Gymnasiums, Baths, and Athletic Associations a Fundamental Part of a Woman’s College and a Model Woman’s Club.—It has been repeatedly and conclusively proved, in a large series of cases, that the physique, carriage, and health of woman can be wonderfully improved by regular and systematic gymnastic exercises, combined with outdoor exercise and athletic sports.

Briefly stated, the facts in the matter are these: the bony and the muscular systems and the vital organs are the same in both men and women, and hence the general scheme of physical training, which has been found to be so highly beneficial to men, would, if properly modified, be equally beneficial to women, and such a training for women is urged by the most competent authorities of the day.

Two-thirds of the body weight consists of bones and muscles, and the development, growth, nutrition, and vigor of the muscular and bony system can only be maintained by such exercises as will call into play the action of all of the muscles of the body, that is, the stature, breadth of shoulders, and size of the chest, as well as firm, hard muscles, are dependent on regular and systematic exercises of every part of the body, and through the beneficial effects produced through exercise on the respiration, circulation, and digestion, etc., the brain, nerves, heart, lungs, in short, all the organs and tissues of the body, are kept in a healthy condition.

The life of the masses of women to-day is being spent under artificial and the most unhealthy conditions; for the most part in overheated, ill-ventilated houses, with very little time spent in the open air, and without any knowledge or practice in games and outdoor sports.

The occupation, or lack of occupation, of the majority of women scarcely calls into play the muscles of the upper part of the body. This lack of use of the muscles about the shoulders and upper part of the chest is fatal to the development of the chest and lungs.

Outside of housewives and domestics, the majority of professional, business, and working women live under a very high nervous tension, with but a very slight range of physical activity. What they all need is a sufficient variety of exercises to call into play all the muscles and the various regions of the body, together with plenty of fresh air, amusements, and recreations. And already some of our large, wide-awake, manufacturing establishments, convinced that the practical application of these truths in their own factories would both improve the health of their employees and be to the financial interest of the firm, are now providing well-equipped gymnasiums, under the direction of competent instructors, furnished with baths, resting-rooms, restaurants, etc., for their employees, and these experiments have demonstrated that the improved quantity and quality of the work, the lessened amount of sickness among the employees, more than compensate the employers for the expenditure of money and the time consumed in physical recreation.

It is only within the past decade that the great benefits to be derived from a systematic, gymnastic training, combined with athletic sports for girls and women, has been generally recognized. To-day all our best colleges for girls and young women have well-equipped gymnasiums, with a corps of competent instructors, where a scientific and systematic course in physical training is given during the winter months, supplemented during the fall and spring months by outdoor athletics and games. And, further, this course is obligatory during the freshman, sophomore, and junior years.

The result of the gymnastic and athletic work done at Vassar College for the past fifteen years shows a very great improvement in the physical development, the lung capacity, and the general health of the students. The average lung capacity for women is given as one hundred and fifty cubic inches; at Vassar the average lung capacity is one hundred and sixty-five cubic inches.

The Vassar College Gymnasium.—As Vassar College has a model gymnasium, an unusually fine corps of instructors, and gives the greatest attention to all the details of the physical training of its students, it may very properly serve as a model for schools and women’s clubs throughout the country.

The instructors all received their training at the Sargent Normal School, Cambridge, under the direction of Dr. Dudley A. Sargent. Hence, it is naturally run along the same lines.

Gymnasium work is carried on from the middle of November until the end of March. The gymnasium is furnished with the usual apparatus for light and heavy work. The entire student body is divided into four classes; each class meets three times a week, and the period of work in the gymnasium lasts forty-five minutes. This is followed by the shower and needle baths.

The wands and dumb-bells used are wooden ones, and vary in weight from three-fourths of a pound to two and a half pounds. Other apparatus that might be used in the home gymnasium are the chest-weights and the rowing machine with a movable seat.

Instruction in classic dancing is part of the regular gymnastic work.

The Vassar gymnasium is also furnished with a fine swimming pool. The temperature of the water is kept at from 75° to 80° F. For beginners it is necessary to have a much higher temperature than for expert swimmers. Women will be greatly encouraged to learn to swim from the fact of the incredibly short time in which the art is taught here. Students learn to swim well in ten lessons of fifteen minutes each, and the great popularity of these lessons renders it necessary to limit the instruction to ten lessons. Later in the season, if there is space in the pool, the lessons may be resumed.

