I have thus endeavored briefly to explain and enforce a very dark, complicated, and much-neglected subject, from the full conviction that there is no station in life in which some knowledge of it may not be of essential service, and that the practice to which the reader's attention has been directed would greatly tend to the preservation of health, and the attainment of longevity. And as the importance of the subject is very happily elucidated by the following anecdote, we shall conclude with it. It is said that the late Dr. Darwin, one day, at Nottingham, assembled a large crowd of people around him, and thus addressed himself to them: "Ye men of Nottingham! listen to me. You are ingenious and industrious mechanics. By your industry, life's comforts are procured for yourselves and families. If you lose your health, the power of being industrious will forsake you. That you know; but you do not know that to breathe fresh and changed air constantly, is not less necessary to preserve health than sobriety itself. Air becomes unwholesome in a few hours, if the windows are shut. Open those of your sleeping rooms whenever you quit them to go to your workshops. Keep the windows of your workshops open whenever the weather is not insupportably cold. I have no interest in giving you this advice. Remember what I, your countryman, and a physician, tell you. If you would not bring infection and disease upon yourselves, and to your wives and little ones, change the air you breathe; change it many times a day, by opening your windows.' * In cases where persons cannot leave their room for more than a few minutes, the air may be changed, most effectually, by what is called pumping the room, which is done in the following manner: the doors and windows are put wide open, when a person, holding the door in his hand, violently swings it backward and forward. Thus, in a very short time, the bad air is exchanged for that which is fresh and pure. This may be done also in the cottages of the poor, even where their windows will not open, and where they have only one door. PART V. CHAPTER X. EXERCISE. The studious, the contemplative, the valetudinary, and those of weak nerves, if they aim at health and long life, must make exercise in a good air a part of their religion.— DR. CHEYNE. I do not allow the state of the weather to be urged against the prosecution of meas. ures so essential to health, since it is in the power of every one to protect themselves from cold by clothing, and the exercise may be taken in a chamber, with the windows thrown open, by actively walking backward and forward, as sailors do on shipboard. -ABERNETHY. The wise, for cure, on exercise depend; God never made his work for man to mend.-DRYDEN. REVELATION, nature, reason, and high medical authority, all show the importance, and enforce the necessity of exercise. Hence we find the sovereign Father of the universe himself, his son Jesus Christ, and the eternal Spirit, engaged in a variety of works of providence and of grace. If from the Deity we descend to angels, they are described as the most active ministers of God, which "do his pleasure." And of the "great multitude" of redeemed souls, who come out of "great tribulation," we are told that they "rest not day and night," praising God. Descending from heaven to earth, the same law seems impressed upon all. Our own nature, which owes its growth, its improvement, its health, and pleasures-nay, even society itself owes to exercise its being, its continuance, and its comforts. Yet not these alone enjoin the duty; for we are sent, by high authority, to the animal world, to read there, in the plainest language, the reproof of those who disregard the dictates of their own nature-who hide their hands in their bosoms, and refuse to labor. For the condemnation of such, Providence hath created one animal (the American sloth), the very opprobrium of the race, to hold up to scorn a vice which brings with it disease and misery, and "shall clothe a man with rags." From the divine, the angelic, the rational, the animal nature, we might proceed to the inanimate world. The heavenly bodies, which are ever moving, and the elements composing this lower world, are all in the same useful motion, fulfilling the will of their great Creator, and bearing testimony against man's indolence. A wise and benevolent Author must possess some end in the production of his works; but this end, whatever it was, could never be promoted by inactivity, which is, in fact, the next in degree to non-existence. Even innocent Adam was put into the garden of Eden to dress it, and to keep it," showing that, though we may have abundance of this world's good, we are not exempt from labor. Motion is the soul of the universe, which is governed by the same laws as man. Hence, that the air and sea may not become injurious to the earth and its inhabitants, by the corruption which a dead stillness would produce, they are violently agitated, not by the gentle, light winds, but by storms and tempests, which purify the whole. Thus * 66 By ceaseless action, all that is subsists; Constant rotation of the unwearied wheel That nature rides upon, maintains her health, Her beauty, her fertility. She dreads an instant's pause, And lives but while she moves." Cowper's Task. The structure of man's body,* as well as of his mind, plainly Addison, after giving a description of the human body, says, "The general idea of an animal body, without considering it in its niceties of anatomy, let us see how absolutely necessary exercise is for the right preservation of it. There must be frequent motions and agitations, to mix, digest, and separate the juices contained in it, as well as to clear shows that he was never intended for a merely contemplative life; and a thousand instances prove that exercise, health, and longevity are inseparable. Those whom poverty obliges to labor for daily bread are not only the most healthy, but generally the most happy, and the longest livers. Industry and sobriety seldom fail to place them above want, and water, air, and exercise, the three best doctors, serve them instead of physic. This is more peculiarly the case with those who live by the culture of the ground, and are consequently much exposed to all sorts of weather, and who take much exercise. The love of activity shows itself very early in man. So strong is this principle, that the healthy youth cannot be restrained from it, even by the fear of punishment; and this love of motion is surely a strong proof of its utility, because nature implants no dispositions in vain. It seems to be a universal law, through the whole animal creation, that no being, without exercise, should enjoy health, or be able to find subsistence. Every creature, except man, takes as much of it as is necessary. He alone, and such animals as are under his control, deviate from this original law, and hence suffer the just consequences. Inactivity never fails to induce a universal relaxation of the solids, which disposes the body to innumerable diseases; for when the solids are relaxed, neither digestion nor any of the secretions can be duly performed, in which case the worst consequences ensue. And how can persons, who loll about all day in easy chairs, and sleep long nights on beds of down, fail to be relaxed? Nor do such greatly mend the matter, who never stir abroad but in a coach, sedan, or such like. These elegant pieces of luxury are become so common, that the in and cleanse the infinitude of pipes and strainers of which it is composed, and to give their solid parts a more firm and lasting tone." The number of muscles in the human body is 474, and that of the bones 247; and it is reasonable to conclude, that a very considerable degree of active corporeal exertion must be daily necessary, in order to afford sufficient exercise for so large a number of bodies, possessing great solidity, and expressly formed for action. habitants of great towns seem to be in some danger of losing the use of their limbs altogether. It is now thought, by some, to be below any one to walk, who can afford to be carried. How ridiculous would it seem, to a person not acquainted with modern luxury, to behold the young and healthy swinging along on the shoulders of their fellow-creatures! or to see a fat carcass, overrun with disease occasioned by indolence and intemperance, dragged through the streets by half a dozen horses! And though many of them have not exercise enough to keep their humors wholesome, yet they dare not make a visit to their next-door neighbor but in a coach, or sedan, lest they should be looked down upon. Strange that men should be such fools as to be laughed out of the use of their limbs, and to throw away their health, in order to gratify a piece of vanity, or to comply with a ridiculous and injurious fashion! But we abound in absurdity and inconsistency: thus, though it is generally admitted that air and exercise are good, yet what means are made use of to avoid them! what stopping of crevices; what wrapping up in warm clothing; what shutting of doors and windows! Many London families go out once a day to take an airing, three or four in a carriage, one perhaps sick; they go five or six miles, or as many turns in Hyde Park, with the glasses both up, all breathing over and over again the same air they brought out of town with them in the carriage, with the least possible change, and rendered worse and worse every moment; and this they call taking exercise, or an airing! Our forefathers acted more wisely, and enjoyed the benefits arising therefrom. By chase our long-lived fathers earned their food, Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught.-Dryden. Voltaire gives us a very pleasant story of Caul, a voluptuary who could be managed with difficulty by his physician, |