The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-01-31
it was complete either-handodnoss, coupled

d..
Speaking of lifting the weight Of the human
body, / may tosfch here on q somewhat absurd
fancy many entertain about an experiment in
which four persons lift a fifth on the tips of
their fingers. / have repeatedly heard this eX-
pertinent spoken of as something very marvel
Gus. The person to be lifted draws in his
breath and stiffens himself generally the four
who are to lift him also draw in full brcaths,
land them" the story goes on, she is lifted
without any apparent effort meaning of
course, that he is lifted quite easily. AS indeed
why should he not be? The person lifted
usually weighs about 120 pounds, and each of
the four lifters would think it no great effort
to lift so pounds with the forehnger. Drawing
in full breath is always a good preliminary
process for any muscular effort; and after this
process each of the four lifters does easily
what he always can do easily, Fitting not
the fifth person bodily, but just a fourth por-
ton of his weight, thirty pounds or forty at
the outside.
In all lifting feats the lower limbs are
really taxed even though the arms seem to do
the work. To suppose otherwise were to
make mistake as foolish as that of the Irish
man Though why such stories should be put
always upon Irishmen do not know who
thought to relieve his horse by putting the
mealsacks which formed large portion Of his
load over his own shoulders. Lift a weight
how we may the legs have to bear it 1t will
be understood then that whatever weight the
arms may seem to lift in any experiment, the
whole body can be made to lift much
more. In all stories of great
weights which have been lifted it will be
found that the lifting power OF the whole body
has been Ill question. This indeed is true OF
all the most remarka bic feats of strength which
have been recorded. One need not consider
the feats of Hercules ii. G. Herakles) or of q
samson, seeing that both one and the other is
q Sun-God of whom naturally wonderful feats
ate narrated. (The very name, Samson,
means the glorious SUM- Feats actually
noted and recorded are sufficiently surprising
without considering feats purely mythical
The famous strong man. Topham. of lsiington,
may be considered a fair illustration of those
cases of exceptional development of strength-
without exceptional muscular development--of
which we hear from time to time, as we hear
from time to time of men remarkably small
1t would seem as though some physiological
popularity in such men enabled to get from
their muscles much more nearly their full ac-
ton than las psychologists know is ordinarily
possible. Topham could take kitchen poker
and twist 1t around his neck i'll such sort that
four or five strong men were unable to untWiSt
it-a feat which he accomplished as readily as
the twisting. He could squeeze Il pWeter pint
pot fat in his hand, double up crown piece
OF "a coin now out OF use, dollar and a quar-
ter i'll value, ana Familiarity known
with his fingers, and break short
piece of tobacco pipe by side pressure between
two fingers opened out in shape. This last
feat, as depending on the action of muscles
very SeluUiil trdlEcu 10 OallS WOrN IS Specially
remarkable; it serves to confirm the belief that
Topham was able, as it were, to charge his
muscles with an exceptional supply of nerve
force. They were certainly not unusually de-
veloped, though, OF course, they were above
the average size.
Topham lifted a weight of nearly 5000
pounds by the use OF the strength of his whole
body. He stood within well balanced frame
work heavily loaded, and to be raised by
broad straps, two passing over his shoulders
Ntt ,D1 ,4,.C tIND,,,
lifting power was obtained by Strengthening
his lower limbs almost straight just before
lifting, and at the same time Slightly raising
his shoulders. The heavily loaded frame
work was thus raised an inch or two, very
slight swaying movement showing the specta-
tors that it was really free from all contact
with the ground. So powerful was Topham's
frame for this sort of work, that he was backed
to pull against two strong dray horses-hiS
body being in horizonal position, and the
the pressure OF his legs against
fixed horizontal bar close to
the ground, SC that the action was precisely
the same as that employed in the lifting eXper-
iment. Unfortunately, after he had several
times successfully resisted the pull of two
horses in this way, he had one OF his legs put
out of joint owing to an accidental change i'll
the direction in which the horses pulled, and
thereafter he was disabled from the perform
ance Of featS of this kind. Great care indeed
sudden change in the direction of the pull.
The secret of the great lifting power of the
legs in such work lies i'll the fact that the action
has that exceedingly effective leverage which
is employed in the Stanhope press-famliarly
known in fact for this very reason, as knee
leverage When the legs are nearly upright,
the knees may be perhaps half a foot from the
position they take when the legs are straight
ened. While they move through this half
foot, the body is not raised more than perhaps
half an inch consequently, the power used i'll
Strengthening the legs is multiplied into a
twelve fold greater lifting power 1t is be-
cause of this powerful knee-straightening
action that lifting exercises are apt to develop
abnormally the muscles of the lower and inner
end of the front thigh
To lift thousand pounds on the healthlift
is no very remarkable feat for a person of
average strength giving sufficient time daily
for few months to practice. Mr.. Blake
learned in this way, at the age of seventeen, to
lift q thousand pounds after only six months
practice. Those who prefer to lift an actually
measured weight will find it necessary to adopt
some such plan as was employed by Topham,
preparing frame work to bear the weight,
and staining in its midst so as to lift the
weight by means of svmmetrically attached
straps. For the body cannot when at all aslant
bear such weight rs thousand pounds.
Whether such exercise is good for the body
as a whole depends a good deal on the oppor-
tunitieS which a man has for correcting an
abnormal development of tine lifting muscles
by means of other exercises, increasing the
development of other muscles and giving
activity as well as strength to the frame.
RICHARD a. PROCTOR.
Earth Love.