Before entering the gymnasium the girl is first of all carefully examined by the resident physician and gymnasium director, and the results of these examinations recorded.

A detailed series of measurements and strength tests is made and recorded on the gymnasium register. On completing the tests, the following card is filled out and given to each girl. It has been found that these cards, kept by the girls, increase the interest of each in her development, and stimulate her to further exertion to improve her physique.

VASSAR COLLEGE GYMNASIUM.—RECORD OF PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS

The instruments needed for making these tests are the spirometer and two dynamometers, one to test the strength of the muscles of the back and legs and the other to test the muscles of the arms.

Outdoor sports and athletics are begun in the fall, on the opening of the college, and are continued as long as the weather permits. The students then take up the regular gymnastic work until the spring of the year, when athletics are again resumed. Here again three hours a week are obligatory. It should be stated here that during the menstrual period the girls are not only excused from gymnastics and athletics, but absolutely forbidden to take part in these exercises.

The list of games include croquet, lawn-tennis, hockey, and basket-ball. Rowing has always been a favorite outdoor sport at Vassar. In 1909 horseback riding was again taken up; riding lessons were begun in April, and two hundred girls took lessons. With the exception of about twenty, they all rode astride. An ordinary man’s saddle can be used, but a somewhat narrower saddle, with a higher front, is more comfortable.

The Standardized Percentage Table for Physical Efficiency.—The great importance of heredity on the life history of the individual is now so generally recognized that its record becomes almost as important as that of the woman herself.

The attention of medical examiners is called to the fact that more stress must be laid upon the habits of dress in women as a frequently predisposing cause of impaired physical weakness and tendency to disease. This is emphatically so in the case of high French heels and insufficient clothing. About 75 per cent. of the women of to-day wear excessively high heels, and quite that number take practically no exercise.

Because of the great variation in the height of the heel of the shoe, from 1 to 3 inches, it is essential that the height should be taken in the stocking feet; and since the weight of the clothing varies at the different seasons of the year, the weight should be taken with a minimum amount of clothing on. While the chest measurements should be taken with a steel tape with all of the clothing of the chest removed; care being taken that the tape does not slip down in the back.

Difference of pulse in the horizontal and vertical positions should not exceed 15 beats; and in strong hearts the rate is just the same.

For the proper completion of this examination it is most essential that all of the endurance tests should be made.

Hopping Test.—Heart is counted with the stethoscope at apex during four consecutive 15-second periods immediately after hopping. Note per cent. of increase from normal during first 15-second period; second, per cent. of recovery from first 15-second period to fourth 15-second period.

The ratings are as follows: I. For good heredity, personal history, and good present condition, 10 per cent.; II. Normal condition of heart and circulatory system, 10 per cent.; III. Normal conditions of lungs and chest development, 10 per cent.; IV. Good condition of digestive system, 10 per cent.; V. Normal condition of kidneys, 10 per cent.; VI. Normal condition of nervous system, 10 per cent.; VII. Normal condition of generative organs, 10 per cent.; Normal condition of muscular system, 10 per cent.; Tests of endurance, normal, 5 per cent.; Normal ocular and aural tests, 5 per cent.; Normal working efficiency, 10 per cent. Making for the normal total of physical efficiency 100 per cent.

No applicant should be passed who falls below 7.5 per cent. in any one group of tests, or who falls below 75 per cent. on the entire examination.

This medical blank was made to gauge as accurately as possible the physical condition of women, on which their working efficiency depends. While we cannot measure the strength and adaptability of the heart and blood-vessels with the same degree of accuracy as height, weight, and chest measurements, yet with the physical examination and the tests of endurance we can make a very fair estimate. And we are entirely dependent for the history of heredity, personal history, and that of the digestive and nervous systems upon the woman herself; but the history of the present condition at least can be to a great extent verified or annulled by the physical examination and by the present condition.

