Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1873-08-02

s,.,.sI contracts will be made with yearly ad-
yrrtlSers.
t,vrRrsAlSlSG.-Th readers Of one Of
W;.ljs Collins later stories will remember how
severely he criticizes the tendency of his coun-
.r,mnnundulv to exat manly sports, as they
ARE called, among them. The modern British
ynunc man is represented as chap with abuor-
,u,Ily Icycloped muscles, and bctting-book
and an empty head The rage for rowing, run
ming, ball playing etc, is carried to such an ex-
cess, he shows, that the race is actually using
M its vital power. I'VE live TWO lives says
Coilius. THE surface life of the muscles and the
inner lie of the heart, lungs and brain. The
muscular power OF mau is no fair guarantee
q. his vital power He may be as strong as
an OK and as alert as young tiger, and yet
become physical wreck in an instant.
We are forcibly drawn to consideration OF
these views by the record of what has happen
ed at Springfield during the past week. The
country has been excited over, and thousands
ii visitors have been drawn to the contentious
ot the professional and collegiate athletes on
the waters of the Connecticut. We need hard
y say that the races of Thursday by the crews
/ eleven colleges have provoked more ln-
icrcst from the public than the eleven col
cge commencements at which these young
ucu displayed their intellectual progress this
year Muscle is held in greater estimation than
brain, and the press teens with articles eucour-
aring the still greater development OF the vital
rowrrS of the young men at colleges. We fear
Hr,a IIat grand truth may be overlooked amid the
rYrLl>lasm with which the youth OF America
are eu,criug into the Olympic revival The
culture Of the mind should go hand in hand
with the education of the limbs. One cannot
neglect books for the oar aud the bat aud be a
healthy man in all his parts. Samson and Go
jjah were miracles Of Drawn, but they were
fools aud we're plucked by woman and boy.
S,roug men are desirable enough, but we want
strong inle.ects as we'll Again, there is dis
POSITION to over. training the muceles as we'll as
neglect the mind. What over-;ranlng will do,
We have sceu in the vertigo of Ellis Ward III
tie luoneut Of his apparent triumph at Spring
field. and the failure of one of the Amherst
crew 10 one OF the preliminary contests. These
men have probably disabled themselves perma-
ncDIly by their efforts to beat nature 1t Is
well known fact that prize hghters are short
lived class, and that most of them die OF coli
sumption. The laurel crown is no recompenSe
l,r a >hatcrelt constitution, and there is no
man more dc>pised by his fellow men than an
abe. bcdcd Ounce N. Y. E.rpreSS.
AEorT BATHING. Conserving bathing Of
/ the body, think our sanitariaus are very eX
| lravagaut, and they have done great public
i mischief BY setting the great towns to plunder
E the rivers Of their supplies from the head
|a >lrcanr>. Even the Prophet Mohammed, u
II Ilha!co cleanliness, regards friction with sand
Il Is COMPENSATORY Tor washing. If any one sup
| poses that the limbs and trunk of the body
! ranno be kept as perfectly clean. By dry rub
! tlns as by an amount Of washing, say he has
something TO learn.
lndoubtedly, in hot climate or hot wealth
"r there is nothing so pleasant and so rapidly
"tyc,ual as bathing if The temperature of the
rvtn in our hottest weather. | have always
,Dioycd swimming, but reluctantly gave it up
rcallse the cold makes my hands dead, which
.nuot be hcalthtul. once brought on a severe
stack Of illness by using sitz bath. All the
ardy barbarians OF the North have at all times
cen rcproached by the Southern people for
heir neglect in washing. The old Romans did
aot as a patton, betake themselves to baths
I'll the era ofetfeminacy set in. Tacitus says of
The Germans: In the midst of this dirt they
lrow up into those limbs which we admire.
The Scythians of Herodotus were reported not
10 wash, but in cold weather, at distant inter
Il val>, TO cover their bodies with a hot, spicy
paste. 1t dried on them, and dropped off when
9e ID, leaving the flesh clean. Northern races
SNOW that cold water takes strength out OF them
aSnl they do not volunteer to touch it. Their
practice has more weight with me than recent
lRheolleS. No doubt where hot baths, warm
Es're>>lng room, and luxurious towels can be
Nss sommanded, warm bathing tends to human
Es9rany. Perhaps it makes more delicate an
ERnIsI> more susceptible to cold: think it does.
Es-t hot air bath is very different thug, any
Esholc akin TO the Scythian practise.
Il, But granting that wealth may advantageous
BY avail ltset oi warm water, with a cold show
ker ha,h alter II does not justify universal CON-
anu 10 men aud wemcE, rich and poor, to
b 'iiclr bodies every day iu cold water, as
/, ol our Santarlans do.-T ". NurD1an,
q EroW y HuM.
HE ORIGIN or MErEoRs AND COMETS =
rector has recently advanced an idea as
H. The origin of comets and meteors
'I'a' may seem to be but the revival of an
"a olIHlcn aud orc supposed to have been
SI"dcd. The researches of Schiaparaeli and
Ne"t0n and Others 10 that they showed the
-e'e"rs TO be regular members of the solar sys-
N@, seem to have temporarily satisfied the it,
"'y as to the remote origin of these bodies
1~v former astronomer assumes them to exist
s%'alIy throughout the interstellar spaces and
>ucceSslvcly drawn to Une and then to
S-s~er sun, while Proctor reasons that these
..'.v are now found to travel in groups or
.vuS that 1t is difficult to conceive how our
4"nld draw connected stream of meteors
Y@Ti at any given epoch, and that if these
~, S's> were elected from the selt-uminous stars
,Aay with equal plausibity suppose similar
my 1ss 10 have been elected from the planets of
y%*A system when they were 10 molten
r1," a-'no. He accordingly shows the very mod
r1.. -" l@srce Of force required to eject a me-
ly,, nom the surfaces of the outer planets, and
MI lies the orbits Of such periodical comets
p,; ~e'eors as are at present known. In ac-
ace with the suggestion of A. S. Herschel,