Part 3 (1/2)
THE BONES--The bones constitute the fra fors every thing connected with their _life_ and _growth_, while the latter gives to theth_
The proportions of the animal and earthy elees In childhood and early youth, when but _little strength_ is needed, and _great growth_ of bone is required, the anirowth advances the animal part _decreases_, and the earthy part _increases_ In reatest, and when nutrition is required only to repair waste, the proportions are changed, and the solid or earthy part exceeds the vital or anie, the earthy part so predominates as to cause the bones to become very brittle
The bones, like other parts of the system, require exercise If properly used, they increase in size and strength But while a due degree of exercise is beneficial, it ought to be remarked that severe and continued labor should not be required of children and youth; for its tendency is to increase the deposition of earthy matter to a hurtful extent It is by this means thatconsolidated by an undue amount of exercise and excessive labor before they have attained their full growth Multitudes of children in our country, fro the size of their ancestors These remarks may be turned to a practical account in the family and in the school At birth, e; yet children are frequently urged to stand and walk long before the bones beco to sustain the pressure; and, as a consequence, their legs become crooked, and they are perhaps other ways deforht always, when seated, to be able to rest their feet upon the floor
When they occupy a seat that is too high, and especially when they are unable to reach their feet to the floor, the thigh bones very frequently becoh seats, the back is not supported, children become round shouldered, their chests contract, their constitutions become permanently enfeebled, and they become peculiarly susceptible to pulmonary disease The back to the seat should afford a pleasant and agreeable support to the sht not to reach to the shoulder blades
Parents and teachers should never forget that children are as susceptible to physical training as to intellectual or moral culture
And here, especially, they should be ”trained _up_ in the way they should go” Physical uprightness is next to moral If children are allowed to contract bad physical habits, they are liable not only to grow crooked, but to becoreat is the power of education, that by it even the physically crooked eneral health may be improved, and much may be done in many ways to fortify those who have inherited feeble constitutions against the attacks of disease The benefits resulting froht form, and a free and open chest, have already been considered, and I shall have occasion to refer to theh _incased with bone_,the arms back in the use of _nature's own shoulder-braces_, and at the sas to their utmost capacity
Hundreds of individuals in different parts of the country have borne testimony to the efficacy of this treatood results of such discipline in childhood are stillposture is frequently induced by sitting at tables and desks that are too low It has been erroneously maintained by some that the top of the desk should be on the sas by the side When the desk is higher, it has been said the tendency is to elevate one shoulder, to depress the other, and to produce a perh this h desk, yet it is not a _necessary result_ To prevent the projection of one shoulder, and the consequent spinal curvature, _both of the arms must be kept on the same level_ For this purpose, there should be room to support them equally; and care should be taken to see that this support is regularly sought
If this be not done, the right arm will be apt to rise above the left, frohly celebrated for the success that has attended his treat upon the injury to the health that frequently results fro at too low desks, reo to the school-rooms, and know for a certainty that the desks at which his children write or study are fully up to the ar the shoulders forward on the chest If fatigued by this posture, they should be called to stand, or go out of doors and run about” The height of table I find most conducive to comfort for my own use is midway between the two; that is, half way fros by the side) to the arm-pit
It is necessary, however, to rest both arms equally upon the table The secret of posture consists in avoiding all bad positions, and in not continuing any one position too long The ordinary carriage of the body is an object worthy of the attention of every parent and instructor Theattitude is sure to ood than this; for he alks erect_, enjoys better health, possesses increased powers of usefulness, realizes ratitude to a beneficent Creator, than he who adopts an _oblique_ posture It was just rehtness is next to moral” Physical _obliquity_, it may be added, is akin to _moral_ If they are not German-cousins, there can be little doubt but that, considered in all its bearings, the tendency of the former is to induce the latter
Important as an erect posture and a well-developed chest are to gentlemen, they are in some respects even es already considered, which both enjoy in common, these ireater than pretty faces, which Nature has not given to all
”For a great nu fe back the shoulders, and thus expanding the chest From the observations of anatomists lately made, it appears that the clavicle or collar bone is actually longer in felish As the two nations are of the same race, as there is no remarkable difference in their bones, and this is peculiar to the sex, it must be attributed, as I believe, to the habit above radually produced an elongation of this bone Thus we see that habit may be employed to alter and improve the solid bones The French have succeeded in the development of a part in a way that adds to health and beauty, and increases a characteristic that distinguishes the hu from the brute”[9]
[9] Quoted into the Schoolmaster (a work published in London under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge) from a lecture delivered by Dr J C Warren before the Aust, 1830
