counterbalanced by an equally frequent and energetic contraction of the extensor which opposes it, its fibres tend to preserve the form which they so often assume, and the muscle becomes shorter.

We often observe, in gymnasts, this partial contraction of the muscles, and consequently the predominance of a particular attitude. Those who abuse the exercises needing the flexion of the fore-arm on the arm acquire an excessive development of the biceps, and this muscle tends to becomes shorter as it becomes thicker; the movement of extension thus becomes limited, and the fore-arm cannot be placed in the same straight line as the arm. Hence arises a deformity which is unimportant in the example given, but of a kind which may become serious if it involves certain regions of the body, the direction of which must be regular under pain of defect in harmony of contour and in elegance of position.

Let us suppose that this muscular contracture which is so frequent in the arms of men who practise much on the trapeze, occurs in the muscles of the dorsal region: the same vicious effects which we have just described in the direction of the arms, now influence the direction of the vertebral column. If the flexor muscles of the vertebræ act more than the extensors, they tend to shorten, while their antagonists preserve their normal size, and the spine is curved forwards. Hence an unavoidable stoop. If the lateral muscles of the spine have received the preference in exercise, it is in them that we observe shortening of the fibres. The spine will be drawn to the right or to the left according as the muscles of one side have become more developed than those of the other. There thus occur lateral deviations, or, to use the technical term, scolioses.

We shall see, in speaking of the exercises which produce deformity, how frequent are scolioses in exercises which are confined to one side of the body, fencing, for example.

These scolioses are at first purely muscular, and can be rectified, either by giving up the exercise which has immoderately developed the muscles of one side, or by

practising an exercise which will develop the muscles of the opposite side after a manner which will equalise the action of the antagonists, and obtain an equilibrium of opposing forces which will produce a straight spine.

But these means will be insufficient if applied too late, for it may happen that the predominance of the muscles of one side, and the deviations which result from it, lead to consecutive disturbances in the nutrition of the vertebra, and to malformation of these bones.

In fact, the vertebral column is constructed of a number of very short bones, piled one on top of the other, and each capable of moving upon the one which supports it. If a vertebra is drawn to the right, for instance, the movement which it performs throws its weight on to its right edge and tends to raise its left half. All the pressure which it exercises on the bone which supports it, is then localised to the right; but this pressure which is now borne by a very limited part of the vertebra, represents a considerable weight, that in fact of the whole body above the particular vertebra. This pressure hinders the process of nutrition of the bone, which tends to atrophy at the part pressed upon. On the contrary, the left part of the vertebræ undergoes no arrest of development, for it receives less weight than in the normal condition: it keeps its ordinary size, and the bone definitely assumes an angular shape; its left half, which has undergone no abnormal pressure, remains thick, while the right half, which has been pressed upon, has become thin. Its shape exactly resembles that of the keystone of an arch, and this shape is repeated in all the vertebræ which undergo the same deforming influences. Hence a curvature of the whole dorsal spine, with its concavity to the right; a curvature difficult to remedy, for it is no longer due to simple muscular action, but to material deformity of bones.

Deformities of the spine are the dangers of gymnastics. As useful as are bodily exercises in remedying deviation of the figure when they are employed with discernment, they are equally capable of producing them when unmethodically applied.

CHAPTER IV.

EXERCISES WHICH PRODUCE DEFORMITY.

Gymnastics and Esthetics-A rooted prejudice; the Beauty of Form of Gymnasts--Deformities due to Gymnastics with Apparatus-Mechanism of these-Too much Exercise of the Arms-Attitudes of Support-Breasting-The Horizontal BarThe Parallel Bars-Circling-The Trapeze-The Round Back of Gymnasts-Fencing- Fencers' Scoliosis "-Comparative Observations on Right-Handed and Left-Handed Fencers--Our conclusions are opposed to those of former authors-Opinion of Bouvier and Boulland-Mechanism of these DeformitiesDifferent attitudes of the Fencer during the different Stages of a Fencing-Bout-Guard, Attack, Parry, and Thrust-DumbBells Riding Different Effects of Riding in a Race, and of the riding of the Schools-The Back of a Jockey, and the Figure of a Cavalry Officer.

