Chapter XIII: Part III: Boyhood and Girlhood (1)

_Just at the age 'twixt boy and youth
When thought is speech and speech is truth_--SCOTT

_'Tis with him e'en standing water.
Between man and boy_--SHAKESPEARE

_Standing with reluctant feet,
Where the brook and river meet,
Womanhood and childhood fleet_--LONGFELLOW

ABLUTION, ETC.

310. _Have you any remarks to make on the ablution of boys and girls_?

How is it that a mother thinks it absolutely necessary (which it really is) that her babe's _whole_ body should, every morning, be washed; and yet who does not deem it needful that her girl or boy, of twelve years old, should go through the process of daily and _thorough_ ablution? If the one case be necessary, sure I am that the other is equally if not more needful.

Thorough ablution of the body every morning at least is essential to health. I maintain that no one can be in the enjoyment of perfect health who does not keep his skin--the whole of his skin--clean. In the absence of cleanliness, a pellicle forms on the skin which engenders disease. Moreover, a person who does not keep his skin clean is more susceptible of contracting contagious disease, such as small-pox, typhus fever, cholera, diphtheria, scarlet fever, etc.

Thorough ablution of the body is a grand requisite of I maintain that no one can be perfectly healthy unless he thoroughly wash his body--the whole of his body; if filth accumulate which, if not washed off, it is sure to do, disease must, as a matter of course, follow. Besides, ablution is a delightful process; it makes one feel fresh and sweet, and young and healthy; it makes the young look handsome, and the old look young! Thorough ablution might truly be said both to renovate and to rejuvenise! A scrupulously clean skin is one of the grand distinctive characteristics both of a lady and of a gentleman,

Dirty people are not only a nuisance to themselves, but to all around; they are not only a nuisance but a danger, as their dirty bodies are apt to carry from place to place contagious diseases.

It is important that parts that are covered should be kept cleaner than parts exposed to the air, as dirt is more apt to fester in dark places; besides, parts exposed to the air have the advantage of the air's sweetening properties; air acts as a bath, and purifies the skin amazingly.

It is desirable to commence a complete system of washing early in life, as it then becomes a second nature, and cannot afterwards be dispensed with. One accustomed to the luxury of his morning ablution, if anything prevented him from taking it, would feel most uncomfortable; he would as soon think of dispensing with his breakfast as with his bath.

Every boy, every girl, and every adult, ought each to have either a room or a dressing-room to himself or to herself, in order that he or she might strip to the skin and thoroughly wash themselves; no one can wash properly and effectually without doing so.

Now, for the paraphernalia required for the process--(1.) A large nursery basin, one that will hold six or eight quarts of water (Wedgwood's make being considered the best); (2.) A piece of coarse flannel, a yard long and half a yard wide; (3.) A large sponge; (4.) A tablet either of the best yellow or of curd soap; (5.) Two towels-one being a diaper, and the other a Turkish rubber. Now, as to the manner of performing ablution. You ought to fill the basin three parts full with _rain_ water, then, having well-soaped and cleansed your hands, re-soap them, dip your head and face into the water, then with the soaped hands well rub and wash your head, face, neck, chest, and armpits; having done which, take the wetted sponge, and go over all the parts previously travelled over by the soaped hands; then fold the flannel, as you would a neck-kerchief, and dip it in the water, then throw it, as you would a skipping-rope, over your shoulders and move it a few times from right to left and from left to right, and up and down, and then across the back and loins; having done which, dip the sponge in the water, and holding your head over the water, let the water stream from the sponge a time or two over your head, neck, and face. Dip your head and face in the water, then put your hands and arms (as far as they will go) into the water, holding them there while you can count thirty. Having reduced the quantity of water to a third of a basinful, place the basin on the floor, and sit (while you can count fifty) in the water; then put one foot at a time in the water, and quickly rub, with soaped hands, up and down your leg, over the foot, and pass your thumb between each toe (this latter procedure tends to keep away soft corns); then take the sponge, filled with water, and squeeze it over your leg and foot, from the knee downwards,--then serve your other leg and foot in the same way. By adopting the above plan, the whole of the body will, every morning, be thoroughly washed.

A little warm water might at first, and during the winter time, be added, to take off the chill; but the sooner quite cold water is used the better. The body ought to be quickly dried (taking care to wipe between each toe), first with the diaper, and then with the Turkish rubber. In drying your back and loins, you ought to throw as you would a skipping-rope, the Turkish rubber over your shoulders, and move it a few times front side to side, until the parts be dry.

Although the above description is necessarily prolix, the washing itself ought to be very expeditiously performed; there should be no dawdling over it, otherwise the body will become chilled, and harm instead of good will be the result. If due dispatch be used, the whole of the body might, according to the above method, be thoroughly washed and dried in the space of ten minutes.

A boy ought to wash his head, as above directed, every morning, a girl, who has much hair, once a week, with soap and water, with flannel and sponge. The hair, if not frequently washed, is very dirty, and nothing is more repulsive than a dirty head!

It might be said, "Why do you go into particulars? why dwell so much upon minutiae? Every one, without being told, knows how to wash himself!" I reply, "That very few people do know how to wash themselves properly; it is a misfortune that they do not--they would be healthier and happier and sweeter if they did!"

