Injury to the spine and other parts naturally showed itself more among American than English riders, for the reason that the general average of the road surface is much in favor of the latter, but complaint has not been unknown even among our English brethren. It is a satisfaction to know that many have awakened to this question, and it is a common and gratifying sight to see prospective buyers testing the saddle and springs of a new mount, as a matter of preliminary inspection, before other points are considered at all. It is to be sadly feared that some old Ordinary riders suffered greater injury than is commonly supposed to have been incurred, but we hope that, since they have come to ignore the supposed danger of being “thrown off” by a too lively spring, there will be less trouble in the future.

The worst feature in the bicycle saddle is that nature did not intend man to sit astride of anything, and this strikes me as the greatest oversight in the general plan of our physical make up as pertaining to cycle riding. Nature only provided three convenient ways of supporting the body,—to wit, first, on the feet; second, sitting down, with the body bent at the thigh joints; and third, lying down. Yet advancing civilization desires something a little different from any of these. In riding a cycle we find it best to stand erect upon the feet and yet get a partial support for the body at the middle,—a condition nature has not exactly provided for.

I have had prepared a cut of that part of the bony structure of the body immediately concerned in this question and sufficient in detail to enable us to understand the matter with the help of facts known to all.

It will be seen that the femurs, a, a, would have to swing forward to a right angle with the trunk of the body—that is, perpendicular to the plane of the paper—before we could sit upon the bones nature intended,—to wit, on the tuberosities of the ischia, e, e, or promontories of the pelvis. This position can be partially obtained in horseback riding by the spread of the legs over the saddle. When sitting upon a chair or buggy-seat, our weight is entirely upon the right bones in the right way, but upon the bicycle this posture cannot be attained except, possibly, in the act of coasting on the Ordinary with the legs over the handle-bar. It must be observed, in working the bicycle, that the legs are nearly straight down and the feet almost as close together as when walking; hence, unless a man is enormously bow-legged, he cannot obtain a rest upon the proper bones, as will be seen from the drawing, which shows the position of the body while working the pedals. The coaster on the Ordinary can sit back upon the broad part of the saddle, and how keenly he appreciates the relief immediately felt when he throws his legs over the handles! It will be noticed that in the action of the bicycle saddle, shown by the dotted lines b, b, the narrow part of the saddle rests in an angle, c, formed by the pubic bones, which are joined together at the apex of the angle by a tissue the doctors call the pubic symphysis. The saddle forms a wedge between these bones and tends to spread them; and though this wedging action can be modified to some extent, it is still vicious. The broad part of the saddle catches a small proportion of the downward pressure upon the tuberosities of the ischia directly, but this is only attained by severely distorting the fleshy parts, as shown by the dotted lines b, b. The body must evidently be supported by the bones somewhere; we cannot hang upon mere flesh; and it is doubtful if ever a saddle can be devised that will be entirely natural and hygienic; hence it is all-important to rest the weight as much as possible on the only other available support, the feet. This can be done by keeping well over the work and resting upon the pedals, and, above all by using good lively springs in connection with the saddle-support. Here again we come upon the question of proper springs, and find it has an element of health connected therewith as well as one of momentum, as hereinbefore treated of.

Bicycle saddle and anatomy.

Objection might be raised that the body is less bent at the thigh when over the work than it was when we used to kick out forward in the old velocipede, and that for this reason we are retrograding. This view will not hold, however, for in any practical machine we have to get so nearly straight up anyhow that we had better go a little farther, thus taking a perfect position for work, and then attack the difficulty of support by means of proper saddle-springs and by resting upon the feet as much as possible.

In horseback riding there is no question of self-propulsion; hence we can bend our bodies sufficiently to sit upon a good wide seat; therefore the difficulty experienced in bicycle saddles does not apply in the equestrian art, as would naturally be supposed.

Upon inquiry as to just what the deleterious results are of riding poorly-sprung machines and improper saddles, and the cause thereof, I find that “doctors differ” slightly. Some have expressed their opinion that the trouble is in the irritation of the pubic symphysis resulting from the wedging action before spoken of; others say it is the bending and irritation of the coccyx, d, shown in the cut, owing to the pressure sustained by it instead of by the ischia; others assert it is the constant concussion upon the spine. I am inclined to think that the entire field is pretty well covered by a letter from Dr. Entriken, of Ohio, which will be found below.

“R. P. Scott:

“Dear Sir,—I do not agree with you in the idea as to the cause of the trouble with the bicycle saddle. It is not the strain upon the ligaments, muscles, or bones, nor the injury to the pubic symphysis or adjacent parts, of which physicians complain. It is the bruising and irritation of the urethra where it passes under the pubic symphysis, and of the prostate gland, etc.; also the necessity of muscular action in the lower limbs while the parts are so jostled, bruised, and irritated. This muscular action pumps more blood into the parts, increasing congestion and the tendency to cause disease of the parts I have mentioned....

“Please note the usual narrow saddle fits close to the parts of the pubic bones, and does not run back wide enough to allow the weight of the body to fall upon the tuberosities of the ischia, as in the Mexican and Spanish saddles, but bears upon the soft parts between. You will note also that the ordinarily-shaped bicycle saddle turns up so as to allow some weight to fall upon the os coccyx, or end of the backbone, which brings in another factor in producing what has been not inaptly called the ‘bicycle disease.’ We have pressure where pressure should never be made, and this pressure, aggravated by the jolting motion, causing a series of rapid concussions to fall upon the spinal column at the point where it is not intended to make resistance,—to wit, the extreme end. If a saddle could be constructed that would lift the soft parts of the perineum comparatively free and cause the weight to rest on the promontories of the ischia, thus protecting the soft parts and communicating a less direct shock to the spine, the trouble would be substantially overcome. I know the difficulty of accomplishing this when the legs must be down and in motion, but some genius will probably solve the problem.

“Yours truly,
“F. W. Entriken.”