
 each in its place would tend to a better adjustment of this 
 difficult matter. To give an example of what might be 
 done, let it be imagined that, for the sake of an experi- 
 ment, funds were provided, and the inhabitants of a com- 
 munity should all agree to give the method here suggested 
 a fair trial. 
 
 In the first place, a course of lectures should be given, 
 for the purpose of making the people fully understand the 
 evils to be remedied, and the benefits to be secured. 
 
 Next, a central site should be provided, on which should 
 be erected a large and beautiful building a Temple of 
 Health. Around it should be eveiy variety of pleasant 
 walks, and shades, and flowers, to attract and please in the 
 summer months, and other arrangements provided for out- 
 door sports and exercises in winter. Within the building 
 should be arranged a great variety of apparatus and accom- 
 modations for in-door amusements that exercise the muscles, 
 and those which in most cases could be performed in meas- 
 ures and to the sound of music. These exercises should be 
 under the direction of scientific and medical men, and no 
 one should be admitted to these premises except on condi- 
 
 Questions. What next to pure air are important remedies ? What is 
 said of a great part of the American people ? What of two other portions ? 
 In the example given of what might be done, what is the first measuiv : ; 
 What the next ? Who should direct the exercises ? 
 
 M 
 
178 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 tion that he would strictly obey the direction of these man- 
 agers. 
 
 All persons attending should then be examined in regard 
 to their daily avocations, their diet, the ventilation of their 
 sleeping and business rooms, the defects of their physical 
 system, and any disease they may suffer, and advice appro- 
 priate be given. Then a course of exercise, fitted to each 
 case, should be marked out, and superintendents appointed 
 to see that all these directions are obeyed. The aim should 
 be, not only to secure exercise, but that kind which is ap- 
 propriate to each case, and also that which would prove 
 exhilarating and amusing. For exercise that is sought as a 
 pleasure is more than doubled in value. 
 
 In short, every arrangement should be made in strict con- 
 formity to the laws of health, and all excesses should be ex- 
 cluded. Here, .too, parents should be instructed in family 
 plays and games, and thus induced to join with their chil- 
 dren in home amusements. For nothing so binds the young 
 to those who control them, as aid and sympathy in amus- 
 ing sports. 
 
 It is probable that if any community would once fairly 
 test such a plan as this for six months, nine-tenths of the 
 diseases, infirmities, low spirits, and ill-temper of that place 
 would vanish away, while every social, domestic, and relig- 
 ious virtue would take a new start. 
 
 The preceding method is suggested mainly with reference 
 to adults. In regard to the young, the grand remedy must 
 be in connection with schools and other institutions for ed- 
 ucation. 
 
 As these are now conducted, all the money, time, and 
 efforts are spent in training and exercising the intellect. In 
 our higher institutions, one department is endowed that a 
 teacher may give all his time and efforts to cultivating the 
 mathematical faculties. Another endowment supports a 
 teacher to train the linguistic powers. Another endowment 
 secures a teacher for chemistry another provides for some 
 
 Questions. What method should be pursued by all who attend ? What 
 is said of the value of exercise that is amusing ? In what should parents 
 be instructed, and what would be the benefit ? What would be the prob- 
 able result of such a method ? What would be the grand remedy for the 
 young ? What is said of the expense for training the intellect ? 
 
MODES OF REMEDY. 179 
 
 other of the natural sciences. Thus, there is a constantly 
 accumulating outlay for divisions and subdivisions of labor, 
 and all for the intellectual department of education. Strin- 
 gent rules also are made, and laws enforced to secure obe- 
 dience to arrangements that often involve most flagrant 
 violations of the laws of health. 
 
 But not in the wide circuit of our nation is an institution 
 where even one teacher is sustained whose official duty it is 
 to secure the health and perfect development of that won- 
 derful and curious organism on which the mind is so depend- 
 ent. The students in our colleges and other institutions of 
 learning should be required to breathe pure air ; to exercise 
 their muscles appropriately and sufficiently ; to retire as well 
 as to rise at proper hours ; to take care of the skin, and to 
 avoid the use of stimulating herbs and drinks ; and the same 
 watch and care should enforce these duties as are now de- 
 voted to training the intellect. And endowments should be 
 provided to sustain well qualified and able men, whose 
 official duty it should be to give instructions, and exercise 
 the supervision that would secure so important a result. 
 
 In regard to all our common and other schools for young 
 children, to the proper ventilation of their school-rooms 
 should be added a complete and scientific training of their 
 bodies to perfect health and the full development of every 
 part. This is entirely practicable, and would be immedi- 
 ately adopted by every teacher did the public demand it. 
 One half hour of every school session ought to be spent by 
 every teacher and pupil in a regular course of calisthenic 
 and gymnastic exercises, that should be as imperative as any 
 other school duty. 
 
 A universal course of training of this kind, scientifically 
 arranged and applied, in connection with obedience to other 
 laws of health, might, in one generation, transform the 
 inhabitants of this land from the low development now so 
 extensive to the beautiful model of the highest form of 
 humanity. 
 
 Questions. What is said of the neglect of physical training? For 
 \vhat should able men be employed, and endowments provided ? What 
 should be done in common schools ? What would be the result ? 
 
LESSON TWENTY-FIFTH. 
 
 MODES OF REMEDY. 
 
 NEXT in importance to air and exercise comes the selec- 
 tion of diet and drink. And in this matter the practical 
 adoption of one common-sense maxim would do almost all 
 that needs to be done. The maxim is this : In cases where 
 one of two courses involves danger and risk and another is per- 
 fectly safe, always choose the path of safety. 
 
 We have seen that the great mass of this nation is fast 
 hastening to disease and deterioration, and that individual 
 misery and domestic imhappiness are widely increasing as 
 the result. "We have seen that owing to needless varieties, 
 to stimulating food and drinks, and to the use of condi- 
 ments, excess in loading the digestive organs is one great 
 cause of this extensive suffering. 
 
 Now there is a rich variety and ahundance of simple, 
 healthful food and drinks that are fitted for the perfect 
 development and nutrition of the body, and involve little 
 liability to perversion and excess. And when all stim- 
 ulating food, drinks, and condiments are relinquished, 
 and a simple diet maintained, a nealtliful appetite returns, 
 which is a safe guide to the proper amount to be taken, 
 provided always that enough pure air and exercise are se- 
 cured. 
 
 After living for several months on simple food, theflre is 
 an increased susceptibility of taste and a keener relish for 
 the delicate flavors that such food oifers. Does any one re- 
 member the delicious relish of childhood for a bit of good 
 bread? This same relish will again return when solicited 
 aright. Let a person for several weeks try the experiment 
 
 Questions. What comes next in importance to air and exercise ? 
 What important maxim in regard to food and drink ? What is said of 
 excess in eating ? 
 
MODES OF REMEDY. 181 
 
 of drinking only water, eating nothing but bread and but- 
 ter, very little meat, potatoes, baked fruit, and milk, and ai- 
 the same time exercise abundantly in the fresh air, and he 
 will say, " Never did food of the richest variety and compo- 
 sition furnish such an exquisite relish !" 
 
 The more a person will limit a meal to a few articles, and 
 these of the simplest kind, the more will he regain the ap- 
 petite and relish of early life. 
 
 Now the course here suggested is perfectly safe, is equally 
 productive of enjoyment, and is in obedience to the laws of 
 health, which are the laws of God. The common course 
 pursued in this land of abundance and gormandizing is 
 certainly one of risk and danger to the delicate and de- 
 teriorated constitutions of the adult and rising genera- 
 tions. Here, then, is the place to practice the Christian 
 "daily" duty of "self-denial." And if the strong and 
 healthy feel no need of it for themselves, a duty is set 
 forth for them in this inspired command, " We that are 
 strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not 
 to please ourselves." Parents and all who have charge of 
 the young ought to set them an example of simple diet and 
 few dishes. 
 
 In reference to stimulating drinks the need of this divine 
 injunction is extreme. The parents of a family drink tea 
 and coffee. They teach their children perhaps that it is a 
 dangerous and unhealthy practice, and train them to entire 
 abstinence. But after a few years these children draw to 
 manhood and womanhood, and begin to claim the privileges 
 of acting by their own judgment. Then, after a period of 
 deprecation and remonstrance, the luxury is conceded. 
 Some one of the flock is feeble, the strong can bear it but 
 the weak one falters. No eye but that of the Heavenly 
 Parent marks how this one single cause is daily draining the 
 already stinted nervous fountain. And when the flower is 
 cut down, the weeping parents mourn over the sacrifice 
 offered by themselves to their own self-indulgence by 
 their neglect of that beneficent law, " We that are strong 
 
 Questions. How can a healthy appetite be restored ? What text of 
 Scripture should guide on this subject ? What is needed in reference to 
 stimulating diinks? 
 
182 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please 
 ourselves." 
 
 Oh, that tender parents, who provide these dangerous 
 beverages, would look around the beloved circle and sec 
 which one they can select as the hapless victim ! 
 
 And so in reference to that disgusting and baleful use of 
 tobacco, which all over the nation is draining the nervous 
 fountain of thousands of pale and delicate young men. 
 This weed is rank poison. After taking it a while, a crav- 
 ing appetite for it is created, and men and boys chew it, 
 smoke it, and snuff it, till thousands and tens of thousands 
 perish from its poisonous influence. 
 
 This weed is cultivated all over the land. What is used 
 costs this nation thirty millions of dollars. This is more 
 than all that is spent for education or religion. And yet 
 the effect is to exhaust the nervous system, to destroy 
 the tone of the stomach, to create a thirst for intoxicating 
 drinks, to irritate the temper, stupefy the sensibilities, de- 
 file the house, and offend the neat and refined, while it 
 does no good to any living being. It is probable that to- 
 bacco destroys more than alcohol, because so many more 
 use it, and so many are led to opium and alcohol by its 
 influence. And yet the clergyman, the church elder, the 
 father of the family, indulge in a useless and dangerous 
 practice, merely to gratify a morbid appetite. While they 
 teach others to " deny fleshly lusts," and upbraid the young 
 if they fall, in their own cherished fleshly appetite they see 
 no sin. 
 
 But every young victim to this appetite who has been led 
 on by their example, or has not been withheld \vhen their 
 arguments and example might have saved them, is set down 
 to their account by Him who seeth not as man seeth. He 
 whose example of self-denying benevolence they profess to 
 follow, whose last teachings on earth were, "If ye love me 
 feed my sheep; feed my lambs" He has left to them, 
 above all others, the sacred monition, " We that are strong 
 
 Questions. What is said of the use of tobacco and its effects on tho 
 health of young men ? What effects are produced by taking it a while ? 
 What is the cost of tobacco ? WTiat is the evil done by it ? Does it do 
 any good to any one ? Why does it probably destroy more than alcohol ? 
 Who often set a bad example, and what is said of them ? 
 
MODES OF REMEDY. 183 
 
 ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please 
 ourselves." 
 
 In this nation no one can travel without being constantly 
 made to feel what a selfish as well as disgusting and uiigni- 
 lant habit is induced by the use of tobacco ! The majority 
 of ladies are offended by the effluvium of that weed, and 
 disgusted by its marks on the mouth and face, while the 
 puddles of tobacco juice that infest our public conveyances, 
 the breath of smokers, and the wads and squirting of chew- 
 ers, not only defile the dress but keep a sensitive stomach 
 in constant excitement and agitation. If those who practice 
 this vice will insist on perfuming public conveyances with 
 dead tobacco smoke from their dress and lungs, and render- 
 ing all their premises filthy and disgusting with their ex- 
 pectorations, the managers of these conveyances should be 
 required to provide rooms and cars for ladies and all other 
 persons who are annoyed by this vice, from which all who 
 either smoke or chew shall be excluded. 
 
