Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 46.djvu/163

Rh always provided that by preliminary exercises they have gained sufficient strength and skill.

Our young pupil at the close of her hour's exercise takes a sponge or a spray bath or none at all, according to her prescription; always a brisk rub and a complete change of underclothing are advised. The general benefits to her of such training lie in the fact, first, that it exercises the entire body in a systematic, practicable manner, as no other city exercise can do. A horse, the bicycle, or a long walk, all admirable, require fair weather for their enjoyment. The gymnasium, dry, clean, cheerful, invigorating, offers variety, companionship, and physical recreation equally in storm or shine, and this is no small consideration in arranging a programme for the physical improvement of the city girl during the winter months. The regularity of the exercise is not the least of its benefits. When one has made a financial sacrifice for the pleasure of keeping a regular engagement, she has an excellent guarantee that the engagement will be met. We are all creatures of habit, and advantage should be taken of the fact in the physical as well as in the intellectual realm, and Nature's rewards are most generous to the child of system.

The particular benefits of gymnastic and athletic work for girls have been demonstrated by exact methods more palpably than is generally known. A system of measurements and tests has been introduced in many gymnasiums, as already noted, whereby the physical proportions of the individual are taken upon entering and also at the expiration of the term of exercise, and the resulting evidence has become not only highly interesting but conclusive as to the influence of such systematic exercise upon health and development. It is not unusual for girls to gain in six months' time several pounds in weight, two inches in chest circumference, and from twenty to fifty cubic inches in inspiratory power, while the dynamometers may show an increase in muscular strength of from fifty to one hundred per cent over the original tests.

The constitutional benefits are not less marked and are by far the most important. To general inquiries regarding health the common reply is, "I feel so much better than I did in every way." In one, the chronic headache is relieved; the tendency to colds in another has been arrested; in the third, functional pain has disappeared. The body is more ready for work and more capable for it in every sense. The stimulus of muscular activity has had a profound influence upon the functioning of the whole economy. What is it, after all, that most of us need for health but better functioning? The majority of these young women have not any disease; they have simply been curtailed in their opportunities for generous lung and limb development, and they are still young