Physical Education--the Strong Man, And How He Became Such

The public have boon Dot a little interüsted, for a few yoars, in an occasional acoount of Dr. Winship, the "strong Yankee'," experimenta u physical selfeduoation. He is but about twenty six years old, five fct soven inches in height, and weighs one hundred and forty.eight pounds. lío can lift eleven Imndrcd poundb, and ia now the beat example of physical education in the United States. Ho was seventcen years of age before he bogan bis experimenta, and waa then but fiva fejt high, and weighed only one hundred pounds; his liPa'th was not good, for he already suff?red from the usual dyspeptical troubles of Amcrioan youth. yo great have been hia improvonients tliat he now declares it to be hia opinión that no one kaving 'an atora of strength and lifo" nced despair of the bcnefits of a right sysíeai of training. He instances Dr. Warren' tcstimony respecting a veleran invalid, wlio bogan gymnastics in Iiis soventioth ycnr, with very 3tlutary cfFootíj; and, of curse, old Coruaro (famoiis in Addiaon's Spectator) is not forgotten, who, though no gymnast, b?gan in his fortieth yoar to restore a braken oonstitution, aud lired a lita of ïealth and of en viable ohoerfulno-s till his hundreth year. Bat wint haa boen t'ie eüicacnus thoory of the strong Yankee ? Ha lias giren it in tha Massaohusetts Teacher, but unfortunately, in an articlo of too groat length to be read muo'i. Wo proposo to tako u'.msual liberties with his comniiiiioatioii, q order to oon'lensa into a more readnble shapo his interesting datails. Thov aro thg btst prescriptions we have ever met for pliysioal selfroeuperation ; and in tbis day, when "muscular" racrit h.is beoome a matter of special ambition, and physical training a subjsot of even moral preachments. it m;iy not be unproütable to present to tho public an et ampie whioh, frónj both its modorate good sonse and. its eïtraordinary results, ruay bs pronouncod a modal ono. lïotr, t!i-5n, lias tho Yankee doctor surpassed all the pugiüstio training of the ivgo? We enuinéruta, at mach length, the principies of his systera. Wc givo the must ossuntial particular, presenting j them, howover, witll our own numeration: 1. Ho has breathod an abundance of freshair "aluiogt coustantly;" practicing, we suppose, inflation of the lungs. 2. ie has drank no ardent spirits, and used no tobáceo. The English "training"' for tho ''ring," it is well kuown prohibits these nrtides. 'J. He has tal;en, noarly evcry day, iibout a half hour's gy:nnastic ex-ïrcise. in the open air, andthis 18 an example of the surprieing mcderation witli whioli he has aocomplisheJ resulta. 4. Ho bftfl aten heartlly of suoli faod, animal and vogetablo, as agreed, with his stomach, scouting the mitxini that. ''you should leavo the tablo hungry." He began not lo reoovor froin his dyspepsia till ha esoapcd this nonsonso. 5 He has taken at le;ist ton liour- rost daily, including sleop, and appears to have devoted as mueh of it to sleop ns nature would allow, 6. He lias wora ovory artiolo of his dress as loose and as easy as tho freest action of his muscles aud limbs would demand. 7. He lias usod the bath onco I week in winter, and twiee a week in suinmer. He denounces the daily use of eold bath?. He has pursued this courso for nino ycars, and it has, during this long poriod, afibrded hira somo important observatioas, if not discoveries. Hero aro a few of them : 1. That it is as easy to norease the strongtb of the human body as it is that of a magnetio % That whatover increasod hisstrength increased his general health. Hu enjoya now tho maximum of tho latter as he probably does of the forraer - for his torce is now equal to that of two ordiuary men. '. That by doveloping his body harinoniously, he oould preolude the possibility of bomia, or any similar injury, that olhcrwise might resulf. from au estremely violent exeroise of his rausciea. 4. '1 hat liftmg is the safest and surost method ot' produoing "harmonious'' devolopmsnta, as alao the most Btrengthening of ill éxéroises - a fact not generally sapposed. 5. That the performance of twent.y differeut gymoastio feata once is better than tke performauoa of ono feat tvtnty times. 6. That lio gfiined inora by forfy minates' exeroise onoe in two daya tlitin by tsventy mioutes onoo a day. 7. íwjuty or fifteen rainutes' gymnastioa suíSoed for each day. 8 That, as streagth iaoreaso, moro intense but less protraoted eserciso shonld bo the rule. 9. That ir.ci-easo of muscular powor is attonded with a proportionate inorease of digestivo power. 10. That gráat pbysloal strnngta may be aoqmrod iudopendently of hareditary tendency to it - and, iadood, in spita of horeditary weakno.os of constltution. 11. That iuoreasjd strength oannot loug conticue oa a parely vegetable diat. 12. That insreasing tlie sbrc-ngt'i malíes oxoretion take place less by the skin, and moro by the lungs and other emunctories. 13. Tbat long beforo he coaid raise eleven huudrcd pounds with the hands, ór sboulder a barrel of flour, he had put to Üight the whole brood oí' ailments - siok hoadaohos, norvousness, indigestión, etc, - whioh aro the familiar companiona of American liealth, or rathei ill-health. The Sampsouian doctor proceeds to give some very judíeious rulos, deduced from his experience, for all aspirants to good hüalth and uianly vigor. Ho adviaes that: 1. Yon should seloot for your sleapmg room an apartrneut on the "sunny side,'' and let the san play mto it at leust six hours a day, il' tbo cloudc will allow Lim to shov? his face. '2. Keep it ventilated all tiic timo, and espocially keep tbe windows partially opsn at night, but avoid drafts. 3. Practico general ablution onco a week in cold weathtir, twice a week iu warm. Too mueh b.ithing, he asserts. "defeats eery intentiou íor which water is externally applied. 4. Take not lesa than eiglit hours' rest per day. 5. Use no food wliiü'.i 'aas boon pre pared in a copper, bro33, or büll-metal uteosi)TTwe no water that has como iu contact í ffith lead, G. Uao such food as your nppctite prefers, in epite of Liebig or any ot.hcr nuthority. 7. Practice lifting as the best of gymnastics; but begin cautiously, and bc oaroful of too nmeh fatigue. Durab bolls he considera next desirable to lifting. 8. Nover cxceeds half an hour iu any gymnaatic exercise. 9 Never rise early unlcss you retiro early. Be suro togot sleep onough. 10. Gmdually wear less and lass elothing abouttlio neck. till you can keep it entirely exposed without takinir oold. öuch is aa outline of Dr. Winship's systum. It is singularly sensible; it is almost univorsally practicable, exoept, perbapa, tbo presoription about sleep (]ould it be ganerally adopted in tho United States, we doubt nut that, w onc goneration, it would roduee the mediml f'aculty fifty per cont., and tho rates' of lifa assuranoe correspondingly, aüd render U3 the most vigorous and most long-lived nation on the globo, as we are now decidedly tlio "dinirtest." Viva la Yankee docteur!