The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1845-10-25
PHYSICAL EDUCATION.

|
DR.. Woodward, the able superintendent Of the
Massachusetts, Lunahc Hospital, urges with much
earnestness, and with strong argument. the i'm
mense import ance of proper physical education
"a subject which, IN these times OF extraordinary
mental excitement, is too much neglected:
"There is undoubtedly an intimate connexion
between education, and insanity, especially be-
tween early training and that condition of the
brain which is manifested in precocious mental de.
>velopment. +'A- -',,.ii.- a4i H"i
One Of the great defects, both of nursery and
school educ ation is the neglect of proper training
of the bodily powers during childhood and youth.
| Nature provides an excess of the principle of
life, that all young animals may not only groW, but
be a,fipe ami Jrolicsome, so that the locomotive
system may be healthy, strong and well developed.
Noise is also useful it IS natural to children,
because the lungs, and other organs of respiration,
cannot be, rendered strong and vigorous without
exercise any more than the muscles. An opposite
system Of management, now too prevalent, leaves
the child effeminate and slender. But this is not
the worst of the evil. If the child is deprived OF
exercise and kept at his studies too early or too
long, the excess of the vital principle, which Is
produced for the purpose of giving activity and
energy to the digestive and locomotive system, is
expended upon the brain and nervous system, and
they become too susceptible, or diseased. This
course, if pursued, leads directly TO precocity of
intellect to train of nervous diseases, such as
epilepsy, chorea, spinal distortion, &C., which of.
ten mars the brightest intellect, or bring on insan-
| ity
Next to neglect of the proper training of the To-
comotIve system in producing physical mbecy
and disease, is a pernicions system of dietetics,
pampering the appetite with improper food, con-
diments aud confectionery, inducing dyspepsy the
more inveterate because produced before the natu-
raj tone and vigor had been given to the stomach
when eptibity is greatest, and its power of
endurance least Then come the restraints Of
dress, which prevent the healthy and natural de-
velopments of the vital organs, before growthis
completed, and impede the natural functions of Or
gans well formed, whose office is essential 10 lifs
All bandages upon the body are perncious, even
tight shoes will often produce headache, and tight
cravats bring on aPoplexy. Bandages on the chest
are particularly injurious, as they impede respira-
ton, one of the most important vit' processes in
the human system. rt .rt...t
The chemical principle, Of which respiration
frees the bic cd at every round of its circulation, is
poison to the brain, that destroys life in drown
ing, stranguIation, the inhalation of irresprsble
gases of wells and caves, and from the fumes of
burning charcoal in close rooms. Any imped-
ment to the regular and constant Inhalation of vital
air mptdes the expulsion of this principle, and it
eventually goes to the brain, diminishing its ener-
gies Disturbing its functions and tending directly
to produce disease.
Such are briefly the foundations of innumerabIe
evils laid in early life by ignorance or neglect OF
! the natural laws Of man. An inheritance accom-
panied with wealth and every thing to pamper and
satiate, often fails to afford the happiness and sub
stantial enjoyment which poverty secures with its
daily toll, aud the homeIy subsistence which stern
necessity cnnpels.
| The evil, well understood. leads to the remedies
which education must apply to counteract it
Firm and healthy bodies, brains, lungs, stomachs,
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must be taken that none of them be overtaxed.-
The precocious and feeble must be taken from
their books and put to active exercise; the robust
and vigorous must be taken from cruel exercise
and sports, and put to study and more placid en-
ployments, lest with vgor they become unfeeling
and pugnacious.
Some of the mental faculties may peed restraint,
and others encouragement; active passions and
propensites must be repressed, and all be kept un-
der the guidance Of the intellectual and moral pow
ers. Firmness and cheerfulness under trial and
suffering should be duly cultivated, that the evils
which cross our paths may be borne when they
cannotbe avoided In this way the ills of life may
be endured without repining, the source of many
diseases dried up at the fountain. and the causes
of insanity be diminished both in number and Sc
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