Prof. Maclaren, of England, gives the results of four and one-half months’ training, with a class of boys from the Royal Military Academy, ranging in years from sixteen to nineteen. The increase in height was from 1 to 1¾ inches; in weight, from 1 to 8 pounds; in girth of chest, from ½ to 5¼ inches; forearm, from ⅛ to ½ inch; upper arm, from ½ to 1⅝ inches. With a class of older persons, nineteen to twenty-eight years, he reports the largest gain in weight, 16 pounds, with an average gain of 10 pounds; in girth of chest, 5 inches, with an average of 2⅞ inches; of forearm, 1¼ inches, with an average of ¾ inch; upper arm, 1¾ inches, with an average of 1¹/₁₆ inches. These gains were made in 7⅔ months.
Prof. Maclaren gives a humorous account of twelve non-commissioned officers who had been selected from different branches of the service, and sent to him to qualify as instructors in the British Army. These men ranged in years from nineteen to twenty-nine; in height, from five feet five inches to six feet; in weight, from 128 to 174 pounds, and all had seen service. He says, “The muscular additions to the arms and shoulders, and the expansion of the chest were so great as to have absolutely a ludicrous and embarrassing result. Before the fourth month, several of the men could not get into their uniforms without assistance, and when they had got them on, they could not get them to meet by a hand’s breath. In a month more, they could not get into them at all, and new clothes had to be procured, pending the arrival of which the men had to go to and from the gymnasium in their great coats. One of these men had gained five inches in actual girth of chest.” In the case of the youngest, he reports “a readjustment and expansion of the osseous framework upon which the muscles are distributed.”
This case is important as proving that proper physical exercise will materially change even the bony structure of the body. What a source of comfort and encouragement to the young man or woman who is hollow-chested, and who considers himself or herself a marked victim of that dread disease, consumption.
Need of Exercise for Girls.—If it be conceded that there is need of physical exercise for boys, what must be said of the need of it for girls? Observe the young girls of cities and towns as they pass to and from school. Instead of the high chests, plump arms, comely figures, and graceful and handsome carriage, what do we constantly see? Flat chests, angular and warped shoulders, scrawny necks, slender arms and waists, and a weak and tired gait. Scarcely one in a dozen is thoroughly erect, whether walking, standing, or sitting. There is no elasticity in their steps, and a fresh, blooming complexion is so rare as to attract attention.
The girls of the most favored families often show the poorest physical development. The tyranny of fashion begins at a very early period in life. The quality and fit of the clothing worn by girls from ten to thirteen years of age prevent them from engaging in active, hearty play. The nurse or governess finds a large share of her duty in repressing that superabundance of spirits which should belong to every healthy girl.
As the years increase, the studies multiply, and by the time she is ready to leave school and assume the duties of life, we find a brain-weary, nerve-exhausted, pale creature, with no physical development, no power of endurance, and no ambition to undertake her share of life’s duties.
When the importance of physical culture is as well understood as it should be, there will be a course of training for pupils of all ages in every girls’ school in the land. In the larger cities and towns, provision is now made for physical instruction in many of the High Schools, but in the middle and lower grades, where the foundation should be laid and the work begun, the subject is almost wholly neglected. Bad habits of sitting, standing, walking, and breathing are acquired, and many forms of structural weakness developed which not only unfit the mind for the best work, but which later either become ineradicably fixed, or require much time and labor to correct. The schoolgirl, if systematically trained from early childhood, would show similar fruits of drill, and would develop into a shapely, graceful, well rounded, healthy girl, and would escape much of the weakness and suffering so common to women.
Herbert Spencer, speaking of the effects of the intellectual cramming system upon the women in England, and of the disadvantages of neglecting physical culture, says: “On women the effects of this forcing system are, if possible, even more injurious than on men. Being in a great measure debarred from those vigorous and enjoyable exercises of the body by which boys mitigate the evils of excessive study, girls feel these evils in their full intensity. Mothers, anxious to make their daughters attractive, could scarcely choose a course more fatal than this which sacrifices the body to the mind. Either they disregard the tastes of the opposite sex, or else their conception of those tastes is erroneous. Men care comparatively little for erudition in women, but very much for physical beauty and good nature and sound sense.”
Symmetrical Development of Women.—The common argument of the busy housewife, when urged to take exercise, is, that she gets enough of it in the course of her daily duties, and even more than enough, for she finds herself thoroughly exhausted by the necessary labors of the day. The argument is not so convincing as it might seem. Doubtless, some of her muscles are overtaxed. They lack the support which the idle muscles should give. A few minutes, several times a day, devoted to strengthening the unused muscles, would not only afford relaxation to the tired ones, but, by developing the general strength, would prevent fatigue on the part of those most used.