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CHAP. XIII.] them. Some of the girls twisted themselves in and out of ladders made for the purpose, ascending to an almost dizzy height, and letting themselves down very rapidly. I cannot now describe these evolutions, but doubtless many of my readers have witnessed them.

The point to be emphasized in this connection is that the rough gymnastics generally practised on apparatus, the climbing and swinging from the hands and feet, the vaulting and parallel bars exercises, though they may be highly fitted for athletes or sailors, and may even not be injurious to the stronger individuals among Board School girls, are most unsuitable for the weaker individuals and for young ladies whose inherited constitutions are not fitted for very rough work of any kind. Further, I wish to insist that, before violent exercise of any kind is undertaken with a view to promoting health, a thorough medical examination should be undergone, as, without the patient being aware of the fact, organic disease, or a tendency to such, may exist which would render such exercise injurious, or perhaps fatal.

Two typical cases in illustration of this have come under my observation recently. I was giving a course of simple lectures on physiology and hygiene at a club for working girls, which boasted much of its gymnastic classes and apparatus. After the lecture the girls often consulted me as to various symptoms from which they were suffering. One girl, sixteen years of age, I found to have heart disease, and a woman aged twenty-