Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-06-14
The Tricycle fOrHealth.

nervous and of uncertain mind" says Dr. Rich
ardsOn, mot to use the tricycle.. In such peo-
pie the anxiety attendant on the exercise is in
furious, out Of proportion to the service that Is
gained by It, They are ever on the strain to
avoid accident and danger, and ever on the
lookout for accident and danger. From these
causes they fail to obtain good command over
the instrument. They are not certain what to
do when other vehicles meet or pass them; they
are not sure how to take turning; they are in
doubts as to the mode of going downhill, and Of
resting in going uphill; altogether they are per-
turbed by the attempts they make beyond the
value Of the attempt. If, therefore, persons Of
this nature do not, after few weeks of fair
trial, get over these anxieties, they had better
not continue to court them. / would strongly
recommend all who have sense of giddiness or
of sinking and sickness, after they have made
little way on the tricycle., to give up the exer-
else, unless after ashOrt training they find these
sensations pass away. Or, if while climbing
hill there is felt sensation of fullness in the
head with want Of power and precision in
managing the machine, I would tender the
same recommendation. Again, l would as q
general rule recommend those who suffer from
the affection called hernia not to become
tricyclists; and. if they break this rule,
I would earnestly recommend them to be
moderate in their exercise, and not en-
deavor to compete with their more favored
comrades. Patertamilas is often joked by his
cannot stand on his head, or give back, or, as
! the late John Leech forcibly and famously put
it, leap over walking-stck. For these stiff
jointed inactives the tricycle. comes in with great
force, if they use it with judgment and do not
trespass too much on re-acquired skill During
the late autumn 1 accompanied felow-rider,
who. though many years older than myself,
could beat me In getting along, and who told
me that before he began he was so rigid in mus
Gle and joint he could scarcely get into the
fnvrv 1oS otto h
liberty from head to foot with such effect that in
walking and riding-for he invariably walked up
steep hills, pushing the machine before him
he could average his five to six miles an hour
| for five or six hours per day and think nothing
of the task. 1t would seem, at first sight, that
men who are fat and cumbrOus are not quite the
persons to mount the tricycle.; but, If such men
are in fair health they are. after little careful
and judicious training, benefited by it more than
many others. 1t constantly happens that men
else more than the slighter-built sort, are I'M
able to take proper amount of exercise be-
cause of the great WEAKNESS which they expert
ence soon after they have walked even short
distance. The natural result of this easy sense
of fatigue is that exercise is given up almost
| altogether in great number Of cases, while in
other cases it is mere pretence, SO that practi-
cally habit is developed which promotes an
objection to exercise. and steady increase Of all
| the dangers which follow upon prolonged mus
cular inactivity. In this state they who are
affected are apt to follow one Of two courses
both of which are bad. They either settle COM
pletely down to repose, and attain form Of
chronic feebleness which requires to be pro-
| vided against by avoiding every kind Of lively
effort, or, taking sudden alarm at some sensa-
| ton they have experienced, or some observation
they have listened to, they rush into forms Of
violent exercise SUCH as climbing mountains. or
volunteering. or making forced walks. or SUCH
like efforts believe l have seen more mis-
chief induced, in this class Of persons whom
| am now describing by their attempts to get
into condition through the means Of excessive
exercise and physical strain than in any other
class. They who court this mode of recovery
from their helpnessness are Of all less fitted to
bear sudden strain. In them the muscles are
feeble and out of play; in them the muscles in
Guiding that most important of all the muscles,
| the heart, are overloaded with fat; In them the
bl0Od-vessels are often weakened and have lost
their natural residence if they have not under
gone actual change of structure; and in them
the breathing organs are in such bad form for
extra work that breathlessness is produced by
very little extra exertiOn. They are, in short,
unfit for walking and they are equally unfit for
those extremer measures WHICH are commonly
designated as training or as athletic exercises
To this class of persons, then, II they are not
subject to actual disease organic affection of the
heart, the lungs or the BRAIN the exercise that
may be got from the tricycle. is exceedingly use
full. The exercise sought in this manner should
not be violent; 1t should not include attempts to
go against time; 1t should not include attempts
to CLIMB steep hills or to run down steep hills at
rafting pace. but it should be taken for some
time on level ground, it should be carried on to
point just short of fatigue, and it should be
increased little by little each day until the labor
Of working accommodates itself to easy habit