311. _Have you any remarks to make on boys and girls learning to swim_?

Let me strongly urge you to let your sons and daughters be _early_ taught to swim. Swimming is a glorious exercise--one of the best that can be taken; it expands the chest; it promotes digestion; it develops the muscles, and brings into action some muscles that in any other form of exercise are but seldom brought into play; it strengthens and braces the whole frame, and thus makes the swimmer resist the liability of catching cold; it gives both boys and girls courage, energy, and self-reliance,--splendid qualities in this rough world of ours. Swimming is oftentimes the means of saving human life; this of itself would be a great recommendation of its value. It is a delightful amusement; to breast the waves is as exhilarating to the spirits as clearing on horse-back a five-barred gate.

The art of learning to swim is quite as necessary to be learned by a girl as by a boy; the former has similar muscles, lungs, and other organs to develop as the latter.

It is very desirable that in large towns swimming-baths for ladies should be instituted. Swimming ought, then, to be a part and parcel of the education of every boy and of every girl.

Swimming does not always agree. This sometimes arises from a person being quite cold before he plunges into the water. Many people have an idea that they ought to go into the water while their bodies are in a cool state. Now this is a mistaken notion, and is likely to produce dangerous consequences. The skin ought to be comfortably warm, neither very hot nor very cold, and then the bather will receive every advantage that cold bathing can produce, If he go into the bath whilst the body is cold, the blood becomes chilled, and is driven to internal parts, and thus mischief is frequently produced.

A boy, after using cold bathing, ought, if it _agree_ with him, to experience a pleasing glow over the whole surface of his body, his spirits and appetite should be increased, and he ought to feel stronger; but if it _disagree_ with him, a chilliness and coldness, a lassitude and a depression of spirits, will be the result; the face will be pale and the features will be pinched, and, in some instances, the lips and the nails will become blue; all these are signs that _cold_ bathing is injurious, and, therefore, that it ought on no account to be persevered in, unless these symptoms have hitherto proceeded from his going into the bath whilst he was quite cold. He may, previously to entering the bath, warm himself by walking briskly for a few minutes. Where cold, sea water bathing does not agree, _warm_ sea bathing should be substituted.

312. _Which do you prefer--sea bathing or fresh water bathing_?

Sea bathing. Sea bathing is incomparably superior to fresh water bathing; the salt water is far more refreshing and invigorating; the battling with the waves is more exciting; the sea breezes, blowing on the nude body, breathes (for the skin is a breathing apparatus) health and strength into the frame, and comeliness into the face; the sea water and the sea breezes are splendid cosmetics; the salt water is one of the finest applications, both for strengthening the roots and brightening the colour of the hair, provided grease and pomatum have not been previously used.

313. _Have you any directions to give as to the time and the seasons, and the best mode of sea bathing_?

Summer and autumn are the best seasons of the year for cold sea bathing--August and September being the best months. To prepare the skin for the cold sea bathing, it would be well, before taking a dip in the sea, to have on the previous day a warm salt water bath. It is injurious, and even dangerous, to bathe _immediately_ after a _full_ meal; the best time to bathe is about two hours after breakfast-that is to say, at about eleven or twelve o'clock in the forenoon. The bather as soon as he enters the water, ought _instantly_ to wet his head; this may be done either by his jumping at once from the machine into the water, or, if he have not the courage to do so, by plunging his head without loss of time _completely_ under the water. He should remain in the water about a quarter of an hour, but never longer than half an hour. Many bathers by remaining a long time in the water do themselves great injury. If sea bathing be found to be invigorating-- and how often to the delicate it has proved to be truly magical--a patient may bathe once every day, but on no account oftener. If he be not strong, he had better, at first, bathe only every other day, or even only twice a week. The bather, after leaving the machine, ought for half an hour to take a brisk walk in order to promote a reaction, and thus to cause a free circulation of the blood.

314. _Do you think a tepid bath [Footnote: A tepid bath from 62 to 96 degrees of, Fahrenheit.] may be more safely used_?

A tepid bath may be taken at almost any time, and a bather may remain longer in one, with safety, than in a cold bath.

315. _Do you approve of warm bathing_?

A warm, bath [Footnote: A warm bath from 97 to 100 degrees of Fahrenheit] may with advantage be occasionally used--say, once a week. A warm bath cleanses the skin more effectually than either a cold or a tepid bath; but, as it is more relaxing, ought not to be employed so often as either of them. A person should not continue longer than ten minutes in a warm bath. Once a week, as a rule is quite often enough for a warm bath; and it would be an excellent plan if every boy and girl and adult would make a practice of having one regularly every week, unless any special reason should arise to forbid its use.

316. _But does not warm bathing, by relaxing the pores of the skin, cause a person to catch cold if he expose himself to the air immediately afterwards_?

There is, on this point, a great deal of misconception and unnecessary fear. A person, _immediately_ after using a warm bath, should take proper precautions--that is to say, he must not expose himself to draughts, neither ought he to wash himself in _cold_ water, nor should he, _immediately_ after taking one, drink _cold_ water. But he may follow his usual exercise or employment, provided the weather be fine, and the wind be neither in the east nor the north-east.