By the quickness and conciseness with which the questions are answered; the woman’s posture when she does not realize that it is being studied; her movements as she goes from one test to another and the way she conducts herself throughout this very rigid physical examination, which working under high pressure with the aid of a stenographer and office nurse, takes one hour to complete; one can judge pretty accurately of her working efficiency.

The applicants should be graded into four classes:

Class A. Those having an excellent record in all tests.

Class B. Those having a good average record and no poor record in any test.

Class C. Those having a fair average record and who are free from organic defects.

Class D. Those having some definite organic disease which, in the judgment of the examiner, would make it dangerous for the individual to undertake any confining or laborious occupation.

Only those who come under Class “A” or “B” should be recommended for any confining or laborious occupation. By suitable methods for the correction of faulty habits of hygiene and systematic physical training for one year those in Class “C” should be able to gain admittance to one of the first two classes.

To be most beneficial to the candidate, after the physical examination is completed, there should follow a brief personal talk, making suggestions for the correction of faulty personal hygiene; and where medical treatment is indicated, instructions to place herself under the care of a physician. This has from the first been the policy of the board and of the medical examiner.

And on their part, the candidates are now beginning to thoroughly realize that these examinations are decidedly to their advantage and regard them as a privilege to which they are entitled. And the majority of them go out with the determination to get and keep well and strong.

SPECIAL MEDICAL BLANK FOR WOMEN

Report of Medical Examiner

In the case of
Address,
Place of birth,
Age, Occupation,

I. Heredity: Adverse Family History.
Tuberculosis?
Insanity or tendency to nervous exhaustion?
Cancer?
Heart disease?
Kidney disease?

Personal History.
Acute diseases since childhood?
Number of days lost in past year through illness?
Notable increase or decrease of weight during the past year?

Present Condition.
Nutrition, color, and condition of skin?
General appearance, as indicative of health?
Dress: Habits of: 1 inch heels?

II. Heart and Circulatory System.
Temperature?
Size of heart?          Force of apex-beat?
Murmurs?
Blood-pressure: Maximal?      Minimal?
Pulse at rest? Horizontal?      Vertical?      After strength tests?
Pulse, Character: Normal?    Intermittent?
Irregular?      Unequal?
Blood examination.—
Absence of varicose veins and hemorrhoids?

III. Lungs and Chest Development.
Respiration: Frequency? Normal? Shallow? Deep?
Auscultation?      Adventitious sounds?
Girth of chest: Repose? Forced insp’n? Forced exp’n?
Ninth rib: Repose? Forced insp’n? Forced exp’n?
Normal, in relation to height?
Depth of chest: Repose? Forced insp’n? Forced exp’n?
Lung capacity, measured by spirometer?
Girth of waist?
Nose: Normal?      Obstructed?
Throat: Normal?      Catarrh?      Tonsils: R.?      L.?

IV. Digestive System.
Teeth: Good?      Fair?      Poor?
Tongue: Clean?      Coated?      Pale?
Breath?
Functional derangement of stomach?
”          ”      ”  intestines?
”          ”      ”  liver?
Normal size of liver and absence of tenderness?
Normal size and position of stomach and intestines?
Regularity of stools with normal color and consistence?
Constipation?      Diarrhea?
Appendicitis?

V. The Kidneys.
Quantity of urine for twenty-four hours?
Frequency of urination?
Specific gravity and reaction?
Indican?
Albumin?
Sugar?
Casts?
Position of kidneys?

VI. The Nervous System.
Tendency to headache?
Character of  ”
Pain or tenderness of spinal cord?
Number of hours that can now be spent in study daily?
Tendency to nervous exhaustion?
Character of sleep: Insomnia?
Mental poise?

VII. Generative Organs.
Position and size of uterus?
Inflammation of uterus?
Position and size of ovaries?
Inflammation of ovaries?
Menstrual flow: Quantity?      Frequency?
Pain: Before?      During flow?      Length of time?
Vaginal discharge?