 A great change in the habits of this nation is required in 
 regard to the use of carbonaceous food, the chief articles of 
 this class being butter, fats, sugar, and molasses. 
 
 Owing to cheapness and abundance, the enormous quan- 
 tities of these articles that are allowed to young children 
 are such as never was known in any former period of our 
 own history, and such as is never witnessed in any other 
 country. 
 
 The wear and tear on the constitution, in the labors of 
 the various organs to throw off this excess, must be a con- 
 stantly exhausting drain. This is especially the case when 
 they are allowed in the form of confectionery, which, in 
 addition to its other evils, imposes on the stomach the ex- 
 tra tax of digesting highly concentrated food and at irregu- 
 lar periods. 
 
 Our custom of taking food in such a hurried manner, 
 without proper time for mastication, or for the stomach to 
 perform its duties, must be changed. 
 
 Questions. What is said of the use of tobacco in reference to la- 
 dies? What is said of carbonaceous food? What are the chief arti- 
 cles of this class ? W r hat is said of their use by children ? What i* 
 the result ? What is said of confectionery ? What custom should be 
 changed ? 
 
184 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 The assembling of a family at their meals should be 
 made a period of easy relaxation and social enjoyment. 
 Every thing should conspire to render the occasion one in 
 which the social and intellectual should so predominate 
 that the gratification of the humbler appetites may become 
 subordinate. 
 
 Question, What should be done at meals ? 
 
LESSON TWENTY-SIXTH. 
 
 MODES OF REMEDY. 
 
 NEXT to air, exercise, and diet, the care of that com- 
 plicated and sensitive organ the skin is to be regarded. 
 
 It has been shown that the full circulation of blood in the 
 capillaries of the skin, and the free discharge of its secre- 
 tions, are the objects to be aimed at in promoting perfect 
 health. For this purpose air, light, water, friction, and cold 
 are the chief agencies, and are also healthful tonics to the 
 nervous system generally, from its intimate connection with 
 the skin. 
 
 All these agencies are secured by a daily morning ablu- 
 tion of the whole person. In order to this, no extensive 
 bathing apparatus is required. A screen, made like a small 
 clothes-frame, to set around a wash-stand, a bowl of cold 
 water, and two towels, are all that are needed. 
 
 The quickest way to bathe is, with one towel, dipped in 
 water, to wet first the upper and then the lower portions 
 of the body, and then to rub them till dry and red with 
 the other towel, which should be a rough and coarse one. 
 
 This followed by drinking a tumbler of cold water and a 
 walk in the cool morning air, or, when the weather forbids, 
 a series of calisthenic exercises before an open window, will 
 give a healthful glow and appetite. 
 
 As to dress, it should always be sufficient in thickness 
 and warmth to prevent any sense of uncomfortable chilli- 
 ness. This being secured, the less clothing the better for 
 the skin and the whole body. 
 
 Heat is always debilitating to the skin, while cold and 
 pure air are tonics. But all changes in this particular must 
 
 Questions. What comes next in importance after air, exercise, and 
 diet ? What is needful for the perfect health of the skin ? What should 
 be the mode of bathing every morning ? What should follow it ? What 
 direction in regard to dress ? What is the effect of heat on the skin, and 
 what of cold ? 
 
IP.f, PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 be gradual, and great care must be taken not to exceed the 
 nervous supply of the system, by abstracting animal heat 
 too often and too long. 
 
 A great many persons lose all the benefits of water-treat- 
 ment, and others bring on disease, by bathing in too cold 
 water, or by bathing too often or too long. There are some 
 cautions needed on this subject that will be given in a fol- 
 lowing lesson. 
 
 In regard to the present fashion of dress three changes 
 are indispensable to health. 
 
 The first is, that it should always be so loose as to allow 
 the fullest inspiration of the lungs without restraint, and 
 never to press at all on the middle and lower portion of the 
 body. 
 
 The second is, that all the weight of the clothing should 
 be supported by the shoulders, and never allowed to rest on 
 the hips. 
 
 Lastly, the upper part of the body must be clothed more, 
 and the lower portion relieved of the enormous accumula- 
 tion. In order to secure this last the drawings on the fol- 
 lowing page are given : 
 
 Fig. 64 is a pattern of an under skirt designed to keep 
 the body equally warm in all parts. The plaits, or gathers, 
 are shown at the lower line, and are to be below the hips. 
 
 Fig. 55 shows a method of making a skirt that shall stand 
 out from the body, and yet give the same appearance as is 
 made by many skirts. The skirt is made of two parts. 
 The upper one is a double strip, with slides in it, which is 
 drawn up on whalebones to the right form. Then the lower 
 portion is gathered on to this. The whole is to be buttoned 
 on to the waist. 
 
 This skirt is cool in summer, while in winter all needed 
 additions can be worn under it. 
 
 CUSTOMS OF SOCIAL LIFE. 
 
 There are also great changes to be made in the customs 
 of social life. The American people claim to be in advance 
 
 Questions. What caution in regard to changes ? What direction in 
 regard to the fashion of dress ? What three changes in the fashion of 
 dress should be effected ? Describe the drawings of Figs. 54, 55 ? What 
 is claimed by the American people ? 
 
MODES OF REMEDY. 187 
 
 Fig. 54. Fig. 55. 
 
 of all other nations in civil and religious liberty. They are 
 complimented as the people who are to take the lead in 
 guiding all others to the most perfect state of social, civil, 
 and moral development. 
 
 If this honorable career is before them, it surely is incon- 
 sistent with their high vocation to become slaves to injurious 
 customs that are manufactured for them abroad. Why 
 should not the American people originate customs in social 
 life as much in advance of old nations as are their civil 
 concerns ? 
 
 We have seen that light is more favorable to health 
 and perfect development than darkness. We have seen 
 that even the trees and shrubs exhale their life-inspiring 
 oxygen by day and their carbon through the night. This 
 teaches mankind that the time for the quick circulation of 
 muscular labor and brain excitement is the day, while the 
 slow breath of slumber is reserved for the less healthful at- 
 mosphere of night. 
 
 Questions. What is inconsistent with this claim ? What is said of light 
 and its effects on the vegetable world ? What does this teach ? 
 
188 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Now those countries whose customs are founded on the 
 assumption that one class of people are to do the work, and 
 another class are to appropriate the best fruits of this labor, 
 have instituted social customs on the plan of making every 
 possible barrier of separation between these two classes. 
 And so the aristocracy sit up all night and sleep by day, 
 while those who carry on the business of the world are 
 abroad in the light and slumber in the hours appointed by 
 God for sleep. 
 
 But it is the pride of our nation that all men are equal in 
 rights and privileges, and that no aristocracy can flourish 
 here. Why, then, should we not banish those customs of 
 social life that are low imitations of what is false and wron^ ? 
 Why should not the American people set an example to the 
 Old World of customs conformed at once to the laws of 
 health, the laws of God, and the spirit of their own boasted 
 institutions ? 
 
 In the palmy days of our early Republic, all classes rose 
 with the sun, and all the hours of labor, even for the high- 
 est, were by daylight. And their social gatherings were or- 
 dinarily ended when the " nine o'clock bell" gave warning 
 that all well-ordered families should retire to rest. 
 
 In another matter we have an opportunity to excel even 
 the fathers of our Republic. The farther man advances from 
 childhood and in social life from the savage state, the more 
 do refined and intellectual pleasures take the place of mere- 
 ly animal. In the lower states of society the chief attrac- 
 tions to social gatherings were eating and drinking. But just 
 in proportion as man becomes elevated, this lowest species 
 of enjoyment gives place to higher and more refined pleas- 
 ure. 
 
 May we not hope that our country is so far advanced as 
 to be able to institute new customs in these respects ? 
 
 It certainly is true that the great body of cultivated and 
 sensible people in this country heartily despise and condemn 
 the vulgar gatherings where a good part of the night is spent 
 
 Questions. What customs prevail in aristocratic countries ? Why are 
 such customs inconsistent with the character of our country ? What is 
 said of the palmy days of our nation ? What is said of eating and drink- 
 ing at social gathering. 
 
MODES OF REMEDY. 189 
 
 in unhealthful air, unhealthful dresses, stupid recognitions, 
 and unseasonable eating and drinking. Why should this 
 sensible portion be controlled by the uncultivated and frivo- 
 lous? 
 
 It is hoped that the time is not far distant when all well- 
 educated and conscientious people will regulate the hours 
 for social gatherings, and the entertainments provided by 
 the laws of health and reason. 
 
 HEALTH ^ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 A very prominent mode of remedy for ill health already 
 induced, is a resort to properly conducted health establish- 
 ments. 
 
 The most valuable of these are those in which cold water 
 is applied scientifically as a medicinal agent. The follow- 
 ing account of the operation of cold water, when applied in- 
 ternally and on the skin, contains important information : 
 
 Cold water taken internally operates first to dissolve and 
 thin the morbid accumulations in all parts of the system, 
 and thus prepare them for ejection through the skin, lungs, 
 kidneys, and bowels. Next it tends to equalize the circula- 
 tion by thinning and removing these morbid obstructions, 
 so that the blood can flow equally in every part. Next it 
 stimulates the capillaries to quicker action all over the body. 
 Water taken into the stomach is drawn into the circulation 
 in ten or fifteen minutes, and as the great mass of the blood 
 courses through the body six or eight times every hour, it 
 is seen that the water in that time may visit nearly every 
 part. If more is taken than the body needs, the kidneys 
 draw it off and send it out. 
 
 Cold water is also a tonic; that is, it operates to give 
 stronger action to the minute capillaries, and this, like the 
 exercise of the muscles, gives increase of vigor. Thus, cold 
 water taken internally operates to purify the blood, to equal- 
 ize the circulation, and to strengthen the capillary action by 
 increased exercise. 
 
 Questions. What hope is expressed ? What is a prominent mode of 
 remedy for ill health? How does cold water operate internally? How- 
 does it effect the circulation ? How does it effect the capillaries ? What 
 is said of the absorption of water from the stomach ? If there is too much 
 taken, what is done ? How does cold water operate as a tonic ? 
 
190 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Cold water applied externally, in baths, operates in several 
 ways. In the first place, it is a tonic to the nerves and ca- 
 pillaries of the skin. And as there is more nerve matter 
 and more blood in the skin than in all the other capillaries 
 of the body, there is no mode of applying tonic remedies so 
 potent and so readily within reach. 
 
 Next, cold water can be applied in local baths to draw tho 
 blood from one portion of the body where there is an excess, 
 to another part where there is a deficiency and consequent 
 debility. The sitting and foot baths are of this nature. If 
 we need blood and increased action in any particular part, 
 cold is applied by water. The capillaries contract and send 
 their blood inward, reporting to the brain the need of the 
 part. Instantly there is a return of a greater supply than 
 before. This process can be continued till a habit is in- 
 duced, and thus the part is strengthened. 
 
 Next, cold water, in drawing off heat from the body, and 
 quickening the action of the capillaries, hastens the process 
 of change which is going on all over the system in sending 
 off old, decayed matter, and replacing it with new material 
 furnished by the lungs and stomach. It is thus that the 
 Water Cure quickens the appetite to supply the increased 
 demand. 
 
 Lastly, cold water can be applied as a kind of poultice to 
 the skin. In this case, the moisture and warmth draw the 
 blood to the capillaries of the skin, and at the same time 
 stimulate the lymphatic absorbents to quicker action. By 
 this method morbid humors are drawn from the internal 
 organs to the skin, and thence are thrown off. The wet 
 sheet is a cold-water poultice for the whole body. The 
 wet bandages, worn over diseased parts, are smaller poul- 
 tices. Both act to draw blood from within to the skin, and 
 then to abstract from it the morbid humors. 
 
