Personal hygiene and physical training for women

by Anna M. Galbraith

FOOTNOTES:

[7] See pages [337] and [339].

CHAPTER IX
PHYSICAL TRAINING THE KEY TO HEALTH AND BEAUTY

The Ancient Greeks the Most Perfect Type of Beauty; the Cause of the Inferior Physique of American Women; the Physical Training of the Japanese Women; Improved Physique as the Result of Physical Training; Increasing Stature and Improved Physique of American Men; Report of the Royal Commission of Great Britain on Physical Training; Physical Training Among the Ancients; the Influence of Physical Training on the Health and Life of the Individual; the Effect of Exercise on Brain Development and Character; the Physiology and Pathology of Exercise; the Relative Proportions of a Perfect Female Form; Table of Standard Weights for Women; the Muscular System; the Benefits of Exercise; Passive Exercise; Massage; the Balance and Carriage of the Body; Common Defects in the Carriage of the Body; the Heart’s Need of Exercise; the Gymnasium in the Campaign against Disease; Gymnastic versus Athletic Training; Exercise after Eating; Effect of Brain Fatigue on Body Fatigue, and vice versa; Marks for Physical Efficiency; Advantages Derived from Athletic Sports; Ethical Value of Sports for Women; Forms of Athletic Games Best Suited to Women.

Physical training is the key to all beauty of form and face as well as grace of motion. Beauty without health is inconceivable.

The Greeks were the devotees of the beautiful, and they were the most perfect embodiments of health and beauty the world has ever seen. Their splendid physique was due to their outdoor life, physical training, which began in childhood and youth, and was systematically carried on throughout life, their public baths, and their athletics, sports and national games. Beauty is the inevitable corollary of health.

And the Greek artists bequeathed to all future generations a legacy of untold value, using the men and women of the golden age of Greece as the prototypes for the most beautiful statues which the world has ever seen, proving that through the perfect development of the muscular system alone can an ideal type of beauty be attained, and these statues also show that the women of that day were the physical compeers of the men.

The greatest attention to the physical development of her citizens was given in Sparta. Girls and young women were subjected to a similar, though less severe, training than men and boys. It included running, leaping, wrestling, and throwing the lance; these formed the favorite contests in the national games. Xenophon says: “The Spartans are the healthiest of all the Greeks, and among them are found the finest men and the handsomest women in Greece.” The women of the Teutonic tribes frequently accompanied their husbands to war, and exhibited instances of the most daring bravery.

History, as well as these magnificent legacies in marble and on canvas, teaches us that no greater fallacy could be imagined than that “we are women, and therefore weak.” On the contrary, “We are weak, because it never entered into our thoughts that we might be strong,” and it has been repeatedly proved that physical deterioration can be overcome by exercise, and that the same means greatly increases the mental capacity.

In savage races women are the equal, if not the superior, of the men, and woman’s smallness of stature, physical inferiority, and lessened powers of endurance must be attributed to the customs of civilized society carried on for hundreds of years.

The Cause of the Inferior Physique of American Women.—The majority of American girls and women of the present day have undeveloped muscles, a bad carriage, an impaired digestion, and are without skill in outdoor games, and unable to ride, row, or swim.

From the measurements of twelve hundred boys and girls, Professor Sargent ascertained that at the age of fifteen years boys are three-quarters of an inch taller than girls, but that the mean height in the two sexes is the same, and that, taking the sum of the measurements of the head, chest, waist, legs, and arms, the mean total was equal in boys and girls. The sum of these measurements is regarded as indicative of the strength of the individual, but that, as a matter of fact, it was found that the girls did not compare favorably with the boys in point of strength. In capacity of lungs the girls were seventy cubic inches behind the boys, and that, in strength of the expiratory muscles, the weakest boy was stronger than the average girl. In strength of back, leg, chest, and arms, the showing of the girls was a little better, though considerably below what it should have been.

At twenty years of age the man was found to be five inches taller and twenty pounds heavier. The superiority of the male in strength was now much more apparent than at an earlier age. He now presented ninety cubic inches greater lung capacity and one hundred and forty-three pounds, greater strength of legs, while the muscular power of the arms and chest was more than double that of woman. The charts showed that women were physically inferior to men in almost every particular.

Dr. Sargent then goes on to say, “The principal characteristics of general form that distinguish civilized women from men are smaller muscles, sloping shoulders, broader hips, and shorter legs. The smaller muscles and the shorter legs may be said to be embryonic, while the superior breadth of the hips indicates a greater evolutionary advancement in this part of the body than has taken place in man. The constricted waist must be regarded as a deformity artificially produced. When the hips are large in the male or female, the waist will naturally be larger if the muscles which connect the trunk with the pelvis have nothing to constrict them. Since the hips of women are much wider than those of men, we should expect to find the waist proportionately larger in women than in men.

In close antithesis to these observations of Dr. Sargent’s on the physical inferiority of American women to men, it is both interesting and instructive to note those of Dr. Hancock in his work on “Physical Training for Women by Japanese Methods.”

The Physical Training of the Japanese Women.—A Japanese woman is usually the peer of a man of her own race who is of the same age and height, especially when weights are about equal. This is due to the fact that the Japanese women exercise in much the same way that the men do, and devote fully as much time in the endeavor to gain strength.

In the Japanese system of bodily training, known as jiu-jitsu, it is considered advisable in the initial stages to have boy and girl contestants as nearly equal in age and height as possible. The girls enter the arena upon equal terms with the boys, and have proved their fitness to do so. Grown men and women practise together; other conditions being equal, the women show an equal amount of strength with the men.

The back of the average Anglo-Saxon woman is generally the weakest part of her body, while the normal Japanese woman satisfies the artist’s ideals as well as the surgeon’s. The average Japanese woman of to-day shows a figure as perfectly molded, and of as true proportions, as the women of ancient Greece were able to display.

First of all, the Japanese women are taught that life is impossible without a sufficient supply of fresh air. This internal cleansing with air is deemed of more importance than the bath which follows soon after. That the Japanese woman is a deep breather is shown by the firm muscles that stand out on the abdomen.

Consumption is a rare disease in Japan; even winter coughs are of rare occurrence. The Japanese look upon full, deep breathing as being the most vital function in life; food is not so important, although it is necessary. The best exercises are of little importance when the breathing which accompanies them is not properly done.

Improved Physique as the Result of Physical Training.—Dr. Mary Taylor Bissell, formerly the medical director of the New York Berkeley Ladies Athletic Club, and one of the pioneers in the systematic physical training for women, gave as the result of her experience there, “The gain of twelve months’ exercise in the gymnasium is, for the chest two inches, stature two inches, and an increase of 30 per cent. in the lung capacity; many of the strength tests were doubled, the spine became erect and the arm vigorous, and the girl gained for herself the consciousness of controlling her own body instead of having it control her.”

Increasing Stature and Improved Physique of American Men.—Dr. Born’s measurements of Yale athletes and students suggest the inference that American men are becoming physically greater than any other known race. Comparing averages in 1903 and 1908, it appears that Yale men are one inch and a half taller than their predecessors of five years ago; they are twenty-seven pounds heavier, broader chested, and have an increased lung capacity of seventy-two cubic inches.

The measurements of Harvard students, published last fall by Dr. Sargent, corroborate Dr. Born’s deductions, that American college men have larger and more vigorous bodies than their fathers.

Dr. Sargent’s association of vigorous brains with strong bodies is borne out by Professor W. T. Porter’s examination of 30,000 school-children in St. Louis in 1893, and by subsequent observations made by other men.

It is the opinion of Dr. Crampton, director of physical training in the New York city schools, that this improved physique in American men, observed in the universities, is not in a small measure due to the fact that within the last five years athletics have been introduced into the public schools, so that there are now hundreds of teams of baseball, football, basket-ball, and track athletics, where there was only one before, so that already the colleges are reporting that the young men entering them are bigger than they were ten years ago.

Professor Phillips of Amherst thinks that the young women are certainly one inch taller and five pounds heavier than they were ten years ago. This improved physique of Americans he attributes, like Dr. Crampton, to the fact that the American boy has now come in for his heritage of athletic sports, and he makes a strong plea for “adult play”—that every man and woman should have as good an opportunity as boys and girls to get out on an open space and play baseball, football, hockey, run, jump, and have a good time.

To show the importance which Great Britain places on physical training for boys and girls the following report of the Royal Commission of that country for 1903 is given under the caption “A National System of Physical Training.”

Report of Royal Commission of Great Britain on Physical Training.—“(1) Physical training should be regarded as of equal importance with mental training.

“(2) During school life physical training is quite as important for girls as for boys.

“(3) Systematic physical training is necessary both for country and town children.

“The daily walk to school is exercise, but not exercise which develops the body as a whole, or counteracts the liability to stoop, to be round-shouldered, or to be slovenly in gait. Moreover, all children during school life must spend many hours with but little change of position, the effects of which can only be corrected by systematic physical exercise.

“It should aim at the healthy development of the body, as well as of the mind, by the regular development of all the muscles, the quickening of the intelligence and activity, and the formation of the habits of prompt obedience, precision, smartness, and discipline. The exercises should not be for mere display or entertainment, but each should have its particular purpose and value to develop all parts of the body.

“A certain amount of physical exercise once a day or oftener is preferable to even a greater amount, at longer or irregular intervals.

“Games are very useful and ought to be encouraged, but they cannot be played by all children, and usually the weaker ones go to the wall; that is, those most needing systematic development are excluded. Games affording opportunities for violent exercise are useful for the development of reserve strength, and form an admirable field for the cultivation of social and public spirit. We strongly favor their organization and development at all schools.

“For boys, in addition to the regular games, country runs, leaping and dancing the Highland Fling; for girls, skipping and hockey. For both, swimming is strongly advised.”

Physical Training Among the Ancients.—Greek culture regarded the individual as valuable in and for himself, and sought to promote first of all his full and free development. The idea was symmetry and balance of parts, and, to attain complete and harmonious manhood, mind and body were trained together.

Games played an important part in the life of the Athenians, and their importance in the education of children was early recognized.

From the age of seven to sixteen it is probable that one-half of the day of the Athenian boy was spent in intellectual and the other half in physical education. The aim of the Athenian education was to produce men, independent but respectful, freedom loving but law abiding, healthy in mind and body, clear in thought, ready in action, and devoted to their families, their fatherland, and their gods.

Gymnastics included everything relating to the culture of the body.

The culmination of the Athenian education was dancing. As a supplement to gymnastic culture, it toned down the ardent exercise of the gymnasium and the over-energy of muscular development to the ease and grace which was the Athenian ideal.

The Romans.—The early Romans possessed some traits in common with the Spartans. They were intensely practical and interested in those things whose usefulness was apparent. Education should fit a man for his work in the world.

