The Pedestrian's Record

44 the pedestrian's record. have been depressed by over brain-work, caused by late hours and over-study. These classes are some­ what distinct the one from the other, and demand more the advice of a medical man than the attention of the trainer ; but as all athletes, irrespective of class, are about to prepare for similar if not the very same contests, it is evident that each must be brought to one and the same state ofperfection. This cannot be effected by a straight line, which lies evenly between its extreme points. The man who has led a healthy life, and has taken plenty of walking exer­ cise, may at once commence what we will call legitimate training; but the man who has taken liberties with his constitution, or has injured his nervous system by over-study or other means, then a course of medical treatment should be resorted to, and until the system has regained its former health and the muscles their tonicity, only moderate exercise can be taken,—that calculated to eradicate the offending maladies and to promote strength ;until these to be desired ends are arrived at, it would not only be unwise, but also unsafe to commence training. As dietary formsan important feature in the art of training, it will be necessary to learn the mode of life and the various kinds of aliment upon which the to be athlete has indulged, for it will be understood that the patrician lives more solidly than the ple­ beian, the duke than the serf; and there are inter­ mediate modes of existence, necessitated by the variety of avocations pursued in the human hive, which influence, and to a degree arrange, our manner