VIII. The Muscular System.
Height?      Weight?      Normal?
Stretch of arms? Breadth of shoulders? Breadth of hips?
Posture: Sitting?      Standing?      Walking?
Figure?
Shoulders: Round?      Sloping?      Scapula prominent?
Spine?      Lateral curvature?
Abdomen: Normal?      Protuberant?
Feet: Weak ankle: R.?      L.?      Weak arch: R.?      L.?
Flat: R.?      L.?
Strength of right forearm?      Of left forearm?
Strength of back?      Strength of legs?
Strength of upper arms (push up)?
Strength of upper arms (pull up)?

IX. Tests of Endurance.
How long a time is spent daily in physical exercise?
What form?
What is the average rate of speed in walking?
Does hill climbing cause shortness of breath?
What outdoor sports are practised?
Length of time required for test walk of three miles?
Pulse before?      After?
Heart reaction to exercise: Hopping 100 feet?

Ocular Tests.
Distant vision: Right?      Left?
Astigmatism?

Aural Tests.

X. General Impression of Working Efficiency.
Temperament?
Personality?
Self-control?
Initiative?
Capability?

Suggestions for Faulty Personal Hygiene.

Indications for Medical Treatment.

Remarks.

Signature of Medical Examiner, , M. D.

Address,

Date,

Self-made Good Physique Through Physical Training.—It has not infrequently happened that, by outdoor life and physical training, young men and women of frail constitutions have developed into strong, robust, and even physically powerful men and women.

While membership in a well-appointed gymnasium and athletic association offers the most favorable conditions for the symmetric and fullest development of the body, and when possible it is advised always to take at least a short course in physical training under the direction of a competent instructor, yet every woman has it in her power to very greatly improve her physical condition without these aids.

Systematic physical training should be begun in childhood and continued all through life.

Before twelve years of age physical training should be the same for both sexes, and girls and boys should have their sports and games together. The beneficial influence of this will be manifest for both—girls will grow stronger, less timid, and more resourceful, and boys will grow more refined and thoughtful.

But even the case of the adult woman, where not only physical training but most of the laws of health have been neglected, is far from hopeless. A poorly developed chest, round shoulders, a beginning spinal curvature, a poor carriage, bad skin, poor circulation, indigestion, constipation, and low vitality, with poor powers of resistance to changes in the weather and environment, are not insurmountable obstacles. But a woman in this condition cannot manage her own case. She must consult and place herself under the care of a competent physician.

Two charts should be made out; the first should be a detailed outline of her present condition; to the Vassar chart already given should be added the physical defects needing correction, as round shoulders, poor chest development, palpitation of the heart on exertion, length of walk that can be taken comfortably, also the time required per mile. As the strength of the heart and lungs increases, as shown not only by the actual tests, but also by the increased powers of endurance, this first chart will be a matter of great encouragement to the woman and a great incentive to further effort. In a parallel column to the defects should be written the corrective measure for those defects. The second chart should contain the ideal measurements and strength tests for a woman of her height and weight.

Rules for Taking Exercise.—The first things to be aimed at are the proper ventilation of the lungs, together with their development, and the strengthening of the heart. During the exercise the windows must be thrown wide open, or the very object of the exercise is defeated.

Always begin with the simplest exercises and stop at the first sign of fatigue. The very first exercise will, therefore, be the simple respiratory exercises, taken in bed until one acquires some control of the muscles; they are then taken standing before a mirror, to insure the exercises being taken correctly, and after this they should be taken before an open window. The respiratory should be alternated with the abdominal exercises, and all of these should be taken for twenty minutes at a time, at least twice a day, on rising and immediately before retiring.

Two hours should be spent out-of-doors every day. If the woman is weak and unused to taking exercise, she should walk until she feels the first signs of fatigue, rest, and then continue her walk. If the weather is too cold for sitting out-of-doors the woman should preferably take two short walks each day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. For invalids about ten in the morning and two in the afternoon are the best hours in winter, because of the greater warmth of the sun at those times. To be effective, exercise out-of-doors must be taken every day without regard to the weather, since the system, when in a state of activity, is less susceptible to sudden changes of temperature than when at rest.

Exercise should not be taken after long fasting; hence, never before breakfast, nor immediately after a hearty meal. An hour after breakfast or a light lunch, or two hours after dinner, is the best time for regular exercise.

A certain amount of daily exercise is essential for the preservation of the health. A healthy woman should be able to walk five miles a day, at the rate of three miles an hour, without feeling any sense of fatigue.