A Roman structure, quite as characteristic as the Greek gymnasium, was the public bath or therma, found not only in Rome, but in every important provincial town in the days of the empire. Both made provision for exercise and contained a system of baths, but in the thermæ the baths occupied the greater part of the space, and the rooms and courts for exercise were smaller and fewer.

The Influence of Physical Training on the Health and Life of the Individual.—If we believe, with Spencer, that “Education is preparation for complete living,” we must appreciate that good carriage, bodily control, physical judgment, will power, and courage are an important part of the equipment of every man and woman. These qualities are intimately associated with motor coördination, and they are best developed through physical training.

The power of self-preservation, by which the individual is enabled to handle his body easily under all conditions, and so escape physical injury and death, depends upon physical judgment of time and distance, and the ability to run, jump, vault, climb, and swim. These are all fundamental exercises.

The love of play and the ability to play a number of games contribute very largely to health and happiness. The play habit must be acquired in youth or it will never be developed.

The best qualities of mind and character can only be obtained through physical experience and physical struggle. With stalwart physique comes a vigorous type of womanhood, physical courage; with flabby muscles there is apt to result flabby thinking and flabby acting, superficiality, and inefficiency. Next to hunger the most dominant instinct is the play instinct.

The Effect of Exercise on Brain Development and Character.—The growing interest in preventive medicine, and the very great popularity of the opportunities afforded for athletic training, attest to the value which people are beginning to place upon health as an asset in their social, domestic, business, and professional lives.

But it is not generally or sufficiently understood just how great is the effect of physical training on the development of the brain or upon the mental activities. With a strong, vigorous action of the heart there is a feeling of courage and general exaltation, whereas with a weak heart and enfeebled circulation, fear and impaired mental activity predominate.

The manner in which the organic functions are performed not only determine the health of the body, but the temperament and character as well. There is a conservation of energy in the fashioning of the will—only part of the energy is expended in the outward effort, while the rest goes to lay the foundation of a future will, so that exercise builds up faculty and conduct character.

We cannot perform an act voluntarily unless we know what we are going to do, and we cannot know exactly what we are going to do until we have learned to do it. The very simplest movement brings about a change in the organic structure of the brain, and this change leads to more complex movements and further improvement in brain structure. Most skilled movements give more exercise to the central nervous system than to the muscles. Movements calling for a high degree of skill, correlation of the different senses, sense discrimination, fine coördinations, and a rapid and responsible exercise of judgment, all tend, through the action of the association fibers, to a high degree of brain development.

An essential feature of exercise is that a part of it at least shall afford amusement, diversion, and recreation to the overwearied and harassed brain. Hence, the necessity to introduce dancing, field sports, etc. By these means industrial efficiency, communal morality, and social consciousness are promoted. Public amusements of a proper sort are a public necessity.

The great menace to the city is the limited opportunities for healthful play, and over one-third of the population of the United States live in towns. The physical side of the question is the largest, for it involves health, and consequently poise and self-control. It involves a legitimate occupation of surplus energy and its wise direction, and it also involves companionship.

The great object of physical training is then to secure the most perfect development of the body, with the corresponding development of the brain, so that the highest physical and mental efficiency of the individual may be attained.

The possession of a large reserve of muscle and nerve force, ready to be used in any emergency, gives confidence to the individual, increases the spirit of taking the initiative and undertaking grave responsibilities that come into the life of every woman, especially those who are engaged in the business or professional world, and the building up of this necessary reserve force is one of the inestimable advantages of a gymnastic and athletic training.

The Physiology and Pathology of Exercise.—Exercise is divided into active or voluntary and passive.

Passive exercise does not require any exertion of the will power. Massage increases the local nutrition of the parts, stimulates the nerves, and is restful, rather than exhausting, to the overwrought brain and wearied nerves.

Active exercise is further divided into exercise of effort and exercise of endurance. Under exercise of effort are classed all gymnastic feats. The primary object of a gymnastic training or education is to produce a symmetric development of the entire body, while, on the other hand, the training necessary to execute gymnastic feats produces an overdevelopment of one part of the body at the expense of the rest, as is seen in the arm of the blacksmith and the leg of the danseuse. All exercises of effort, whether of strength, skill, or speed, demand and cultivate mental concentration, a rapid response of the muscle to the orders of the will, develop the power to accomplish complicated coördinations, and the knowledge of how these difficult movements may be performed with the least expenditure of nerve and muscle force. Exercising a muscle develops it up to its physiologic capacity, but if a muscle is habitually overworked, pathologic results occur, and instead of a quick, sharp contraction of the muscle, the contractions will be weak and uncertain, and, if carried too far, the muscle may eventually atrophy from overwork.

Exercises of endurance include walking, running, swimming, and rowing—the range of movement in these is much more limited than in exercises of effort. In these, each movement is well within the individual’s powers, yet, by increasing the rapidity of the movements, or by their prolonged continuance, the total amount of muscular work accomplished may be very great. Normally, the contraction and relaxation of the muscles are comparatively slow, so that the poisonous waste matter producing fatigue is continually being removed from the tissues, and not allowed to accumulate; whereas, in exercises of effort, there is no time allowed for the scavengers to work, and fatigue of the most active muscles sets in rapidly.

Fatigue may appear in several forms, depending on the character of the exercise which produced it. When the exercise is sufficiently active, the amount of waste matter thrown into the circulation is greater than can be eliminated by the lungs; breathlessness and palpitation of the heart result; so soon as the equilibrium between waste production and elimination is established, the individual is said to have gotten his second wind. Or, again, a slow pace, too long kept up, will produce exhaustion, so that the products of tissue waste accumulate, the beat of the heart is fast, irregular and weak, the nervous system becomes stupefied, and the muscles fail, to respond to the normal physiologic stimulus. This is a form of fatigue not infrequently found among zealous housewives, in which the demands made upon the nervous system by continual and carking family cares, added to the very strenuous work of the household, exhausts both nervous and muscular systems.

Recovery from this form of fatigue takes a much longer time than the preceding. The individual is too tired to sleep, the night is troubled by disturbed dreams, there is a soreness and stiffness of the muscles and joints which remain for some days. There may be an actual rise in temperature, and the urine passed has a high specific gravity, with sometimes even albumin.

If, now, this overwork is continued over prolonged periods of time, without allowing sufficient time for the necessary recuperation, there follows a slow and profound exhaustion, which is much more difficult to overcome. In this condition the temperature becomes subnormal, the weight decreases, the skin and muscles become flabby, and the skin is pale, the eyes are dull and listless, and the individual is without ambition to rouse herself from her lethargy.

During a contraction each muscle-cell shortens and thickens, giving off some of its substance into the lymph-space which surrounds it, and absorbing food, consisting of carbohydrates and oxygen, from the surrounding plasma. Exercise improves nutrition by the rhythmic, automatic massage caused by the contraction and relaxation of the muscles on the vessels which they contain, while warmth favors the elimination of waste matter.

It has been proved by Hawk, of the University of Pennsylvania, in his experiments on the blood-count of an athlete in training, that various forms of active muscular exercise produce an average increase of 16.8 per cent. in the number of red corpuscles. When exercise is long-continued, the rate of increase lessens, and, further, the number may be decreased in greatly prolonged violent exercise. The explanation of this is that a large number of cells lie inactive in various tissues of the body until they are brought into the circulation by muscular exercise.

PLATE III
Senegalese woman. (From Stratz, after Dr. Rykens, in Shufeldt’s “Studies of the Human Form.”)

Athletic training has been called “mainly heart training.” Exercises of endurance do not require supreme efforts, but they do accelerate the action of the heart and lungs, and the aggregate of work done is very much greater than in exercises of strength, but the exercise must be sufficiently active to provide for the free circulation of lymph, which is carried on mainly through the massage of muscular contraction.

If a walk be so listless that there is not sufficient movement of the muscles to overcome the pernicious influence of gravity acting on the column of blood contained in the veins of the abdomen, thighs, and legs, the vessel-walls may become permanently overstretched and varicose. The exercise must be sufficiently active for the muscular contractions to empty the lymph-spaces and hasten the circulation. It usually raises the general bodily, as well as the local, temperature of the parts, and so facilitates the removal of the waste-products.

The acquirement of skill lies in the training of the nerve rather than the muscle. A simple movement requires only a nerve impulse to the acting muscle, while a complicated movement requires a wave of impulses to the accessory and antagonistic groups of muscles which control and steady the movement. It is easy to see how, in the first efforts to perform complicated movements, the contractions of the muscles will be jerky and inaccurate, many useless muscles will be employed, and the expenditure of nervous energy will be out of all proportion to the result, and these first attempts at new feats of skill rapidly exhaust the attention. This is well illustrated in the first efforts of a child learning to walk.

Exercises of strength and skill train that alertness of mind so essential in ordinary life. They shorten the period between thought and action, producing what is known as “presence of mind.”

The Relative Proportions of a Perfect Female Form.—The relative proportions of a perfect female form, as deduced by modern sculptors from the Greek statues, are as follows: With a height of five feet five inches, the weight should be one hundred and thirty-eight pounds. The woman should, with the arms extended, measure from tip to tip of the middle finger, five feet five inches; that is, exactly her own height. The length of the hand should be one-tenth, the foot one-seventh, and the diameter of the chest one-fifth that of the height. The distance from the perineum to the ground should measure the same as from the perineum to the top of the head. The knee should be exactly midway between the perineum and the heel. The distance from the elbow to the little finger should be the same as the distance from the elbow to the middle of the chest. The measurement from the top of the head to the chin should be the same as the length of the foot, and there should be the same distance between the chin and the armpits. A woman of this height should measure twenty-nine inches around the waist, thirty-four inches around the bust, if taken under the arms, and forty-three inches if measured over them. The upper arm should measure thirteen inches and the wrist six inches. The calf of the leg should measure fourteen and one-half inches, the thigh twenty-five inches, and the ankle eight inches.

The table on page [297], compiled by Dr. Weisse, the Medical Statistician of the New York Life Insurance Company, “A Table of Standard Weights for Women,” is based on the average weights of over 58,000 insured women, and is given to show the normal relation between the height and weight. A point of extreme interest in the table, and one that is not generally recognized, is the variation in weight, independent of the height, at different ages.

PLATE IV
Juno.

PLATE V
Venus de Capua.

