fruits, should be occasionally allowed, in spite of their sugar, for laxative purposes,—a method much better than the resort to more artificial means.
Whether severe training is good for a man, or not, is a matter of dispute. I cannot believe that it will increase longevity. The average condition is better than intermittent, severe strain. When one thinks what the heart is called on to do in severe exercise and training, it is hard to see how the lasting power of that organ can be increased by it,—that little organ, not larger than the fist, with its delicate, translucent valves, yet which, with proper care, will send a current of blood, one eighth the weight of the body (that is, seventeen pounds in a man weighing one hundred and forty) through that body every twenty seconds, waking or sleeping, from birth, perhaps, for a hundred years. This muscle has no chance to rest like the others. When that rests, the machine is broken. It has to be ready to work harder in sickness and accident. Isn't it asking too much of it, in addition, to do the extra work in training, and expect it to carry us to our three-score years and ten?
V.
A DAY'S FOOD AND EXERCISE IN TRAINING.
The training of athletes will vary, of course, with the nature of the contest; but one may give a generalized sketch of a day's exercise in training, differing more or less from the foregoing systems. It will be observed that Dr. Harris, in his suggestions, which ought to be invaluable to athletes, materially differs from