Every house of any pretension ought to have a bathroom. Nothing would be more conducive to health than regular systematic bathing. A hot and cold bath, a sitz bath, and a shower bath--each and all in their turn--are grand requisites to preserve and procure health. If the house cannot boast of a bath-room, then the Corporation Baths (which nearly every large town possesses) ought to be liberally patronised.

MANAGEMENT OF THE HAIR

317. _What is the best application for the hair_?

A sponge and _cold_ water, and two good hair-brushes. Avoid grease, pomatum, bandoline, and all abominations of that kind. There is a natural oil of the hair, which is far superior to either Rowland's Macassar Oil or any other oil! The best scent for the hair is an occasional dressing of soap and water; the best beautifier of the hair is a downright thorough good brushing with two good hair brushes! Again, I say, _avoid grease of all kinds to the hair_. "And as for woman's hair, don't plaster it with scented and sour grease, or with any grease; it has an oil of its own. And don't tie up your hair tight, and make it like a cap of iron over your skull. And why are your ears covered? You hear all the worse, and they are not the cleaner. Besides, the ear is beautiful in itself, and plays its own part in the concert of the features." [Footnote: _Health._ By John Brown, M.D.]

If the hair cannot, without some application, be kept tidy, then a little castor oil, scented, might, by means of an old tooth-brush, be used to smooth it; castor oil is, for the purpose, one of the most simple and harmless of dressings; but, as I said before, the hair's own natural oil cannot be equalled, far less surpassed!

If the hair fall off, the castor oil, scented with a few drops either of otto of roses or of essence of bergamot, is a good remedy to prevent its doing so; a little of it ought, night and morning, to be well rubbed into the roots of the hair. Cocoa-nut oil is another excellent application for the falling off of the hair, and can never do harm, which is more than can be said of many vaunted remedies for the Hair!

CLOTHING.

318. _Do you approve of a boy wearing flannel next to the skin?_

England is so variable a climate, and the changes from heat to cold, and from dryness to moisture of the atmosphere, are so sudden, that some means are required to guard against their effects. Flannel, as it is a bad conductor of heat, prevents the sudden changes from affecting the body, and thus is a great preservative against cold.

Flannel is as necessary in the summer as in the winter time; indeed, we are more likely both to sit and to stand in draughts in the summer than in the winter; and thus we are more liable to become chilled and to catch cold.

Woollen shirts are now much worn; they are very comfortable and beneficial to health. Moreover, they simplify the dress, as they supersede the necessity of wearing either both flannel and linen, or flannel and calico shirts.

319. _Flannel sometimes produces great irritation of the skin: what ought to be done to prevent it_?

Have a moderately fine flannel, and persevere in its use; the skin in a few days will bear it comfortably. The Angola and wove-silk waistcoats have been recommended as substitutes, but there is nothing equal to the old-fashioned Welsh flannel.

320. _If a boy have delicate lungs, do you approve of his wearing a prepared hare-skin over the chest_?

I do not: the chest may be kept too warm as well as too cold. The hare-skin heats the chest too much, and thereby promotes a violent perspiration; which, by his going into the cold air, may become suddenly checked, and may thus produce mischief. If the chest be delicate, there is nothing like flannel to ward off colds.

321. _After an attack of Rheumatic Fever, what extra clothing do you advise_?

In the case of a boy, or a girl, just recovering from a severe attack of Rheumatic Fever, flannel next the skin ought always, winter and summer, to be worn--flannel drawers as well as a flannel vest.

322. _Have you any remarks to make on boys' waistcoats_?

Fashion in this, as in most other instances, is at direct variance with common sense. It would seem that fashion was intended to make work for the doctor, and to swell the bills of mortality! It might be asked, What part of the chest, in particular, ought to be kept warm? The upper part needs it most. It is in the _upper_ part of the lungs that tubercles (consumption) usually first make their appearance; and is it not preposterous to have such parts, in particular, kept cool?

Double-breasted waistcoats cannot be too strongly recommended for _delicate_ youths, and for all men who have _weak_ chests.

323. _Have you any directions to give respecting the shoes and the stockings_?

The shoes for winter should be moderately thick and waterproof. If boys and girls be delicate, they ought to have double soles to their shoes, with a piece of bladder between each sole, or the inner sole may be made of cork; either of the above plans will make the soles of boots and shoes completely water-proof. In wet or dirty weather India-rubber over-shoes are useful, as they keep the _upper_ as well as the _under_ leathers perfectly dry.

The socks, or stockings, for winter, ought to be either lambs-wool or worsted; it is absurd to wear _cotton_ socks or stockings all the year round. I should advise a boy to wear socks not stockings, as he will then be able to dispense with garters. Garters, as I have remarked in a previous Conversation, are injurious--they not only interfere with the circulation of the blood, but also, by pressure, injure the bones, and thus the shape of the legs.

Boys and girls cannot be too particular in keeping their feet warm and dry, as cold wet feet are one of the most frequent exciting causes of bronchitis, of sore throats, and of consumption.

324. _When should a girl begin to wear stays_?

She ought never to wear them.

325. _Do not stays strengthen the body_?

