The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-09-05 00:00:00

SUPPLEMENTARY.

CONTAINING, CHIEFLY, EXTRACTS FOR DIRECTING,
ENCOURAGING, AND CAUTIONING PEDESTRIANS ON
SUNDRY MATTERS-SCRAPS FOR REFLECTION IN THE
COUNTRY-POETICAL GLEANINGS AND SCENIC EF-
FECTS ALLUDED TO, &C.
We trust that the gatherings from the vintages of
others, to which this chapter is almost exclusively de-
voted, will contain passages suited to the varied tastes
and interests of our different classes of readers—that is,
providing we are read at all by any.
For the last time, then, we lead off our chapter by
picking out a few remarks on the advantages of exer-
cise, in addition to those already advanced, in order
that the irresolute mind, derived from an invalided body,
may, by definite ideas on the important subject of what
is called " hygiene," be encouraged to shake off dull
sloth and listless inactivity ; especially if he should be
threatened with such an enemy to comfort (yet a direct
consequence, as it is, of the pursuit of comfort and plea-
sure by the wrong road) as that of an inactive body re-
plete with loaded humours, let him "up and be doing "
all that remains in his power to retrace his steps, a plan
which he may find difficult at first, but full of good fruits
in proportion to, and as a reward of, his perseverance.
We stake not only our own medical knowledge, but
also that of all accredited writers on the subject, that
by this way, and not by medicine, (except under impe-
rative sickness,) lies the true though " unbeaten path"
to a green old age.
Lanes are sometimes long, and full of sameness to the
common mind ; yet if you have any time to pause
now and then, if only to find food for some pleasing
train of thought, and are at all disposed towards
minute investigation of objects around you, as the
naturalist delights to do, carry a small magnifying lens
with you ; and thus observing the flower of a moss,
the interior of a seed, the rind of a fruit, the wing or
foot of an insect, your thoughts will range themselves in
the happy tune of reflection, corresponding to yourown slow
marching time. This is surprising, but true—that if you
saunter, your thoughts saunter as well in the lands of
reverie and castle-building ; if you walk smartly, the
mind becomes more ,prone to observation, and less
so to reflection. Before starting, we would recom-
mend the reader to arm himself with such a lens for the
waistcoat pocket as the " Stanhope" which is one of the
beat and readiest, having microscopic powers of a small
amount. Days may be spent even profitably this way,
tutoring in the young especially their powers of accurate
observation and comparison, so essential in those students
preparing for the "learned professions," and the study
of science in all departments,—in none so useful as in
physic! Suppose that you have, however, no turn this
way—at least you have a turn for matters relative to
the promotion of your own health—it cannot long be
even a matter of indifference to you, however young
and hearty. Come, then, turn to what follows an at
tentive and drinking ear ; and then throw down a book
which can interest you no more only when its instruc-
tive quotations are spent. At least you will have the
responsibility of knowing more than you did, if you were
ignorant : thenceforward you cannot allow sloth to eat
up your vitals, but, with your eyes couched, to mark the
progressive inroads of the monster !
Hygiene.—" The principal source of our wellbeing
arises from the circulation of our fluids, especially the
blood. A brisk circulation animates the whole man;
even the phlegmatic is exhilarated, when anything sets
his blood in commotion ; and when this takes place in
an immoderate degree, the man is agitated even to de-
lirium. These effects are well known. Continued rest
weakens the circulation, till at length the blood feebly
creeps through its vessels, for the heart is not of itself
sufficient to give it due motion. For this, muscular
movement is likewise r-quisite. But rest of body, relaxes
the muscles, diminishes the vital heat, checks perspira-
tion, injures digestion, sickens the whole frame, and
thus numberless diseases 'are introduced. There is not
a single part of the human machine which a sedentary
mode of life does not debilitate, and the nerves more
especially suffer by it."
" Generally speaking," says Ackermann,* " a seden-
tary life is the source of all those diseases which physi-
cians term cachectic, the number of which is considera-
ble. Among them are jaundice, atrophy, worms, dropsy,
&c., &c." For these exercise is the best remedy.' "It
strengthens the vessels," says Tissot, "preserves the
fluids in a healthy state, quickens the appetite, facili-
tates the excretions, invigorates the spirits, and excites
pleasing sensations throughout the whole nervous sys-
tem." " Thus far the philosophic Plato," (quoting his
eulogies of gymnastic exercises.) And Rousseau must
have thought much in the same manner, when he wrote:
—" The grand secret of education is to contrive that
the exercise of the body and that of the mind may always
serve as relaxations to each other."f— Treatise on Phy-
sical Education, by Louis Huguenin, Professor of Gym-
nastics. London : Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. 1839.
Monsieur Huguenin's little book is well worthy of
attentive perusal, and people would do well to follow
out the recommendations contained therein practically.
The author of these " Hints" can, from personal expe-
rience, testify to the mental and corporeal benefits to be
derived from a course of gymnastics. The vigour and
tone imparted to the mind are surprising and delightful.
Gymnastics are of benefit to the weak and the strong :
the due exercise of all the voluntary, and by sympathy,
or contiguity of relation, of the involuntary class of mus-
cles, as they are called, is the better half of physic for
the slighter forms of ill health ; it is all, but an unmixed
good if common sense and discretion are only taken as
guides.
Hear him further, in " giving the substance of the
seven first paragraphs of Hoffman's work" (De Motu
Corp. Opt. Med.—Bodily Exercise the best Medicine) :
—" The support of the body requires not nourishment
alone, but the separation of what cannot be converted
into blood; and what is daily thrown off from the blood
is of this kind. This, according to Sanctorius, amounts
to more than is discharged by all the other emunctolies.
Perspiration, then, is the
,principal way in which this
can be effected. Consequently all the means that are
capable of promoting this, should be employed ; and of
these the most natural, and therefore the best, are bodily
motion and exercise. Perspiration depends on the cir-
culation of the blood. The skin is the seat of a number
of small glands, which receive from the blood the parti-
cles that are to be discharged. These particles are
conveyed from the , glands to, the 'pores of the skin,
through which they are expelled from the system. Care
must be taken, therefore, that abundance of blood be
conveyed to those glands, in order to which its circula-
tion must be promoted. This is accomplished by means
of motion, one chief use of which this is. Another is
the assisting of digestion, the promotion of the appetite,

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* On the ►Diseases of the Learned.

t Emillus.