Ages	15-19	20-24	25-29	30-34	35-39	40-44	45-49	50-54	55-59	60-64	Combined
Heights											Ages
4’-11”	111	113	115	117	119	122	125	128	128	126	118
5’-0”	113	114	117	119	122	125	128	130	131	129	120
5’-1”	115	116	118	121	124	128	131	133	134	132	122
5’-2”	117	118	120	123	127	132	134	137	137	136	125
5’-3”	120	122	124	127	131	135	138	141	141	140	128
5’-4”	123	125	127	130	134	138	142	145	145	144	131
5’-5”	125	128	131	135	139	143	147	149	149	148	135
5’-6”	128	132	135	139	143	146	151	153	153	152	139
5’-7”	132	135	139	143	147	150	154	157	156	155	143
5’-8”	136	140	143	147	151	155	158	161	161	160	147
5’-9”	140	144	147	151	155	159	163	166	166	165	151
5’-10”	144	147	151	155	159	163	167	170	170	169	155
Combined Heights	123	126	129	132	136	139	142	145	144	142	133

Dr. Weisse found the average height of women to be five feet four inches, and the average weight one hundred and thirty-three pounds, and that the average male height was three inches greater than that of the female.

Women should range in weight from one and eight-tenths to two and two-thirds pounds to each inch in height. In order to determine your own factor in this respect divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches. Any weight above two and one-half pounds to the inch in stature may be considered as excessive, inasmuch as it adds nothing to one’s mental or physical efficiency, and is frequently the forerunner of obesity, the remedy for which is to live on a selected diet and to burn up more through exercise.

In an ideal condition there is a sufficient quantity of fat to give a pleasing rotundity of outline. In women the tendency is for fat to accumulate, especially after forty years of age, about the waist, abdomen, and upper part of the thighs. In addition to the unsightliness which this gives to the figure, it is often the indication of the fatty degeneration of the muscles, and the heart is liable to become involved, and fatty degeneration of the heart is one of the frequent causes of death. The lack of use of the muscles in these regions of the body, which is caused by wearing corsets, is the reason for the accumulation of fat here. It can be reduced by the proper exercises and regulated diet.

PLATE VI
Venus de Medici.

PLATE VII
Venus de Milo.

The Muscular System.—The bony skeleton forms simply the framework of the body, and, while it determines the general outlines and height for the most part, the weight and general size of the body depend upon the muscular development and the amount of adipose tissue. The bones are not only padded about with muscles, but the muscles are inserted into the bony sheaths in such a way that a development of the muscles causes a development of the bones as well. Again, the stature is increased by the erect position of the spinal column, and this can only be attained by great strength of the muscles which hold the spine erect. The inequalities of the muscles are filled out with adipose tissue, giving a pleasing contour to the face and figure.

Fig. 21.—The skeleton (Lewis).

There are some five hundred muscles in the human body; these muscles vary in size and form, according to their situations in the body and the functions which they are called on to perform.

Nearly all the muscles in the body are arranged in two different or antagonistic sets, and are placed on the opposite sides of the part, so that in acting—that is, by their contractions or shortening—they move the limb in opposite directions, and it is by the alternate contraction, or shortening and relaxation of the two sets of muscles, that the movements of the body are accomplished. The muscles which bend the joints are called flexors, while those that extend the joints are called extensors, so that in order to perform their work, which is that of contraction, the muscles must exert enough force to elongate the opposing muscles, overcome the tonicity of the antagonizing muscles, and lift the weight of that portion of the limb into which they are inserted. It is by the action of the muscles that the body is held upright.

Fig. 22.—Muscular fibers, highly magnified.

Fig. 23.—Different directions of fibers in the three layers of abdominal muscles.

Action of the Muscles of the Abdomen.—The trunk is maintained from falling backward by the action of those huge muscles on its anterior surface. The space between the pelvis and the thorax is called the abdominal cavity. Its walls are almost wholly composed of muscles. There are several important facts to be noted about these muscles. First, that they extend from the brim of the pelvis, into which they are inserted, to the ribs and breast bone, to which the other ends of these muscles are attached; that there are three layers of these muscles; and, lastly, that the fibers of the different layers run in different directions, so that they cross each other, as shown in the figure. The reënforcement of the layers, the arrangement of their fibers, and the manner in which they dovetail into the adjacent groups of fibers give a structure of the greatest possible strength.

Fig. 24.—Muscles of the anterior surface of the trunk (left side, superficial; right side, deep).

Action of the Muscles of the Back.—The trunk is kept from falling forward by the action of the muscles of the back. These are arranged in six layers. The cut shows the direction of the fibers. The first, or outside layer, consists of the trapezius and latissimus dorsi, or, in other words, the broad muscle of the back. On the one side these muscles are attached to the spines of the vertebræ; the sharp ridge which is felt in the middle of the back, and the broad attachment to the pelvis afford a firm base of support. There are other muscles which run parallel with the spinal column, whose function it is to hold the spinal column erect.

Fig. 25.—Muscles of the posterior surface of the trunk (left side, superficial; right side, deep).

Standing erect calls into action almost all the muscles of the lower extremities, trunk, and neck. So long as the line of gravity falls within the line of the feet, the muscular effort required is so slight that it is little more than the tonicity contained in all living muscle. The greater the displacement of the line of gravity, the greater the muscular effort required to maintain the equilibrium of the body.

Muscular Energy.—The muscles of the body, even when at rest, are under a slight degree of tension. When stimulated, the muscle contracts—that is, it becomes shorter and thicker. A muscle can only remain in a state of contraction for a few seconds, because the force of the muscular fibers is more or less exhausted during contraction. The more rapid the contractions, the sooner does fatigue manifest itself.

Like the steam engine, the muscles of the body, in performing their work, produce heat and motion. The fuel which supplies this force is taken into the body in the shape of food; it is prepared for use in the intestinal tract, and from there carried by the blood, to be stored up in the muscles and various tissues as latent force. The muscles contain one-fourth of all the blood in the body.

Heat Production.—By watching a muscle when contracting, we see that there is not only a change of shape, but a dilatation of its blood-vessels, that is, more blood passes through a muscle when it is contracting than when it is at rest, and this increased flow continues for some little time after the contraction has ceased; there is also a rise of temperature. Nearly three-fourths of the heat developed in the body is produced in the muscles at the actual moment of muscular contraction. Hence, we learn that the whole body is heated by muscular exercise; the even temperature of the various parts is maintained through the circulation of the blood. This combustion, going on throughout the entire economy, is the source of all force or energy in the body. In every movement, every breath taken, in the change even of a muscle of expression or the conception of a passing fancy, combustion has occurred and potential force has been liberated.

Muscular Fatigue.—The fatigue produced by muscular contraction may be due to the consumption of the readily available material present in the muscle, to the consumption of the supply of oxygen, or to the presence of the products of combustion, and, if Weichardt’s theory is correct, to these must be added the presence of a definite “fatigue toxin.”

During repose the internal changes of the tissue manufacture new explosive material out of the comparatively raw material already present in the fiber, and the directly hurtful products of the act of combustion are either carried off, or undergo changes by which they are converted into comparatively inert bodies. A stream of fresh blood may exert its restorative influence, not only by quickening both of these events, but also by carrying off the immediate waste-products, while, at the same time, it brings new raw material.

Every movement of the body depends as much upon the proper coördination of the muscles for its accuracy, grace, and force as upon the strength of their contraction, and while the fatigue, of which we are conscious in our own bodies after prolonged or unusual exertion, arises partly from the exhaustion of the motor nerves, it is chiefly from the exhaustion of the central nervous system concerned in the production of voluntary impulses. A man who feels absolutely exhausted may, under excitement, perform a very large amount of work with his already wearied muscles. The will rarely, if ever, calls forth the greatest amount of contraction of which the muscle is capable.

Passive Exercise: Massage.—Massage has been defined as the systematic manipulation of the surface of the body by the hands of the operator in movements of stroking, pinching, kneading, and striking. The passive movements consist of flexions, extensions, rotations, and other movements of joints and limbs by an operator or machine without the coöperation or resistance of the patient.

Massage takes the place of voluntary muscular movement, in promoting the flow of lymph and the flow of venous blood toward the heart, if the proper direction, that of rubbing toward the heart, be followed; while, on the contrary, rubbing down a limb or from the heart actually retards the process which it is meant to facilitate. Gentle rubbing of any part of the body promotes growth, while vigorous rubbing removes superfluous fat.

Massage finds its widest field of usefulness in conditions of fatigue, where the elimination of waste matter must be assisted, and where the nutrition of a part is impaired or destroyed. Muscles can be improved in size, tone, and nutrition; ligaments can be stretched and lengthened, the general circulation accelerated, and overloaded veins made to disgorge their blood. The digestive tract can be stimulated, and overwrought nerves soothed and relieved of their hypersensibility.

The nourishment of the muscle-cell is improved by forcing out the products of fatigue and keeping it bathed in a constantly renewed stream of arterial blood. This alone is sufficient to prevent wasting of substance in conditions where active movements are impossible.

Massage relieves the nervous system by maintaining the nutrition of the muscles, without the expenditure of nerve force required to make them contract. It acts on the central nervous system through the nerves of sense, stimulating or soothing them, according to the nature and the amount of the manipulation.

Mosso and Maggiora, of Turin, have proved, by their experiments as to the effect of massage on the muscles, that muscles were capable of doing twice as much work after massage. It was also discovered that extending of the period of the massage did not produce any greater results in the capacity for work; the full effect was obtained in five minutes.

The action of massage in improving muscle tone, in postponing the onset of fatigue, and hastening recovery from it has long been recognized by athletic trainers. After a hard race or other contest, it is a matter of knowledge among trainers that a five minutes’ treatment will enable an athlete to repeat or continue a performance otherwise impossible.

Massage is the most economic form of exercise on the nervous system. Its potency is shown by the increase of the red-blood corpuscles and hemoglobin, and by the increased rate and force of the heart’s beat without a corresponding change in the arterial tension. It accomplishes these results by decreasing the resistance in the peripheral vessels, by the removal of the products of oxidation, and by mechanically moving the blood-current forward in the lymph-spaces and venous channels. It is thus shown to stimulate the circulation, the respiration, nutrition, and excretion.

Mezger describes four principal manipulations: First, stroking or effleurage, in which the hand is passed lightly over the skin, with the pressure from the periphery to the center, following the course of the venous circulation, and the long direction of the muscles from their insertion to their origin. It may be performed by stroking with the palm of one or both hands, with the thumb or tips of the fingers. The two hands are used upon the large fleshy parts of the thighs and buttocks, the back, chest, and neck.

Second, Friction.—This is a deep circular movement, performed with the thumbs and tips of the fingers, or by one hand open or clenched. The products of fatigue collecting in deep muscular tissues are thus thrown into the circulation, the gentle manipulations of stroking carrying them into the superficial veins. The friction should proceed in the same direction as the stroking movements.

Third, petrissage, also described as pinching and grasping, is performed by picking up the skin and subcutaneous tissues between the thumb and fingers, and manipulating it with an amount of force not sufficient to cause pain. In this procedure the skin moves with the hand of the operator, and the underlying structures are thus massaged by it under the pressure of the fingers. The thumb and fingers are used to reach the individual muscles and small groups. The movements should proceed from the periphery toward the center. It is used to improve muscular nutrition in case of fatigue, in atrophy, in obesity, and other forms of muscular degeneration.