I.

WHEN we attend a gymnastic display, and study at leisure the conformation of the young people who take part in it, we have a certain feeling of disappointmentWhat is this then the harmony of form, the pureness of contour, which our gymnasts should find, like the old Greeks, in the practice of physical exercise ?— Examine the antique statues of "Achilles," of the "Fighting Gladiator," and of the "Discobolus," and you cannot help saying that if these heroes were moulded by gymnastics, they must have been gymnastics quite unlike ours. Let us admit that no one has less the appearance of a demi-god than a performer on the trapeze.

It is difficult to resist the tide of formed opinion, which, for half a century, has represented the gymnasts as types of beauty, and we admire them on trust with our eyes shut. Let us then open our eyes and study a man who has assiduously practised on the rings, the horizontal bar, and other gymnastic apparatus.

The most striking things about a professional gymnast are the exaggerated development of the bust, and the small size of the lower half of the body. The shoulders are very broad, the hips narrow, the legs slender. The part of the body whose office it is to support should naturally be very muscular, and it is a first anomaly to see that, on the contrary, the upper half of the body exceeds the lower in size and vigour.

This anomaly is easily explained if we call to mind the mechanism of these exercises. They all need a veritable transposition of the action of the limbs, and make the arms play the part of the legs. They all need the support of the body by the shoulders, whether the arms suspend the Dody below the bar of the trapeze, or support it above the same. The shoulders must then in these exercises gain a development fitting them to do the work of the hips.

Besides the defective proportion we have pointed out, the professional gymnast shows a very characteristic deformity: he has a round back.

If we look sideways at a man who for some years has assiduously exercised on the trapeze and the parallel and horizontal bars, we see that the line of the back from the neck to the loins has a very pronounced convexity. This is an exaggeration of the natural dorsal curvature, and sometimes attains the dimensions of a true deformity in persons who practise exclusively such exercises as those above mentioned.

This is not ali. The shoulders are also the seat of a characteristic deformity. The scapula, drawn forwards by its articular head, undergoes at the same time a movement of rotation which causes the inferior angle to rise and to project backwards. This makes a protuberance in the back comparable to that which, in extremely emaciated phthisical patients, produces the alar chest, with this difference that, in gymnasts, the bony prominences are accompanied by great muscular prominences, while in cachectic persons the angle of the bone seems ready to break through the skin.

In front, the line which forms the profile of the chest is flat, and even re-entrant. A pronounced prominence exists in the region of the nipple, but it is due to an

exaggerated development of the pectoral muscles rather than to arching of the ribs. The thorax is, however, increased in size in gymnasts, but chiefly, as we shall see, in those who exercise their legs. In gymnasts who use their arms chiefly, the apparent size of the chest is largely due to the development of the muscles of the shoulder, back, and chest. The antero-posterior diameter of the thorax is certainly not diminished in these persons, it is even increased, but the increase takes place behind only, through the roundness of the back. The chest is not really re-entrant, but it looks so, owing to the forward tendency of the shoulders.

Such are the deformities observed usually in our gymnasts-not in all, but in those who practise orthodox gymnastics to excess: we may say the old style of gymnastics, for there is happily a reactionary tendency against it. This deformity is due to abuse of the exercises demanding suspension and support of the body by the hands. Now these are the two fundamental positions of gymnastics performed with the aid of apparatus. When the body is moved in order to pass from suspension to support by the arms, this change is effected by two methods, breasting and circling.

In the breasting movement, the body is first suspended by the fully extended arms to two rings or to a horizontal bar, then it is drawn up by a contraction of the biceps, which brings the shoulders to the level of the wrists. At this moment the difficulty begins. It is necessary that the elbows, which are lower than the hands, should be raised above them, in such a manner that the body, instead of being suspended, comes to be supported by the arms.

To pass from suspension to support, the gymnast must raise himself above a bar of wood if he is on a trapeze, or above an imaginary line if he is on the rings. In both cases the centre of gravity of his body must pass behind this line in order eventually to attain a position above it.

If we observe the different movements, we see the muscles of the back of the neck contract energetically