No; on the contrary, they weaken it (1.) _They, weaken the muscles_. The pressure upon them causes them to waste; so that, in the end, a girl cannot do without them, as the stays are then obliged to perform the duty of the wasted muscles. (2.) _They weaken the lungs_ by interfering with their functions. Every inspiration is accompanied by a movement of the ribs. If this movement be impeded, the functions of the lungs are impeded likewise, and, consequently, disease is likely to follow, and either difficulty of breathing, or cough, or consumption, may ensue. (3) _They weaken the heart's action_, and thus frequently produce palpitation, and, perhaps, eventually, organic or incurable disease of the heart (4) _They weaken the digestion_, by pushing down the stomach and the liver, and by compressing the latter, and thus induce indigestion, flatulence, and liver-disease. [Footnote: Several years ago, while prosecuting my anatomical studies in London University College Dissecting rooms, on opening a young women, I discovered an immense indentation of the liver large enough to admit a rolling pin, produced by tight lacing!] (5) _They weaken the bowels_, by impeding their proper peristaltic (spiral) motion, and thus might produce either constipation or a rupture. Is it not presumptuous to imagine that man can improve upon God's works, and that if more support had been required, the Almighty would not have given it?--

"God never made his work for man to mend"--_Dryden._

326. _Have you any remarks to make on female dress_?

There is a perfect disregard of health in everything appertaining to fashion. Parts that ought to be kept warm, remain unclothed, the _upper_ portion of the chest, most prone to tubercles (consumption), is completely exposed, the feet, great inlets to cold, are covered with thin stockings, and with shoes as thin as paper. Parts that should have full play are cramped and hampered, the chest is cribbed in with stays, the feet with _tight_ shoes,--hence causing deformity, and preventing a free circulation of blood. The mind, that ought to be calm and unruffled, is kept in a constant state of excitement by balls, and concerts, and plays. Mind and body sympathise with each other, and disease is the consequence. Night is turned into day, and a delicate girl leaves the heated ball room, decked out in her airy finery, to breathe the damp and cold air of night. She goes to bed, but, for the first few hours, she is too much excited to sleep, towards morning, when the air is pure and invigorating, and, when to breathe it, would be to inhale health and life, she falls into a feverish slumber, and wakes not until noon-day. Oh, that a mother should be so blinded and so infatuated!

327. _Have you any observations to make on a girl wearing a green dress_?

It is injurious to wear a green dress, if the colour have been imparted to it by means of _Scheele's green_, which is arsenite of copper--a deadly poison. I have known the arsenic to fly off from a _green_ dress in the form of powder, and to produce, in consequence, ill-health. Gas-light green is a lovely green, and free from all danger, and is fortunately superseding the Scheele's green both in dresses and in worsted work. I should advise my fair reader, when she selects green as her colour, always to choose the gas-light green, and to wear and to use for worsted work no other green besides, unless it be imperial green.

DIET.

328. _Which is the more wholesome, coffee or tea, where milk does not agree, for a youth's breakfast_?

Coffee, provided it be made properly, and provided the boy or the girl take a great deal of out-door exercise; if a youth be much confined within doors, black tea is preferable to coffee. The usual practice of making coffee is to boil it, to get out the strength! But the fact is, the process of boiling boils the strength away; it drives off that aromatic, grateful principle, so wholesome to the stomach, and so exhilarating to the spirits; and, in lieu of which, extracts its dregs and impurities, which are both heavy and difficult of digestion. The coffee ought, if practicable, to be _freshly_ ground every morning, in order that you may be quite sure that it be perfectly genuine, and that none of the aroma of the coffee has flown off from long exposure to the atmosphere. If a youth's bowels be inclined to be costive, coffee is preferable to tea for breakfast, as coffee tends to keep the bowels regular. Fresh milk ought always to be added to the coffee in the proportion of half coffee and half new milk. If coffee does not agree, then _black_ tea should be substituted, which ought to be taken with plenty of fresh milk in it. Milk may be frequently given in tea, when it otherwise would disagree.

When a youth is delicate, it is an excellent plan to give him, every morning before he leaves his bed, a tumblerful of _new_ milk. The draught of milk, of course, is not in any way to interfere with his regular breakfast.

329. _Do you approve of a boy eating meat with his breakfast_?

This will depend upon the exercise he uses. If he have had a good walk or run before breakfast, or if he intend, after breakfast, to take plenty of athletic out-door exercise, meat, or a rasher or two of bacon, may, with advantage, be eaten; but not otherwise.

330. _What is the best dinner for a youth_?

Fresh mutton or beef, a variety of vegetables, and a farinaceous pudding. It is a bad practice to allow him to dine, exclusively, either on a fruit pudding, or on any other pudding, or on pastry. Unless he be ill, he must, if he is to be healthy, strong, and courageous, eat meat every day of his life. "All courageous animals are carnivorous, and greater courage is to be expected in a people, such as the English, whose food is strong and hearty, than in the half-starved commonalty of other countries."--Sir W. Temple.

Let him be debarred from rich soups and from high-seasoned dishes, which only disorder the stomach and inflame the blood. It is a mistake to give a boy or a girl broth or soup, in lieu of meat for dinner; the stomach takes such slops in a discontented way, and is not at all satisfied. It may be well, occasionally, to give a youth with his dinner, _in addition to his meat_, either good soup or good broth not highly seasoned, made of good _meat_ stock. But after all that can be said on the subject, a plain joint of meat, either roast or boiled, is far superior for health and strength than either soup or broth, let it be ever so good or so well made.