 When we consider that the surface of skin comprises fif- 
 teen square feet, and that this surface is made up of millions 
 of perspiration tubes, oil-secreting glands, and sensitive, nerv- 
 
 Questions. How does cold water operate on the skin ? What is said 
 of local baths ? What is the mode of action when such baths are taken ? 
 What is the operation of water in drawing off heat ? What is its opera- 
 tion as a poultice on the skin ? What does tho surface of the skin com- 
 prise? 
 
MODES OF REMEDY. jg j 
 
 cms reticulations, we perceive a method of influencing the 
 brain and nerves, and, indeed, the whole system, such as 
 can be secured in no other way. We can depress one part, 
 and stimulate another ; bring the blood to the surface, drive 
 it inward, equalize and cleanse it, and apply a universal 
 tonic to its whole net-work of nerves by means of this one 
 simple, pure, and universal element. 
 
 But the medical and scientific application of cold water 
 for the cure of disease is only one of the benefits to be ob- 
 tained in these health establishments. The great thing se- 
 cured is a rational, intelligent obedience to the laws of health. 
 
 The use of cold water tends to dissolve and carry off, by 
 quickened action, all the component parts of the body. 
 i)uring this process it should be renewed with pure and 
 healthful materials by a simple diet. Tea, coffee, alcoholic 
 drinks, opium, tobacco, spices, and condiments of all sorts 
 are to be relinquished. Fruits, vegetables, broths, one kind of 
 meat, good bread and butter, and a great variety of simples, 
 such as cracked wheat, hominy, and the like, are provided, 
 and the patient must eat these or go somewhere else for food. 
 
 Next, after every bath the patient is required to bring on 
 a glow by exercise in the open air, and as baths are taken 
 four and five times a day, this secures a considerable amount 
 of pure air for the lungs, as well as exercise for the lower 
 limbs. 
 
 Besides this, the patients are withdrawn from all their 
 business and cares. The brain has a chance to rest ; while 
 the baths and walking furnish occupation that is cheered 
 by the stimulus of hope. At the same time, in these gath- 
 erings, every person finds one or more sympathizing asso- 
 ciate in walks and sports, and thus time never seems to 
 hang heavily. 
 
 In some institutions, also, such arrangements for ventila- 
 tion are enforced as secure to the patients pure air both by 
 night and by day. In others this is neglected. 
 
 By means of the books treating on health and the Water 
 Cure, which abound at such places, by means of lectures 
 from the physicians, and by the discussions on these topics 
 
 Questions. What method does this give ? What can thus be done by 
 cold water? What is the great thing secured ia health establishments 7 
 
192 PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS. 
 
 among the patients themselves, there comes to be an intel- 
 ligent conviction of the reality and obligations of the laws 
 of health, which is carried to multitudes of homes to modi- 
 fy and improve the habits of a household. At the same 
 time, the various simple articles of diet, and healthful 
 modes of cooking are learned, and transferred to home- 
 circles. 
 
 In addition to all this, at certain health establishments 
 the system of calisthenic exercises in this work has been in- 
 troduced with wonderful results. Not only has the recov- 
 ery from disease been greatly facilitated, but many de- 
 formities of person have been entirely rectified by these 
 methods. In many cases known to the author, curved spines, 
 crooked backs, projecting necks, round shoulders, and sunk- 
 en chests, have been entirely removed. It is often the case 
 that these exercises will enlarge the thorax, and thus ex- 
 pand the lungs, to the extent of three, four, and even five 
 and six inches. 
 
 Although this mode of treatment is very expensive, and 
 usually requires months, and in bad cases years to com- 
 plete, yet such has been the success of these methods that 
 every year increases the patronage of these institutions. 
 
 And yet a great deal of mischief has been done by excesses 
 in this mode of treating disease. These have resulted, in 
 the first place, from the fact that the system originated 
 among the hardy, phlegmatic German race, and needed 
 modifications, to adapt it to the excitable, sensitive, and 
 worn-out constitutions of the American people, that could 
 only be discovered by experiment. During the ten years 
 of its trial in this country it has constantly gained in suc- 
 cessful results, and almost as constantly diminished in the 
 energy of its application. 
 
 The excesses referred to relate to exercise as well as to 
 the application of water. Every human body has its reser- 
 voir of nervous energy, some large, and some very small, 
 with all grades between. Now the grand difficulty in the 
 
 Questions. What is said of calisthenics in health establishments? 
 What shows the success of this mode of remedy? Has mischief been 
 done by these modes ? Where did this use of cold water originate, and 
 what resulted from it ? What is said of excesses in exercise ? 
 
MODES OF REMEDY. 193 
 
 management both of water and exercise, as remedial, is that 
 both physicians and patients are insidiously led on by the 
 feeling that "more produces more," without any need of 
 careful and scientific limitations. 
 
 There is nothing that requires more careful watching and 
 good judgment, than to adapt the amount of water-treatment 
 and exercise to the degree of nervous resource which each 
 patient may possess. And, probably, more than half the 
 benefits of both methods have been lost by such excesses 
 that the nervous fountain had only enough of supply for the 
 excessive tax put upon it by the treatment, and had little 
 to spare for the struggle that otherwise would have thrown 
 off the disease. 
 
 This evil comes sometimes in spite of the care and cau- 
 tion of the physician, but more frequently for the want of 
 it. The fact that the chief difficulty is to bring patients to 
 exercise enough, leads to measures and motives that stimu- 
 late a certain class that need rather to be held back. At 
 the same time, there arises a spirit of emulation, and a pride 
 and self-gratulation at achievements which strongly tempt 
 to excess. 
 
 There are often cases, also, when persons attempt to treat 
 themselves with water without the aid of a physician, and 
 thus increase their diseases. The wrong use of the show- 
 er-bath has been often a source of mischief. It is especially 
 injurious to nervous and excitable persons and to children. 
 None of the processes of water treatment should be con- 
 tinued when discomfort or any evils follow. 
 
 Question What occasions ditlicuhy in respect to exercise? 
 
 N 
 
CALISTHENIC EIERCISES, 
 
 SCHOOLS, FAMILIES, AND HEALTH ESTABLISH- 
 MENTS. 
 
 SELECTED AND ARRANGED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES, 
 
 CATHARINE E, BEECHEE. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 FRANKLIN SQUARE. 
 
 1858. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 18ofj, by 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New Yoik. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ENCOURAGEMENT TO ADOPT THIS COURSE OF 
 PHYSICAL TRAINING IN SCHOOLS. 
 
 THE author wishes it were possible to present all that she 
 has learned or observed that would prove the benefits of 
 the method here set forth. But only a few hints can be at- 
 tempted. 
 
 First, then, all allow that exercise in pure air promotes 
 health and the perfect development of the body. 
 
 Next, in all those countries where physical training has 
 been made a part of school culture, there has been such im- 
 provement of health, strength, and beauty, as fully to estab- 
 lish the value of such a course. 
 
 Next, it is generally conceded that the children and youth 
 of this country, during the period of school, college, and 
 professional education, h^ve relatively too much stimulus of 
 the brain and nerves, and too little training of the physical 
 system. 
 
 Next, experience in our schools and colleges proves, that 
 unless such training is made imperative as a school duty, it 
 will be neglected ; especially by those who need it the most. 
 For the more the body is enervated, the more does exercise 
 become irksome. 
 
 Next, the author has known cures performed in health 
 establishments and elsewhere, by means of these exercises, 
 in connection with a strict enforcement of the laws of health, 
 very much greater than any thing she has ever known effect- 
 ed by any method of medical treatment. Headaches, dys- 
 pepsia, all varieties of nervous diseases, lung and liver com- 
 plaints, local diseases and weakness, and a great variety of 
 deformities, have been remedied by this method. Great 
 changes also have been made by these exercises in the size, 
 
iT INTRODUCTION. 
 
 figure, and graceful carriage, not only of the young, but of 
 men and women, and some of them over forty years of 
 age. 
 
 The following testimony from medical writers is abridged 
 from an introduction to a work containing the system of 
 Ling, the author of the celebrated Swedish course of Gym- 
 nastics and Calisthenics. 
 
 "Were these exercises made an indispensable part of school 
 as well as family education, many diseases consequent on 
 constitutional debility, or neglect, or abuse, would be pre- 
 vented. And thus, through our free schools, the number of 
 the infirm and ailing poor would be diminished. 
 
 The art of preventing disease is surely superior to the art 
 of curing it. Galen, the celebrated ancient physician, de- 
 clared him to be the best physician who was the best teacher 
 of gymnastics. 
 
 Gymnastics not only give fullness and strength to the 
 muscles, but they increase force, flexibility, and dexterity 
 of movement, and thus contribute to grace of person and 
 skill in the use of the hands and other limbs. 
 
 Gymnastics, by opening the chest, and increasing the size 
 and action of the lungs, give a tone and vigor to the whole 
 organism. Debility, scrofula, rickets, and various deformi- 
 ties can thus be remedied. 
 
 Obesity, or an excess of fat, is almost certainly removed 
 by such exercises. So a weak digestion, diseases of the 
 liver, tendencies to dropsy, are all remedied by the increased 
 activity of the muscles, and the consequent increased power 
 of digestion. 
 
 Gymnastics, by increasing the circulation of the blood in 
 the skin, renders its complicated system more active in car- 
 rying off the seeds of disease, while its nerves become less 
 impressible to heat and cold, and other changes in the at- 
 mosphere. 
 
 Gymnastics, as above remarked, have a most direct in- 
 fluence on the organs of digestion. The equilibrium be- 
 tween food and waste is re-established, sleep becomes regu- 
 lar, the senses are sharpened, and all the faculties invigor- 
 ated. 
 
 In the commencement of consumption, in piles, and in 
 
INTRODUCTION. v 
 
 other abdominal diseases, the gymnastic exercises are im- 
 portant means of cure. So in nervous debility, hysterics, 
 and the evils of too early puberty. 
 
 It is known that scofula often disappears with the use of 
 gymnastics. Franke, the physician, says, "We daily see 
 many children with large stomachs, and constipation of the 
 intestines, cured as soon as they begin to walk and run about 
 in the open air." 
 
 Galen says, " If diseases take hold of particular parts of 
 the body, there is nothing more sure to drive them out 
 than diligent exercise." Herodicus, a celebrated ancient 
 teacher, cured himself and many others of disease by gym- 
 nastics. Galen, who, at thirty, was weak, became strong 
 and healthy by devoting several hours a day to gymnastics. 
 
 Several other ancient wise men, with Lord Bacon among 
 moderns, are quoted as declaring gymnastics to be almost 
 a universal medicine; "because there is no disease whose 
 further development could not be prevented, or which at its 
 commencement could not have been cured by bodily exer- 
 cise." 
 
 But the effect of gymnastics on the body is not their chief 
 benefit. Says Montaign, " It is the soul, and not the body 
 alone, which we educate, and we must not train the one 
 without the other." 
 
 Plato, that wisest of the ancient philosphers, says, " Ex- 
 cess of bodily exercise may render us wild and unmanage- 
 able, but excess of arts, science, and music makes us fad- 
 died and effeminate. Only the tight combination makes the 
 soul wise and manly," The great Hufeland advises that 
 children, till the seventh year, spend most of their time in 
 bodily exercises in the open air. 
 