Fourth, Striking, Tapôtement, or Percussion.—Other names are clapping, beating, knocking, or hacking. It has a stimulating action on the skin, superficial nerves, and vessels. Hacking is performed by the ulnar border of the hand, and is used along the nerve-trunks.

Fifth, Shaking or Vibration.—Shaking involves movements of the whole body or region to be treated, while vibration is a lesser motion in which the body or region remains at rest, while the surface and the structures immediately beneath it are affected.

General massage is best given at an hour midway between meals, and never immediately after eating. The parts are at first lubricated with cocoa-butter or vaselin, to avoid the irritation which may follow the friction of the surface.

The first process of massage is the simple stroking to empty out the lymph-channels; the next process is directed to the deeper tissues. This is deep kneading, and skill is particularly required here. As the result of this, the muscles are toned up and the nerves are soothed, so that the total effect is that of sedation, and is followed by the removal of the fatigue toxins, so that if necessary it will be possible to undertake work after the massage that would have been impossible before.

The operator starts with the feet. After both surfaces of the foot have been well covered, the foot is firmly grasped and all the natural movements of the toes and ankles are gone through with. Next the region of the ankle, the leg, which is treated by circular friction by the fingers, by deep grasping of the areolar tissues, and, last, by deep pinching of the larger muscle masses. At brief intervals upward stroking is given from the ankle to the knee, to favor the venous flow of blood-currents. The same process is gone through with in the case of the hands and arms. Especial care is next given to the muscles of the loins, back, and neck. The abdomen is then treated. Massage of this region concludes with deep kneading by the heel of the hand in the direction of the colon. The chest is manipulated upward, from the sternum along the line of the pectoral muscles. The face is not usually treated in general massage, but the sides of the neck are stroked from above downward, along the course of the internal jugular veins. Each part operated upon should be carefully covered as soon as finished.

There is a constant rise of temperature after the treatment, and there should be a rapid improvement in the tone and reaction of the whole muscular system.

The usual fault in giving massage is that too much is given at one time; the maximum effect on a part is obtained in five minutes. Another mistake is to employ too heavy a hand. A patient should never feel bruised or exhausted after the treatment; there should be simply a pleasant lassitude and feeling of drowsiness.

While massage is not essential for the health, it aids materially in maintaining good health, but, in order to be efficient, a skilful masseuse is necessary, as a considerable amount of manipulative skill is essential, which can only be acquired by proper training. Massage, especially when taken in connection with the Turkish bath, is most valuable to remove weariness of nerves and muscles, as well as slight aches and pains.

The Balance and Carriage of the Body.—The erect position of the body is maintained through the exertion of more or less muscular force. The base of the erect human body is the soles of the feet; the smaller the base, the more danger of a fall. The base is the smallest when one stands on the toes.

The way in which the spinal column is carried by the pelvis determines the way in which the whole body is carried. An erect and graceful carriage in standing and walking is not only desirable from an esthetic point of view, but it is most essential to good health. Without a proper development of the chest, it is impossible to secure a normal development of the lungs and vigor of the heart.

It is upon the erectness, suppleness, and strength of the spinal column that most of the power and grace of the body depend. In the proper carriage the natural lines of the spinal column form a graceful and undulating line, and the body stands erect without any particular effort.

The curves of the spinal column are of great value in protecting the brain, as they weaken the force of any shock, which may be caused by striking the bones of the feet.

Common Defects in the Carriage of the Body.—Owing to the common faulty position of school children at their desks, the sedentary occupations of women, and their lack of physical training, curvature of the spine is very common. A stooping carriage is the most common. The head is bent forward, the chest is sunken, the back is round, the shoulder-blades hang outward, the inner edges standing out like wings, and the abdomen is protuberant. The muscles are poorly developed and are weak and flabby.

This stooping carriage interferes with the freedom in breathing, and prevents the proper development of the upper part of the chest and lungs. Hence, it predisposes to lung diseases and tuberculosis, a weak heart, poor circulation, shortness of breath, inability to take proper exercise, and thinness of the blood (anemia).

Spinal Curvatures.—The spinal column is normally directly in the middle of the back; any deviation of this column to either side is abnormal, and the lungs become cramped in a small and non-distensible bony cage. This spinal curvature is most apt to take place in young girls or in adult women after a severe illness, when the muscles of the back have become particularly flabby, and, while still in this condition, improper attitudes are assumed at the desk or other sedentary occupations.

Preventive measures are of the utmost importance. First of all, comes the general strengthening of the body, and of the muscles and bones in particular, by plenty of exercise in the open air.

The habitual attitude at the desk and work should always be carefully observed, and in all sedentary occupations the work should be frequently interrupted to take systematic breathing exercises before an open window.

Where spinal curvature has actually taken place, especial exercises must be taken under the supervision of a physician and instructor. Gymnastic exercises must be supplemented by outdoor games and sports.

The Heart’s Need of Exercise.—The first essential for the maintenance of health, capacity for work, and power of resistance of disease is a normally developed and strong heart. First, there must be secured a vigorous circulation of the blood, and the two greatest helps to this are exercise and deep breathing. In the sedentary posture the heart works at a disadvantage.

For the young, exercise of the heart is the chief object of physical exercises; this object is best attained by exercises of speed, especially in the form of games which require rapid movement. In youth the recuperative powers of the heart and lungs are at the highest.

An adult cannot race and scamper about like a child who plays for hours together, and a disturbance of the heart’s action brought about by strenuous exercise to the point of fatigue of the heart is not so quickly compensated. On the other hand, severe exercises of strength and endurance are not so apt to prove injurious after the completion of growth as they are in the growing youth. Up to the age of eighteen years no feats of strength or of endurance should be attempted. From eighteen to thirty years is the period of life when any kind of athletic exercise can be taken, not only without any injurious, but with beneficial, results. After the period of youth new conditions begin to make themselves felt, and more care must be exercised in the demands made upon the heart. In some persons obesity sets in before they have reached thirty and impedes the action of the heart. About the fortieth year the walls of the arteries begin to lose their elasticity, they become more rigid, and chalk salts are deposited in them. Golf and lawn-tennis are now excellent.

And now it is most essential that exercise be kept up; the heart must still be trained and practised. The fibers of every muscle degenerates when their work is reduced to a minimum.

Proper health without proper breathing is a physical impossibility. It is necessary that those portions of the lungs which do take part in ordinary breathing, and which would atrophy from lack of use, should be fully developed and kept ready for suitable exercise. As soon as the lungs grow weary and the power of breathing is exhausted, the most powerful muscles of the body give way. The pleasure of vigorous walking, especially in mountainous places, is alone for her who can respond easily and readily to the enormously increased demands on the power of the respiration.

The direct result of exercise is an increased demand for oxygen by the tissues, and, to meet this demand, respiration is deepened and quickened, and the beat of the heart is more rapid and more forcible. But the phenomena of increased breathing power and increased heart action benefit other parts of the body. At the commencement of an exercise the contraction of the voluntary muscles called into action compresses the blood-vessels, and impels the venous blood actively toward the heart, which, thus stimulated, contracts vigorously, and propels the blood in increased quantity toward the lungs. Stimulated by the pressure of a large amount of venous blood, the inspiratory muscles contract and elevate the bony structure of the chest, the diaphragm pushes down the abdominal contents, and the air rushes in to fill the vacuum thus produced and to supply the oxygen necessary for the purification of the blood. Supplied with this life-giving element, the blood is returned to the heart, to be distributed again throughout the system, and to restore the loss incurred in the original muscular movements.

In this manner are not only the voluntary muscles enlarged and strengthened, but also the involuntary muscles, particularly the heart and the diaphragm. The increased activity of the circulation stimulates other organs to increased activity. The quantity of perspiration from the skin is more than doubled, the appetite is increased, digestion is more perfect, absorption is more rapid, the hepatic circulation is more active, and the abdominal circulation is carried on more vigorously.

But, on the other hand, actual harm may be done if any one who has been accustomed to lead a sedentary life, or who is not vigorous, suddenly engages in the more violent forms of exercise. In this extreme exertion the heart may be embarrassed by the respiratory action. At the end of deep inspiration the increased pressure of the lungs impedes the flow of blood from the right side of the heart, while the compression of the heart itself by the distended lungs tends to overfill the large veins, and to further endanger the right side of the heart.

During general muscular contraction the arterial pressure is increased at the outset of exertion, before the arteries have become relaxed, and this in turn may lead to the engorgement of the left side of the heart and the circulation through the lungs. To these conditions may be added still another; that is, the exhaustion of the respiratory muscles, partly because of the unusual amount of labor thrown upon them, and partly from the inadequate supply of properly oxygenated blood. If the disturbance of the pulmonocardiac equilibrium be severe and the condition unrelieved, general prostration ensues long before the muscles engaged in the work are exhausted. If, on the other hand, the equilibrium be restored, or when the heart and lungs have been trained to accomplish the restitution, the distress disappears, and the individual is said to have gotten his second wind.

The Gymnasium in the Campaign against Disease.—Women, generally speaking, do not take sufficient exercise. The trend of the present day is for girls of the richer classes to lead an outdoor life, but the women of the middle and lower classes do not obtain enough variety of exercise or enough fresh air, and to the lack of proper outdoor exercise is due their anemic condition, pallor, flabby muscles, and generally ill-nourished appearance.

With the division of labor and the increase of wealth it has become possible for a large proportion of the community to live without much all-round mental or physical activity. As a consequence, there are faulty circulation and defective nutrition, the vital resistance of the body is lowered, and some of its various organs or tissues are ever ready to take on disease. The lowering of the tone of the body through dissipation, want of fresh air and sunshine, insufficient sleep, lack of proper occupation or recreation, also increases the susceptibility of the body to disease.

Senile decay is by no means only a matter of years, but the manner of life led. And very many people over forty years of age fall into a condition of senile decay, merely because they do not take a sufficient amount of active exercise. In consequence the joints stiffen, the muscles relax, and the arteries harden prematurely. The prime of life would be very greatly extended, and old age delayed, if women only continued their active interest in work and systematically kept up gymnastic exercises and outdoor sports.

For all classes of women provision must be made, and sufficient time afforded, to be devoted to some form of mental and physical recuperation and systematic physical training.

Gymnastic versus Athletic Training.—The actual experience of the past few decades has proved that the most effective way of developing the mental and physical powers and the constitutional vigor is through a judicious system of gymnastics, athletics, and carefully supervised plays, sports, and games.

To show which of the two contestants was the “better man” was the primary object of all contests, and this is the fundamental source of the love of games and athletics. England has relied for her physical training upon a large variety of games and sports, instead of an elaborate system of gymnastics. The Englishwomen live an outdoor life, are great walkers, horseback riders, and go in for athletics and sports, and we find that the English women have a much more vigorous physique and healthy and ruddy appearance than their American sisters.

In Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, and Italy more stress is laid on the gymnastic training, and in the Olympic contests, held in London in 1908, the twenty-five women from Denmark afforded a revelation to many of the Americans present.

Medical gymnastics had their origin in Sweden, and are practised largely in that country and on the Continent.

In gymnastic exercises the work done on each piece of apparatus must be tried repeatedly, in order to be learned, and then must be practised assiduously, in order to be well performed. This is what makes gymnastics so valuable as a means of physical training and development. The first essential is to learn to handle one’s own weight, and to have the muscles of the body under complete control, and much of the interest and fascination found in practising heavy gymnastics come from this acquired power over one’s own body, and the ability to make it do the feats and stunts which one desires it to do. This is one reason why children love to climb fences, trees, etc., and test their ability to handle and master themselves in new and untried situations.

But, in order that good and not actual harm may be done, gymnastics must be carried on under medical supervision. Bodily exercises should, as far as possible, occupy the mind at the same time. The fact that gymnastic training is being taken up in our high-schools and colleges for girls is a great gain, not only to the individual, but to the race as well.

The proper development of the body, the clear skin and eye, the upright and graceful carriage, the free swing of the body and limbs when they move, give happiness to the possessor as well as to the onlookers. The esthetic advantages of health are very considerable.

Among the mental and moral advantages to be derived from the practice of exercises and games are a greater amount of self-control, persistence, regularity, promptness, and of general self-confidence. In the playing of games there is opportunity for originality as well as for observation. The unwritten code of honor, the need of accuracy—all these qualities are essential for a successful and happy issue in the great battle of life.

The ideal physical training requires that systematic gymnastic exercises should be supplemented by outdoor games and sports. Gymnastics are not sufficient for an all-round means of development, because the movements are too regular, too expected, and too deliberate, but they are invaluable for health and physical development, for the correction of physical deformities, as a foundation for many games and sports, and for supplementing the same. Many games are so one-sided that gymnastic exercises are essential to prevent the body from becoming unsymmetrically developed, and, further, gymnastic exercises must invariably be the foundation for all games; no games can do what they are really capable of doing without the firm foundation of the best gymnastic training.

Those exercises and games should be selected which are the most fundamental and the most healthy, which will cause the all-round development of the body, the muscles, heart, lungs, chest, a good condition of the blood, good circulation, breathing, digestion, and the getting rid of the waste-products.

Such exercises should teach obedience to law, self-control, regularity, promptitude, and readiness to meet fresh conditions or emergencies, persistence, pluck, and the ready coöperation of nerves and muscles.

The aim of gymnastic exercises should be to secure a symmetric development of all the muscles the body, to correct one-sidedness, spinal curvatures, and other physical defects, and to strengthen all the muscles of the body. In the gymnasium especial attention must always be given to the development and strengthening of the muscles of the back and chest, as these are the ones that are apt to be the most poorly developed in women, since they are less called into play in walking, which is the only exercise that most women take, and on their good development and strength depend the upright carriage of the body, a good chest capacity, and, hence, good respiratory capacity, a vigorous heart, and good circulation.

Exercise after Eating.—Severe mental and vigorous bodily exercise immediately after a meal retards gastric digestion. The entrance of food into the stomach excites the free flow of gastric juice, which, like all the secreting processes, is dependent upon a flux of blood to the secreting glands. Other parts of the body, notably the brain, suffer from temporary anemia, and hence the great tendency to drowsiness after eating a hearty meal. At such a time severe mental work or vigorous bodily exercise must necessarily cause a corresponding withdrawal of blood from the alimentary canal to the brain, or, in the case of physical labor, to the extremities, in order to furnish the amount of blood necessary for the proper performance of the functions of these parts. The withdrawal of blood from the digestive organs has the effect of inhibiting gastric digestion, since there has been an interruption of a free flow of gastric juice.

We are safe then in believing that digestion is favored by rest of the stomach before eating, by gentle exercise of the mind and body after eating, and by an undisturbed mental condition.

An athletic training is productive of a more complete oxidation of the nitrogenous materials of the body, and, therefore, of a more economic utilization of these substances. In those cases in which there is lack of physical training, sudden muscular exertion is followed by a waste of nitrogenous matter.

The Effect of Brain Fatigue on Body Fatigue and Vice Versa.—Brain fatigue makes the sense of touch less delicate. Similarly, muscle fatigue affects brain power; severe muscular exertion may bring a disinclination and incapacity for brain work. Hard exercise uses up nerve force, and also causes the circulation of waste-products in the blood, and so the action of the brain is hindered. On the other hand, many people who do a great deal of brain work know that an early morning walk, a pull on the river, is most refreshing and stimulating, and actually makes them more capable of doing good brain work; that is, if they are in fair training and do not take enough exercise to make them tired.

It is beyond question that a dull gymnastic drill, coming after hours of hard school work, may be a very heavy tax on the brain and nerves, and can hardly be a relaxation. Outdoor exercises, which require practically no brain work and a good deal of muscular exercise, would do good, such as walking, running, jumping, and various kinds of games; while, on the contrary, exercises of skill would be a serious tax.

The suggestion has been widely accepted, that brain work should occupy the morning hours, while technical education, such as singing, drawing, and physical training, should be given in the afternoon.

Marks for Physical Efficiency.—The tests suggested some fifteen years ago by Sir Francis Galton, the eminent English scientist, for assigning marks for physical qualifications were the following: First, breathing capacity; second, strength tests, both of them to be regarded with reference to the stature and the weight; third, quickness of response to a signal, made either to the eye or ear; fourth, keenness of eye-sight; fifth, keenness of hearing; sixth, color sense.

Dr. Sargent, realizing the usefulness of these tests in measuring physical efficiency, included them in the physical examinations of the Harvard students. The strength tests consist in the strength of each forearm, of the back of the legs, the dip, the pull up, and the lung capacity. The combination of these seven tests is known as the intercollegiate strength test, and is the best means as yet devised for measuring the general muscular strength and the respiratory power.

The Advantages Derived from Athletic Sports.—Nothing can take the place of athletic sports to develop strong vigorous bodies in girls and young women. While formal gymnastics have both an educational and corrective value, and lay the foundation for athletic sports, they cannot take the place of outdoor sports to develop organic vigor, physical and moral courage, self-reliance, judgment, self-control, decision, and ethical training, a consideration for the rights of others, and a relaxation, particularly from mental work. Athletics are to youth what play is to children. Groos tells us that a function of play is to furnish an outlet for exuberance and animal spirits in the young.

The Ethical Value of Sports for Women.—First come the benefits to the individual and second the benefits to the community, and it is a self-evident fact that that which promotes the highest development of the individual raises the standard of the community.

The benefits accruing to the individual are physical, esthetic, and psychologic; and as the result of the development of the individual along these lines will result the fourth benefit, the social or the “community good.”

Municipal governments are beginning to recognize the fact that the maintenance of public playgrounds not merely promote the good of the individual, but lessen the death-rate, the poverty rate, the criminal rate, and it has been found that the working capacity of the people depend in some way upon the recreation afforded them.

Sports for women are essential, not only to better fit the individual for her place in life, but as an offset to the deadly monotony of her work. The predominating note of sports should be joy, exhilaration, and the social features of games.

Women’s sports, like women’s clubs, are and should be run along different lines from men’s. The object of women’s games are for their development and individual good, and should, therefore, never be played before indiscriminate audiences who pay an admission fee.

Women have the same necessity as children and men for a wholesome physical outlet for the exuberance of animal spirits and energy.

The esthetic value of games has been found to be expressed in the improvement of the personal habits and appearance, which indicates a higher standard of living.

And the psychologic value has been found to be a development of the mental and the moral qualities, and so the individual is the better enabled to direct her efforts wisely and so more successfully in life’s activities.

All of this is not a matter of theory, but it is the universal testimony of the directors of the various athletic associations for women all over the country.

Among other developments along the physical line are endurance, skill, precision, and coördination. To be able to do physical things well has an ethical value in the individual’s attitude toward life in all its phases.

The esthetic value lays stress upon the beauty and good form of games. It is essential in playing games that women should stand well, walk well, run well, throw well, and have a neat appearance. The manners and habits of the players on the field are also part of the esthetic training.

It has also been noted that for reasons largely beyond her control the primitive occupations of women have been taken out of her hands, and have forced her, in order to secure a maintenance for herself, or those depending on her for support, out of the home into the industries and occupations of the world, together with a fierce competition which this necessitates. In other words, success is based upon competition, and competition is the keynote of organized games. So that one of the values of games is to maintain fair, economic, and coöperative rules of competition. Other things being equal, the athletic man or woman who has played according to the rules of the games is likely to be fairer than he who knows nothing of clean sport.

Some of the mental qualities developed are observation, attention, concentration, memory, imagination, initiative, reason, and will power. These qualities are most highly developed in the various ball games, from its simplest forms to team work, as baseball and basket-ball.

The moral qualities developed are self-control, unselfishness, a sense of honor, self-sacrifice, self-confidence, fairness, democracy of spirit, modesty, and decision. One of the qualities which characterizes a good player is that she will do the things which are assigned her. Promptness and obedience to order are the first laws in any game. Throughout the game self-confidence is taught. Each player has her own responsibilities, decisions must be quickly and accurately made, while overconfidence brings a sure defeat.

If competition underlies all games, it is equally true that unselfishness is the basis of all team work. The ability to work together requires at every point unselfish adjustment. One of the first things learned is to appreciate another’s ability, and the individual egotism, so marked in the beginning of the work, is rapidly toned down.

Closely allied with unselfishness is the spirit of fair play, and closely linked with fairness is loyalty and a sense of honor, the lack of which makes girls the contempt of boys and women the despair of men. It has been averred that the social position of woman and her dependence upon her lord and master have lead her to become indirect and devious, hence her lack of perfect truthfulness and sense of honor, so that when put upon her honor she does not realize her responsibility.

Another great advantage that games possess for women is that many of them, from their weak physical condition, are abnormally sensitive and introspective; they live too much on the subjective side of life. While sports are primarily objective, they afford no opportunity for analysis of feeling; the thought must be riveted on the thing to be done. Every girl’s school and woman’s club which provides opportunities for games and sports erect barriers against nervousness, morbidity, and too much introspection. These qualities which games develop are not masculine, but human; qualities needed for human fellowship.