He should be desired to take plenty of time over his dinner, so that he may be able to chew his food well, and thus that it may be reduced to an impalpable mass, and be well mixed with the saliva,--which the action of the jaws will cause to be secreted--before it passes into the stomach. If such were usually the case, the stomach would not have double duty to perform, and a boy would not so frequently lay the foundation of indigestion, etc., which may embitter, and even make miserable, his after-life. Meat, plain pudding, vegetables, bread, and hunger for sauce (which exercise will readily give), is the best, and, indeed, should be, as a rule, the only dinner he should have. A youth ought not to dine later than two o'clock.

331. _Do you consider broths and soups wholesome_?

The stomach can digest solid much more readily than it can liquid food; on which account the dinner, specified above, is far preferable to one either of broth or of soup. Fluids in large quantities too much dilute the gastric juice, and over-distend the stomach, and hence weaken it, and thus produce indigestion: indeed, it might truly be said that the stomach often takes broths and soups in a grumbling way!

332. _Do you approve of a boy drinking beer with his dinner_?

There is no objection to a little good, mild table-beer, but _strong_ ale ought never to be allowed. It is, indeed, questionable whether a boy, unless he take unusual exercise, requires anything but water with his meals.

333. _Do you approve of a youth, more especially if he be weakly, having a glass or two of wine after dinner_?

I disapprove of it: his young blood does not require to be inflamed, and his sensitive nerves excited, with wine; and, if he he delicate, I should be sorry to endeavour to strengthen him by giving him such an inflammable fluid. If he be weakly, he is more predisposed to put on either fever or inflammation of some organ; and, being thus predisposed, wine would be likely to excite either the one or the other of them into action.

"Wine and youth are fire upon fire."--_Fielding._

A parent ought on no account to allow a boy to touch spirits, however much diluted; they are, to the young, still more deadly in their effects than wine.

334. _Have you any objection to a youth drinking tea_?

Not at all, provided it be not _green_ tea, that it be not made strong, and that it have plenty of milk in it. Green tea is apt to make people nervous, and boys and girls ought not even to know what it is to be nervous.

335. _Do you object to supper for a youth_?

Meat suppers are highly prejudicial. If he be hungry (and if he have been much in the open air, he is almost sure to be), a piece of bread and cheese, or of bread and butter, with a draught either of new milk or of table beer, will form the best supper he can have. He ought not to sup later than eight o'clock.

336. _Do you approve of a boy having anything between meals_?

I do not; let him have four meals a day, and he will require nothing in the intervals. It is a mistaken notion that "little and often is best," The stomach requires rest as much as, or perhaps more than (for it is frequently sadly over-worked) any other part of the body. I do not mean that he is to have "_much_ and seldom:" moderation, in everything, is to be observed. Give him as much as a growing boy requires (_and that is a great deal_), but do not let him eat gluttonously, as many indulgent parents encourage their children to do. Intemperance in eating cannot be too strongly condemned.

337. _Have you any objection to a boy having pocket money_?

It is a bad practice to allow a boy _much_ pocket money; if he be so allowed, he will be loading his stomach with sweets, fruit, and pastry, and thus his stomach will become cloyed and disordered, and the keen appetite, so characteristic of youth, will be blunted, and ill-health will ensue. "In a public education, boys early learn intemperance, and if the parents and friends would give them less money upon their usual visits, it would be much to their advantage, since it may justly be said that a great part of their disorders arise from surfeit, '_plus occidit gula quam gladius_' (gluttony kills more than the sword)."--_Goldsmith._

How true is the saying that "many people dig their graves with their teeth." You may depend upon it that more die from stuffing than from starvation! There would be little for doctors to do if there were not so much stuffing and imbibing of strong drinks going on in the world!

AIR AND EXERCISE.

338. _Have you any remarks to make on fresh air and exercise for boys and girls_?

Girls and boys, especially the former, are too much confined within doors. It is imperatively necessary, if you wish them to be strong and healthy, that they should have plenty of fresh air and exercise; remember, I mean fresh air--country air, not the close air of a town. By exercise, I mean the free unrestrained use of their limbs. Girls, in this respect, are unfortunately worse off than boys, although they have similar muscles to develop, similar lungs that require fresh air, and similar nerves to be braced and strengthened. It is not considered lady-like to be natural--all then: movements must be measured by rule and compass!

The reason why so many young girls of the present day are so sallow, under-sized, and ill-shaped, is for the want of air and exercise. After a time the want of air and exercise, by causing ill health, makes them slothful and indolent-it is a trouble for them to move from their chairs!

Respiration, digestion, and a proper action of the bowels, imperatively demand fresh air and exercise. Ill health will inevitably ensue if boys and girls are cooped up a great part of the day in a close room. A distinguished writer of the present day says: "The children of the very poor are always out and about. In this respect they are an example to those careful mammas who keep their children, the whole day long, in their chairs, reading, writing, ciphering, drawing, practising music lessons, doing crotchet work, or anything, in fact, except running about in spite of the sunshine always peeping in and inviting them out of doors; and who, in the due course of time, are surprised to find their children growing up with incurable heart, head, lung, or stomach complaints."

