PHYSICAL EXERCISES FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES. 633 
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iated to work for their physical improvement, and not merely to learn how 
;0 perform certain mechanical exercises with no definite end in view. 
We must consider the building, the room or rooms to be used, the num- 
oer of teachers and number of grades, the length of time spent in each 
grade, the sex, and the apparatus available. Next we must consider the 
mental capabilities of the children, and suit the exercises to the various 
grades from this standpoint also. The system must be progressive, from 
she AB C to the graduates who enter college or business. In this pro- 
gression, however, fun and recreation should be prevalent. The three 
great needs—hygiene, education, and recreation—should underlie the 
whole system. There are two other very practical considerations : First, 
she colperation of the teachers; and second, the necessary financial out- 
lay. This latter need not be very extensive, although it should be suffi- 
cient to secure the best talent and means for the best result. One com- 
petent man, with the codperation of regular teachers, might have the 
oversight of from five thousand to twenty thousand pupils, or with special 
assistants he might direct an almost unlimited work. I have been agree- 
ably surprised to see the unanimous and hearty way in which the prin- 
cipals and teachers have supported and aided in the exercises of physical 
training in the schools of New York City. 
With these facts before us, we proceed to a more definite outline of 
exercises. It is not the province of this paper to discuss school furniture, 
but it is of course important that desks and seats be adjustable, so that 
the child can touch his feet to the floor, for instance, and so that physi- 
cal instruction can be carried out. Exercises permissible in school may 
ae classified as follows: 
Training in sitting position ; training in standing position ; 
Breathing exercises, upper thoracic, lower thoracic, diaphragmatic ; 
Marching, walking, running, hopping, skipping, jumping ; 
Calisthenic exercises (innumerable) without apparatus ; 
Light gymnastic exercises with apparatus—rings, dumb-bells, wands, 
oles, bell-bars, Indian clubs, ete. 
Heavy gymaastic exercises—horse-buck, parallel bars, horizontal bar, 
vaulting, jumping, ladder, rings, ete. 
Games, indocrs and out.—Innumerable games, especially in spring 
and fall, with much of the other exercise, can and should be done out of 
doors. 
It is not necessary to go into much detail regarding this classifica 
fion, but some explanation may be profitable. Assuming that we have a 
room well ventilated, with two hundred cubic feet of air space for each 
individual, and the most modern adjustable desks and seats, there are 
innumerable groups of enjoyable exercises which might be done by the 
children, as often as every half hour at least. Motion is one of the 
means of rest to the growing child. He should not be restrained in one