, 1886-01-09
SWEDISH sYsrlM O aYnNAsTlcg
sole Z. p.y = .al.n ,a-s,essAen

sort of Dry rnrlish Bath-stockhohh Z,
Popular Institntlon.
Berlin, Paris, ST. Petersburg, Moscow,
Vienna, Rome, Naples, Hamburg and
Madrid now have their fine swedishA
cure gymnasiums, aud London the
largest of all In Stockholm. however,
the popularity OF the instit ution among
the well-to-do citizen must te something
like that of the rink among certain very
different classes hero There the large
airy halls are filled from TO Hin the
mornings. One goes thither rs he does
to his club, half from the expectation
OF meeting the men he wants TO sec
above all others. 1t rs apparently a
very simple process that one Is put
through, nothing that makes any bother
about dressing that requires the re-
moyal of ones collar even.
The good citizen whose sedentary
Office work at his desk and regular and
well-nourished life at home have given
him too much stomach, perhaps, or too
little chest, or whose irregular lunching
and utterly neglected physical exerciss
have brought on dyspepsia, or whose
greedy absorption in money get
ting has made him a nerv-
Gus wreck, finds in the gentle
but scit ntifically thorough course of
stretchings, turnings, shakings and rub
bings through which the Swedish pro-
fessors put him precisely the recuper-
alive, vitalizing influence that he needs.
The busiest of men willingly spares the
half hour 1t takes between his morning
shave and his breakfast. The step out
into the crisp morning air at half.past
I is in itself more refreshing than a
cocktail"
Under the hands OF tho gymnastic
doctors he is first made to raise himself
on his toes, and from that posture to
stoop as low as he ear the professors
on either side OF him pressing In his
bowels with all their might. Then, per
haps, he is led to a horse, and. be
striding 1t, throws himself back into the
doctors arms, who, holding him in q
peculiar way, moves him around and
misunderstanding him like a small boat
in a high, choppy seattle whole trunk
or upper half of his body using the hips
as a sort Of ball-and socket joint. at
various stages of the process he is bent
and pulled over n rail, the athletic doc
tor hauling at his wrists and the assist
ant holding his heels: or the process Is
reversed, and the rail is placed across
the small of his back, and the patient
thus has also the front muscles OF his
body stretched.
But the great luxury of this half hour
of passive but searching use of the entire
body, not the most hidden and unknown
joint or tendon escaping, is the manipu-
lation Of the body. The doctor
goes over this as n good housewife stirs
up and smooths out a feather bed or a
pillow, ~kneading it with his fists, poking
1t with the ends of his fingers, rolling
and spreading and smoothing it all out,
and finally, to crown all, shaking it
vigorously and sweeping it heavily with
his open hands. The patient arises
feeling decidedly well made up and
tucked in for the day. But he has not
received his best flip OF all. Stretched
between the pegs of the rack, which re-
calls the inquisition, he is seized by the
professional torturers and violently
rubbed, rolled and grabbed at,
all up and down his arms and
legs, with now and then vicious
digs at his nerves uor these
manipulators are educated anatomists
and know Just where 10 strike tho
nerves and funny bones" 10 wake them
into activity from the disuse into which
slothful men permit them to lapse) until
he is fain to cry for mercy, when the
inquisitors bring him an exquisite SEN
sation Of relief by means of long, sweep
ing strokes of the open hand over the
e~xacerbated muscles.
With this and the manipulation Of the
forehead in such delicate and skillful
dancing of the fingers over the head,
brows and back of the neck as makes
one think Of water poured upon him,
the luxurious patient rouses refreshed
as from an hours horse back exercise
and goes to breakfast and business feel
himself renewed and sounder in every
cubic inch of his body. The motto of
the founder of the system (Which is
bound TO mike its way like the kinder
garten throughout the civilized world.
Professor Ling, was: ut Is better to
prevent t all to be prevented. Boston
Transcript.