British Manly Exercises

T R A I N I N G . 285 Seeing that the human body is so capable of being altered and renovated, itis not surprising that the art of training should be carried to a degree of perfection almost incredible; and that, by certain processes, the muscular power, the breath (or wind), and the courage of man, s'.iould be so greatly improved as to enable him to perform the most severe or laborious undertakings. That sucheffects have been produced is unquestionable; they are fully exemplified in the astonishing exploits of our most celebrated pedestrians and pugilists, which are the infallible results of such preparatory discipline. The skilfultrainer attends to the state of the bowels, the lungs, and. theskin; andhe uses such means as will reduce the fat, and, at the same time, invigorate themus­ cular fibre. The patientis purged by drastic medicines; he is sweated by walking under a load of clothes, and by lying between feather-beds; and his limbs are roughly rubbed. His diet is beef or mutton;his drink strong ale. lie isgradually inuredto exercise, byrepeated trialsin walking and running. By extenuating the fat, emptying the cellular substance, hardening themuscular fibre, and improving thebreath, a man of the ordinary frame may be made to fight for one hour, withthe utmost exertion of strength and courage, or to go over one hundredmiles in twenty-four hours. The mosteffectual process for trainingis that practised by Capt. Barclay, whichas not only been sanctioned by professional men, but has met with the unqualified ap­ probation of amateurs. We are here, therefore, almost entirely indebted to it for details.