On the neglect of physical education and hygiene : by Parliament and the educational department, as the principle cause of the degeneration of the population, of the excessive infantile & general mortality, and of many diseases and deformities; with an abstract of a report on the present state of physical education on the continent, by Doctor Roth's special commissioner; and suggestions relative to the introduction of these neglected branches of national education / by Dr. Roth.

  • Roth, Mathias, 1839-1891.
Date:
1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the neglect of physical education and hygiene : by Parliament and the educational department, as the principle cause of the degeneration of the population, of the excessive infantile & general mortality, and of many diseases and deformities; with an abstract of a report on the present state of physical education on the continent, by Doctor Roth's special commissioner; and suggestions relative to the introduction of these neglected branches of national education / by Dr. Roth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    10. Free Exercises, carried out simultaneously by a large number, teach the single individual that he has to submit himself to the orders of a larger body; that he is a necessary part of a whole; and that the fault of one person deranges the whole body (corps); that the systematic co-operation of the larger number is required as well as of each individual, so as to carry out and obtain what is desired. Thus the pupil is taught by the various exercises, and the different modes of their execution, what he requires as a member of a larger community, viz., to act and work alone and inde- pendently, or to co-operate with, or submit himself to a larger number. 11. Free Exercises equally stimulate to healthy action all the parts of the body; the circulation is free and vigorous ; all the functions are performed with proper activity and regularity, and the normal health is maintained. In advocating merely the Free Exercises, it is not my intention to exclude or to consider superfluous the exercises on apparatus; but the introduction of the latter, which is more expensive on account of the various apparatus required, can be reserved to the time when Free Exercises shall have formed an obligatory part of national education in all ele- mentary and secondary schools. Conclusion. Having tried to show the serious consequences to life and pocket of the neglect, and the great advantages to the State and every individual resulting from the introduction of Scientific Physical Education and Hygiene, we must look to Parliament for the necessary grant, to enable the Vice- President of the Committee of Privy Council on Education to do his duty. If Parliament should refuse the grant, every individual member of the House of Commons may be considei'ed as having the intention and will of preserving the excessive general and infant mortality and progressive degeneration of the physique of the population, the large amount of defor-