 "If young children are compelled to sit quietly in a 
 room, and their young minds urged to action, we take from 
 them the noblest part of their strength, and consume it in the 
 function of thinking, Thus growth is retarded, the limbs 
 imperfectly developed, the muscles weakened, the digestion 
 becomes bad, scrofula perhaps appears, and then ensues a 
 great predominance of the nervous system. Any unequal 
 development of our faculties is injurious, and it is certain 
 that mental exertions weaken the more they are nnaccom- 
 
vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 panied by bodily movements. It is also certain that those 
 who, between their mental occupations, go through suitable bod- 
 ily exercises, can work mentally much more than those who neg- 
 lect this exercise of their bodily powers. 
 
 "Gymnastics act on the courage, and produce inde- 
 pendence and presence of mind. No man can possess 
 much courage whose chest is narrow, and whose lungs are 
 not fully developed. 
 
 "Gymnastics produce cheerfulness and regulate fancy 
 and imagination. They also diminish a predisposition to 
 moral faults that undermine health and bodily purity." 
 
 Gymnastics strengthen the intellectual faculties. Says 
 a distinguished writer : " If you wish to develop the mind 
 of a pupil, exercise his body ; make him healthy and strong 
 that you may make him prudent and reasonable." 
 
 Exercise assists the intellect by a suitable interruption to 
 mental labor. Uninterrupted mental exertion makes the 
 mind heavy and dull, and gives it a false direction. 
 
 The invigoration of the body by exercise diminishes the 
 craving of the taste for sensual pleasures. Rousseau says, 
 " All sensual passions are found in effeminate bodies, while 
 the more they are roused the less they are satisfied. A 
 weak body weakens also the mind." 
 
 A generous regard for the common good, and a willing- 
 ness to make sacrifices for it, are most readily developed 
 in a strong and healthy body. It is the feeble and sickly 
 who are dwelling with morbid solicitude on themselves and 
 their ailments. 
 
 " The feelings of friendship and all the generous sym- 
 pathies are promoted by gymnastics practiced in concert 
 with others, as also is a love of order and precision, and a 
 habit of obedience." 
 
 Says the great Hufeland, " Give a child sufficient mus- 
 cular motion, so that the store of nervous strength may be 
 turned to the muscles of volition. Let a child exercise 
 daily and often in pure air, till fatigue follows, and I am 
 sure he will not think of vicious practices. These are the 
 attendants of sedentary education in boarding-schools and 
 other monastic establishments, where exercise is measured 
 only by half hours." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CALISTHENIC EXERCISES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Encouragement to Adopt this Course of Physical Train- 
 ing in Schools 3 
 
 FIRST COURSE SCHOOL-ROOM EXERCISES. 
 
 Exercises for the Chest and Lungs 10 
 
 Exercises to Perfect the Muscles of the Arms and 
 
 Hands 14 
 
 Exercises for the Muscles of the Trunk 20 
 
 Exercises for the Feet and Legs 28 
 
 SECOND COURSE HALL EXERCISES. 
 
 Construction of a Calisthenic Hall 39 
 
 Exercises for the Calisthenic Hall. Walking, Skipping, 
 
 Exercise with Weights 40 
 
 Exercises to cure Deformities 51 
 
 Water Cure Treatment for Families 54 
 
CALISTHENICS FOR THE SCHOOL, FAMILY, 
 AND HEALTH ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 FIRST COTJESE SCHOOL-ROOM EXERCISES. 
 
 IN the first place, let the teacher appoint stations for every 
 pupil, and arrange the divisions and sections with their lead- 
 ers. (See p. 39 and 40.) 
 
 Next give a lesson to the leaders of sections, that they 
 may aid in superintending their several sections. This ar- 
 rangement should always be made, even when there is no 
 separate room for exercise. A common school-room may 
 be marked off into stations for partners and sections. 
 
 The method should be to go over the first fifty exer- 
 cises, performing each movement only once, so as to learn 
 the method. The next time all should be performed twice 
 each, and done moderately. Then let one be added each 
 day to the number, till the whole is completed as directed 
 in the book. Each day let the quickness and force be in- 
 creased, till they are done as forcibly and quickly as possible, 
 except those that are directed to be slow movements, and 
 these are to be done with all the force possible. 
 
 The teacher should caution the pupils that are delicate 
 not to attempt these exercises alone; and if in any case 
 certain movements cause unpleasant feelings, to omit them 
 until more strength is gained. x 
 
 The pupils should dress loosely, and all their clothing be 
 suspended from the shoulders and not rest on the hips at 
 all. Pure and cool air is indispensable. 
 
 Sometimes it is the case that certain diseases render cer- 
 tain exercises inexpedient. In the case of any delicate pu- 
 
10 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 pils, who are unfavorably affected by any of \hese exercises, 
 the teacher should seek medical advice. 
 
 The teacher should select those who have any personal 
 defects such as projecting necks, round shoulders, crooked 
 backs, toes turned inward, etc. and direct them to addi- 
 tional exercises, to be performed out of school, for the cure 
 of such defects. 
 
 Fig. I. 
 
 EXERCISES FOR THE CHEST AND LUNGS. 
 EXERCISE 1. 
 
 LET all the pupils take a given station, and at such dis- 
 tances that they can throw out their arms without touching 
 each other. Then let the teacher give words of command 
 as here indicated. 
 
 Word of Command " Military Position !" 
 
 The directions here given are the same as those used by 
 drill-sergeants in training military men, 
 and therefore it is called the Military Po- 
 sition. 
 
 Let the heels be half an inch apart, and 
 the feet turned out so as to form an angle 
 of sixty degrees. 
 
 Let the knees be straight. 
 
 Let the shoulders be thrown back, the 
 arms hang close to the body, the hands 
 open to the front, the elbows turned in 
 and close to the sides. 
 
 Let the chest be advanced, and the 
 lower part of the body drawn back. 
 
 Let the head be erect, and the weight 
 of the body be thrown onto the front part 
 of the feet, as in Fig. 1. 
 
 This position brings the ear, shoulder, 
 hip, knee, and ankle into a line, as is il- 
 lustrated in this figure. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE CHEST AND LUNGS. u 
 
 The three next exercises have a powerful influence on the 
 chest and lungs. The health and lives of many young chil- 
 dren are endangered by too quick growth. This is owing 
 often to the fact that the chest and lungs are not sufficiently 
 developed. The weakness that attends quick growth indis- 
 poses to energetic muscular action, and this, with the con- 
 tracted chest, often brings on consumption. These exer- 
 cises are the most effective of any in remedying this danger. 
 The writer has seen cases where, by these and other exer- 
 cises that follow for the same object, the waist has been 
 enlarged two and three inches, and the width across the 
 shoulders increased from three to five inches. Of course 
 the size and action of the lungs were greatly enlarged. 
 
 EXERCISE 2. 
 Word of Command " Lungs Expansion !" 
 
 Place the hands as in Fig. 2. 
 Inflate the lungs as full as pos- 
 sible, and retain the air as long 
 as possible. During the whole 
 time beat smartly over the lungs, 
 on each side, from the collar-bone 
 downward to the lower ribs. Ke- 
 peat the inflation twice, each time 
 holding the air as long as possible, 
 and beating the chest on the sides, 
 and not in the middle. 
 
 This has great effect in enlarging 
 the chest and lungs. The reason is 
 that a large portion of the air-cells 
 of the lungs are seldom filled, and 
 so become shrunken. By this ex- 
 ercise the air is forced into them, 
 and thus they are gradually enlarged, 
 and come into habitual use. 
 
 Next let the pupils fill the lungs as much as possible, 
 and then very slowly sing the music scale, first rising and 
 then falling. Let the effort be to sing as low and as high 
 as possible, and also to hold the breath as long as possible. 
 
12 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Use the words Do, ra, mi, etc. Repeat this twice. Then 
 let them fill the lungs and sound a single note near the 
 middle of the scale as long as possible. Repeat this twice. 
 Let each try to hold on the longest. This exercise at once 
 cultivates the voice and strengthens the lungs. 
 
 EXERCISE 3. 
 Word of Command " Collar-bone Extension !" 
 
 Place the arms as at Fig. 3, having the hands open and 
 palms together. Then throw the arms backward as far and 
 as violently as possible, as at Fig. 4. 
 
 The great point in this exercise is to hold the arms as 
 nearly as possible perpendicular to the body. When in this 
 position they are thrown violently back, they stretch the col- 
 lar-bone and flatten the shoulder-blades. This gives room 
 to the lungs in front, enlarges the chest, and tends to cure 
 round shoulders. 
 
 Let this be performed simultaneously by teacher and pu- 
 pils, counting only when throwing the arms backward, till 
 they have connted forty. The pupils must count aloud. 
 
 Fig. 8. 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE CHEST AND LUNGS. 
 
 13 
 
 EXERCISE 4. 
 Word of Command 11 Chest Extension !" 
 
 Place the arms as at Fig. 5, and then draw them vio- 
 lently into the position at Fig. 6. Count only when drawing 
 the arm back, to forty. 
 
 The object of this is to stretch the collar-bone and flat- 
 ten the shoulder-blades, and thus enlarge the chest. 
 
 Fig. 5. 
 
 Fig.S. 
 
 In cases where there is a narrow and flat chest a great 
 change will be made by these exercises for the lungs. In 
 such cases, a measurement around the chest, at the point of 
 the shoulders, and at the pit of the stomach should be made 
 at first, and then repeated at the end of two or three months, 
 for the purpose of marking this change. Persons with weak 
 lungs and consumptive symptoms often may be cured by 
 these exercises performed in the open air; but they must 
 commence with caution and increase slowly. 
 
EXERCISES TO PERFECT THE MUSCLES OF THE 
 ARMS AND HANDS. 
 
 A round and perfectly formed hand and arm are deemed 
 some of the most attractive points of womanly beauty. Al- 
 though by birth some must necessarily be without these at- 
 tractions, yet multitudes who now are entirely destitute of 
 them might possess them by proper cultivation. 
 
 A course of training that shall develop all the muscles of 
 the hand and arm equally, tends to produce roundness of 
 outline, grace of movement, and purity and clearness of 
 skin. Especially is this the case if all other portions of the 
 muscular system are harmoniously trained. 
 
 EXERCISE 5. 
 
 Word of Command " First Arm Position : Arms Forward !" 
 
 Fig. 7. 
 
 The exercise commences with stand- 
 ing in the military position, placing the 
 closed hands with the backs against the 
 shoulders, as in Fig. 7. Then, at the 
 word " Anns Forward !" throw them for- 
 ward as at Fig. 5, counting one. Then 
 draw them back as at Fig. 6, counting 
 two, and thus on to twelve. 
 
 The " First Arm Position" mil be fre- 
 quently referred to, and should be no- 
 ticed particularly. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE ARMS AND HANDS. 
 
 15 
 
 EXERCISE 6. 
 Word of Command" First Arm Position : Arms Out !" 
 
 fig. 8. 
 
 Place the arms in the 
 First Arm Position, as at 
 Fig. 7. 
 
 Then, at the word "Anns 
 Out /" throw them out at the 
 sides, as at Fig. 8. 
 
 Count one when throw- 
 ing out the arms, and so on 
 to twelve. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 EXERCISE 7. 
 
 Word of Command " First Arm Posi- 
 tion : Arms Down !" 
 
 Place the arms in the First Arm Po- 
 sition, as at Fig. 7. 
 
 Then, at the word " Arms Down !" 
 the arms are to be thrown downward, 
 as at Fig. 9, keeping the hands closed. 
 
 Count one when throwing down the 
 arms, and so on to tivehe. 
 O 
 
16 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 EXERCISE 8. 
 Words of Command " First Arm Position : Arms Up I" 
 
 Fig. 10. 
 