The Forms of Athletic Games Best Suited to Women.—Dr. Sargent’s conclusions as to the form of athletic games best suited to women, coming from a man of his wide observation and great experience, should be more generally known, and he says, without hesitation, that there is no athletic sport practised in which some women cannot enter, not only without fear of injury, but with great prospect of success. But the feminine type of build, whether found in men or women, is a handicap in many athletic contests. But these limitations do not apply to girls between ten and fourteen years of age. During this period girls, if properly trained, will often surpass boys of the same age in any kind of athletic performance. Moreover, if girls were given the same kind of physical training as boys receive all through their growing and developing period, they would be able to make a much more creditable showing as athletes when they became adult women. In the early history of mankind the men and women lead lives more nearly alike, and were consequently more alike physically and mentally than they have become subsequently in the history of highly civilized people.

From a physiologic standpoint, woman needs exercise just as much as man does, but, in taking up athletics, these must be regulated on a different basis. Women, as a class, cannot stand prolonged physical or mental strain as well as men do, but give them frequent intervals of rest and relaxation, and they will often accomplish as much in the twenty-four hours as men do.

From her physical configuration and her inability to bear prolonged physical and mental strain, there are certain athletic sports and games that would be likely to prove injurious to most women if played in the form in which they are played by men. In this group are foot-ball, ice hockey, polo, basket-ball, boxing, fencing, pole vaulting, and heavy gymnastics. If these sports and games should be so modified as to meet the peculiar characteristics of women, there are none of them that could not be played with reasonable hopes of physical, mental, and moral improvement.

The athletic exercises and games to which women are best adapted, and in which they are most likely to excel, are all forms of dancing, calisthenics and light gymnastics, archery, lawn-tennis, swimming, field hockey, lacrosse, sprint running, bicycling, rowing, canoeing, golf, skating, fencing, basket-ball, and all gymnastic plays and games.

In all athletic exercises in which women engage, good form, rather than great records, should be striven for. Women may be excused for not being as strong and enduring as men, but they cannot be excused for not being more finished and graceful. Good carriage, perfect poise, self-command, and exquisite grace and refinement should enter into women’s athletic performances, and these qualities should be taken into consideration by the judges in making their awards.

CHAPTER X
SYMMETRIC DEVELOPMENT: GOOD CARRIAGE AND GRACE OF MOTION THROUGH GYMNASTICS AND ATHLETICS

Gymnasiums, Baths, and Athletic Association: a Fundamental Part of a Woman’s College and a Model Woman’s Club; the Vassar College Gymnasium; the Standardized Percentage Table for Physical Efficiency; Special Medical Blank for Women; Self-made Good Physique through Physical Training; Rules for Taking Exercise; Gymnastic Dress; the Configuration of the Foot; Correct Attitude in Standing.

Corrective Exercises: Exercises for Developing the Various Regions of the Body; Shoulder-blade Exercises; Respiratory Exercises; Exercise for Forward Projection of Chest and Retraction of Abdomen; Shoulder and Back Exercises; Leg Exercises; Squatting Exercises for Muscles of Spine and Abdomen; Alternate Kneeling; Abdominal Exercises; Balancing Exercises for Poise and Carriage; Balancing Exercises for Extending Depth of Chest; Lateral Trunk and Waist Exercises; Exercises for Muscles of Back; Exercises for Muscles of Abdomen; Swimming Exercises, for Back, Thighs, and Abdomen; Rope Pulling-exercises for Back, Chest, Waist, Legs, and Arms; Exercises in Trunk Flexions for Back, Abdomen, and Legs; Exercises with Chest Weights for Chest, Shoulders, and Arms; Boxing and Fencing; Classic and Esthetic Dancing an Essential Feature in Physical Training; Figures of the Dance with Some Simple Exercises.

Outdoor Exercises: Effect of Walking on the Heart and Lungs; Running; Mountain Climbing; Swimming; Horseback Riding as an Exercise; Rowing.

Athletic Sports: Croquet; Lawn-tennis; Golf; Hockey; Basket-ball.

Gymnasiums, Baths, and Athletic Associations a Fundamental Part of a Woman’s College and a Model Woman’s Club.—It has been repeatedly and conclusively proved, in a large series of cases, that the physique, carriage, and health of woman can be wonderfully improved by regular and systematic gymnastic exercises, combined with outdoor exercise and athletic sports.

Briefly stated, the facts in the matter are these: the bony and the muscular systems and the vital organs are the same in both men and women, and hence the general scheme of physical training, which has been found to be so highly beneficial to men, would, if properly modified, be equally beneficial to women, and such a training for women is urged by the most competent authorities of the day.

Two-thirds of the body weight consists of bones and muscles, and the development, growth, nutrition, and vigor of the muscular and bony system can only be maintained by such exercises as will call into play the action of all of the muscles of the body, that is, the stature, breadth of shoulders, and size of the chest, as well as firm, hard muscles, are dependent on regular and systematic exercises of every part of the body, and through the beneficial effects produced through exercise on the respiration, circulation, and digestion, etc., the brain, nerves, heart, lungs, in short, all the organs and tissues of the body, are kept in a healthy condition.

The life of the masses of women to-day is being spent under artificial and the most unhealthy conditions; for the most part in overheated, ill-ventilated houses, with very little time spent in the open air, and without any knowledge or practice in games and outdoor sports.

The occupation, or lack of occupation, of the majority of women scarcely calls into play the muscles of the upper part of the body. This lack of use of the muscles about the shoulders and upper part of the chest is fatal to the development of the chest and lungs.

Outside of housewives and domestics, the majority of professional, business, and working women live under a very high nervous tension, with but a very slight range of physical activity. What they all need is a sufficient variety of exercises to call into play all the muscles and the various regions of the body, together with plenty of fresh air, amusements, and recreations. And already some of our large, wide-awake, manufacturing establishments, convinced that the practical application of these truths in their own factories would both improve the health of their employees and be to the financial interest of the firm, are now providing well-equipped gymnasiums, under the direction of competent instructors, furnished with baths, resting-rooms, restaurants, etc., for their employees, and these experiments have demonstrated that the improved quantity and quality of the work, the lessened amount of sickness among the employees, more than compensate the employers for the expenditure of money and the time consumed in physical recreation.

It is only within the past decade that the great benefits to be derived from a systematic, gymnastic training, combined with athletic sports for girls and women, has been generally recognized. To-day all our best colleges for girls and young women have well-equipped gymnasiums, with a corps of competent instructors, where a scientific and systematic course in physical training is given during the winter months, supplemented during the fall and spring months by outdoor athletics and games. And, further, this course is obligatory during the freshman, sophomore, and junior years.

The result of the gymnastic and athletic work done at Vassar College for the past fifteen years shows a very great improvement in the physical development, the lung capacity, and the general health of the students. The average lung capacity for women is given as one hundred and fifty cubic inches; at Vassar the average lung capacity is one hundred and sixty-five cubic inches.

The Vassar College Gymnasium.—As Vassar College has a model gymnasium, an unusually fine corps of instructors, and gives the greatest attention to all the details of the physical training of its students, it may very properly serve as a model for schools and women’s clubs throughout the country.

The instructors all received their training at the Sargent Normal School, Cambridge, under the direction of Dr. Dudley A. Sargent. Hence, it is naturally run along the same lines.

Gymnasium work is carried on from the middle of November until the end of March. The gymnasium is furnished with the usual apparatus for light and heavy work. The entire student body is divided into four classes; each class meets three times a week, and the period of work in the gymnasium lasts forty-five minutes. This is followed by the shower and needle baths.

The wands and dumb-bells used are wooden ones, and vary in weight from three-fourths of a pound to two and a half pounds. Other apparatus that might be used in the home gymnasium are the chest-weights and the rowing machine with a movable seat.

Instruction in classic dancing is part of the regular gymnastic work.

The Vassar gymnasium is also furnished with a fine swimming pool. The temperature of the water is kept at from 75° to 80° F. For beginners it is necessary to have a much higher temperature than for expert swimmers. Women will be greatly encouraged to learn to swim from the fact of the incredibly short time in which the art is taught here. Students learn to swim well in ten lessons of fifteen minutes each, and the great popularity of these lessons renders it necessary to limit the instruction to ten lessons. Later in the season, if there is space in the pool, the lessons may be resumed.

Before entering the gymnasium the girl is first of all carefully examined by the resident physician and gymnasium director, and the results of these examinations recorded.

A detailed series of measurements and strength tests is made and recorded on the gymnasium register. On completing the tests, the following card is filled out and given to each girl. It has been found that these cards, kept by the girls, increase the interest of each in her development, and stimulate her to further exertion to improve her physique.

PLATE VIII
Vassar College gymnasium.

VASSAR COLLEGE GYMNASIUM.—RECORD OF PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS

Miss
Examinations
	First.	Second.	Third.	Fourth.	Fifth.
Height						Centimeters.
Weight						Pounds.
Lung capacity						Cubic inches.
Girth, chest						Centimeters.
Girth, chest, full						”
Girth, chest, ninth rib						”
Girth, chest, ninth rib, full						”
Strength, back						Kilos.
Strength, legs						”
Strength, chest						”
Strength, right forearm						”
Strength, left forearm						”

The instruments needed for making these tests are the spirometer and two dynamometers, one to test the strength of the muscles of the back and legs and the other to test the muscles of the arms.

Outdoor sports and athletics are begun in the fall, on the opening of the college, and are continued as long as the weather permits. The students then take up the regular gymnastic work until the spring of the year, when athletics are again resumed. Here again three hours a week are obligatory. It should be stated here that during the menstrual period the girls are not only excused from gymnastics and athletics, but absolutely forbidden to take part in these exercises.

The list of games include croquet, lawn-tennis, hockey, and basket-ball. Rowing has always been a favorite outdoor sport at Vassar. In 1909 horseback riding was again taken up; riding lessons were begun in April, and two hundred girls took lessons. With the exception of about twenty, they all rode astride. An ordinary man’s saddle can be used, but a somewhat narrower saddle, with a higher front, is more comfortable.

The Standardized Percentage Table for Physical Efficiency.—The great importance of heredity on the life history of the individual is now so generally recognized that its record becomes almost as important as that of the woman herself.

The attention of medical examiners is called to the fact that more stress must be laid upon the habits of dress in women as a frequently predisposing cause of impaired physical weakness and tendency to disease. This is emphatically so in the case of high French heels and insufficient clothing. About 75 per cent. of the women of to-day wear excessively high heels, and quite that number take practically no exercise.

Because of the great variation in the height of the heel of the shoe, from 1 to 3 inches, it is essential that the height should be taken in the stocking feet; and since the weight of the clothing varies at the different seasons of the year, the weight should be taken with a minimum amount of clothing on. While the chest measurements should be taken with a steel tape with all of the clothing of the chest removed; care being taken that the tape does not slip down in the back.

Difference of pulse in the horizontal and vertical positions should not exceed 15 beats; and in strong hearts the rate is just the same.

For the proper completion of this examination it is most essential that all of the endurance tests should be made.

Hopping Test.—Heart is counted with the stethoscope at apex during four consecutive 15-second periods immediately after hopping. Note per cent. of increase from normal during first 15-second period; second, per cent. of recovery from first 15-second period to fourth 15-second period.

