The Pedestrian's Record

himself, who, unless he is developed throughout his entire frame, is incapable ofgiving the world assur­ ance of an athlete. He may run well, but when he does his imperfect machinery courts breakdown, ruptures, andheart disease; and it is due to this lack of condition in the upper part of the body that so many youngmen have come to grief, which gymnastic exercises wouldhave prevented by developing every muscle, and thus bringing out an athlete prepared for the fight. There are as many men as there are opinions, and this holds good relative to the use of baths, whether hot or cold. An old medical friend of ours was much opposed to the matutinal immersion of the body in cold water. He thought it injurious, and called it the "perpetual slop" ;but there are many physicians who recommend its daily adoption. One fact is certain, that cleanliness ofbody isessential to the preservation of health. The skin is one of the most important emunctories of animal bodies ; it casts off through its pores impurities andgases; and if this were its only function, it is self-evident that the skin should bekept sufficiently cleansed, so as to allow its numerous foramina to perform without let or hin­ drance the various duties imposed upon them by Nature. Although we do not breathe by the skin, at the same time it absorbs oxygen and gives off car­ bonic acid similarly asthe lungs do, not by a system of inspiration and expiration, buthe oneby absorp­ tion and the other by exudation, in association with j