 Place the arms in the first position 
 (Fig. 7). Then, at the word "Arms 
 Up!" throw them upward as at Fig. 
 10, opening the hands. This exer- 
 cises the muscles that shut and open 
 the hand, as the hands are to be open 
 when up and shut when down. 
 
 Count one when throwing up the 
 arms, and so on to twelve. 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 
 EXERCISE 9. 
 
 Word of Command "Perpendicular 
 Movement !" 
 
 Place the arms and hands, as in 
 Fig. 11, about six inches from the 
 face and body, and then change 
 places, putting the down arm up and 
 the up arm down. 
 
 Throw the up arm over the head, 
 and as far back as possible. 
 
 Count one at the first movement, 
 and so on to twelve. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE ARMS AND HANDS. 
 
 EXERCISE 10. 
 Word of Command" Arms Out: Kolling Movement !" 
 
 Both arms are to be extended forward {Fig. 12). Then 
 the two hands, at the word "Rolling Movement!" both at 
 once, are to be turned first upward and then downward, as 
 in Fig. 13. 
 
 The hand must be turned as far as possible both ways. 
 This exercises the muscles that roll the lower part of the 
 arm. 
 
 Count one in turning the arm up, and so on to forty. 
 
 Fig. 12. 
 
 Fig. 18. 
 
 In all ordinary uses, when the arm is raised it should be 
 with the palm down, as in Fig. 13. When pointing, or 
 presenting an article, the arm should be turned after it is 
 raised, with the palm upward. This is indispensable to ft 
 graceful use of the hand and arm. f 
 
18 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 EXERCISE 11. 
 Word of Command" Shoulder Whirl P 
 
 Fig. 14. 
 
 Place the right arm as at Fig. 
 14, and swing it forward in a 
 circle. Then change, and swing 
 it backward. 
 
 Be careful to stand in the 
 
 Military Position, and make the \ 
 arm describe a circle. 
 
 Count one on completing the 
 first circle, and so on till twelve 
 circles forward and twelve back- 
 ward are completed. Then per- 
 form the same with the left arm. 
 This exercise is very effective 
 in warming cold hands, as it sends 
 the blood downward. 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
 EXERCISE 12. 
 Word of Command 11 Elbow Whirl P 
 
 Place the elbows on the hips, and hold 
 them there. Then swing the lower arms 
 in a circle, as at Fig. 15. 
 
 Swing them first outward, and then 
 inward, till twelve are counted each way. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE ARMS AND HANDS. 
 
 Fig. 16. 
 
 hips, till twelve are counted. 
 
 EXERCISE 13. 
 Word of Command " Wrist Movements.'* 
 
 Place the wrists on the hips, and 
 hold them there. Then move them 
 around in a circle, as in Fig. 16, first 
 outward and then inward, till twelve 
 are counted each way. 
 ' Up, Down, and Side Wrist Movement. 
 
 Place the wrists firmly on the hips, 
 with the hands open. Then, at the 
 word "Side!" move the hands as far 
 as possible to the right and then to 
 the left, keeping the wrists firm on the 
 hips, till twelve are counted. Then, at 
 ^ ; the word " Up and Down /" move them 
 upward and downward as far as pos- 
 sible, still holding the wrists on the 
 
 EXERCISE 14. 
 
 Word of Command " Finger Exercise !" 
 Fig. 17. 
 
 Place the fingers of 
 both hands as at C in 
 Fig. 17, and then rest 
 them on the points of 
 the shoulders. Then 
 throw both arms out, 
 as is seen on the right 
 side of Fig. 17, spread- 
 ing thejingers as far as 
 possible. The fingers 
 are to be brought to- 
 gether on every return 
 to the shoulders. 
 
 Count only on throw- 
 ing out the arms, to 
 twenty. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE MUSCLES OF THE TRUNK. 
 
 The proper and equal exercise of the muscles of the trunk 
 has more direct and favorable influence on health than 
 that of any other. This is especially true of women. The 
 exercises that follow all tend to produce the erect position 
 of the spine, to strengthen the abdominal muscles, and thus 
 sustain and exercise the internal organs. They also tend 
 to give an easy and graceful movement of the head and 
 body, and to remedy all bad positions and distortions of 
 the neck, shoulders, and back. 
 
 EXERCISE 15. 
 Kepeat the " Lungs Expansion" as at Exercise 2. 
 
 EXEBCISE 16. 
 
 Word of Command 11 Arms Back P 
 Fig. 18. Fig. 19. 
 
 Place the arms as at Fig. 18, and 
 at the word "Arms Back!" throw 
 them behind, as at Fig. 19. 
 
 Count only when throwing them / 
 backward, to twenty. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE MUSCLES OF THE TRUNK. 21 
 
 EXERCISE 17. 
 Word of Command" Back Curve : Head Forward !" 
 
 Fiy. 20. 
 
 Place the knuckles of the closed 
 hands firmly at the Fig. 21. 
 
 small of the back, as 
 in Fig. 20. Then 
 throw the head for- 
 ward, as at Fiy. 21. 
 Then throw the body 
 back as far as pos- 
 sible, as if trying to 
 make the head and 
 heels meet. 
 
 Count only when \ 
 iro wincr t.hfi hodv ' 
 
 backward, to twelve. It is very useful, 
 and is to be performed slowly, but with 
 great force. 
 
 EXERCISE 18. 
 
 Word of Command " Side 
 Swing 1" 
 
 Place the body as at Fig. 22. 
 Then reverse the position, bend- 
 ing the body the other way, and 
 moving the upward hand down, 
 and the downward hand up. 
 
 Count one at the first move- 
 ment, and so on to forty. 
 
22 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 EXERCISE 19. 
 Word of Command " Side Neck Movement !" 
 
 Fig. 23. 
 
 Place the head as at Fig. 23, and 
 then throw it on to the other side in the 
 same position. 
 
 Count one at the beginning, and so 
 on to six. This should be performed 
 slowly. 
 
 Fig. 24 
 
 EXERCISE 20. 
 Word of Command" Side Twist !" 
 
 Clasp the hands, interlacing the fin- 
 gers as in Fig. 24. Then throw the arms 
 as far behind as possible, and twist the 
 body back as far as possible. The face 
 and feet to be kept forward. 
 
 Count one at the first turn, and so on 
 to forty. This is a very important ex- 
 ercise in strengthening the abdominal 
 muscles. It should be performed with 
 great force, but not fast. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE MUSCLES OF THE TRUNK. 23 
 
 EXERCISE 21. 
 
 Word of Command " Oblique Neck Movement !" 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 Bend the head jforwarc? and side- 
 wise to the right, and then forward 
 and sidewise to the kft, as in Fig. 25. 
 
 Count one, and so on to six. This 
 should be done slowly, but the neck 
 should be stretched as far as possible. 
 
 EXERCISE 22. 
 Word of Command" Arm Thrust ! w 
 
 Fig. 26. 
 
 Place the arms as in Fig. 26. 
 Then alternately throw out the 
 bent arm, and draw back the 
 straight arm with great force. 
 
 Count to forty, and let the 
 : movement be quick. 
 
24 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 EXERCISE 23. 
 Word of Command "Back Oblique Neck Movement !" 
 
 Fig. 27. 
 
 Turn the head to the right side- 
 wise and backward, as at Fig. 27, as 
 if trying to look at the heels. Then 
 turn it to the left sidewise and back- 
 ward. 
 
 Count to six. Let the movement 
 be slow, but stretch the muscles as 
 much as possible. 
 
 EXERCISE 24. 
 Word of Command "Forward Spine Exercise!" 
 
 Raise the arms and 
 
 ' 28 - throw the body back, as 
 
 in Fig. 28, having the 
 hands open, and bending 
 back as far as possible. 
 Then throw the arms and 
 body forward, as in Fig. 
 29, keeping the knees 
 straight. 
 
 Fig. 29. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE MUSCLES OF THE TRUNK. 25 
 
 This should be done slowly, but with all possible force, 
 trying to touch the floor with the fingers. 
 
 Count only when stooping forward, to twenty. 
 
 This is a most effective exercise in remedying curvature 
 of the spine, as well as in preventing it. 
 
 Fig. 30. 
 
 EXERCISE 25. 
 Word of Command" Body Twist !" 
 
 Place the body and arms as at Fig. 30, 
 and then twist the head, arms, and body as 
 far to the right as possible, and then as far 
 to the left as possible, moving moderately. 
 
 Count one on turning to the right, two 
 to the left, and so on to twenty. 
 
 EXERCISE 26. 
 Word of Command " Backward Spine 
 
 Exercise !" 
 
 Fig. 81. 
 
 Stoop the body forward a little, let- 
 ting the arms hang, and closing the 
 hands. Then throw the arms and 
 body, as in Fig. 31, with the greatest 
 force possible, as if striving to touch 
 the floor behind with the hands. 
 
 Count only when throwing the body 
 backward, to twelve. Move slowly, but 
 with great force. 
 
26 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 EXERCISE 27. 
 
 Word of Command "Body Twist Forward!'* 
 Fig. 32. 
 
 Fig. 33. 
 
 Place the hands as in Fig. 32, then 
 stoop forward and turn the neck and body 
 as far to the right as possible. Then turn 
 the neck and body as far to the left as pos- 
 sible, still stooping, as at Fig. 33. Count 
 one when commencing the movement, and 
 so on to twelve. Move moderately. 
 
 EXERCISE 28. 
 
 Word of Command 11 Body Twist Back- 
 ward !" 
 
 Place the arms on the hips, as in Fig. 
 34, and then bend backward as far as pos- 
 sible. Then turn the head and neck as 
 far as possible, first to the right and then 
 to the left, moving moderately. 
 
 Count one when commencing the move- 
 ment, and so on to twelve. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE MUSCLES OF THE TRUNK. 27 
 
 EXERCISE 29. 
 Word of Command" Side Stoop !" 
 
 Fig. 85. 
 
 Place the body as at Fig. 35, 
 striving to touch the floor with the 
 hand, yet keeping the knees straight. 
 Then stoop to the other side in the 
 same manner. 
 
 Count one at commencing, and 
 so on to twenty. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 EXERCISE 30. 
 
 Word of Command " Oblique Spine 
 Exercise !" 
 
 Throw back the body and raise 
 the right arm, as in Fig. 36. Then 
 throw the body forward, as in Fig. 
 29 of the "Forward Spine Exercise," 
 
 and try to touch the floor with 
 
 the right arm. Let the other 
 
 arm hang by the side. Then 
 
 raise the left arm, and throw the 
 
 body forward as before, and try 
 
 to touch the floor with the left 
 
 arm, while the other arm hangs 
 
 by the side. 
 
 Before throwing the arm up 
 
 throw it backward, and bring it 
 
 upward so as nearly to describe 
 
 a circle. 
 
 Count one when bending for- 
 ward, two when bending the 
 
 second time, and so on to twenty. 
 
 This is a very important exer- 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE FEET AND LEGS. 
 
 THE most important exercises for the feet are what are 
 called the "Jive positions" The chief object of this exer- 
 cise is to give strength, elasticity, and correct movement to thfc 
 feet. 
 
 In the first attempts the toes should not be turned out 
 more than Avill admit of holding the body steadily. The 
 pupil should aim at the position, but few will be able to per- 
 form them exactly according to directions. But all attempts 
 are favorable to the muscular training of the feet. 
 
 In all these positions the body must be kept perfectly 
 erect, the shoulders thrown back, the chest advanced, the 
 elbows curved out from the sides, while the thumb and fin- 
 gers should slightly catch the dress. See Fig. 37. 
 
 These exercises are indispensable as a preparation for 
 easy and elegant walking. 
 