In order to secure the greatest amount of benefit from exercise, the mind should be entirely free from care during the exercise, so that the woman should leave her cares at home and give up her mind and body to recreation while she is out-of-doors.

Regularity in taking exercise is absolutely essential to secure good physical development and to maintain the body in a condition of health. A fixed hour should be set aside for this purpose every day.

No definite rules can be given for the exact amount of exercise to be taken at one time, but the occurrence of fatigue is the signal for rest; after a five minutes’ rest, exercise may be again resumed, to be stopped again at the same signal of fatigue. Perhaps three periods of exercise, alternating with rest, may be taken, but, in order to do good and not harm, the individual must always stop before she is tired.

A period of free exercises should begin with a twenty minutes’ practice, including movements for arms, legs, back, chest, and abdomen, with especial emphasis on the correct poise and carriage of the body and deep breathing, and it should terminate with running; or, if in a class, with a running game.

For those of mature age and sedentary habits especial care must be taken not to overtax the heart, always beginning with the simplest movements and stopping at the first signs of fatigue.

In the gymnasium the periods of exercise generally cover forty-five minutes, with frequent intervals of rest in between. Even here an invariable rule should be never to exercise to extreme weariness.

All exercise should be followed by a shower or needle bath, and a vigorous rubbing with or without alcohol. Very delicate women who have been unaccustomed to taking exercise should rest on the couch or bed for one hour before proceeding to dress. It is well to sleep, if possible, and in this way they will find the good effects of the exercise very greatly increased.

Gymnastic Dress.—The usual and best style of gymnastic dress is a bloomer costume, the bloomers coming above the knees, long stockings, and thin, flat-soled shoes without any heels. The dress must be loose at the neck and waist, or it may be cut low in the neck. The sleeves are preferably short elbow sleeves.

If the exercises are taken at home, the woman may wear a combination undersuit, with stockings and broad-soled heelless slippers. The lighter the dress, the better, so that there shall be no sense of weight or restriction about the neck, waist, or shoulders.

By putting on her bedroom slippers any one can easily convince herself of the greater grip the foot has on the floor when so clad, and of the greater ease and sureness of the foot in walking.

For outdoor athletics a short skirt, coming just below the knees, may be worn over the bloomer costume. Tennis shoes should always be worn.

All rooms used for exercise, gymnasiums, and ball-rooms must be thoroughly ventilated before the assemblage of the people. The air must be kept cool, between 50° and 60° F., and proper arrangements must be made to keep the room well ventilated while in use without causing direct drafts.

Well-waxed, hard-wood floors are the best, because they can be kept freest from dust. Students should never be allowed to enter the gymnasium with their street shoes on, as they carry with them much dust that will be thrown in motion and inhaled during the performance of the various exercises, and there follows not only the irritation caused by the inhalation of the particles of dust, but also the danger of inspiring all kinds of germs of disease with which the air is laden.

The Configuration of the Foot.—No study of the correct attitude of the body at rest or in motion would be complete without some knowledge of the structural arrangement of the foot. The feet form the base of support for the entire body, and at every step are subjected to a pressure of from one hundred to two hundred pounds.

This base is in the form of two arches, a transverse and an anteroposterior. The latter is the most important, and has been subdivided into two by an imaginary line, drawn between the third and fourth metatarsal bones. The inner portion of this arch is much more curved than the outer, and forms the instep. The arch is supported by two piers. The posterior pier is formed by the os calcis, or heel bone, and the posterior part of the astragulus. It is shorter, has but one joint, is more curved, and is, at the same time, more solid than the anterior pier, and receives the greater part of the weight of the body. The anterior pier includes all the bones in front of the astragulus to the junction of the three metatarsal bones with the toes. It is much the longer, is less curved, and has many joints, giving it greater elasticity, and also enabling it to diminish the force of shocks transmitted to the arch. The summit of the arch is the ankle.

It is evident that the superincumbent pressure, by flattening the arches, both lengthens and broadens the foot. The anteroposterior arch is further lengthened by a turning upward of the toes, which form a hinge-joint with the instep.