THE MUSCLES--The muscles consist of compact bundles of fleshy fibers, which are found in ani the skin They constitute the red fleshy part of ive form and symmetry to the body In the limbs they surround and protect the bones, while in the trunk they spread out and constitute a defensive wall for the protection of the vital parts beneath The muscles have been divided into _three parts_, of which the middle and fleshy portion, called the _belly_, is most conspicuous The other two parts are the opposite ends, and are coin_ and _insertion_ of the in_ is usually fastened to one bone, and the _insertion_ is attached to another By the contraction of the _belly_ of the muscle, the _insertion_, which is _in_, which is _fixed_, and brings with it the bone to which it is attached This any one can see illustrated in bending the arm The muscle which performs this function lies between the elbow and the shoulder It is attached to the shoulder by its _origin_, and to one of the bones of the fore-ar the arm midway between the shoulder and the elboith the opposite hand, and then bending the arement of the belly of the muscle by the contraction will be at once perceived Then, bythe hand down on the inside of the ar muscle may be readily traced until it terminates in a _tendon_, of th, which is inserted into the bone just below the elbow As the fore-arht in the hand, the _tendon_toward the point of insertion Extend the arm at the elbow, and the muscle on the outside of the arm will swell and become firm, while the inside muscle, and its tendon at the elboill be relaxed This example well illustrates the principle on which all the joints of the system are moved Those who are acquainted with mechanics will readily perceive that the action just described is an example of the ”_third_ kind of lever,” where the power is applied between the weight and the fulcruht, and the tendon, inserted into the bone just below the elbow, is the power This kind of lever requires the power to be greater than the weight, and acts under what is called a _e_ What is lost in power, however, is compensated in increased velocity
There are upward of four hundred muscles in the human body Some of these are _voluntary_ in their motions, as those I have described, while others are _involuntary_, as the action of the heart and the respiratory muscles Had the action of these depended upon the will, as does the action of the muscles of locomotion, the circulation of the blood and the process of breathing would cease, and life would become extinct whenever sleep or any other cause should overcome the attention Here, then, we have another beautiful illustration of the wisdo that those muscles which are essential to the continuation of life shall perform their functions without the control or attention of the individual
The study of the muscular system involves an exposition of the principles by which exercise should be regulated, and can scarcely fail to excite the attention of the general reader, and especially of those who, as parents or teachers, are interested in the education of the young
The muscles enable us to move the frame-work of the system Their chief purpose obviously is to enable us to carry into effect the various resolutions and designs which have been forrand object, their active exercise is, at the sa of many other iently assisted in its course through the smaller vessels to the more distant parts of the body; and by it the iestion, respiration, secretion, absorption, and nutrition are promoted; and by it the health of the whole body is ireatly influenced The mind itself is exhilarated or depressed by the proper or improper use of ht ieneral principles by which that exercise ulated
In every part of the animal economy, the muscles are proportioned in size and structure to the efforts required of them Whenever a muscle is called into frequent use, its fibers increase in thickness within certain lireater force and readiness On the other hand, when a muscle is little used, its voluree
In order to secure the most beneficial results from exercise, reference should be had to the time at which it is taken Those who are in perfect health e in it at almost any hour except iht to confine their hours of exercise within narrower liood walk, or other brisk exercise before breakfast , while to an invalid or delicate person it will be likely to prove detrimental In order to prove beneficial, exercise orous to be able to meet it This is usually the case after a lapse of from two to four hours after a enerally be found the best time for exercise for persons whose habits are sedentary If exercise be delayed till the system feels exhaustion froth that reestion; while, if taken at the proper tiestion The reasons are obvious; for exercise of every kind causes increased action and waste in the organ, and if there be not h in the syste but increased debility can reasonably be expected
Active exercise immediately _before_ meals is injurious The reasons are apparent, for y to the surface and extreetic action can not be kept up in two distant parts of the system at the saorous exercise, the stoe, and, from want of the necessary action in its vessels and nerves, is unable to carry on digestion with success This is very obviously the case where the exercise has been severe or protracted
Active exercise ought to be equally avoided immediately _after_ a heavy ans are in the highest state of activity If the orous action under such circumstances, it will cause a withdrawal of the vital stimuli of the blood and nervous influence froreatly to retard the digestive process
In accordance with this well-established fact, there is a natural and marked aversion to active pursuits after a full meal A ue, will not be injurious before or after eating; but exercise beyond this limit is at such times hurtful All, therefore, ould preserve and ie to observe faithfully this important law, otherwise they will deprive themselves of most of the benefits that are usually attendant upon judicious exercise All, then, who are forced to , should satisfy the of a very moderate meal These remarks apply to both physical and mental exercise; for if the intellect be intently occupied in profound and absorbing thought, the nervous energy will be concentrated in the brain, and any demands made on it by the stomach or muscles will be very imperfectly attended to So, also, if the sto a full ht be presented to theit, and estion will be disturbed
Another law of the muscular system requires that relaxation and contraction should alternate; or, in other words, that rest should follow exercise In accordance with this law, it is easier to walk than to stand; and in standing, it is easier to change from one foot to the other than to stand still To require a child to extend his arm and hold a book in his hand, or even to keep the arm extended but a short time, is a violation of this lahich should never be permitted Akin to this is the very injudicious practice, which is so a boy to stoop over, and, placing his finger upon a nail in the floor, ”hold it in” Teachers who are disposed to inflict punishht first to try the experiment themselves
Such protracted tension of the muscles enfeebles their action, and ultimately destroys their power of contraction