Fig. 20.

Head left, sideways bend stretch! (Fig. 19) The head is ex actly bent to the designated side; no twisting of face or shoulders, and no raising of the opposite shoulder, o sinking down of the shoulder on the same side, is permitted.

Head right, turn-forward — turn. (Fig. 20.)

Head left, turn-forward-turn. The head is turned horizontally to the side designated, without the least flexion, if possible, so far that the chin shall be over the shoulder. The shoulders must be kept square in the front line.

angle- The Elastic Cord-Dumb-bell Practice.

These exercises are carefully accommodated to the delicate organization of the female sex; but in order that our readers may not have any fear with respect to their effect upon the gentler sex, we may remark, that this series of papers have been written under the guidance and supervision of a medical man familiar with such matters, and that the exercises themLelves have been conducted by an able and experienced teacher of calisthenics.

It is an admitted physiological fact, that the imperfections in the female form originate, fo: the most part, in defective *CALISTHENICS is derived from tw Greek words, signifying beauty and strength.

tem, and conduce to elegant deportment and symmetry of form. All these exercises are based upon physiological and philo. sophical principles; the for

Fig. 2.

I

mer we have already ex plained, and the latter will be evident as we proceed, for it will be seen that the center of gravity is the rul ing principle, as regards many of the postures; in fact, all grace of carriage and attitude depends, in a measure, upon

this principle. Dr. Arnold remarks, that "grace of carriage includes not only a perfect freedom of motion, but also a firmness of step, or steady bearing of the center of gravity over the base. It is usually possessed by those who live in the country, and according to nature, as it is called, taking much and varied exercise. What a contrast is there between the gait of the active mountaineer, rejoicing in the consciousness. of perfect nature, and that of the mechanic or shop-keeper, whose confinement to the cell of his trade soon produces in his body a shape and air that corresponds to it."

These exercises, with great propriety, now form part of the

Fir's.3 and 4

education of the best European seminaries, but unfortu nately for the want of a suitable treatise on the subject, have been sadly neglected in our American system o

education. Before commencing the series, we must offer some preliminary cautions: 1st, that they should not be performed after a full meal; 2nd, that there should not be

Fig.5

any ligatures, or tight strings,

straps, etc., on any part of the body, but that the clothes should fit easily and loosely; 3rd, that the body should not be too warmly clothed during the exercises, but that an additional wrapper should be provided, to cover the body as soon as they are finished, by this means, cold

will be avoided; 4th, that

the exercises should generally be performed in a room in preference to the open air; 5th, that due regard must be paid to the health, age, and strength of the pupils exercised; in fact, to treat them as you would delicate creeping plantsto coax and train, but not to strain them.

Our readers and pupils are requested to consider that all the directions furnished with the illustrations, are issued by the calisthenic tutor, and that they are to be minutely performed by the pupil as laid down. It is necessary to explain this now, in order to prevent repetition.

The first things to be attended to are the cautions we have given above; and then the necessary apparatus-consisting of dumb-bells, backboard, clubs, wands, or poles, triangles, and elastic-cord-must be procured.

The dumb-bells we advise are constructed as follows: To the staff a, (which is made of oak or ash, six inches long, and one and a quarter inches in diameter,) is fixed a hemisphere, , with a male screw, e; and to this part is attached at both ends another hemisphere, c, fitted with a female screw, so that

when these hemispheres are screwed together, they form a complete sphere, as represented by d, in Fig. 1. The object

Fig. 6.

of having these hemispheres constructed in the manner we have described, is to admit of their being loaded; and as the total weight of each dumb-bell constructed

upon this principle is only two pounds, it is obvious that the most delicate children can use them. In using these dumbbells, we have usually commenced by loading them with pieces of wood, then with peas, shot, bullets, and sand, ac cording to the age and constitution of the individual; but the heavily weighted ones have never yet been employed for ladies, only for young gentlemen. Of course, after this kind has been used, we recommend, for gentlemen, the ordinary ones, weighted according to age, etc. We mention this, because calisthenic exercises form a verv admirable preliminary course to gymnastics.

Backboards should be fitted to the person requiring them, unless they are used for the backboard exercise, in which case they will be as represented in Fig. 2. When not used for this exercise, they are fastened to the back and shoulders by means of straps, a, b,

c, d, which pass round the shoulders, and are made to buckle in front. These straps can be lengthened or shortened, by passing them through holes in the board, 9, 9, 9, 9, left for that purpose. The lower part of the

They can be constructed as light as three-quarters of a pound each, by having the hemispheres of a less diameter, and made of thin brass

board is fastened round the waist by a strap, e, f, which buckles in front.

The dimensions of the short backboard are as follows, for a large size-length, twelve or thirteen inches; breadth, ter inches; lower part, five inches; and upper part, four inches. These measurements can be reduced, according to circumstances, age, etc.

The long backboard should be broad in the center, as in

Fig. 8.

Fig. 3, so that the flat part may reach across the back of the shoulders, and the handles, a, b, be long enough to hold in the hands when the arms are extended. Some of these backboards vary from six feet in length, to only three feet eight inches.

The clubs for calisthenics should be made hollow, as in Fig. 4, varying from twenty to twenty-eight inches in length, and be of a proportionate width. The top is made to screw on so that the inside may be loaded, as recommended for the dumb-bells. By

this means, the weight to be forced through the air can be proportioned to the strength or power of the individual to propel it.

Fig. 9.

The wands, or poles, should be light, smooth, and sufficiently thick not to bend. They vary in length according to the person's height that is to use them, the rule being, that the poles shall be of the same length as the height of the person requiring them.

The triangle is a bar of wood attached to a cord at each end; the two cords meet above, as shown in Fig. 5, so as to form two sides of a triangle, of which the