339. _What is the lest exercise for a youth_?

Walking or running: provided either of them be not carried to fatigue,--the slightest approach to it should warn a youth to desist from carrying it further. Walking exercise is not sufficiently insisted upon. A boy or a girl, to be in the enjoyment of good health, ought to walk at least ten miles every day. I do not mean ten miles at a stretch, but at different times of the day. Some young ladies think it an awfully long walk if they manage a couple of miles! How can they, with such exercise, expect to be well? How can their muscles be developed? How can their nerves be braced? How can their spines be strengthened and be straight? How can their blood course merrily through their blood-vessels? How can their chests expand and be strong? Why, it is impossible! Ill health must be the penalty of such indolence, for Nature will not be trifled with! Walking exercise, then, is the finest exercise that can be taken, and must be taken, and that without stint, if boys and girls are to be strong and well! The advantage of our climate is, that there is not a day in the whole year that walking exercise cannot be enjoyed. I use the term enjoyed advisedly. The roads may, of course, be dirty; but what of that A good thick pair of boots will be the remedy.

Do then, let me entreat you, insist upon your--girls and boys taking plenty of exercise; let them almost live in the open air! Do not coddle them; this is a rough; world of ours, and they must rough it; they must be knocked about a great deal, and the knocks will do them, good. Poor youths who are, as it were, tied to their mother's apron strings, are much to be pitied; they are usually puny and delicate, and effeminate, and utterly deficient of self-reliance.

340. _Do you approve of--horse or pony exercise for boys and girls_?

Most certainly I do; but still it ought not to supersede walking. Horse or pony exercise is very beneficial, and cannot be too strongly recommended. One great advantage for those living in towns, which it has over walking, is, that a person may go further into the country, and thus be enabled to breathe a purer and more healthy atmosphere. Again, it is a much more amusing exercise than walking, and this, for the young, is a great consideration indeed.

Horse exercise is for both boys and girls a splendid exercise; it improves the figure, it gives grace to the movements, it strengthens the chest, it braces the muscles, and gives to the character energy and courage. Both boys and girls ought to be early taught to ride. There is nothing that gives more pleasure to the young than riding either on a pony or on a horse, and for younger children, even on that despised, although useful animal, a donkey. Exercise, taken with pleasure, is doubly beneficial.

If girls were to ride more on horseback than they now do, we should hear less of crooked spines and of round shoulders, of chlorosis and of hysteria, and of other numerous diseases of that class, owing, generally, to debility and to mismanagement.

Those ladies who "affect the saddle" are usually much healthier, stronger, and straighter than those who either never or but seldom ride on horseback.

Siding on horseback is both an exercise and an amusement, and is peculiarly suitable for the fair sex, more especially as their modes of exercise are somewhat limited, ladies being excluded from following many games, such as cricket, and foot-ball, both of which are practised, with such zest and benefit, by the rougher sex.

341. _Do you approve of carriage exercise_?

There is no muscular exertion in carriage exercise; its principal advantage is, that it enables a person to have a change of air, which may be purer than the one he is in the habit of breathing. But, whether it be so or not, change of air frequently does good, even, if the air be not so pure. Carriage exercise, therefore, does only partial good, and ought never to supersede either walking or horse exercise.

342. _What is the best time of the day, for the taking of exercise_?

In the summer time, early in the morning and before breakfast, as "cool morning air exhilarates young blood like wine." If a boy cannot take exercise upon an empty stomach, let him have a slice of bread and a draught of milk. When he returns home he will be able to do justice to his breakfast. In fine weather he cannot take too much exercise, provided it be not carried to fatigue.

343. _What is the best time for him to keep quiet_?

He ought not to take exercise immediately after--say for half an hour after--a hearty meal, or it will be likely to interfere with his digestion.

AMUSEMENTS.

344. _What amusements do you recommend for a boy as being most beneficial to health_?

Manly games--such as rowing, skating, cricket, quoits, foot-ball, rackets, single-stick, bandy, bowls, skittles, and all gymnastic exercises. Such games bring the muscles into proper action, and thus cause them to be fully developed. They expand and strengthen the chest; they cause a due circulation of the blood, making it to bound merrily through the blood-vessels, and thus to diffuse health and happiness in its course. Another excellent amusement for boys, is the brandishing of clubs. They ought to be made in the form of a constable's staff, but should be much larger and heavier. The manner of handling them is so graphically described by Addison that I cannot do better than transcribe it--"When I was some years younger than I am at present, I used to employ myself in a more laborious diversion, which I learned from a Latin treatise of exercises that is written with great erudition; it is there called the [Greek: skiomachia] or the fighting with a man's own shadow, and consists in the brandishing of two short sticks grasped in each hand, and loaded with plugs of lead at either end. This opens the chest, exercises the limbs, and gives a man all the pleasure of boxing without the blows. I could wish that several learned men would lay out that time which they employ in controversies and disputes about nothing, in this method of fighting with their own shadows. It might conduce very much to evaporate the spleen which makes them uneasy to the public as well as to themselves."

