Part 13 (2/2)

201. If the stooping posture is acquired in youth, we are quite certain of seeing the deformed shoulders in old age. Hence the importance of duly exercising the muscles of the back, for when they are properly developed, the child can and will stand erect. In this att.i.tude, the shoulders will be thrown back, and the chest will become broad and full.

202. Pupils, while standing during recitations, often inadvertently a.s.sume the att.i.tude represented by fig. 49, and it is the duty of teachers to correct this position when a.s.sumed. When a child or adult has contracted a habit of stooping, and has become round-shouldered, it can be measurably, and generally, wholly, remedied by moderate and repeated efforts to bring the shoulders back, and the spinal column in an erect position. This deformity can and should be remedied in our schools. It may take months to accomplish the desired end, yet it can be done as well under the direction of the kind instructor, as under the stern, military drill sergeant, who never fails to correct this deformity among his raw recruits.

200. What suggestion when it is necessary to call into action a part of the muscular system? Give the experiment that ill.u.s.trates this principle. 201. Why should a child he taught to stand erect? 202. How can round shoulders acquired by habit be remedied?

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 50. A proper position in sitting.]

203. _The child should be taught to sit erect when employed in study or work._ This att.i.tude favors a healthy action of the various organs of the system, and conduces to beauty and symmetry of form. Scholars are more or less inclined to lean forward and place the elbow on the table or desk, for support and this is often done when their seats are provided with backs. Where there is a predisposition to curvature of the spine, no position is more unfavorable or more productive of deformities than this; for it is usually continued in one direction, and the apparent deformity it induces is a projection of the shoulders. If the girl is so feeble that she cannot sit erect, as represented by fig. 50, let her stand or recline on a couch; either is preferable to the position represented by fig. 51. In furnis.h.i.+ng school-rooms, care should be taken that the desks are not so low as to compel the pupils to lean forward in examining their books.

203. Why should the erect att.i.tude be a.s.sumed in sitting?

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 51. An improper position in sitting.]

204. _The muscles, when exhausted, cannot endure continued effort._ When the energies of the muscular system have been expended by severe and long-continued exercise, or the brain and nervous system prostrated by protracted mental effort, the muscles are unfitted to maintain the body erect in standing or sitting for a long time, as the nervous system, in its exhausted state, cannot supply a sufficient amount of its peculiar influence to maintain the supporting muscles of the body and head in a state of contraction. Hence, a child or adult, when much fatigued, should not be compelled to stand or sit erect in one posture, but should be permitted to vary the position frequently, as this rests and recruits both the muscular and the nervous system.

205. _A slight relaxation of the muscles tends to prevent their exhaustion._ In walking, dancing, and most of the mechanical employments, there will be less fatigue, and the movements will be more graceful, when the muscles are slightly relaxed. When riding in cars or coaches, the system does not suffer so severely from the jar if there is a slight relaxation of the muscles, as when they are in a state of rigid contraction.

_Experiments._ Attempt to bow with the muscles of the limbs and trunk rigid, and there will be a stiff bending of the body only at the hip-joint. On the other hand, attempt to bow with the muscles moderately relaxed; the ankle, the knee, and the hip-joint will slightly bend, accompanied with an easy and graceful curve of the body.

206. The muscles when relaxed, together with the yielding character of the cartilage, and the porous structure of the ends of the bones that form a joint, diffuse or deaden the force of jars, or shocks, in stepping suddenly down stairs, or in falling from moderate heights.

Hence, in jumping or falling from a carriage, or any height, the shock to the organs of the system may be obviated in the three following ways: 1st. Let the muscles be relaxed, not rigid. 2d. Let the limbs be bent at the ankle, knee, and hips; the head should be thrown slightly forward, with the trunk a little stooping. 3d. Fall upon the toes, not the heel.

204. When are the muscles unfitted to maintain the system erect either in standing or sitting? What is necessary when this condition of the system exists? 205. Why should the muscular system be slightly relaxed in walking, &c.? Give ill.u.s.trative experiments. 206. What is the reason that we do not feel the jar in falling from a moderate height?

_Experiments._ Stand with the trunk and lower limbs firm, and the muscles rigid; then jump a few inches perpendicularly to the floor, and fall upon the heels. Again, slightly bend the limbs, jump a few inches, and fall upon the toes, and the difference in the force of the shock, to the brain and other organs, will be readily noticed.

207. _The muscles require to be educated, or trained._ The power of giving different intonations in reading, speaking, singing, the varied and rapid executions in penmans.h.i.+p, and all mechanical or agricultural employments, depend, in a measure, upon the education of the muscles.

In the first effort of muscular education, the contractions of the muscular fibres are irregular and feeble, as may be seen when the child begins to walk, or in the first efforts of penmans.h.i.+p.

208. _Repet.i.tion of muscular action is necessary._ To render the action of the muscles complete and effective, they must be called into action repeatedly and at proper intervals. This education must be continued until not only each muscle, but every fibre of the muscle, is fully under the control of the will. In this way persons become skilful in every employment. In training the muscles for effective action, it is very important that correct movements be adopted at the commencement. If this is neglected, the motions will be constrained and improper, while power and skill will be lost.

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