The Athlete for 1866

HINTS ON TRAINING. taken about two o'clock,and after the exercise a light tea or supper two hours oefore bedtime. It is better not to drink between meals,and at meals, to sip the liquor, not bolt it. After severe exercise a goodnight's rest is indispen­ sable, andwe would lix 8 hours as the minimum. By sleep fresh energy,muscular and nervous, is stored up for the next period of activity. The internal organs still continue their round of motion in a diminished degree,but those oflocomotion which have beenseverely taxed in the daytime are in perfect rest, and need it in proportion to their past exertion. Great mental activity requires much repose; and wc find that the athlete of nervous ttmperament in hard exercise requires even ine or tenhours rest. In the winter more sleep is required than in the summer, from the fact that the activity of the system in keeping up its warmth, etc., though ofshorter duration, is greater, while, as a rule, in summer a certain amount of re«t is taken at intervals in the daytime. Sleep after food is often required by nervous persons of weak digestion, but the robust athlete is better without it, an amusing book,light study, etc., taking its place. Before going to bed, if a heavy meal hasbeen eaten, a short turn in the open air will be beneficial in cooling the system.It is a mistaken innovation of the age to have at night fresh cold air iubedrooms, the stimulus given to the lungs by continued supplies of oxygen tends to increase the waste of the body, to abstract its warmth, and to prevent the repose of the system, whichis essential to its renovation. The ventilation of a bedroom at night is amply provided for by a chimney ; in rooms without one. the window may be slightly opened, because air induces sleep and restrains waste : it seems fairly to be inferred that during the period of repose this waste of the tissue and abstraction of warmth can be obviated in this way afforded us by nature. A glance at the habits ofanimals who crowd together for warmthduring sleep, will show the force of our argument. We are not dealingwith any cases of ill health, etc., when the object is to remove the impure air coutaiiiing the germsof infection as soon as possible. A mattress gives the soundest sleep, it does not lump like a feather bed;the quantityof clothing should be sufficient to keep up a gentle exhalation from the skin. We have notplaced any limit to the amount of fo d at eachmeal; the quantity must vary with the exercise, weather, and constitu­ tion of each individual. Instinct prompts us toreplenish the furnace, for if there is no fuel in the furnace the human engine consumes its own structure. The wasting of the body to reduceweight is frequently carried to a ridiculous extent. It has beenproved bythe experiments of Chossat that the body in daily work loses about l-24th ofits weight,and that life ceases when the waste has reducedit to 3-Gths of its original weight.In the nerves,however, the los« is hardly perceptible ; while the fat sutiers in double the proportion of the muscle?, t'Oand 45 per cent, respectively. This may wellexplain the nervous excitability of the body when kept beyond its regular" time for food,or when supplied with food ofdeficient quality. The arrangement of the internal mechanism must go on, respiration continues, circu­ lation andheat result, at the expense of the machine itself. By regularity iu meals the stomach accommodates it elf to thechanges of actionand repose, and the system harmonises with it. T IMING M EN - . Correct timing depends ongreat nicety ofjudgment andmanipulation. In eome cases it is of much importance to know your own speed, especially in sprint­ ing and short-distance running, where the runner himself would be unable to