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Well-developed men are to be envied. They invariably enjoy splendid health. There are many ways of exercise which do much to make the physically perfect man. Too often the abdominal muscles are neglected or exercised only perfunctorily. As a result, the blood in the abdominal region becomes sluggish, for blood does not flow with health-giving quickness unless it receives aid from working muscles. Muscles that are dormant retard the blood's flow, and slowly moving blood does not properly purify the body. Therefore, when the blood in the abdominal region becomes sluggish, indigestion, constipation, biliousness and other and more serious abdominal complications are the result. All of these ailments are more or less pronounced demands of the abdomen on its possessor to take proper care of it, and proper care means nothing more nor less than a few minutes' exercise of the abdominal muscles after getting up mornings, and before going to bed. The man who will give attention to his abdomen will be amply rewarded. Instead of suffering from indigestion, he will be blessed with a digestion that will compare favorably with that of an ostrich. He will forget what stomachache is like, his liver will refuse to make him bilious, and, in short, all the organs in the lower half of the trunk will perform their functions happily, as nature intended. Then, too, sturdy abdominal muscles contribute largely to the correct carriage of the body. If these muscles are not strong, the abdomen cannot be held in, and a protruding abdomen has a marked tendency to cave in the chest and twist the spine out of shape. In brief, a man who permits his abdomen to protrude, cannot stand erect, no matter how hard and long be may try. Every sane person admits that proper poise is absolutely and unequivocally necessary to good health; therefore, every well-balanced mind cannot disregard the necessity that the abdominal muscles, so necessary for correct carriage, should be sedulously exercised. Healthy abdominal muscles also help to develop the chest. When breathing, the further one can pull in the abdomen the greater will be the lung expansion. The stronger the abdominal muscles, the further in goes the stomach, the lungs drink in greater quantities of fresh air, and the blood is furnished with enlarged supplies of purifying oxygen. And everyone knows what oxygen does when it gets into the human system. A man who exercises his abdominal muscles need not fear that, as he gets along in life, he will annex a "bay window." Fat cannot accumulate in this region if daily exercise is indulged in. On the other hand, exercise will remove fat and restore to men with abnormal abdomens their natural outlines and proportions. Again, strong abdominal muscles are the best and safest protection against unexpected blows "below the belt." And last, but by no means least, he who gives diligent concern to the muscles under consideration will not become nervous under business stress or from other causes. Starting with the correct standing position, head up, shoulders back, chest out, abdomen in, arms straight and at the sides of the body, knees and heels touching and toes at an angle of 60 degrees, grasp the left hand with the right, interlocking thumbs and placing the left fingers above the right. Raise the arms above the head, and while doing the exercise, keep them continually by the sides of the head. Bend the body at the hips and endeavor to reach the floor with the fingers. Exhale as you go down, inhale deeply as you come up slowly, and bend back as far as possible. Repeat until tired, then take up another exercise. As the body is bent downward, the lower front muscles of the abdomen and the muscles of the back are developed. As the body is bent backward, the muscles of the back of the abdomen are brought into play. Raise the arms over the head as before. Turn the upper part of the body noticeably to the right, and then bend the upper part of the body sidewise and down as low as possible. Alternate by doing this exercise to the left. The muscles in the sides of the abdomen are thus developed. This exercise is splendid for the solar plexus and the upper part of the abdomen. It quiets the nerves and strengthens the diaphragm and its muscles. Lie down on your back on the floor, bend the legs at the knees and draw them up, getting the heels as close to the hips as possible. Fold the arms over the chest, and then raise the head, shoulders and chest from the floor as high as you possibly can, striving hard and ever harder. When at the highest point, hold them thus for a moment, and then lie down and repeat. Lie flat on your back on the floor. Put the hands flat under the hips and have the whole upper part of the body relaxed. Then kick with one leg as high as possible and then kick with the other. Alternately kick the legs, keeping both off the floor, and kick rapidly. Be sure to keep the legs straight, When the legs descend from the highest point toward the floor, they should stop about six inches above the floor. This exercise is unexcelled for the muscles in the central and lower portions of the abdomen. And now for two splendid exercises that will prevent varicose veins and build up legs capable of properly carrying the body. Sturdy legs are as necessary to a body as flawless wheels to a locomotive. Don't neglect your legs and thereby put yourself in the way of dangers that may wreck both your legs and your good health. No. 1—Assume the correct standing position. Relax the legs below the knees. Then alternately and rapidly, with the leg ascending, bent at the knee, kick the knee up toward the chest, keeping the lower part of the leg well forward. Try hard to hit the knees against the chest. This exercise is beneficial for the so-called kicking muscles, the muscles of the upper leg and thigh. No. 2—This is excellent for the lower part of the upper leg. Start from the correct standing position. Grasp a stick in the hands, and keep the arms straight and well in front of the body. With the knees and heels together and heels and toes touching the floor, sit down as low as you can. Do this part of the exercise as quickly as you like, but rise up slowly, keeping the upper part of the body erect, as in the correct standing position. For a general exerciser of the entire front of the body—legs, abdomen, chest, arms, wrists and shoulders—lie flat on the abdomen, on the floor, face down. Be sure that the body is perfectly straight, the toes touching the floor and the feet close together. Then, with the palms of the hands flat on the floor and the elbows at the sides of the body, fully straighten the arms, and support the body on hands and toes. The body must not be permitted to bend; keep it solid and straight. Hold it thus for a moment, and then bend the arms and let the chest touch the floor. Repeat this until tired. These exercises, like many others, do much to make the physically perfect man and maintain general good health. The foregoing observations and instructions are from the pen of Prof. Hamlin Barber, of Boston, Massachusetts. LIME IN AGRICULTURE The effects of lime, when applied to the soil, are partly mechanical and partly chemical. Upon deep alluvial clay soil it increases the crop of potatoes and renders them less waxy. Sprinkled over potatoes in a store heap it preserves them, and when scattered over the cut sets, it wonderfully increases their fertility. Lime eradicates the finger and toe disease in turnips, and gives greater soundness to the bulbs. It gives when applied to meadow lands a larger produce of more nutritious grasses. It also exterminates coarse and sour grasses, destroys couch grass and acts powerfully upon rye grasses. Upon arable land it destroys weeds of various kinds. It rapidly decomposes vegetable matter, producing a large amount of food for plants in the shape of carbonic acid gas. It destroys or neutralizes the acids in the soils; hence its adaptability to sour soils. It acts powerfully upon some of the inorganic parts of the soil, especially on the sulphate of iron found in pasty soils, and the sulphate of magnesia and alumina. It proves fatal to worms and slugs and the larvae of injurious insects, though favorable to the growth of shell bearers. Slaked lime added to vegetable matter causes it to give off its nitrogen in the form of ammonia. Upon soils in which ammonia is combined with acids, it sets free the ammonia, which is seized upon by the plants. Its solubility in water causes it to sink into and ameliorate the subsoil. When the soil contains, fragments of granite or trap rocks, lime hastens their decomposition and liberates the silicates. Its combination with the acids in the soil produces saline compounds, such as potash and soda, etc. Strewn over plants, it destroys or drives away the turnip fly. Worked in with grass feeds, the beneficial effects of lime, chalk, marl and shell sand have long been visible. Applied to the rot heap, lime effectually destroys the seeds of weeds. IN THE MINE WITH THE MINER |