 Fig. ST. 
 
 EXERCISE 31. 
 
 Word of Command 11 First Position : 
 Sink!" 
 
 Place the heels together, and throw 
 the toes back so as to form a straight 
 line, as at Fig. 37 and Fig. 38. At 
 the word " Sink !" the pupil must 
 bend the knees as much as possible 
 six times, counting each time. 
 
 Fig. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE FEET AND LEGS. 
 
 29 
 
 EXERCISE 32. 
 Word of Command "Position Second : Sink !" 
 
 This position is formed by 
 moving the right foot sidewise 
 from the first position, about the 
 distance of the length of the foot 
 from the heel of the left foot, as 
 at Figs. 39 and 40. Then the left 
 foot must be drawn to the heel 
 of the right foot. At the word 
 " Sink !" the pupil must bend the 
 knees as much as possible six 
 times. 
 
 Then exercise the left foot in 
 the same way. In performing 
 this the instep of the foot that is 
 extended should be curved, while 
 the heel is raised and the toe 
 alone touches the floor. The toe 
 should be turned back as much as 
 possible. 
 
 Fig. 41. 
 Fig. 40. 
 
 EXERCISE 33. 
 Word of Com." Third Position : 
 
 Sink !" 
 
 Place the feet in the "Second 
 Position," the right foot extended. 
 Then draw the heel of the right foot 
 to the ankle of the left foot, and rest 
 it on the floor, as at Figs. 41 and 42. 
 At the word " Sink !" the knees must 
 be bent as much as possible six times. 
 Next extend the left foot, and exer- 
 cise it in the same way. pv#. 42. 
 Keep the toes out as 
 much as possible, and 
 the instep curved. 
 
80 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 EXERCISE 34. 
 
 Word of Command*" Fourth Position : Sink !" 
 
 Fig. 48. 
 
 Take the " Third Position," and 
 then move the right foot forward 
 about its own length, keeping the 
 toe back and the heel forward as far 
 as possible. At the word " Sink !" 
 the knees must be bent as much as , 
 possible six times. 
 
 Practice this with both feet, f 
 See Figs, 43 and 44. 
 
 EXERCISE 35. 
 
 Word of Command "Fifth Posi- 
 tion !" 
 
 Fig. 44. 
 
 Fig. 45. 
 
 Take the "First Position," and 
 then draw the heel of the right foot 
 so that it shall, as nearly as possible, 
 touch the toes of the left foot, as in 
 Figs. 45 and 46. 
 
 When in this position bend the 
 knees as much as possible six times. 
 After practicing these positions as 
 here directed, let them be performed 
 in succession, first with the right, and 
 then the left foot, counting one to each 
 ^. movement, and so on to six. 
 
 The First and Fifth Po- 
 sitions must be practiced a 
 great deal by those whose 
 toes are turned too much 
 inward. 
 
 Fig. 46. 
 
EXERCISES FOE THE FEET AND LEGS. 
 
 31 
 
 Place 
 as in Fig. 47. Rise 
 on the toes, and at 
 the same time lift 
 the arms till the 
 backs of the hands 
 meet over the head. 
 Then sink on to the 
 heels, and let the 
 arms fall to the 
 sides. 
 
 Count only on 
 raising the arms, to 
 twenty. 
 
 Fig. 48. 
 
 EXERCISE 36. 
 
 Word of Command " Semicircles !" 
 
 Fig. 47. 
 the arms - 
 
 EXERCISE 37. 
 
 Word of Command "Upward Move- 
 ment !" 
 
 Stand in the walking position. 
 Then rise on the toes, and raise the 
 arms as in Fig. 48. Repeat this six 
 times. 
 
 Next rise on the toes of the left 
 foot and raise the right arm, and 
 then on the toes of the right foot 
 and raise the left arm, and thus al- 
 ternately six times, 
 P 
 
32 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 EXERCISE 38. 
 Word of Command " Sidewise Movement !" 
 
 Fiy. 49. 
 
 Place the body and limbs 
 as in Fig. 49, leaning to the 
 kft. Then change the feet, 
 and throw them into the 
 same position, leaning to 
 the right. 
 
 Count one at the first 
 movement, and so on to 
 twelve. 
 
 Fig. 50. 
 
 EXERCISE 39. 
 
 Word of Command " Downward 
 Movement !" 
 
 Place the hands on the hips, rise 
 on the toes, and then sink downward, 
 standing on the toes, as in Fig. 50. 
 Then rise, and stand with the foot 
 flat on the floor. 
 
 Count one at the first movement, 
 and so on to twelve. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE FEET AND LEGS. 
 
 33 
 
 Fig. 51. 
 
 EXERCISE 40. 
 Word of Command" Low Sink!" 
 
 Place the hands on the hips, stand 
 on the toes, and sink, as in Fig. 51. 
 
 Count only when sinking, to twelve. 
 
 This must at first be practiced with 
 the feet flat on the floor. 
 
 EXERCISE 41. 
 
 Word of Command" Side Stretch !" 
 Pig. 5i>. 
 
 Place the hands on the 
 hips, bend the body as far 
 as possible to the right, and 
 straighten the left leg. Re- 
 verse the movement, and 
 bend to the left, and straight- 
 en the right leg, as at Fig. 52. 
 
 Count one at the first move- 
 ment, and so on to twelve. 
 
34 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 EXERCISE 42. 
 Word of Command-**-" Forward Reach !" 
 
 Place the hands on the hips, 
 And throw the body as far for- 
 ward as possible, as at Fig. 53, 
 first on the right and then on 
 /he left foot. 
 
 Count one at the first move- 
 , and so on to twelve. 
 
 Fig. 50. 
 
 Fig. 64. 
 
 EXERCISE 43. 
 
 Word of Command " Side 
 Beach !" 
 
 Throw the body and 
 stretch the right arm and 
 right leg as far as possible 
 to the right. Reverse the 
 movement, and stretch 
 them to the left, as at 
 Fig. 54. 
 
 Count one at the first 
 movement, and so on to 
 twelve. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE FEET AND LEGS. 
 
 35 
 
 The following exercises are needed to complete the series. 
 They may at first appear more suitable for boys than for 
 girls. 
 
 But it will be found that girls are so impeded by their 
 dress, especially if it be long, that one half of what is done 
 by the boys fully secures an equal amount of exertion. 
 
 These exercises, therefore, may be reduced one half or 
 more for the girls, and yet give equal exercise to the muscles. 
 
 EXERCISE 44. 
 
 Word of Command " Up Stairs Movement !" 
 Fig. 55. 
 
 Hands on the hips. Raise the 
 right and then the left knee al- 
 ternately, as in Fig. 55. 
 
 Count one, and so on to twelve. 
 
 EXERCISE 45. 
 
 Word of Command " Knee 
 Bend!" 
 Fig. 56. 
 
 Hands on the hips. Raise the 
 right and then the left foot alternate- 
 ly, till the heel presses the thigh, as 
 at Fig. 56. % 
 
 Count one, and so on to twelve. 
 
36 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 EXERCISE 46. 
 Word of Command 11 Front Angle !" 
 
 Hands on the hips. Raise 
 the right and left foot altern- 
 ately, as at Fig. 57, counting 
 to twelve. 
 
 Fig. 58. 
 
 Fig. 5T. 
 
 EXERCISE 47. 
 
 Word of Command 1 '' Side 
 Angle!" 
 
 Hands on the hips. Raise 
 the right and left leg altern- 
 ately, as in Fig. 58, count- 
 ing to twelve. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE FEET AND LEGS. 
 
 37 
 
 EXERCISE 48. 
 
 Word of Command 11 Back Movement !" 
 Fig. 59. 
 
 EXERCISE 49. 
 
 Word of Command 
 
 "Oblique Movement!" 
 
 Raise the right and left 
 leg alternately, and then 
 throw the foot out ob- 
 liquely, as at Fig. 60. 
 
 Count to twelve. 
 
 Raise the right and left knee 
 alternately as high as the hips, 
 and then throw it backward, as 
 at Fig. 59. Count to twelve. 
 
 Fig. 60. 
 
38 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 EXERCISE 50. 
 Word of Command " Cross Movement !" 
 
 Fig. 61. 
 
 Throw the right leg alternate- 
 ly across the other in front, as in 
 Fig. 61. Then throw it across 
 behind in the same way. Repeat 
 the same with the left leg. 
 
 Count one to the front move- 
 ment, two to the backward move- 
 ment, and so on to twenty. Throw 
 the limb as far as possible across 
 the one supporting the body, both 
 in front and behind. 
 
 Then Exercises 61 and 62, on p. 48 and 49, should fol- 
 low. These two are among the most important. 
 
 Great care must be taken, in all cases, that the head be 
 held erect in all the standing exercises. 
 
SECOND COUBSE HALL EXERCISES. 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF A CALISTHENIC HALL. 
 Pig. 62. 
 
 s \\\\\\\ 
 
 Fig. 62 repre- 
 sents aCalisthen- 
 ic Hall on the 
 scale of twenty 
 feet to an inch. 
 Around the out- 
 er portion is a 
 walking-path. 
 The dots repre- 
 sent stations for 
 the pupils while 
 exercising. They 
 are to be made 
 of bits of black 
 walnut four inch- 
 es square, inlaid. 
 They are to be 
 five feet distant, 
 and arranged as 
 in the drawing. 
 Every pupil is to 
 have her appoint- 
 ed station, so as 
 to have no con- 
 fusion in arrang- 
 ing for exercises. 
 
CALISTHENICS. 
 
 WALKING-PATH. 
 
 In a properly constructed Calisthenic Hall there 
 should be a walking-path on one or both of the 
 longest sides of the room, or entirely around the 
 room. It should be made of alternate boards of 
 white pine and black oak, forming a path, as illus- 
 trated by this drawing (Fig. 63). The oblique boards 
 are to be at angles of thirty degrees with the mid- 
 dle line, so that they form sixty degrees with each 
 other. The middle line should be black oak half 
 an inch wide. The oblique boards should be three 
 inches wide. The path should be two feet wide. 
 
 Around the wall of the whole room should be 
 seats. One portion of these seats should have lids 
 in which to place the weights used. 
 
 Every pupil should make two oblong bags, six 
 inches wide and from eight to twelve inches long, 
 of unbleached cotton. These should be filled with 
 corn, but not stuffed so as to be stiff. At one end 
 of the hall should be two or three sets of perpen- 
 dicular bars as described at page 51. 
 
 EXERCISES FOR THE CALISTHENIC HALL. 
 
 Let the tops of the windows always be down during ex- 
 ercise, for it is better not to exercise at all than to do it in 
 impure air. All must be dressed loosely. 
 
 Let every pupil have a partner. Let the partners be 
 named numbers one and numbers two. 
 
 If there are boys and girls, let the boys be numbers one and 
 the girls numbers two. 
 
 Let these all be arranged in four divisions, placing the 
 tallest in the first division and the smallest in the fourth 
 division, and the medium sizes in the second and third 
 divisions. 
 
 Let each division have two leaders, one for the numbers 
 one and the other for the numbers two of that division. These 
 are to be called the First or Second, Third or Fourth Divis- 
 ion Leaders. 
 
 All the numbers one are called First Section of each divis- 
 
 Fig. 68. 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 \ 
 \ 
 \ 
 \ 
 \ 
 \ 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 \ 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE CALISTHENIC HALL. 41 
 
 ion, and numbers two are called the Second Section. In 
 each division the partners are called couples, and are num- 
 bered first and second and third couples, and so on. 
 
 Of the several division leaders, the numbers one are to 
 have charge of section one, and numbers two of section two 
 of the divisions which they lead. 
 