Another capital, healthful game is single-stick, which makes a boy "to gain an upright and elastic carriage, and to learn the use of his limbs."--_H. Kingsley_. Single-stick may be taught by any drill-sergeant in the neighbourhood. Do everything to make a boy strong. Remember, "the glory of young men is their strength."

If games were more patronised in youth, so many miserable, nervous, useless creatures would not abound. Let a boy or girl, then, have plenty of play; let half of his or her time be spent in play.

There ought to be a gymnasium established in every town of the kingdom. The gymnasium, the cricket ground, and the swimming bath, are among our finest establishments, and should be patronised accordingly.

First of all, by an abundance of exercise and fresh air make your boys and girls strong, and then, in due time, they will be ready and be able to have their minds properly cultivated. Unfortunately, in this enlightened age, we commence at the wrong end--we put the cart before the horse--we begin by cultivating the mind, and we leave the body to be taken care of afterwards; the results are, broken health, precocious, stunted, crooked, and deformed youths, and premature decay.

One great advantage of gymnastic exercise is, it makes the chest expand, it fills the lungs with air, and by doing so strengthens them amazingly, and wards off many diseases. The lungs are not sufficiently exercised and expanded; boys and girls, girls especially, do not as a rule half fill their lungs with air; now air to the lungs is food to the lungs, and portions of the lungs have not half their proper food, and in consequence suffer.

It is very desirable that every boy and girl should, every day of his or her life, and for a quarter of an hour at least each time, go through a regular _breathing exercise_--that is to say, should be made to stand upright, throw back the shoulders, and the while alternately and regularly fully fill and fully empty the lungs of air. If this plan were daily followed, the chest and lungs would be wonderfully invigorated, and the whole body benefited.

345. _Is playing the flute, blowing the bugle, or any other wind instrument, injurious to health_?

Decidedly so: the lungs and the windpipe are brought into unnatural action by them. If a boy be of a consumptive habit, this will, of course, hold good with tenfold force. If a youth must be musical let him be taught singing, as that, provided the lungs be not diseased, will be beneficial.

346. _What amusements do you recommend for a girl_?

Archery, skipping, horse exercise, croquet, the hand-swing, the fly-pole, skating, and dancing, are among the best. Archery expands the chest, throws back the shoulders, thus improving the figure, and develops the muscles. Skipping is exceedingly good exercise for a girl, every part of the body being put into action by it Horse exercise is splendid for a girl; it improves the figure amazingly--it is most exhilarating and amusing; moreover, it gives her courage and makes her self-reliant Croquet develops and improves the muscles of the arms, beautifies the complexion, strengthens the back, and throws out the chest. Croquet is for girls and women what cricket is for boys and men--a glorious game. Croquet has improved both the health and the happiness of womankind more than any game ever before invented. Croquet, in the bright sunshine, with the winds of heaven blowing about the players, is not like a ball in a stifling hot ball-room, with gas-lights poisoning the air. Croquet is a more sensible amusement than dancing; it brings the intellect as well as the muscles into play. The man who invented croquet has deserved greater glory, and has done more good to his species, than many philosophers whose names are emblazoned in story. Hand-swing is a capital exercise for a girl, the whole of the body is thrown into action by it, and the spine, the shoulders, and the shoulder-blades, are especially benefited. The fly-pole, too, is good exercise for the whole of the muscles of the body, especially of the legs and the arms. Skating is for a girl excellent exercise, and is as exhilarating as a glass of champagne, but will do her far more good! Skating improves the figure, and makes a girl balance and carry herself upright and well; it is a most becoming exercise for her, and is much in every way to be commended. Moreover, skating gives a girl courage and self-reliance. Dancing, followed as a rational amusement, causes a free circulation of the blood, and provided it does not induce her to sit up late at night, is most beneficial.

347. _If dancing be so beneficial why are balls such fruitful sources of coughs, of cold, and consumptions_?

On many accounts. They induce young ladies to sit up late at night; they cause them to dress more lightly than they are accustomed to do; and thus thinly clad, they leave their homes while the weather is perhaps piercingly cold, to plunge into a suffocating, hot ballroom, made doubly injurious by the immense number of lights, which consume the oxygen intended for the due performance of the healthy functions of the lungs. Their partners, the brilliancy of the scene, and the music, excite their nerves to undue and thus to unnatural, action, and what is the consequence? Fatigue, weakness, hysterics, and extreme depression follow. They leave the heated ball-room when the morning has far advanced, to breathe the bitterly cold and frequently damp air of a winter's night, and what is the result? Hundreds die of consumption, who might otherwise have lived. Ought there not, then, to be a distinction between a ball at midnight and a dance in the evening?

348. _But still, would you have a girl brought up to forego the pleasure of a ball_?

If a parent prefer her so-called pleasures to her health, certainly not; to such a mother I do not address myself.

349. _Have you any remarks to make on singing, or on reading aloud_?

Before a mother allows her daughter to take lessons in singing, she should ascertain that there be no actual disease of the lungs, for if there be, it will probably excite it into action; but if no disease exist, singing or reading aloud is very conducive to health. Public singers are seldom known to die of consumption. Singing expands the chest, improves the pronunciation, enriches the voice for conversation, strengthens the lungs, and wards off many of their diseases.

350. _Do you approve of corporal punishments in schools_?

