Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/459

* GYMNASTICS. 409 GYMNONOTI. followi'il by tile left liiuul iUid the feel, ;iiul finally l)y the right hand and the feet. In ilc- scending, the feel act as a brake to regulate the speed of the descent, the hands being lowered one past the other. Pole-climbing is more ditli- iiilt than roi)e-elimbing, owing to tlie thickness and rigidity of the pole. Horizontal or inclined ladders are used for ascending and descending with hands and feet, or by hanging by the hands alone. They are tixed usually about eight feet above the ground, either vertically or inclined at an angle. Frequently two of them are inclined together. The Delsarte si/stein of gymnastics is more jiroperly a system of physical expression, and will be' found treated at length under Physical Tr.ixi.u. In analyzing the organism, Delsarte (q.v.) taught that the voice was the language et physical life; gesture the language of emo- tion: and articulation the language of reason. Motiini from the individual as a centre he termed excentric; motion to a centre, concentric: and motion between these two extremes, when they are properly balanced, normal. The exercises are so arranged as to develop to its fullest extent the ability of each organism to perform its part in the sensitive, moral, or intellectual transmis- sion with which it is charged. The system com- n/ences with a series of aesthetic gynmastics, which include decomposing or devitalizing exer- cises for the fingers, hand, forearms, entire arm, Iiead, torso, foot, lower leg, entire leg, entire body, eyelids and lower jaw: the harmonic pose of hearing as standing, change of centre of gravi- ty forward, back, and sideways, rotation, and poise when seated ; gestures from the significant zones, mental, moral, and vital; standing in significant attitudes ; as well as the whole gamut of expression in pantomime. The Delsarte sys- tem is of particular importance in training for the stage, but it is also regarded as of great general value in the cultivation of nerve-control, as well as for physical expression. The term Sicedish gi/mnastics if. usually ap- plied in America to a system of physical training in the education of childhood and youth, which directs the muscular activity of the child toward the development of the mechanism of accustomed movements, such as walking, running, etc. : and subseipu'Utly the performance of exercises which employ large masses of coordinate muscles, and the cultivation of manual dexterity. The system dies not aim to supply an athletic training, although it is an excellent prelude to such train- ing. In Sweden the claim is made that they do not adapt their work to an apparatus, but their apparatus to their work: and that while they do not encourage the practice of difficult feats on fixed Hoor apparatus, they are enabled by their system tq conserve the physical man during the ])criod of his mental training, and thus endow him when he arrives on the threshold of man- hood with a body physiologically cap.able of sustaining him in the work of his life. The Swedish system was first developed by Ling, who died in ISoO. but it was not until between 1860 and 1870 that the several important discoveries of phsinlogy were thoroughly incorporated into the training, and g.ive it the value it subsequent- ly acquired. BiBi.ioriRAPiiY. 'ood. Manual of Phi/sical Ex- erciser (ew- York. 1867) ; Frobisher. I'hc Blood and Ihe Breath : A ffi/ntcm of Exercise for the l.iiiKjs and Limbs (New York, 187(i) ; Lewis, Tlia 'cir Uymnastics for Men, Women and Children. (18th ed., Boston, 1882) ; Ling, ><itedish. (li/innus- tics for iSchools (London, LH83) ; LeMaire, In- dian Clubs and How to Use Them (London, 1880) ; Alexander, Modern (lymnastic Exercises (London, 1890); .Jenkins, (lyninastics (New York, 1800) ; Posse, The Htpcdish tfyslcin of Edu- citliiinal (him nasties, trans. (Boston, 1800); Stcbbius, Delsarte tiystem of Ex/jrcssion. (4th cd.. New York, 1892) ; Lewis, Home (Jymnaslicn (New Y'ork, 1892) ; Stebbins, Dynamic Breathimj and Harmonic (tyniHasiics (New Y'ork, 1803); Posse, tipecial Kinesoloyy of Educational (lym- nasties (Boston, 1894); Nissen, Rational Home (lymnaslics for the Well and the Hick (Boston, 1898). GYMNEMA, jim-iw'mi (Neo-Lat., from Gk. •fv/j.i'd!, ijyinnos, naked -j- i^fia, iiema, thread), or Cow-Plant, (Symncma luctiferum. A climb- ing perennial shrub of the order Asclepiadaeeae, native of the East Indian Archipelago, the milky juice of which has been said to be used by the natives as a substitute for milk and cream, but which is believed to contain enough of the poisonous principle peculiar to the order to cast a doubt upon its reputed use. GYMNOCLADUS, jim-nok'la-das (Neo-Lat., from Gk. yv/jvo^, gymnos, naked -|- /tXatVis, klados, branch). A genus of trees of the natural order Leguminosa". Gymnocladus Canadensis is a North American tree, found in rich bottom soils from Canada and the Eastern United States as far south as Tennessee and west to Indian Ter- ritory and Nebraska. It attains a height of 50 to 00 feet in cultivation, or 75 to 100 feet when growing wild. It is remarkable for its upright branches and its exceedingly rough bark. The leaves of young trees are very large, and bipin- nate. The flowers are white in short spikes. The pods are 5 inches long and 2 inches broad. The tree is called ehicot in China, and sometimes stump-tree, from its dead apjjearance in w'inter. and the absence of conspicuous buds. It is one of the last trees to put out its leaves, which are Ytry ornamental when yoimg. Its common name, Kentucky cofl'ee-tree, was apjilied because its seeds were formerly washed and ground as coffee in Kentucky. The wood is u.sed both by cabinet- makers and carpenters. It has very little sap- wood. The pods, preserved like those of thi' tamarind, are said to be wholesome and slightly aperient. A second species, Gymnocladus Chincn- sis, occurring in the east of Asia, is a smaller tree. See Plate of Ginkgo. GYM'NODON'TES (Neo-Lat. nom. pi., from Gk. yvfiv6i, gymnos. naked + dSoiis, odous, tooth). A suborder of plectognath fishes, which in- cludes the puffers, sunfishes, porcupine-fishes, globefishes. and the like. These forms have no separate teeth, but the jaw's are envelo)ied by an enamel-like covering. Many of them have the power of inflating their bodies, probably for pro- tection. (See Gloceflsh.) There are many species, mostly found in the warm seas. GYM'NONO'TI (Neo-Lat. nom. pi., from Ok. yvfMi/ds, fijimnos. naked + j-wtos, ndtos, back). A suborder of eel-like fishes of the fresh waters of Soutli .merica, named from the electric eel (see Electric Fishes), formerly called Gym- notus^ The group embraces two families, re-