 Each division is to have its quarter of the hall, and all 
 the members of it are to have one of the stations marked on 
 the floor in that quarter. Thus there are Divisions, Sections, 
 Couples, leaders, and Partners Number One and Number Two. 
 
 The classes are to form and pass into the Calisthenic 
 Hall in order, the leaders each at the head of their sections. 
 In performing the walking exercise they are to step out to 
 notice the performance of their section. In other exercises 
 the two leaders of each division are to place themselves in 
 front of their sections, to set an example and superintend 
 the exercises. 
 
 The teacher having charge of the Health Department will 
 have the care of the training of the Division Leaders. In 
 return, these leaders will train the sections committed to 
 them in like manner. 
 
 In commencing the exercises with new pupils the first aim 
 should be to have them perform the movements exactly right. 
 The second aim should be to have the exercises performed 
 with great force and energy of will. The more vigorous the 
 movements the more benefit is secured. But great care 
 must be taken not to proceed too fast, or do too much at 
 first. There will be great diversities in strength among the 
 pupils, and the teachers must take care that the delicate 
 ones are not tempted to go beyond their strength by those 
 more vigorous. Some of the exercises must always be 
 slow. 
 
 EXERCISE 51. 
 Standing and Walking. 
 
 The pupils should form in division before entering the 
 hall, as directed above, and then the first should be a walk- 
 ing exercise around the walking-path. 
 
42 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 The sections should walk in single file. The leaders 
 should walk on the inside of the path, and notice the walk 
 of each of their section, in order to correct all defects. 
 
 Standing Exercise. 
 
 There are few things which more agreeably influence 
 the appearance than the manner of 
 standing and walking. A great major- 
 ity both of men and women in this na- 
 tion stand in an unnatural and inele- 
 gant posture ; while the accomplish- 
 ment of a light, graceful, and easy walk 
 is as rare as it is beautiful. In some 
 countries of Europe the art of walk- 
 ing with ease and elegance is much 
 cultivated and esteemed, and in such 
 countries the women are celebrated 
 for their grace of person and move- 
 ment. 
 
 The main object in the standing po- 
 sition is to place the body in such a po- 
 sition as that every muscle and limb is in 
 its natural attitude. Thus every move- 
 ment becomes both easy and natural, except when the body 
 is distorted or misfonned. 
 
 Walking Exercise. 
 
 This is the same as the military position, except that the 
 arms are to be allowed to hang easily at the sides. The 
 elbow is to be turned out a little from the sides, so as to 
 give a slight curve to the arm. The fingers are to hang 
 loosely and easily. See Fig. 64. 
 
 First. Take the lualking position, throwing the weight of 
 the body on to the front part of the feet. 
 
 Second. Extend the left foot, having the knee straight and 
 foot turned out, the same as when standing, and the toe bent 
 down by curving the instep a little, the same as at Fig. 65. 
 on the following page. The body may be steadied by touch- 
 ing the floor slightly with the toes. 
 
 Third. Set the foot down gently, keeping the knee 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE CALISTHENIC HALL. 
 
 43 
 
 straight, and then throw the weight on 
 to the foot so that the pressure shall 
 come first on the ball of the little toe. 
 
 Fourth. Set the foot down so that it 
 will be in a straight line with the 
 point from which it is moved. 
 
 Set the right foot forward in the 
 
 Fig. 65. 
 
 Fig. 66. 
 
 Left. 
 
 Left. 
 
 Right, 
 
 Right, 
 
 same manner, 
 and each pupil 
 say "left" or 
 " right" as the 
 foot is set down. 
 The distance 
 of the steps apart 
 must be about that 
 of the length of ' 
 the foot. 
 
 Here is a draw- / 
 representing 
 
 footsteps 
 
 Standing 
 position. 
 
 walking-path {Fig. 66). 
 
 In a quickened step, the body is to 
 be thrown more forward. 
 The following are the most common defects in walking : 
 First. Wrong positions of the body, such as the neck pro- 
 jecting, the back crooked, the arms drawn back or placed 
 close to the sides, the feet turned either too much out or 
 too much in. Any of these positions prevent a natural and 
 graceful walk. 
 
 Second. A method of setting the feet too far apart. This 
 makes what is called a wiggling gait. 
 
 Third. Turning in the toes too much. This makes what 
 is called the cow walk. 
 
 Fourth. A habit of inclining the body toward the foot that 
 is set down, instead of keeping it in a steady and upright 
 position. This makes a waddling gait. 
 
 Fifth. A habit of lifting and bending the knees, instead 
 of keeping the limbs straight. This makes what is called 
 the up-stairs walk. 
 
 Sixth. A method of walking without lifting the feet. 
 This makes a shuffling gait. 
 
CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Seventh. Setting the foot down flat on the heel first. This 
 prevents all grace and elasticity. For this reason no one 
 can walk gracefully with heels on the shoes. Neither can 
 any one walk gracefully who cramps the muscles with tight 
 shoes. 
 
 The pupil should be made to imitate these faults till they 
 are understood. They should march to music, singing ap- 
 propriate tunes and words. This tends to strengthen the 
 lungs. 
 
 EXERCISE 52. 
 Skipping Exercise. 
 
 The pupils should next learn to skip on the toes at first 
 very slowly, afterward to quick music. 
 
 EXERCISE 53. 
 
 Exercise with Weights. 
 
 Word of Command "Take Weights!" 
 
 Fig. 67. 
 
 After the walking and skipping exer- 
 cise, the boxes should be opened, and 
 the pupils march in order, and take the 
 weights, one in each hand. When all 
 are thus furnished, they should march 
 to music at the discretion of the teacher. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE CALISTHENIC HALL. 
 Pig. 68. 
 
 45 
 
 EXERCISE 54. 
 
 Word of Command 
 
 "Weights Out!" 
 
 Let the pupils carry 
 the weights as at Fig. 
 68, inarching to music. 
 
 Fig. 69. 
 
 EXERCISE 55. 
 Word of Command" Weights Up !" 
 
 Let the weights be carried as at Fig. 
 ', still marching to music. 
 
46 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Fig. 70. 
 
 EXEECISE 56. 
 
 Word of Command" Weights 
 Balancing!" 
 
 Let the pupils keep time by 
 changing the weights up and 
 down as the teacher says " left 
 up! right up!" This should 
 keep time with the music. 
 
 Fig. 71. 
 
 EXERCISE 57. 
 
 Word of Command " Weights on the 
 Head!" 
 
 Here both the weights are to be 
 crossed on the head, and the military 
 position of the arms and body taken. 
 Thus they are first to march to mu- 
 sic, and when well trained they are 
 to skip to music with the weights on 
 the head. In skipping, the arms are 
 to be held in the walking position. 
 
EXERCISES FOR THE CALISTHENIC HALL. 4*7 
 
 EXERCISE 58 
 Word of Command " Form Lines !" 
 
 Here the numbers 1 are to form a line and numbers 2 
 another, to face, and at the distance of four or five yards. 
 
 Fig. 72. Fty. 78. 
 
 Then they are each to take one weight and toss it with 
 the right hand, and receive another with the left. Then 
 they are to toss with the left, and receive with the right. 
 
 At the close of this they are to march to music and place 
 the weights in the boxes. 
 
 EXERCISE 59. 
 Word of Command " Form Divisions !" 
 
 After replacing the weights let the divisions and sections 
 be formed in regular order preparatory to marching. Let 
 the partners stand side by side, number one being at the 
 right hand of number two, their arms hanging by their 
 sides. 
 
 Q 
 
48 
 
 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 EXERCISE GO. 
 
 Word of Command " Joiii Arms : March !" 
 Fig. T4. 
 
 Let number one take with the 
 left hand the right hand of num- 
 ber two (which will be next him), 
 and place it in his own right 
 hand, and hold it while he puts 
 his left arm forward. 
 
 Then let him draw the hand 
 he holds into the position seen 
 in Fig. 74. Then the marching 
 to music follows. 
 
 This is a graceful mode of 
 placing a lady's hand in the arm 
 of a gentleman. 
 
 EXERCISE 61. 
 
 Word of Command 
 
 " See-Saw!" 
 
 Let Numbers 1 take 
 the hands of Numbers 
 2 so that the anus will 
 cross, and the right 
 hand of one will join 
 the right of the other, 
 and the left hands also 
 unite, as in Fig. 75. 
 Then let each pull the 
 other as far as possible 
 to the right, and then 
 to the left, at each 
 movement counting 
 from one to forty. 
 
 Fig. T5. 
 
EXERCISES FOB THE CALISTHENIC HALL. 
 
 49 
 
 EXERCISE 62. 
 Word of Command " Double Stretching !" 
 
 Fig. 76. Numbers 1 take 
 
 the hands of 
 Numbers 2, plac- 
 ing the toes at 
 the heels, as in 
 Fig. 76. Then 
 the forward one 
 must try to throw 
 back the head, 
 project the chest, 
 and curve in- 
 ward the back 
 as much as possi- 
 ble. The one be- 
 hind must stand 
 firmly while the 
 other rises and 
 then falls forward six times. Then let them change places, 
 and repeat the exercise. It should be the effort of the for- 
 ward one to throw back the head and project the chest and 
 abdomen as much as possible far more than the drawing 
 shows. 
 
 After these exercises, at the word "Salute Partners!" 
 they are to courtesy or bow to their several partners, as here 
 directed. 
 
 Mode of Bowing. 
 
 The boy is to stand in the walking position, and then 
 bend his body toward the one he salutes till his head is 
 about as low as his elbows are when standing upright. 
 
 Mode of Courtesying. 
 
 Stand in the walking position. 
 Slide the right foot a little to the right. 
 Draw the left foot a little behind, slightly resting it on 
 the toe. 
 
50 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Sink on the right foot, and at the moment of rising throw 
 a part of the weight onto the left foot, but return the full 
 weight to the right foot when risen. In ordinary cases, a 
 slight sinking on one foot is sufficient without any prepara- 
 tory movement. 
 
 Practice the same with the other foot. 
 
 Then the pupils are to disperse to their several appointed 
 stations, and go through with the " School-Room Exercises" 
 The leaders are to superintend and set the example, stand- 
 ing in front of their sections. 
 
 Then the divisions are to form the couples so as to join 
 arms, as directed on p. 40 and 48, and thus return to the 
 school-room. 
 
EXERCISES TO CURE DEFORMITIES AND CER- 
 TAIN DISEASES. 
 
 THERE is no doubt that most of the deformities con- 
 sequent on bad habits during growth, may be entirely rem- 
 edied. 
 
 The author of this work has known of multitudes of cases 
 in which curvature of the spine, distortion of limbs, and 
 other very bad deformities have been entirely remedied by 
 such exercises, while many diseases also have been thus 
 cured. 
 
 But such cures can usually only be secured by the fre- 
 quent, long continued, and vigorous practice of the exercises 
 designed to promote such cures. 
 
 The following are directions for a course of select treat- 
 ment for the several deformities indicated : 
 
 Projecting Neck and Crooked Back. 
 
 Fig. 7T. 
 
 One of the most important exer- 
 cises for the remedy of these de- 
 formities are the "parallel bars," as 
 seen in Fig. 77. 
 
 The best way to arrange such 
 bars is to have holes in the floor 
 to sink them in, and corresponding 
 holes in the upper wall. Thus they 
 can be first inserted in the wall and 
 then sunk just so far in the floor that 
 they will hold at both the upper and 
 lower ends. 
 
 Parallel Bars. 
 
 This exercise is especially for such 
 as are crooked or round-shouldered, 
 or both. It has great effect also in 
 enlarging the chest. 
 
 Grasp the bars as in Fig. 77. 
 