The ratings are as follows: I. For good heredity, personal history, and good present condition, 10 per cent.; II. Normal condition of heart and circulatory system, 10 per cent.; III. Normal conditions of lungs and chest development, 10 per cent.; IV. Good condition of digestive system, 10 per cent.; V. Normal condition of kidneys, 10 per cent.; VI. Normal condition of nervous system, 10 per cent.; VII. Normal condition of generative organs, 10 per cent.; Normal condition of muscular system, 10 per cent.; Tests of endurance, normal, 5 per cent.; Normal ocular and aural tests, 5 per cent.; Normal working efficiency, 10 per cent. Making for the normal total of physical efficiency 100 per cent.

No applicant should be passed who falls below 7.5 per cent. in any one group of tests, or who falls below 75 per cent. on the entire examination.

This medical blank was made to gauge as accurately as possible the physical condition of women, on which their working efficiency depends. While we cannot measure the strength and adaptability of the heart and blood-vessels with the same degree of accuracy as height, weight, and chest measurements, yet with the physical examination and the tests of endurance we can make a very fair estimate. And we are entirely dependent for the history of heredity, personal history, and that of the digestive and nervous systems upon the woman herself; but the history of the present condition at least can be to a great extent verified or annulled by the physical examination and by the present condition.

By the quickness and conciseness with which the questions are answered; the woman’s posture when she does not realize that it is being studied; her movements as she goes from one test to another and the way she conducts herself throughout this very rigid physical examination, which working under high pressure with the aid of a stenographer and office nurse, takes one hour to complete; one can judge pretty accurately of her working efficiency.

The applicants should be graded into four classes:

Class A. Those having an excellent record in all tests.

Class B. Those having a good average record and no poor record in any test.

Class C. Those having a fair average record and who are free from organic defects.

Class D. Those having some definite organic disease which, in the judgment of the examiner, would make it dangerous for the individual to undertake any confining or laborious occupation.

Only those who come under Class “A” or “B” should be recommended for any confining or laborious occupation. By suitable methods for the correction of faulty habits of hygiene and systematic physical training for one year those in Class “C” should be able to gain admittance to one of the first two classes.

To be most beneficial to the candidate, after the physical examination is completed, there should follow a brief personal talk, making suggestions for the correction of faulty personal hygiene; and where medical treatment is indicated, instructions to place herself under the care of a physician. This has from the first been the policy of the board and of the medical examiner.

And on their part, the candidates are now beginning to thoroughly realize that these examinations are decidedly to their advantage and regard them as a privilege to which they are entitled. And the majority of them go out with the determination to get and keep well and strong.

SPECIAL MEDICAL BLANK FOR WOMEN

Report of Medical Examiner

In the case of
Address,
Place of birth,
Age, Occupation,

I. Heredity: Adverse Family History.
Tuberculosis?
Insanity or tendency to nervous exhaustion?
Cancer?
Heart disease?
Kidney disease?
Personal History.
Acute diseases since childhood?
Number of days lost in past year through illness?
Notable increase or decrease of weight during the past year?
Present Condition.
Nutrition, color, and condition of skin?
General appearance, as indicative of health?
Dress: Habits of: 1 inch heels?
II. Heart and Circulatory System.
Temperature?
Size of heart? Force of apex-beat?
Murmurs?
Blood-pressure: Maximal? Minimal?
Pulse at rest? Horizontal? Vertical? After strength tests?
Pulse, Character: Normal? Intermittent?
Irregular? Unequal?
Blood examination.—
Absence of varicose veins and hemorrhoids?
III. Lungs and Chest Development.
Respiration: Frequency? Normal? Shallow? Deep?
Auscultation? Adventitious sounds?
Girth of chest: Repose? Forced insp’n? Forced exp’n?
Ninth rib: Repose? Forced insp’n? Forced exp’n?
Normal, in relation to height?
Depth of chest: Repose? Forced insp’n? Forced exp’n?
Lung capacity, measured by spirometer?
Girth of waist?
Nose: Normal? Obstructed?
Throat: Normal? Catarrh? Tonsils: R.? L.?
IV. Digestive System.
Teeth: Good? Fair? Poor?
Tongue: Clean? Coated? Pale?
Breath?
Functional derangement of stomach?
” ” ” intestines?
” ” ” liver?
Normal size of liver and absence of tenderness?
Normal size and position of stomach and intestines?
Regularity of stools with normal color and consistence?
Constipation? Diarrhea?
Appendicitis?
V. The Kidneys.
Quantity of urine for twenty-four hours?
Frequency of urination?
Specific gravity and reaction?
Indican?
Albumin?
Sugar?
Casts?
Position of kidneys?
VI. The Nervous System.
Tendency to headache?
Character of ”
Pain or tenderness of spinal cord?
Number of hours that can now be spent in study daily?
Tendency to nervous exhaustion?
Character of sleep: Insomnia?
Mental poise?
VII. Generative Organs.
Position and size of uterus?
Inflammation of uterus?
Position and size of ovaries?
Inflammation of ovaries?
Menstrual flow: Quantity? Frequency?
Pain: Before? During flow? Length of time?
Vaginal discharge?
VIII. The Muscular System.
Height? Weight? Normal?
Stretch of arms? Breadth of shoulders? Breadth of hips?
Posture: Sitting? Standing? Walking?
Figure?
Shoulders: Round? Sloping? Scapula prominent?
Spine? Lateral curvature?
Abdomen: Normal? Protuberant?
Feet: Weak ankle: R.? L.? Weak arch: R.? L.?
Flat: R.? L.?
Strength of right forearm? Of left forearm?
Strength of back? Strength of legs?
Strength of upper arms (push up)?
Strength of upper arms (pull up)?
IX. Tests of Endurance.
How long a time is spent daily in physical exercise?
What form?
What is the average rate of speed in walking?
Does hill climbing cause shortness of breath?
What outdoor sports are practised?
Length of time required for test walk of three miles?
Pulse before? After?
Heart reaction to exercise: Hopping 100 feet?
Ocular Tests.
Distant vision: Right? Left?
Astigmatism?
Aural Tests.
X. General Impression of Working Efficiency.
Temperament?
Personality?
Self-control?
Initiative?
Capability?
Suggestions for Faulty Personal Hygiene.
Indications for Medical Treatment.
Remarks.
Signature of Medical Examiner, , M. D.
Address,
Date,

Self-made Good Physique Through Physical Training.—It has not infrequently happened that, by outdoor life and physical training, young men and women of frail constitutions have developed into strong, robust, and even physically powerful men and women.

While membership in a well-appointed gymnasium and athletic association offers the most favorable conditions for the symmetric and fullest development of the body, and when possible it is advised always to take at least a short course in physical training under the direction of a competent instructor, yet every woman has it in her power to very greatly improve her physical condition without these aids.

Systematic physical training should be begun in childhood and continued all through life.

Before twelve years of age physical training should be the same for both sexes, and girls and boys should have their sports and games together. The beneficial influence of this will be manifest for both—girls will grow stronger, less timid, and more resourceful, and boys will grow more refined and thoughtful.

But even the case of the adult woman, where not only physical training but most of the laws of health have been neglected, is far from hopeless. A poorly developed chest, round shoulders, a beginning spinal curvature, a poor carriage, bad skin, poor circulation, indigestion, constipation, and low vitality, with poor powers of resistance to changes in the weather and environment, are not insurmountable obstacles. But a woman in this condition cannot manage her own case. She must consult and place herself under the care of a competent physician.

Two charts should be made out; the first should be a detailed outline of her present condition; to the Vassar chart already given should be added the physical defects needing correction, as round shoulders, poor chest development, palpitation of the heart on exertion, length of walk that can be taken comfortably, also the time required per mile. As the strength of the heart and lungs increases, as shown not only by the actual tests, but also by the increased powers of endurance, this first chart will be a matter of great encouragement to the woman and a great incentive to further effort. In a parallel column to the defects should be written the corrective measure for those defects. The second chart should contain the ideal measurements and strength tests for a woman of her height and weight.

Rules for Taking Exercise.—The first things to be aimed at are the proper ventilation of the lungs, together with their development, and the strengthening of the heart. During the exercise the windows must be thrown wide open, or the very object of the exercise is defeated.

Always begin with the simplest exercises and stop at the first sign of fatigue. The very first exercise will, therefore, be the simple respiratory exercises, taken in bed until one acquires some control of the muscles; they are then taken standing before a mirror, to insure the exercises being taken correctly, and after this they should be taken before an open window. The respiratory should be alternated with the abdominal exercises, and all of these should be taken for twenty minutes at a time, at least twice a day, on rising and immediately before retiring.

Two hours should be spent out-of-doors every day. If the woman is weak and unused to taking exercise, she should walk until she feels the first signs of fatigue, rest, and then continue her walk. If the weather is too cold for sitting out-of-doors the woman should preferably take two short walks each day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. For invalids about ten in the morning and two in the afternoon are the best hours in winter, because of the greater warmth of the sun at those times. To be effective, exercise out-of-doors must be taken every day without regard to the weather, since the system, when in a state of activity, is less susceptible to sudden changes of temperature than when at rest.

Exercise should not be taken after long fasting; hence, never before breakfast, nor immediately after a hearty meal. An hour after breakfast or a light lunch, or two hours after dinner, is the best time for regular exercise.

A certain amount of daily exercise is essential for the preservation of the health. A healthy woman should be able to walk five miles a day, at the rate of three miles an hour, without feeling any sense of fatigue.

In order to secure the greatest amount of benefit from exercise, the mind should be entirely free from care during the exercise, so that the woman should leave her cares at home and give up her mind and body to recreation while she is out-of-doors.

Regularity in taking exercise is absolutely essential to secure good physical development and to maintain the body in a condition of health. A fixed hour should be set aside for this purpose every day.

No definite rules can be given for the exact amount of exercise to be taken at one time, but the occurrence of fatigue is the signal for rest; after a five minutes’ rest, exercise may be again resumed, to be stopped again at the same signal of fatigue. Perhaps three periods of exercise, alternating with rest, may be taken, but, in order to do good and not harm, the individual must always stop before she is tired.

A period of free exercises should begin with a twenty minutes’ practice, including movements for arms, legs, back, chest, and abdomen, with especial emphasis on the correct poise and carriage of the body and deep breathing, and it should terminate with running; or, if in a class, with a running game.

For those of mature age and sedentary habits especial care must be taken not to overtax the heart, always beginning with the simplest movements and stopping at the first signs of fatigue.

In the gymnasium the periods of exercise generally cover forty-five minutes, with frequent intervals of rest in between. Even here an invariable rule should be never to exercise to extreme weariness.

