Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-08-22
Dr.. Hall on Gymna,ium,.

It is reported that arrangements are in pro-
gress for establishing gymnasiums for students
and members Of young mems associations
Are our embryo doctors and lawyers, and cler-
gymen going to make Tom Hyers and Bill
Pooles and Yankee Sullivans of themselves {?
Does the ability of jurist depend on the
amount OF beef he carries? Is a physician's 8
skill to be determined by the hardness of his
muscles? Is q clergyman's efficiency meas
ured by the agility Of his monkey capers, by
his dexterity of hanging on to beam by his
hind leg and swinging up to touch his nose
against the big toe of his /" tother foot''
A mans intellectually does not depend on
the amount Of brute force which he possesses
1t does not require a giants strength to write
sermon, or make a book or clear thief or
feel pulse. Of an assembly of French sarans,
on certain occasion, Humboldt being pres
ent, was found by an accurate mode of meas.
urement, to have the least muscular strength
of the whole company, of which he was the
greatest and the Oldest. Small men, fragile
men, men of little muscular vigor, may have
good bodily health, and among such are found
vast excess in number of the opposite class,
and In all ages and countries, who are the
brightest Of the worlds brightest stars As
very general rule, it holds good--the bigger
the man the bigger fool he is
Whoever heard of giant who was remark
able for anything beyond size of his body;
while the smallness of his head and the little
that is in it, is a notable thing. Both body
and brain need vital force; the mind is great
in proportion as that vital force is expended
in tho brain; but if it is used up in developing
the muscles, the brain must suffer. If one ex.
poets to make his living by the exercise of
muscular strength, let him, as a boy and a
youth, develop that strength by steady labor
and regular and temperate life; if it is his
wish to make money by legerdemain, by mon
key capers, by rope walking, by miraculous
poses and astonishing feats Of lofty and ground
tumbling, then the gymnasium is a very proper
place for him, and it is well that the energies
OF the system should be expended in the direc-
ton of the muscles; but if he aims at a profess
sional life, one which is to be followed as a
means OF living, he must exercise the mental,
not the muscular power; to the brain and not
to the beef must the energies Of the system be
sent in order that, by their exercise, the brain
may be developed and the mind worked with
power. ---.-... -..
10 sedentary persons, violent, sudden, and
ftful exercise is always injurious, and such are
gymnastic performances. Soldiers die early
To-day they are doing nothing. Tomorrow
the forced march. the terrible battle, summon
up to the very dregs, the employment of dor
mant energies. The disabilities and deaths of
campaign are many times greater by dis
ease than by the bullet, for shocks and great
alterations always cause disease.
The exercise of the student should be regu-
lar, gentle, deliberate-always stopping short
OF felt fatigue. One hours joyous walk with a
cheerful friend in the street, or field, or wood
land, will never fail to do greater and more
unmixed good than double the time in the
most scientifically conducted gymnasium in the
world. There are individual cases where the
gymnasium is of the most undeniable benefit,
but the masses would be tho better for having
nothing to do with them. A million times bet
ter recipe than the gymnasium for sedentary
persons is,
Eat moderately and regularly Of plain,
nourishing food, well prepared. ..-.
Spend two or three hours every day in the
open air, regardless Of the weather, in moder-
ate, untiring actiyeness.