XXXIII.

GYMNASTICS.

"Let your statue be beautiful, but neglect not the pedestal, lest with every adverse wind it receive a shock."

Our care of the future man is not, as I have said, confined to his infancy, but is extended to all the critical periods of life. The proper development of the frame and of manly qualities is looked upon as an essential part of the boy's education, and much of the strength, beauty, and longevity of the people is due to the physical training of the student.

Formerly little discrimination was used in the selection of bodily as of mental exercises; the same exercises being allotted to the brave and the timid, the weak and the strong boy.

Now, on the other hand, the exercise is adapted to the boy's strength and physical organization, which often differ as much as his genius from that of his companions. Exercises beneficial to one constitution are prejudicial to another, and would, perhaps, develop a part of the body already having a tendency to exaggeration.

Thus a youth inclined to be tall and lanky, or whose limbs are disposed to be too long for symmetry, is not allowed the same exercises as those of a youth with short limbs or inclined to be corpulent.

We have numerous gymnastic exercises. Some parts of our apparatus are much like yours, as, for instance, a cross-bar, on which the boy swings, holding on with his hands.

In the case just mentioned a tall, thin, long-limbed boy would not be permitted to use this bar; whilst a boy with short limbs and inclined to corpulency would be encouraged to use it daily.

A medical man attached to the college attends on the gymnastic ground to observe the efforts each boy is obliged to make in performing his exercises. When the exercises are ended, the doctor examines the boy's pulse, and, with the aid of an instrument invented for the purpose, tests the heat of his brain. The boy with whom the exercises agree will show a healthy heat and a strong, full pulse; whilst others will have the brain extremely hot, with the pulse very quick, but feeble. The doctor having formed his opinion, orders that these boys should discontinue the exercises antagonistic to their system, and they are led to those more adapted to their capabilities. The weaker boys are also often separated from the stronger, to prevent that overstraining to which a weak but high-spirited lad is frequently impelled by the emulation of example.

In the allotment of exercises our aim is to develop thoroughly the muscles, and to give a regular and general action to all the members, but not to overstrain them. The power of each boy being thus carefully remarked and regulated accordingly, all gather strength rapidly, and most are soon able to resume the exercises for a time abandoned. Indeed, by the precautions taken and the exercises selected, the body is fortified and rendered so firm, that in after years it will bear very great fatigue without sustaining injury.

BATHING IN THE SEA.

As already mentioned, ablutions are in great favour in Montalluyah, and bathing is in constant use. At a certain period of the year—about six weeks in the whole—our boys are made to bathe every morning in the open sea, into which they are taught to leap from adjacent rocks. Having been told off according to their strength and capabilities, they are gradually led to higher and higher rocks, till at length they become accustomed to jump from a vast height with ease and without fear, and thus to dive in the sea.

When there is a timid boy, six or seven of the bravest are selected to accompany him. They are directed on no account to urge him to jump off the rocks, or to taunt him for not doing so, but to let him act as he pleases. If he does not imitate their example by jumping off the rock, the overlooker who has the care of the party will say, "As you have not bathed from the rock, you had better bathe below;" and the boy is then sent to bathe with the younger ones from the beach. Ere long, of his own accord, he becomes desirous to imitate the braver boys of his own age; though I have known twelve or more mornings to elapse before the higher leap has been attempted.

When at last the boy has resolved to jump from the rock, great care is taken neither to praise him too much nor to reproach him with awkwardness. On his return to the school, he is examined by the doctor, to see if his nerves have received too great a shock, and directions are given accordingly. After a time all traces of timidity vanish, and numbers of children have thus been cured of their first aversion to jump from great heights into the sea.

No boy is allowed, under any circumstances, to taunt another with any weakness or failing; and, consequently, the boy himself scarcely knows that it is fear which has prevented him from doing the same thing as his companions.

Every day throughout the year the boys are required to take a bath either in the sea or at the institution, unless the doctor orders the contrary.

Besides the consideration of cleanliness and its effect on the complexion and health, the water used contains iron, which in our climate is of itself very beneficial to the system.

TREE-EARTH BATHS.

Where a boy's aversion to study arises from physical weakness, we do not urge him to persevere any more than we urge him against his inclination to leap from a high rock; but, on the contrary, when a boy's bodily strength fails him, and more especially in a case of superior intelligence, his studies are suspended until the weakness is remedied. Were the boy forced to persevere, he would probably suffer both in body and mind. He is merely placed in a separate department of the college—a kind of infirmary for strengthening the young, and promoting their healthy development.

For giving the desired strength we most commonly employ "Tree-earth Baths,"—that is to say, baths of fresh earth taken from beneath the roots of certain trees, in which the boy is as it were buried, every part of his body being covered, with the exception of his head. This earth bath is placed in another bath containing hot water. The effect of this operation in renewing the boy's strength and repairing the waste of his body is marvellous.

When removed from the bath the boy is washed with tepid water, mixed with a solution of bark, and on the following day a cold douche is administered. The bath, in which the boy is kept for about an hour, is administered at intervals of about ten days, and is so efficacious that not more than twelve are required for the worst cases.

Previously to being immersed the boy is made to walk sharply for half an hour, and, while he is in the bath, warm liquid food is administered. The pores being opened facilitate the reception of the fresh exhalations from the earth and the expulsion of the impure gases from the body. The boy often sleeps whilst thus immersed, as it is considered highly beneficial to inhale the fresh fragrance of the earth.

The electricities proper to the earth and trees being very sympathetic to the human frame, they readily mingle with the electricity of the patient and assist in repelling the unhealthy gases and impurities in his body.

Earth electricity is of itself most beneficial, but its curative and invigorating effects are vastly increased when impregnated with tree electricity, which is strongest about the roots.

There are men whose sole occupation it is to collect the tree-earth, and who become skilful in digging and removing the soil from underneath the roots, without in the slightest degree injuring the tree.

The earth under many trees is good for the purpose above described, but that about the roots of the oak, especially when of a ripe middle age, is exceptionally efficacious.

The roots of another tree that you have, viz., the weeping willow, offers a good earth for girls and also for boys of a susceptible nature, for whom the oak-root earth might be too strong.

The elm, horse-chestnut, and lime-earths are all more powerful than that of the oak, and therefore are rarely used, for their exceeding strength would overpower the natural electricity and leave a lassitude in the patient. The tree-earth baths are rarely used for adults, except in cases when, earlier in my reign, the mental powers of several persons had been overtaxed at the expense of their physical strength.