The gymnastic free exercises of P.H. Ling : a systemized course of gymnastics without apparatus, for the developing and strengthening of the body and improvement of the figure : adapted to the use of medical men, teachers, military men, and parents / arranged by H. Rothstein ; translated, with additions, by M. Roth.

  • Rothstein, H. (Hugo), 1810-1865.
Date:
1853
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The gymnastic free exercises of P.H. Ling : a systemized course of gymnastics without apparatus, for the developing and strengthening of the body and improvement of the figure : adapted to the use of medical men, teachers, military men, and parents / arranged by H. Rothstein ; translated, with additions, by M. Roth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    the limbs, there exist the same laws of metre. The metrical development of the speech is made an im- portant object of education; but with regard to the exercises of the limbs, the metrical laws have been very little or not at all thought of, and it is a great advantage of Ling's Gymnastics that this is made one of the principal features. § 6. Tempo (time, motion) is a measure of time or of the celerity with which a movement is made. Celerity, however, is but a relative term, as the move- ment which in one point of view is a slow one, may in another be a quick one. To fix its value therefore, we must assume as a standard a certain unit of measure, in the same way as in the determination of space. From the habit of using the astronomical division of time in the usual pursuits of life, a notion of quick and slow is pretty common among men, and a tolerably uniform idea is attached by all to those terms. § 7. The general distinction into slow and quick time is not enough. It is necessary also to consider how the movements follow each other, and are dependent on each other. Even movements apparently the most simple (as, for instance, a pace, a jump, a fencing pass, etc.) are all compounded of simple elements. The most simple leap comprises a raising of the heels, a flexion of the foot and knee joints, etc., forming the first part of the leap ; a strong stretching of different joints, etc., in order to spring from the ground, and, finally, another flexion and stretching of the different limbs, in order to finish the leap and return to the previous upright position. Thus in so simple a movement as the leap there are