All exercise should be followed by a shower or needle bath, and a vigorous rubbing with or without alcohol. Very delicate women who have been unaccustomed to taking exercise should rest on the couch or bed for one hour before proceeding to dress. It is well to sleep, if possible, and in this way they will find the good effects of the exercise very greatly increased.

Gymnastic Dress.—The usual and best style of gymnastic dress is a bloomer costume, the bloomers coming above the knees, long stockings, and thin, flat-soled shoes without any heels. The dress must be loose at the neck and waist, or it may be cut low in the neck. The sleeves are preferably short elbow sleeves.

If the exercises are taken at home, the woman may wear a combination undersuit, with stockings and broad-soled heelless slippers. The lighter the dress, the better, so that there shall be no sense of weight or restriction about the neck, waist, or shoulders.

By putting on her bedroom slippers any one can easily convince herself of the greater grip the foot has on the floor when so clad, and of the greater ease and sureness of the foot in walking.

For outdoor athletics a short skirt, coming just below the knees, may be worn over the bloomer costume. Tennis shoes should always be worn.

All rooms used for exercise, gymnasiums, and ball-rooms must be thoroughly ventilated before the assemblage of the people. The air must be kept cool, between 50° and 60° F., and proper arrangements must be made to keep the room well ventilated while in use without causing direct drafts.

Well-waxed, hard-wood floors are the best, because they can be kept freest from dust. Students should never be allowed to enter the gymnasium with their street shoes on, as they carry with them much dust that will be thrown in motion and inhaled during the performance of the various exercises, and there follows not only the irritation caused by the inhalation of the particles of dust, but also the danger of inspiring all kinds of germs of disease with which the air is laden.

Fig. 26.—Upper surface, bones of foot (Allen).

The Configuration of the Foot.—No study of the correct attitude of the body at rest or in motion would be complete without some knowledge of the structural arrangement of the foot. The feet form the base of support for the entire body, and at every step are subjected to a pressure of from one hundred to two hundred pounds.

This base is in the form of two arches, a transverse and an anteroposterior. The latter is the most important, and has been subdivided into two by an imaginary line, drawn between the third and fourth metatarsal bones. The inner portion of this arch is much more curved than the outer, and forms the instep. The arch is supported by two piers. The posterior pier is formed by the os calcis, or heel bone, and the posterior part of the astragulus. It is shorter, has but one joint, is more curved, and is, at the same time, more solid than the anterior pier, and receives the greater part of the weight of the body. The anterior pier includes all the bones in front of the astragulus to the junction of the three metatarsal bones with the toes. It is much the longer, is less curved, and has many joints, giving it greater elasticity, and also enabling it to diminish the force of shocks transmitted to the arch. The summit of the arch is the ankle.

It is evident that the superincumbent pressure, by flattening the arches, both lengthens and broadens the foot. The anteroposterior arch is further lengthened by a turning upward of the toes, which form a hinge-joint with the instep.

In extension the foot normally rests upon the heel, the tips of the metatarsal bones, and the outer side of the sole. In walking, running, or dancing the direction of the weight upon the arches is constantly changing, and it is only through the action of certain muscles that the normal arches are conserved. This healthy condition of the plantar arch can only be maintained by the evenly balanced action of those muscles which surround and strengthen the weak parts of the arch.

Dr. Busey’s description of the foot in walking, and the injurious effects of the high-heeled shoe, is as follows: “In walking the heel touches the ground first, and supports the whole weight of the body for a moment. A little later the point of the foot touches, and assists in preserving the equilibrium by increasing the base. During the second movement of walking the heel is raised (see Fig. [27], 2), and the weight of the body is shifted more and more to the center of the foot and toes, the latter spreading and pushing the body forward. This last is the movement which displays to the greatest advantage the suppleness and elasticity of the articulations of the foot, and the adaptation of the arch to receive the weight of the body, and to transfer it to the distal pier, while the body is being moved forward by the same act. It is the execution of this movement which gives to the gait of woman that elegance and those graceful undulations which are so attractive.

Fig. 27.—The natural and artificial positions of the foot (Camper).

“The narrow high-heeled shoe, on the other hand, by displacing the supporting base, causes both piers of the double-spanned arch to strike at the ground simultaneously. In consequence of which the gait, instead of being undulating, is stiff and hobbling, and the body advances by jerks.

“When standing on the heel bone (NLM, Fig. [27], 1), the joint at K, and the great toe C, touch the support upon the line A-B. When the feet are shod according to the present fashion, the line A-B is made to assume the concave form shown in Fig. [27], 3, by BTu. The instep is made more convex and rounded, and the foot is actually shortened (see a-b, Fig. [27], 3). The constant elevation of the heel places the body of the pedestrian in the same position as when standing upon an inclined plane. Again, the heel is so shaped and located that it forces up the keystone of the arch and weakens the whole structure.”

The Correct Attitude in Standing (See Fig. [28]).—The heels are placed nearly together, the toes pointed very slightly outward, the legs are rigid, the trunk and head are held erect, and the shoulders somewhat back, so that the chest shall expand freely. The arms should hang easily at the sides; the fingers are slightly bent, with the thumbs in front. This position of “attention” can only be maintained comfortably for a very short length of time, since the actively contracting muscles soon tire.

If the standing position has to be maintained for any great length of time, one foot should be placed slightly in advance of the other, the weight being borne upon the straight leg and the active supporting foot, the other being relatively passive. This asymmetric position has the important advantage that the two extremities may be brought alternately into play.

The most common defect in standing is that the entire weight is usually borne upon the same leg, generally the right one, while the left, being inactive, is placed out to one side; the habitual maintenance of this position leads, as we shall see later, to a tilting of the pelvis to one side, with a consequent spinal curvature and lowering of one shoulder.

Persons with strong feet, especially primitive unshod feet, mountaineers, runners, and young children, walk with the inner borders of the feet nearly parallel to each other and the direction of motion. The best sculpture, both ancient and modern, shows the straight supporting foot, which in standing is not necessarily parallel with its mate, since the resting foot may assume almost any angle of divergence.

The influence of the stability of a correct base is well illustrated by standing on one foot and swinging the other leg backward and forward, which is much more difficult if the supporting foot be turned to one side. A runner finds it very difficult to run with the toes turned out, although the heels never touch the ground.

Corrective Exercises.—Many of the most common defects, such as a drooping head, round shoulders, flat chest, beginning spinal curvature, etc., result from a weak and relaxed condition of the muscles, whose function it is to move and support these parts. If the head is constantly bent forward in studying and writing at the desk, the muscles at the back of the neck gradually lose their tone, and stretch out like a piece of elastic that is constantly kept on the strain.

The exercises selected must be such as will strengthen these particular groups of muscles, and, while taking the exercises, the entire attention must be concentrated on the part being exercised.

Any lack of symmetry in the chest, spinal curvature, or actual weakness of the lungs will necessitate the prescribing of special and carefully selected exercises.

As to the exercises themselves, they should be so arranged as to bring into play in a methodic manner all the muscles. All special and corrective work must be supplemented by general work, which will increase the organic vigor of the heart, lungs, and chest necessary to meet the vital demands of the whole system. Games are, of course, most useful for this purpose, but the games should not be too violent.

In most free exercises the limbs are used for weights of resistance. In a man weighing one hundred and fifty pounds the arms usually weigh about ten pounds each and the legs twenty pounds.

The Causes of Round Shoulders.—The general conditions are those that produce muscular or constitutional weakness, as rapid growth, overwork, the impure air of ill-ventilated rooms, acute illness, near-sightedness uncorrected by glasses, lack of proper exercise, and the wearing of clothing supported by suspenders bearing on the points of the shoulders, tending to pull them downward and forward, or even to produce a painful deformity of the scapula.

It is the rule rather than the exception to find, with round shoulders, some inequality in the height. The right shoulder is apt to be the lower, owing to the carrying of burdens on the right arm. Habitual standing with the weight on the right leg contributes to a good many cases. Games in which the right arm is almost exclusively used is another cause.

Fig. 29.—The spinal column (Church and Peterson).

The Causes of Spinal Curvature.—The spinal column forms the central support of the body, and, for grace and suppleness of motion, its thirty-four joints should be constantly exercised, as well as the muscles which hold it erect and support the head upon it, as well as attach the shoulders, hips, and legs more or less closely to it. In brief, all the muscles of the back need varied and regular exercise to maintain the erect position of the body, and from early childhood especial attention should be given to develop and strengthen this region of the body.

The normal movements of the spinal column are flexion, extension, side bending, and torsion. Flexion and extension take place, for the most part, in the lumbar and cervical regions.

Gould believes that astigmatism is a prominent factor in the causation of spinal curvature; the curvature is affected by the tilting of the head to one side in reading or writing.

But a faulty postural habit is probably the most frequent cause both in standing and at the desk. When the weight is supported by the right leg, the left being used merely as a prop; there is a marked C-shaped curve produced, with a lowering of the right shoulder and prominence of the right hip. This position is assumed by school children for long periods of time, and there is a consequent overstretching of the ligaments of the spine and hip. These cases are generally accompanied by round shoulders and flat chest, protrusion of the abdomen, and rotation of the vertebræ.

A muscle can be developed only by the active contraction and relaxation of its fibers. Continuous tension quickly tires and lowers its tone, so that exercises given for increasing muscular power should be comparatively quick and frequently repeated, while those that aim at the stretching of muscles and ligaments should be slow and long maintained.

In all cases where corrective treatment is needed the first thing to be attended to is the general condition, and the best hygienic conditions must be provided, the general health inquired into and attended to. In all cases the eyes should be examined by a competent oculist.

All exercises and stretching movements should be given daily, with a period of rest after three or four movements, and they should be so alternated and combined that no two, employing the same muscles in the same way, should follow one another, and so cause excessive fatigue.

The Muscles of the Abdomen.—These muscles are most important for breathing and therefore for health, for the retention in their normal position of the various abdominal viscera, for good digestion and regularity of the evacuation of the bowels. Sluggish digestion and constipation are among the commonest evils in life, and they are generally connected with relaxed abdominal walls and flabbiness of the abdominal muscles. Active pressure of the abdominal muscles on the viscera massages the liver and presses onward the contents of the intestines.

The protuberant abdomen may either be due to a faulty position in standing or an excess of fat in the great omentum, a membrane intended to protect the bowels. This excess of fat may be in turn due to lack of exercise or an excess of sweets and starchy foods, and the reduction of this superfluous fat by suitable exercises, properly taken, together with the attention to the diet, not starvation, is the only common sense and safe way for a woman to reduce her size.

The abdominal muscles are used in bending, in stooping forward, in raising up from the recumbent position, somewhat in climbing, and in many other movements. Trunk bending forward and backward; lateral flexions of the trunk; bending of the knees down to a squatting position, together with torsions, and all exercises derived from these types, bring into play and exercise the abdominal muscles.