A System of Physical Education, Theoretical and Practical (extract)

i :il I'• i ·' 178 EXERCISES OF PROGRESSION. (SECT. II. while by the same act the heels are raised from the ground, and the whole weight of the body is brought upon the fore part of the foot. At the same time, and in unison with this combined action, the upper limbs are brought down to their full extent. This is as it were the bending of the bow, the compression of the spring. The next act is to set it free, and this is done suddenly and at once. The powerful extensor muscles forming the greater portion of the thigh and lower part of the trunk, straighten by one act every joint, the feet spurn the ground, and the upper limbs are forcibly elevated. This is the leap, and its height will be in relation to the force of the reaction from the preliminary depression. The forward, 'rearward, and. sideward leaps are but special modes of employing the same force, obtained by similar if not identical means. The action and position of the upper limbs in these special modes of leaping, however, are not solely for augmentation of force, but also for the preservation of the equilibrium of the body, and for the protection from injury when this has been lost. There is scarcely-any exercise in which men improve so rapidly and to so great an extent as in the various modes of leaping, and there is scarcely any exercise which so powerfully contributes to the development of the lower limbs. The action is precisely that which the nature of the muscles themselves demands for their -