I do not. I consider it to be decidedly injurious both to body and mind. Is it not painful to witness the pale cheeks and the dejected looks of those boys who are often flogged? If their tempers are mild, their spirits are broken; if their dispositions are at all obstinate, they become hardened and wilful, and are made little better than brutes. [Footnote: "I would have given him, Captain Fleming, had he been my son," quoth old Pearson the elder, "such's good sound drubbing as he never would have forgotten--never!"

"Pooh! pooh! my good sir. Don't tell me. Never saw flogging in the navy do good. Kept down brutes; never made a man yet."--Dr Norman Macleod in _Good Words_, May 1861.] A boy who is often flogged loses that noble ingenuousness and fine sensibility so characteristic of youth. He looks upon his school as his prison, and his master as his gaoler, and as he grows up to manhood, hates and despises the man who has flogged him. Corporal punishment is revolting, disgusting, and demoralising to the boy; and is degrading to the schoolmaster as a man and as a Christian,

If schoolmasters must flog, let them flog their own sons. If they must ruin the tempers, the dispositions, and the constitution of boys, they have more right to practise upon their own than on other people's children! Oh! that parents would raise--and that without any uncertain sound--their voices against such abominations, and the detestable cane would soon be banished the school-room! "I am confident that no boy," says Addison, "who will not be allured by letters without blows, will never be brought to anything with them. A great or good mind must necessarily be the worse for such indignities; and it is a sad change to lose of its virtue for the improvement of its knowledge. No one has gone through what they call a great school, but must have remembered to have seen children of excellent and ingenuous natures (as have afterwards appeared in their manhood). I say, no man has passed through this way of education but must have seen an ingenuous creature expiring with shame, with pale looks, beseeching sorrow, and silent tears, throw up its honest sighs, and kneel on its tender knees to an inexorable blockhead, to be forgiven the false quantity of a word in making a Latin verse. The child is punished, and the next day he commits a like crime, and so a third, with the same consequence. I would fain ask any reasonable man whether this lad, in the simplicity of his native innocence, full of shame, and capable of any impression from that grace of soul, was not fitter for any purpose in this life than after that spark of virtue is extinguished in him, though he is able to write twenty verses in an evening?"

How often is corporal punishment resorted to at school because the master is in a passion, and he vents his rage upon the poor school-boy's unfortunate back!

Oh! the mistaken notion that flogging will make a bad-behaved boy a good boy; it has the contrary effect. "'I dunno how 'tis, sir,' said an old farm labourer, in reply to a question from his clergyman respecting the bad behaviour of his children, 'I dunno how 'tis; I beats 'em till they're black and blue, and when they won't kneel down to pray I knocks 'em down, and yet they ain't good.'"--_The Birmingham Journal._

In an excellent article in _Temple Bar_(November 1864) on flogging in the army, the following sensible remarks occur:--"In nearly a quarter of a century's experience with soldiers, the writer has always, and without a single exception, found flogging makes a good man bad, and a bad man worse." With equal truth it may be said that, without a single exception, flogging makes a good boy bad, and a bad boy worse. How many men owe their ferocity to the canings they received when school-boys! The early floggings hardened and soured them, and blunted their sensibility.

Dr Arnold of Rugby, one of the best schoolmasters that England ever produced, seldom caned a boy--not more than once or twice during the half year; but when he did cane him, he charged for the use of the cane each time in the bill, in order that the parents might know how many times their son had been punished. At some of our public schools now-a-days, a boy is caned as many times in a morning as the worthy doctor would have caned him during the whole half year; but then, the doctor treated the boys as gentlemen, and trusted much to their honour; but now many schoolmasters trust much to fear, little to honour, and treat them as brute beasts.

It might be said that the discipline of a school cannot be maintained unless the boys be frequently caned, that it must be either caning or expulsion. I deny these assertions. Dr Arnold was able to conduct his school with honour to himself, and with immense benefit to the rising generation, without either frequent canings or expulsions. The humane plan, however, requires at first both trouble and patience; and trouble some schoolmasters do not like, and patience they do not possess; the use of the cane is quick, sharp, decisive, and at the time effective.

If caning be ever necessary, which it might occasionally be, for the telling of lies for instance, or for gross immorality, let the head master himself be the only one to perform the operation, but let him not be allowed to delegate it to others. A law ought in all public schools to be in force to that effect. High time that something were done to abate such disgraceful practices.

Never should a schoolmaster, or any one else, be allowed, _on any pretence whatever_, to strike a boy upon his head. Boxing of the ears has sometimes caused laceration of the drum of the ear, and consequent partial deafness for life. Boxing of the ears injures the brain, and therefore the intellect.

It might be said, that I am travelling out of my province in making remarks on corporal chastisement in schools? But, with deference, I reply that I am strictly in the path of duty. My office is to inform you of everything that is detrimental to your children's health and happiness; and corporal punishment is assuredly most injurious both to their health and happiness. It is the bounden duty of every man, and especially of every medical man, to lift up his voice against the abominable, disgusting, and degrading system of flogging, and to warn parents of the danger and the mischief of sending boys to those schools where flogging is, except in rare and flagrant cases, permitted.

351. _Have you any observations to make on the selection, of a female boarding-school_?