The horsemanship of the riding-school and that of ordinary out-door riding seldom follow the same methods as race riding, and tend to give the body a perfectly balanced and consequently a perfectly vertical position. The horseman must be in a position most favourable to firmness of seat, that is, he must bend neither forwards nor backwards, neither to the right nor to the left, and he is forbidden to gain any support from his reins. His vertebral column must always be ready to move in all directions when necessary to maintain equilibrium, and for this the vertebræ must remain very freely movable on each other. The pieces which build up the vertebral column must not then undergo any excessive pressure; drawing together of the loins or back must, above all, be avoided, under pain of deficient flexibility.

Observation has shown us the great difference between the horse soldier and the jockey from the point of view of form. Old jockeys are drawn together, have high shoulders and a round back. Cavalry officers preserve, on the contrary, a remarkable elegance of figure even in advanced age.

It is impossible for us to analyse all the exercises which produce deformity. The types we have described sufficiently point out the method to be followed in judging of the influence of muscular work on the form of the body.

We may say generally that an exercise will produce more or less marked bodily deformity, whenever it is performed under the following conditions:

(1) Concentration of muscular effort in a very localised region, the other parts of the body not sharing in the work.

(2) Necessity of maintaining during the exercise an attitude in which the axis of the body deviates from its normal direction.

(3) Frequent and prolonged performance of movements which man does not naturally practise, and to which his conformation is not adapted.

CHAPTER V.

EXERCISES WHICH DO NOT PRODUCE DEFORMITY.

The best Gymnastic Exercises-Ground Exercises-An Exercise too little regarded; French Boxing or Chausson-Fair division of work in this Exercise; Necessity for Perfect Equilibrium ; Boldness of the_Movements-The Turning Kick-Swimming and Climbing-Rowing-Two Varieties of Boating Exercise; the Oar and the Paddle-Superiority of the Oar-Rowing and Sculling—General conditions of Exercises which do not produce Deformity; these conditions are especially Negative-Natural tendency of the Body to Regular Development-Exercise must not oppose this tendency-Suppleness a condition of Elegance of Figure-Superiority of Exercises of Skill to Exercises of Strength-Rope-dancers; Jugglers and Balancers-The habit of carrying Burthens on the Head-The Women of Teneriffe.

I.

THE Conclusions we enunciated in the last chapter may serve to guide us in pointing out the conditions in which exercise must be practised in order to maintain the regular form of the body.

The exercises which produce bodily deformity are, in the first place, those which do not make all parts of the body work equally. If we are, before all things, anxious to preserve regularity of form, we must adopt exercises in which all parts of the body regularly perform work in proportion to the strength of their muscles.

In the gymnasium we call ground exercises those which are performed in the upright posture, and which consist in successive movements of flexion, extension, etc., of the legs, the arms, the trunk, the pelvis, and the neck. These are evidently, from an æsthetic point of view, the best of all exercises. Every limb does work in proportion to the strength of its muscles, for it moves only its own weight. Further, there is a perfectly

measured contraction of all antagonistic muscles, and no tendency to predominant contraction of flexors rather than extensors, or vice versa, and in consequence no tendency to draw the bones into abnormal directions. Finally, the body being supported on the legs during these exercises, the vertebral column has no tendency to assume a vicious attitude for the maintenance of an abnormal equilibrium.

These exercises would then be the best of all if they were a little more interesting to those who practise them. But they are very unattractive, as they suppress all initiative on the part of the pupil, and only need an attentive and passive obedience to orders.

This

There is happily another gymnastic exercise which combines with regularity in the expenditure of force a peculiar attraction, because it implies a contest of skill, agility and readiness: this is French boxing. exercise is learned in a series of lessons of which each is performed alternately by the right and the left side of the body. In this manner the right leg and the right arm repeat exactly, when their turn comes, all the movements which have just been performed by the left arm and the left leg.

French boxing, in which blows are given with the feet as well as with the fist, needs every moment attitudes of great boldness.

When a kick has to be given as high as the face, the trunk must be strongly inclined to the side to counterbalance the displacement of the centre of gravity, and this attitude would be vicious if it were always in the same direction. But the right leg, which has delivered a kick, has hardly returned to the ground when the left leg must take its turn, and repeat the attack, either directly forwards, or by the pirouette known as the turning kick. With a rapidity which astonishes the spectator, the body must change from one leg to the other with a sufficiently stable equilibrium to propel the foot in a precise direction with a force which sometimes exceeds 50 kilogrammetres. In order that the centre of gravity may be displaced with such marvellous

ease, the vertebral column, which plays the part of a balancing-pole, must preserve an extreme mobility. The inter-vertebral joints must allow of very extensive movements, which are incompatible either with contracture of the spinal muscles, or with anchylosis between any of the vertebræ, or, finally, with any vicious direction of the articular surfaces. And these are the three chief causes of deviations of the figure.

French boxing, or chausson, is, then, preferable to fencing for the regular development of the body of a young man, and for preventing vicious carriage.

Swimming, like chausson, needs a regular action of all the muscles. The body must progress in this exercise by a movement of extension which, beginning in the legs, spreads to the thighs, the vertebral column, and the arms.

Climbing has a great resemblance to swimming. In both these exercises progression is brought about by alternate movements of flexion and extension of the body and limbs. Between these two methods of progression there seems to be at first sight only a difference of direction; in swimming it is horizontal, in climbing from below upwards. But there is a capital difference as regards the mechanism of the work; in the swimmer, the arms and shoulders move in the same horizontal plane; in the climber, on the contrary, the arms are much in advance of the chest, and their movements of flexion, the hands being fixed, tend to draw the shoulders upwards, forwards, and inwards.

We have had no opportunity of observing the professional climbers who spend their lives in the State forests in climbing large trees for the purpose of removing the branches. But, considering the nature of the work they perform, the conformation of their shoulders should resemble that of the gymnasts who make too much use of the trapeze. In the exercise of swimming there is, on the contrary, no cause of deformity, and swimmers have, therefore, generally a very regular development.

There are certain exercises which seem at first sight to be performed by a very localised group of muscles, but which a more attentive analysis shows to be generalised throughout the body. Thus a man who rings a heavy bell does not only work with his hands. which hold the rope, but with his arms which bend, with his trunk which leans forward, even with his feet, which contract in order to adhere more firmly to the ground.

Rowing is reputed to increase the size of the biceps, and this sport is generally classed with exercises of the arms. This is a mistake, for the work of the rower is far from being localised in his upper limbs. The muscular effort which moves on the boat is largely situated in the extensors of the vertebral column. The oarsman pulls above all with his loins. Further, when the boat is to be propelled with great speed, as in racing, the legs work at least as much as the arms.

As we are writing these lines we are suffering from an attack of muscular stiffness produced by resuming the exercise of rowing after a year's interval. In the muscles of the arms we have merely a slight sensation of discomfort, but those of the loins and thighs are really painful, having been vigorously in action.

We must make a strong distinction between exercise with the oar and that with the paddle. In the latter exercise the canoeist derives a fixed support from the seat, and his legs do not help him at all. They usually lie in the bottom of the boat inactive and extended. As to the trunk, it participates in the work, not by movements of flexion and extension, but by lateral displacements, now to the right, now to the left. Further, the canoeist, when making his most powerful efforts, is not leaning backwards, like the oarsman, but curved forwards.

This position is imposed by the necessity of giving to the movement of the trunk a direction opposed to that in which the water is displaced by the motor of the boat. Now in paddling, the water is displaced from before backwards, whilst in rowing it is displaced from behind forwards.

If we attend a boat race and compare the scullers with the canoeists, we are struck by the difference.