Athletics and Football (extract)

178 ATHLETICS with naeedle soaosn athse watehras collected in them af;tet this habseen squeezed out, the old skinshould be left onto protect ntehwe skignrowing underneathIf. thereare blisters on the foot half-formed, and the athlete is liable to them, the skiins best toughened and rendered least liable to them by taking salat-and-water footbath in the evening. The tight shoes which are necessarily used by runners are also apt to create corns, which must be treated by th usual remedies which are knowtno housewives or to practitionersfor the removaolf these unwelcomviesitors. The bemsteans, however, to avoid blisters, coarnsd, suclhike ailmentis to take grea t deal of care in selecting a perfectly fittpinag ir osfhoes bu;t otfhis we shall speaknon. Strains of the muscles are more serious matters, and are sometimes very hard to cure ; there is always, too, a danger that slaight straoifn a muscle may get worse if rest be not ta Experience shows that there is very littlerisk of the muscles giving wfaroym anything but overwork in warm weather, but in cold weathemruscles strain sonrap without any warning ; indeed, so many accidents of this kind happened a Oxford that notices wpeorested in the dressing-room at the oldMarston ground warning runners not to go out into the cold without first rubbing their legs with a horsehair glove or with the hands, and not toundergo any violent exercwisiethout taking shaort trot to warmthe muscles. This precautisohnould certainly never be neglectedat any time whethne weatheisr atall chillya, nd in the winteerspe­ cially it is foolhardy to dispense with it. Slight strains of muscles are best treated by par ial rest and the use of opodeldoc, or a mixtureof arnica aonpdodeldoc as an embrocation. Of late years, too, the runners have frequently taken to using Elliman's embrocatimonix, ture wwhiacshoriginally used by trainers hoorfses alone. A composition still frequentlyused by pedestrians is that which was recommended by Charles Westhall in his littlebook to whichwe have referred before in terms of praise. Westhall's recipe is as follows ' S:pirits of