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of his 4 ilnd legs to rest , while the body mechanically bears on the other three without much muscular exertion—in this position the spine becomes curved ; and , it ' would . be as -wise to fear deformity in ; a horse * because he occasionally assumes this position , as in a girl to fear her being permanently round-shouldered ,
because she occasionally relieves herself from the irksomeness of continually maintaining the same position . Perhaps there is nothing more beautiful or more conclusive of design , thau those contrivances in the structure of animals which enable them to assume positions of repose without the expenditure of muscular power . The manner in which
birds roost is a familiar illustration ; the weight of their body alone acts on the tendon of the flexor muscles of the toes , which thus mechanically grasp the perch without any muscular effort . The position-of the horse above-mentioued , and that of the soldier wheu he stands at ease , are also examples of this provision of Nature . In the human body , the
mea , ns of effecting tins object was , I believe , first pointed out by Mr . Bell , and has been illustrated by him in the article * Animal Mechanics' of the Library of Useful Knowledge , and by Dr . Arnott , in his Elements of Physics , from whose work 1 shall take , the liberty of making the following extract , which , in forcible language and correct reasoning , cannot be surpassed .
" * Strongly as Nature has expressed herself upon the important subject of exercise among the young , tyrant fashion , with a usual perversion of common Sense , has of late times in England formed a school discipline for young women of the higher classes , which wars directly with
Nature ' s dictates ; and the consequences have been such , that a stranger arriving here from China , might almost suppose it the design to make crooked and weak backs by our school discipline , as it is the design in China to make little feet by the- iron shoe . The result is the more
striking * , because the brothers of the female victims , and who , of course , have Similar constitutions , are robust , healthy , and well-formed . A peasant girl is allowed to obey her natural feeling , when her spirits are buoyant , and at proper times may dance , and skip , and run ,
until healthy exhaustion asks that repose which is equally allowed ; and she thus grows up strong and straight . But the pmmg ladp it ) receiving constant admonl > tion to curb all propensity to Buch vulgar activity ; and often , josi as she subdues nature , she receives the praise of being
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well bred . Her multifarious studies come powerfully in aid of the admonition , by fixing her , for many hours every d £ y , to sedentary employment . This adoption of sedentary habits is not only hurtful , by preventing the" natural extent and variety of the exercise , and thereby weaken * ug the whole body , but is rendered particularly injurious to the back , by the manner
in which the sitting is performed . It would be accounted great cruelty to make a delicate young creature stand all day , because the legs would tire ; but this very cruelty is almost in constant operation against the back , as if backs could not tire as well as legs . When a girl is allowed to sit down , because she has been long standing , great care is
taken that the muscles of the back , which still remain in action as she sits , shall Hot be at all relieved ; for , from the idea that it is ungraceful to loll , she is either put upon a stool which has no back at all , or upon a very narrow chair with a perpendicular back . The stool relieves the spine more than the chair , because it allows of bending in different ways , so as to rest the different sets of muscles
alternately ; but the chair forces her to keep the spine quite upright , and nearly unmoved . The consequence soon is , that being first weakened generally , by seden- * tary habits , and the back being still far- * ther weakened by excessive fatigue , the spine gives way in some part and "bends , and the curvature becomes permanent . ** « When the inclination of the back
has once begun , it is very soon increased by the means used to cure it . Strong stiff stays are put on , to support the back , as it is said , but which in reality , by preventing those muscles from acting which are intended by nature as the supports , cause them to lose their strength 5 and when the stays are withdrawn , the body cau 110 longer support itself . The only
things forgotten are to give proper exer- ^ cise in the air , and to let the child rest when she is not taking such exercise : The prejudice had at last grown up , that strong stays should be put upon children very early , to prevent the first beginning of the mischief , and that the child should always be made to sit on the straight- ' backed chair , or to lie on the hard plane *
and , it is probable , that if these cures and preventives had been adopted as universally and strictly as many deemed them necessary , we should not have , in England , a young lady whose back would be straight or strong enough to bear the weight of the shoulderB or > head . It would disgust us to see the attempt made io improve the strength and shape of at
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$ 5 $ ( fr&tival Notices . -Mlscellarieitti& .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1831, page 550, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2600/page/46/
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