EDWARD M. PLUMMER, M.D., AURAL SURGEON TO THE CARNEY HOSPITAL; ASSISTANT AURAL SURGEON TO THE MASSACHUSETTS CHARITABLE EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY; INSTRUCTOR, BOSTON POLYCLINIC; FELLOW OF THE MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY, Etc . Reprinted from the American Physical Education Review , 1898. CAMBRIDGE, MASS., Lombard & Caustic, Printers, 26a Brattle St. 1898. Copyrighted By Edward M. Plummer , M.D. Boston, 1898....

BY EDWARD M. PLUMMER, OF BOSTON. Few kinds of labor develop the body in a symmetrical manner. This is true even in an elementary division of labor. The carpenter and the blacksmith usually have strong, large shoulders and arms, but small and weak legs. The farmer, from excessive bending over his work, loses, in a greater or less degree, his elasticity of body, and often becomes stoop-shouldered. If such defects result from the more primitive forms of labor, it is not at all strange that the labo

Beside the four national festivals, minor games of more frequent recurrence existed all over Hellas. How eagerly the victor in a local exhibition must have turned his eyes towards Nemea, the Isthmus, Pytho, and perhaps even to Olympia may be imagined. Each of the four great festivals had peculiar features of its own. Thus, the Pythian games, probably next to the Olympian in importance, were characterized by competitions in music and poetry in addition to the athletic contests. The Isthmian games

It conferred upon the body other peculiar benefits; the organs of respiration were stimulated; the chest was strengthened and enlarged; the right arm was strengthened; in order to throw the spear effectively the athlete must maintain a graceful poise and have command of his entire body; to do so with a weight held aloft, strengthened the lower limbs, made their muscles more facile, and the step more sure. By inserting this particular exercise into the pentathlon the early Olympians not only reco

Until the age of seven, Spartan children were left to the care of their parents, but even during this early period they received a foretaste of future deprivations and exercises. Their food was very plain and limited in quantity. Care was taken to eradicate the little fears of childhood. They were taught not to be afraid in the dark or when left alone. Many interesting little sports were in vogue among Hellenic children, and it may well be believed that in Sparta they were practised with a pecul