pommels rise up and swing round so as to alight in the saddle. (Figs. 29, 33.)

3. With both hands on the front pommel, swing high in the air with the legs crossed and alight in the saddle with the face reversed, and then return by a swing in the contrary direction.

This is not an operation which is easily performed, but requires practice and agility.

4. The legs may be passed through the arms, and the

Fig. 31.

Fig. 33.

RA

dismount occur on the off side. This requires the hands to be placed on the pommels, and then the body being raised the feet are drawn up and pushed through. (Fig. 30.)

5. The hands being placed as in mounting, the body may be thrown over the front of the horse and seated sideways behind the saddle (Fig. 33), or the body may be thrown over the back of the horse. This may require the impetus of a short run or jump. (Fig. 32.)

6. Being seated behind the saddle with the hands on the hind pommel, the body may be raised and thrown off the horse (Fig. 32), or with the left hand on the fore pommel and the right on the hinder one, you may swing so as to be seated before the saddle with your face looking backward. (Fig. 33.) The somersault is shown on Fig. 34.

CHAPTER VI.

REST AND SLEEP.

REST.

ALTHOUGH the body is a working machine, and the mind which acts through it is immaterial, they cannot be exercised without intermission, if life is to be maintained. Work and rest are twin sisters, and each must have its sway in turn. "All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy," has long passed into a proverb, and is an expression of a natural law applicable to all mankind and at all times.

This rest is of two kinds, viz., that which immediately follows fatigue, or a sense of inability to continue to make exertion, and that which is prolonged through a whole day, during a great part of which the body could work. The necessity of the former is apparent, because the mind is conscious of diminished present ability to work, but the latter has not always been allowed, since it is the result of long observation and of reasoning rather than of instinctive conviction.

Experience has shown that men cannot perform laborious work beyond two, three, or four hours at a time without requiring temporary rest; and as this corresponds with the temporary effect of food, the meal-hour has become also the hour of rest. But with the recurrence of each period for

work, the sense of fatigue and the necessity for rest become greater, so that at the end of the second period of four hours' work in a day, the body is more fatigued than at the end of the first. The degree varies with many causes, such as the amount of labour required, the capability for labour, and the state of the weather; so that the question of the proper duration of a day's work is not easily answered. Twelve hours has hitherto been regarded as a fair standard, but in many occupations the day is extended to fourteen or sixteen, or contracted to eight or ten hours. Even if the powers of the body were to be taken as the only test, it would not be easy to lay down a universal rule; but the effect of the mind, and the anxieties of life upon the powers of the body must be considered, and the advantage of allowing leisure for the cultivation of the faculties of the mind, as well as for the discharge of the duties of the body, cannot now be overlooked.

One cause of the sense of fatigue is due to the disturbance of the circulation; for one who has walked much finds his feet swollen and his shoes tighter, or if he has used his arms much, finds his hand larger immediately afterwards; but the chief reason is the necessity for the feeding of the muscles, or, as it is termed, the repairing of the waste after labour, since with labour there is much waste and little repair, whilst with rest there is much repair and little waste. Hence we see why it is that the sense of fatigue increases as the day advances, and disappears after the night's rest. This must not be confounded with the receiving of food into the body, for, as will be shown farther on, food thus eaten must be digested before it can nourish, and must be circulated in the muscles before it can repair them. Hence there must be at all times food in the blood in a state fit for use, and the muscles must have intervals of rest, in which they

have time, so to speak, to nourish themselves, and to be again strengthened, and ready for a proper period of labour. Hence we see the close connection which exists between the circumstances which, together, make health, viz., labour, food -proper in quantity and quality-good digestion of food, rest for the full use of food, and reinvigoration of the working powers of the body.

The effect of labour upon the circulation begins to be removed when rest commences, so that the sense of fulness of the hands, feet, and head very quickly lessens; but if the exertion has been considerably prolonged, rest is requisite to restore the balance. This is, however, assisted by the posture of the body, as every one knows who after walking raises his legs on a chair, and is soon conscious of the diminished pressure of his boots; but it is rendered perfect when the whole body is laid horizontally. This is explained by the fact that when the body is erect the heart must force the blood upwards to the head, and becomes fatigued; and as the tendency of the blood is to fall in spite of the heart, the circulation is carried on with greater difficulty as the upright position is prolonged. But when the body is horizontal, this difficulty almost vanishes, and the blood is moved along by a smaller propelling force. Moreover, it is a fact, which will be more fully described hereafter, that in this posture of greater ease the circulation is also slower, and the heart is relieved in both ways.

With the short intervals of rest during the day, and the long interval of the night, followed, as they usually are, by so marked a sense of relief, is there any necessity on this ground for any further relaxation? It is an ordinance which has long existed that man should rest one day in seven; and however it may be objected to or abused, it is nominally allowed by all civilised nations, so that every nation has its

Sabbath, although on different days of the week. This has a religious bearing, which should occupy the highest place, as affording leisure for the reception and contemplation of religious truths, and particularly of such as refer to our future state, and for the performance of works of charity and piety, for which time could not be afforded on the other days of the week. But the experience of man has shown that it is perhaps equally important in its bearing upon the fitness of the mind and body to discharge the duties of this life.

If we are conscious of a sense of fatigue with real labour as the day advances, is it not equally true that the sense increases as the week advances, and that whilst the Monday morning finds us fresh and vigorous, and "wound up for the week," on the Friday and Saturday mornings we are much less so; and, in fact, that in any occupation which really taxes the powers of the body, more and better work is done in the early than in the later half of the week. Do we not long for the rest of the Sunday as that day draws nearer and nearer ?

But this has been proved to be based upon truth by direct enquiry. In a long series of experiments as to the quantity of food eaten and drank, the amount of waste thrown out of the body, and the weight of the body, I proved that the following changes take place during each week of really hard and regular work :-

1. The appetite gradually lessens, so that less food is eaten. at the end than at the beginning of the week.

2. The digestion and use of food is lessened in the same manner, so that there is less waste removed by the kidneys and more by the bowels.

3. The weight of the body is lessened in the same manner at the end of the week.

4. With the rest of the Sunday there is improved appetite