No. XIV. BODILY EXERCISE
Mens sana in corpore sano.
"The glory of young men is their strength."
"He that hath clean hands waxeth stronger and stronger."
Dr. Hall tells the following true story: Two friends are in a canoe in the Mozambique channel. A flaw of wind upsets the boat, which fills and sinks, and the men are left to swim for their lives. One says to the other: "It is a long pull to the shore, but the water is warm and we are strong. We will hold by each other, and all will be well." "No," says his friend, "I have lost my breath already; each wave that strikes us knocks it from my body." In a moment he is gone. His friend can do nothing; only swim, and then float, and rest himself, and breathe; to swim again, and then float, and rest again; hour after hour to swim and float with that calm determination that he will go home; hour after hour, till at last the palm trees show distinct upon the shore, and then the figures of animals. And then, at last, his foot touches the coral, and he is safe. That is an example of the difference wrought in two men merely by exercise, or the steadiness of training.
Exercise makes the body strong. Many a man has reason to bless the memory of his father or teacher, who, when he was a weak boy, with flabby muscles, and without energy or strength of will, made him take regular exercise. A young man who was threatened by weak lungs was ordered to take regular Exercise every day with clubs and dumb-bells and a vigorous walk in the open air. After a few months' steady practice he found that he could, with his hands, lift his elder brother, lying flat on the ground, by the clothes and elevate him above his own head. Neglect of Exercise keeps the muscles weak, makes the blood impure, and renders the body liable to the diseases which are ever ready to attack him. We now know that diseases enter the human body by means of minute living germs, which float unseen in the atmosphere. Practically, no people living in towns escape these germs; but the strong body is able to throw them off, while the weak succumbs. There are in the blood thousands of little bodies which act as scavengers, and are continually fighting against foreign invaders that get into the system. If the body becomes weak through lack of Exercise, the blood suffers, the number of scavengers becomes lessened, and disease more easily fastens upon it.
Not only is the body weakened by lack of Exercise, but the brain is even more so. If a stream of pure blood be necessary for the strength of the body, it is far more necessary for the health of the brain. Parents often complain that their sons are stupid, and are not able to see through things, and have poor memories, when the trouble lies chiefly in the fact that the blood is unable to carry off the worn-out elements of the brain, because it is not kept pure by regular Exercise and fresh air. The secret of mental activity is complete bodily health. The boy who is subject to headaches cannot study hard; nine-tenths of the headaches arise from giving the stomach too much hard work, and the brain too little. The stomach is capable of an immense amount of labour if the other members of the body will only work, too; but if they get idle, it is apt to break down under its burdens, and then the brain suffers.
The English race has always been characterized by immense energy. Probably no other race has ever been so distinguished for enterprise and energy. It is the energy of the race which has led to the growth of its vast colonies, and to the maintenance of empire over less civilized peoples. It has made the United States the great nation that it is. Energy makes the man, as it makes the nation. The vast majority of people depend for energy upon Exercise. Loafing destroys energy. Mental energy depends very largely upon physical energy, except in the case of the sick. Physical energy depends upon taut muscles and supple joints.
The relation of Exercise to morality is very close. If a young man fills up his spare time with Exercise, he runs no risk of going to the bad morally. After a day's work, and active Exercise to end it, he needs a great deal of sleep; and his sleep is sound and refreshing. The sleeplessness that arises from loafing causes an immense amount of mischief to the moral nature—impure thoughts, or half-waking dreams, with, perhaps, degrading habits growing out of them. When the body is in a good state of health, man's faith in God, and in truth, purity, and honour, is bright and steadfast. When his body is run down, through neglect, everything looks gloomy.
An important part of Exercise is the work of keeping the body clean. It is just as necessary to keep the outside of the body clean and sweet as the inside; and as the inside is being continuously cleansed by pure blood, the outside should be cleansed regularly with water. The decayed matter in the body, carried off by the blood, escapes chiefly in one way—that is, through the pores of the skin, and if these pores are allowed to get choked by neglect the dead matter remains in the system and pollutes it, and the body soon gets out of order. It is a duty to take sufficient exercise every day to incite perspiration, and then a cold plunge or sponge bath, or, at least, a vigorous rub-down. If we could only get into the habit of doing that, we might snap our fingers at most kinds of disease.
These things depend largely upon daily Exercise: Bodily Strength, Mental Activity, Energy, the Moral Life.