52 CALISTHENICS. 
 
 Then throw the body back as far as possible, and then for- 
 ward with great force, trying to press the chest and abdomen 
 as far forward as possible. This should be done many times, 
 and with as much force as possible. 
 
 Never exercise so long as to make the muscles feel sore, 
 nor so often as to prevent comfort through the day and 
 quiet sleep at night. 
 
 The other exercises for this purpose are : 
 
 First, The " Lungs Expansion," and also Exercises 3 and 
 4. These tend to remedy the evil by strengthening the 
 whole body with pure air and enlarging the lungs and chest. 
 These should be performed six or eight times a day. 
 
 Next, Exercises 17, 22, 24, 26, 28, and 30. The most 
 effective of any is Exercise 62. This should be performed 
 many times a day, by opening a door, putting the hands 
 behind, and grasping the knobs so that the door will be be- 
 tween them. The heels should rest against the door, the 
 head be thrown back, and the chest and abdomen forward 
 as much as possible. 
 
 Curvature of the Spine. 
 
 The principal Exercises to remedy this deformity are, 
 first, the " Lungs Extension," and Exercises 3 and 4 to en- 
 large the lungs and chest, by increasing the amount of pure 
 air inhaled, and strengthen the whole system. 
 
 To these add Exercises 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 
 29, 30, and 62. 
 
 Flat Chest and Round Shoulders. 
 
 First the Parallel Bars. With this Exercises 2, 3, 4, 
 16, 17, 22, 24, 26, 30, and 62. The last should be done 
 many times a day. 
 
 Turning in of the Toes. 
 Practice the Five Positions a great deal, as directed. 
 
 All kinds of Abdominal Weakness and Displacements. 
 All exercises that raise the arms are serviceable, and all 
 that move the body upward, downward, or sidewise are es- 
 pecially so. 
 
EXERCISES FOK DEFORMITIES AND CERTAIN DISEASES. 53 
 
 Exercises 2, 3, and 4, that expand the lungs and chest, 
 are serviceable as strengthening the whole system. 
 
 To these add Exercises 8, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 
 27, 28, 29, 30, 36, 37, 38, 41, 43, 55, 56, 61, and 62. 
 
 In case of great debility or disease, these exercises must 
 be commenced with caution, practiced gently at first and 
 only a few times, as it is found they can be borne without 
 injury. Gradually increase the number and the vigor of 
 motion. 
 
 Sitting baths and a wet compress around the lower part 
 of the body are very important in all abdominal weaknesses 
 or displacement. 
 
 Every person who has a crooked back or round shoulders 
 will hasten a cure by sleeping flat on the back with only a 
 bolster. 
 
 It has been shown that the abdominal muscles run up- 
 ward from the pelvis to the breast-bone, and sidewise from 
 one hip to the other, and also obliquely. These are the 
 chief supporters of the intestines, so that when the many 
 causes of debility affect them, as well as the rest of the 
 body, they become weak and flabby, and thus the whole 
 interior organs sink downward and often become displaced, 
 while the whole outline of the body is altered. 
 
 It has been found practicable, by the exercises here indi- 
 cated, not only to give strength to these debilitated muscles, 
 but to restore entirely the proper form without and within. 
 
WATER CURE TREATMENT FOR FAMILIES. 
 
 THERE are some of the methods of the Water Cure treat- 
 ment that all physicians will allow to be perfectly safe, while 
 they are valuable substitutes for dangerous and generally 
 poisonous medicines. Most diseases or deformities are 
 cured quicker by the union of the simpler processes of the 
 Water Cure than by either method alone. 
 
 In most families the medicine chest is most frequently 
 visited in cases of colds, constipation, or diarrhea. These 
 methods are far safer and better than medicine. 
 
 TREATMENT TOR A COLD IN THE HEAD. 
 
 On going to bed, cover the head, face, and neck with a 
 wet towel, leaving a small opening, enough to breathe free- 
 ly, around the mouth and nose. Cover this with a small 
 woolen blanket so as to keep the head and neck very warm. 
 Keep up a gentle perspiration during the whole night. In 
 the morning wash the head, face, and neck with cold water. 
 Dry the hair, or keep the head from cold till it is dry. 
 
 If too much trouble is made by wetting the hair, treat the 
 face and neck thus. 
 
 TREATMENT FOR A COLD ON THE LUNGS. 
 
 Pack in a sheet wet in water at 80 for three quarters of 
 an hour at 11 A.M. Wash off in water at 70. 
 
 At night, just before going to bed, take a hot sitting bath, 
 with feet also in hot water at 110, for fifteen minutes. 
 Wash off in water at 70. Wear a wet bandage over the 
 chest all night, and keep up a gentle perspiration. Hot 
 fomentations of the chest on retiring are very efficacious. 
 In most cases of colds, at their commencement, either in the 
 head or on the lungs, a hot bath on going to bed, to start a 
 perspiration to be kept up through the night, will cure. 
 Wash in cool water in the morning. 
 
WATER CURE TREATMENT FOR FAMILIES. 55 
 
 The certain cure of a cold in the head or on the lungs 
 depends on treating it immediately. If it is allowed to run 
 on a day or two, the above treatment will palliate and 
 shorten the evil, but, if taken at the commencement, it will 
 stop it entirely. 
 
 These methods open the closed pores and draw the blood 
 to the skin, and thus relieve the internal organs. 
 
 TREATMENT FOR CONSTIPATION. 
 
 Eat coarse bread and cooked fruit. Drink three tum- 
 blers of water before breakfast, and two on going to bed. 
 Exercise a great deal in pure air, and sleep in the same. 
 Solicit nature by efforts at a regular time directly after a 
 meal. If this does not avail, use cool water injections 
 half a pint at once, after breakfast and on going to bed 
 the last to be retained if possible. 
 
 TREATMENT FOR BILIOUSNESS. 
 
 A pack in the wet sheet at 11 A.M. for thre quarters of 
 an hour, to be followed with a washing of the whole body 
 in water at 72. Keep the head cool with a wet cloth. 
 
 At 4 P.M. take a hot bath (either sitz or full bath) at 110 
 to 120, followed by a wash in cool water at 80. Keep the 
 head cool. [Hot fomentations over the liver are often very 
 useful.] Drink from four to six tumblers of cold water be- 
 fore breakfast. If the stomach is too irritable for this, drink 
 warm crust coffee. Wear a wet bandage around the body 
 over the liver, covered with a dry double bandage, and ex- 
 excise in the open air, but not to great fatigue. 
 
 TREATMENT FOR CHILLS AND FEVER. 
 
 In cases where chills and fever occur, this method of 
 using water will be found effective. 
 
 In the fever, pack in the wet sheet from ten to thirty 
 minutes. Use water at 72 to wet the sheet. Wash off in 
 water at 80. If nauseated, use warm water as a vomit. 
 
 In the chill, take a hot sitting bath with feet in hot water 
 from one half to three quarters of an hour, keeping the head 
 cool with a wet cloth on the head. 
 
 If the fever is high, repeat the packing every half hour 
 
5G WATER CURE TREATMENT FOR FAMILIES. 
 
 till it is reduced. No danger at all in this. Wash off in 
 cool water, and rub well. Exercise in the open air, but 
 not to fatigue. Sit and sleep in a cool and well-venti- 
 lated room, and keep on enough clothing to prevent chilli- 
 ness. 
 
 TREATMENT FOR DIARRHEA OR DYSENTERY. 
 
 Stop eating entirely, that the irritated intestines may 
 rest. If the stomach is not irritable, drink cold water 
 often a third of a tumbler at once. Take a sitting bath 
 twice a day at 70, following it by friction of the skin. Wear 
 a wet bandage around the abdomen, and keep from any 
 chills by enough clothing. After every passage from the 
 bowels take an injection of cold water at 65. Use for food 
 gruel of coarse wheat; in dysentery, some mucilaginous 
 drinks like gum Arabic or slippery-elm tea. 
 
 In case of fever, pack in the wet sheet half an hour, 
 using water at 75. 
 
 Every physician will say these methods are safe. Try 
 them before going to the medicine chest. 
 
 If a thermometer is wanting, "take the chill off" from 
 the coldest water by adding say a quart of boiling water to 
 a pailful of very cold water, and it is about at 65, say an- 
 other quart will make it 70 or so. 
 
 If these prescriptions fail, do not trust your own skill, 
 but send for a physician. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR WET COMPRESSES, PACKING, BATHS, AND 
 FOMENTATIONS. 
 
 The Wet Compress. The wet compress is a most val- 
 uable mode of relief for a great variety of aches and pains. 
 The backache is, in multitudes of cases, relieved by a wet 
 bandage around the abdomen and small of the back. The 
 compress should be double diaper, covered with double cot- 
 ton flannel. It should be wrung out in cold water as soon 
 as dry, and scalded at least once a day in order to remove 
 impurities discharged through the skin. Be sure and keep 
 irarm, especially where the compress is placed. 
 
 For Packing. Spread on a bed, first, a thick cotton com- 
 forter ; over that a woolen blanket, and over that a piece 
 
WATER CURE TREATMENT FOR FAMILIES. 57 
 
 of linen sheet which is only long enough to reach from 
 neck to ankles, and which is wrung out in cool water. 
 Wrap the patient first in the sheet, not putting it on the 
 feet, and then draw the blanket and tuck it closely all 
 around, especially about the neck, to keep out the air. 
 Then do the same with the comforter. If the room is 
 cold, use two comforters. This process, if repeated, will 
 always reduce any fever for the time, even if it can not re- 
 move the cause. A tight linen dress, with a piece of oiled 
 silk large enough to wrap the whole body, is very convenient 
 for packing. It saves the need of any close wrapping or 
 thick bed-clothes. 
 
 For the Sitz Bath. Take a wash-tub, and put in water 
 enough to cover the hips. Wear a warm, loose garment, 
 and, if cold, a blanket over. Rub the parts immersed. 
 
 For a Foot Bath. The water in this bath should not come 
 quite up to the ankle-bone, and the feet should be constantly 
 rubbed together. It often relieves a headache, if protracted 
 for half or three quarters of an hour. 
 
 Fomentations. A wet linen compress, with dry cloth over, 
 and a tin vessel or bottle filled with hot water, placed so as 
 to keep the compress warm, is the easiest method. Another 
 method is to keep water hot on the fire or stove. Dip cloths 
 in, and wring them out by putting them in a towel and 
 wringing that. The compress should increase in heat every 
 time till it is as hot as can be borne. 
 
 Every use of hot water should be followed with cold, to 
 prevent debility of the skin. 
 
 In the water treatment, in no case is water to be used very 
 cold at first. A preliminary process of several days, in 
 which the water is made a little cooler each day, is indis- 
 pensable. In severe disease no person should adopt the 
 water treatment except under the guidance of a physician 
 who has had experience in it; for it is a very powerful 
 agency, requiring skill and experience in such cases. 
 
 In reference to the use of medicine, every person must 
 perceive there has been a great change among physicians. 
 Every year there is less and less reliance placed by them on 
 medicines thrown into the body, whose chemical and vital 
 processes are so complicated and mysterious, Avliile more 
 
58 WATER CURE "TREATMENT FOR FAMILIES. 
 
 and more resort is had to the restorative influences which 
 Nature herself provides when the laws of health are prop- 
 erly obeyed. 
 
 Those physicians that not only examine the pulse and 
 tongue, but attend to diet, ventilation, and the care of the 
 skin, and insist on fresh air and abundant exercise, find that 
 the prescriptions to the apothecary are constantly diminish- 
 ing. 
 
 The public are beginning to test the skill of their medi- 
 cal advisers by this standard.