In extension the foot normally rests upon the heel, the tips of the metatarsal bones, and the outer side of the sole. In walking, running, or dancing the direction of the weight upon the arches is constantly changing, and it is only through the action of certain muscles that the normal arches are conserved. This healthy condition of the plantar arch can only be maintained by the evenly balanced action of those muscles which surround and strengthen the weak parts of the arch.

Dr. Busey’s description of the foot in walking, and the injurious effects of the high-heeled shoe, is as follows: “In walking the heel touches the ground first, and supports the whole weight of the body for a moment. A little later the point of the foot touches, and assists in preserving the equilibrium by increasing the base. During the second movement of walking the heel is raised (see Fig. 27, 2), and the weight of the body is shifted more and more to the center of the foot and toes, the latter spreading and pushing the body forward. This last is the movement which displays to the greatest advantage the suppleness and elasticity of the articulations of the foot, and the adaptation of the arch to receive the weight of the body, and to transfer it to the distal pier, while the body is being moved forward by the same act. It is the execution of this movement which gives to the gait of woman that elegance and those graceful undulations which are so attractive.

“The narrow high-heeled shoe, on the other hand, by displacing the supporting base, causes both piers of the double-spanned arch to strike at the ground simultaneously. In consequence of which the gait, instead of being undulating, is stiff and hobbling, and the body advances by jerks.

“When standing on the heel bone (NLM, Fig. 27, 1), the joint at K, and the great toe C, touch the support upon the line A-B. When the feet are shod according to the present fashion, the line A-B is made to assume the concave form shown in Fig. 27, 3, by BTu. The instep is made more convex and rounded, and the foot is actually shortened (see a-b, Fig. 27, 3). The constant elevation of the heel places the body of the pedestrian in the same position as when standing upon an inclined plane. Again, the heel is so shaped and located that it forces up the keystone of the arch and weakens the whole structure.”

The Correct Attitude in Standing (See Fig. 28).—The heels are placed nearly together, the toes pointed very slightly outward, the legs are rigid, the trunk and head are held erect, and the shoulders somewhat back, so that the chest shall expand freely. The arms should hang easily at the sides; the fingers are slightly bent, with the thumbs in front. This position of “attention” can only be maintained comfortably for a very short length of time, since the actively contracting muscles soon tire.

If the standing position has to be maintained for any great length of time, one foot should be placed slightly in advance of the other, the weight being borne upon the straight leg and the active supporting foot, the other being relatively passive. This asymmetric position has the important advantage that the two extremities may be brought alternately into play.

The most common defect in standing is that the entire weight is usually borne upon the same leg, generally the right one, while the left, being inactive, is placed out to one side; the habitual maintenance of this position leads, as we shall see later, to a tilting of the pelvis to one side, with a consequent spinal curvature and lowering of one shoulder.

Persons with strong feet, especially primitive unshod feet, mountaineers, runners, and young children, walk with the inner borders of the feet nearly parallel to each other and the direction of motion. The best sculpture, both ancient and modern, shows the straight supporting foot, which in standing is not necessarily parallel with its mate, since the resting foot may assume almost any angle of divergence.

The influence of the stability of a correct base is well illustrated by standing on one foot and swinging the other leg backward and forward, which is much more difficult if the supporting foot be turned to one side. A runner finds it very difficult to run with the toes turned out, although the heels never touch the ground.

Corrective Exercises.—Many of the most common defects, such as a drooping head, round shoulders, flat chest, beginning spinal curvature, etc., result from a weak and relaxed condition of the muscles, whose function it is to move and support these parts. If the head is constantly bent forward in studying and writing at the desk, the muscles at the back of the neck gradually lose their tone, and stretch out like a piece of elastic that is constantly kept on the strain.

The exercises selected must be such as will strengthen these particular groups of muscles, and, while taking the exercises, the entire attention must be concentrated on the part being exercised.

Any lack of symmetry in the chest, spinal curvature, or actual weakness of the lungs will necessitate the prescribing of special and carefully selected exercises.

As to the exercises themselves, they should be so arranged as to bring into play in a methodic manner all the muscles. All special and corrective work must be supplemented by general work, which will increase the organic vigor of the heart, lungs, and chest necessary to meet the vital demands of the whole system. Games are, of course, most useful for this purpose, but the games should not be too violent.

