Physical education / by Frederick Treves.

  • Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet
Date:
1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Physical education / by Frederick Treves. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    12/88 page 4
    rilYSICA L ED UCA TION stomach as to the cells of the cortex of the brain. The body is like a busy town; so long as there is activity within its walls, and so long as every nook and corner is alive with the best energies of those who dwell therein, things fare well; but when one section flags, when inactivity falls upon this quarter or upon that, there comes some retrogression, some halting in a progress Avhich had hitherto been even and energetic. If the intellect is to be culti- vated, the brain must be exercised. He who wishes to acquire the far vision of the seaman must use his eyes like a seaman, and he who would develop the hunter’s keenness of hearing and powers of endurance must lead the hunter’s life. To learn how to rightly exercise every part and organ of the body, and how to effect tliis without undue effort or injurious strain, is to discover the elixir of life and such a philosopher’s stone as will render the short tenure of human life as free from bodily troubles as the art of man can make it. It is no longer possible to say, as Herbert Spencer did some twenty years ago, that the inhabitants of this country take an interest in the rearing of the offspring of all creatures except themselves. Civilisation has not yet greatly impaired the unconquerable love of sport and the passion for movement and violent exercise which appear to be the heritage of the British race. There is some evidence to show that, taking averages, we have not diminished either in height or in girth. There is evidence of deterioration among the poorer inhabitants of great cities, but among the more favoured classes it would appear that no change has taken place which indicates a distinct downward tendency. Within recent years there has been a remarkable revival of interest in sports, games, and athletic exercises of all kinds. It was not until 1875 that the English Channel was crossed by a swimmer. So far as it is known, it was not until the year 1877 that a human being had ever leapt from the ground, without artificial aid, to the height of 6 feet 2 inches. A man can now jump across a gap 23 feet in width, a mile has been run in less than 4^ minutes, and 600 miles, have been walked in one week. It is quite obvious that the term Physical Education must include the regulation of the functions and movements of the entire body. With such as concern the supply of suitable food and wholesome air, and the observa- tion of what are known as simple hygienic conditions, the present paper has no concern.- It is necessary here to deal only with that most conspicuous factor m physical culture which concerns the due and proportionate exercise of the muscles of the body. In the following article we shall first consider the general effects of exercise, including the subjects of fatigue, overwork, and want of exercise, and secondly the effects of specific exercises. THE GENERAL EFFECTS OF EXERCISE 1. The Effect of Exercise upon the Development and Proportions of the Body Exercise, as here understood, may be represented by such natural, sys- tematic, and well-regulated exercises as enter into the life of every healthy public schoolboy, together with such special gymnastics which may be con- sidered to be necessary in particular cases. It must be understood that the object of exercise—as here intended—is not to develop athletes, acrobats, and
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