In most free exercises the limbs are used for weights of resistance. In a man weighing one hundred and fifty pounds the arms usually weigh about ten pounds each and the legs twenty pounds.

The Causes of Round Shoulders.—The general conditions are those that produce muscular or constitutional weakness, as rapid growth, overwork, the impure air of ill-ventilated rooms, acute illness, near-sightedness uncorrected by glasses, lack of proper exercise, and the wearing of clothing supported by suspenders bearing on the points of the shoulders, tending to pull them downward and forward, or even to produce a painful deformity of the scapula.

It is the rule rather than the exception to find, with round shoulders, some inequality in the height. The right shoulder is apt to be the lower, owing to the carrying of burdens on the right arm. Habitual standing with the weight on the right leg contributes to a good many cases. Games in which the right arm is almost exclusively used is another cause.

The Causes of Spinal Curvature.—The spinal column forms the central support of the body, and, for grace and suppleness of motion, its thirty-four joints should be constantly exercised, as well as the muscles which hold it erect and support the head upon it, as well as attach the shoulders, hips, and legs more or less closely to it. In brief, all the muscles of the back need varied and regular exercise to maintain the erect position of the body, and from early childhood especial attention should be given to develop and strengthen this region of the body.

The normal movements of the spinal column are flexion, extension, side bending, and torsion. Flexion and extension take place, for the most part, in the lumbar and cervical regions.

Gould believes that astigmatism is a prominent factor in the causation of spinal curvature; the curvature is affected by the tilting of the head to one side in reading or writing.

But a faulty postural habit is probably the most frequent cause both in standing and at the desk. When the weight is supported by the right leg, the left being used merely as a prop; there is a marked C-shaped curve produced, with a lowering of the right shoulder and prominence of the right hip. This position is assumed by school children for long periods of time, and there is a consequent overstretching of the ligaments of the spine and hip. These cases are generally accompanied by round shoulders and flat chest, protrusion of the abdomen, and rotation of the vertebræ.

A muscle can be developed only by the active contraction and relaxation of its fibers. Continuous tension quickly tires and lowers its tone, so that exercises given for increasing muscular power should be comparatively quick and frequently repeated, while those that aim at the stretching of muscles and ligaments should be slow and long maintained.

In all cases where corrective treatment is needed the first thing to be attended to is the general condition, and the best hygienic conditions must be provided, the general health inquired into and attended to. In all cases the eyes should be examined by a competent oculist.

All exercises and stretching movements should be given daily, with a period of rest after three or four movements, and they should be so alternated and combined that no two, employing the same muscles in the same way, should follow one another, and so cause excessive fatigue.

The Muscles of the Abdomen.—These muscles are most important for breathing and therefore for health, for the retention in their normal position of the various abdominal viscera, for good digestion and regularity of the evacuation of the bowels. Sluggish digestion and constipation are among the commonest evils in life, and they are generally connected with relaxed abdominal walls and flabbiness of the abdominal muscles. Active pressure of the abdominal muscles on the viscera massages the liver and presses onward the contents of the intestines.

The protuberant abdomen may either be due to a faulty position in standing or an excess of fat in the great omentum, a membrane intended to protect the bowels. This excess of fat may be in turn due to lack of exercise or an excess of sweets and starchy foods, and the reduction of this superfluous fat by suitable exercises, properly taken, together with the attention to the diet, not starvation, is the only common sense and safe way for a woman to reduce her size.

The abdominal muscles are used in bending, in stooping forward, in raising up from the recumbent position, somewhat in climbing, and in many other movements. Trunk bending forward and backward; lateral flexions of the trunk; bending of the knees down to a squatting position, together with torsions, and all exercises derived from these types, bring into play and exercise the abdominal muscles.

EXERCISES FOR DEVELOPING THE VARIOUS REGIONS OF THE BODY

The following list of free exercises has been selected primarily for developing the lungs and chest and correcting deformities, such as round shoulders, stooping attitude, and beginning spinal curvature, when due only to muscular weakness and faulty attitude in standing, sitting, and walking.