I caused the same to be tried by many other persons also, of different ages. Then I found, to my surprise, in each case that, in the absence of proper gymnastic exercises, these most important parts of the human frame, owing to their being so unpractised in the ordinary occupations of life, and being consequently so weak, are not equal to the least work or exertion beyond the usual movements of daily life, and that whenever anything beyond the ordinary routine is required of them, they are found to be utterly incapable of fulfilling the task. Then I said to myself, “I now see as clear as sunlight whence arise the extraordinary difficulties of learning to play the piano and violin. They arise from the very fact that an art the most difficult, from a muscular point of view, which we know of, has to be performed with the _least practised_ and, proportionately, the _weakest of muscles_. The impediments and difficulties in almost all cases can be referred to the muscles; and it is this weakness which must be overcome.” Upon this I repaired to anatomical, chirurgical, and medical institutions, in order to study still further the anatomy of the hand, the fingers, and the arm. I found that the muscles, the ligaments, and the tendons of the fingers and hands consist of elastic masses, intersecting the hand, and running TRANSVERSELY as well as LONGITUDINALLY; and I especially discovered, after a number of experiments, that the TRANSVERSE LIGAMENTS, _unless they be exercised, remain quiet and stiff, and impede to a certain extent the movements and activity of the muscles_, when the latter are more than ordinarily exerted; that in order practically to exercise and stretch them, and particularly the TRANSVERSE ligaments and tendons, and to render them strong and supple, it is necessary not only to move the fingers up and down, but laterally also; that, in short, both muscles and ligaments ought to be practised gymnastically; and that the fatigue and the danger to health, the nervous weakness and the disgust often observed in musical students, arise from the following causes: _Firstly_, that the muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the hand and fingers are, proportionately, the least practised, and, consequently, as stated before, the weakest; _Secondly_, that they have never been gymnastically trained or treated; _Thirdly_, that the methods now in use for strengthening those weak muscles and rendering them flexible are insufficient and erroneous; _Fourthly_, that the _transverse ligaments have never been stretched_; thus on these several grounds hampering the learning of music with unnatural difficulties, and with exertions of the muscular and nervous system injurious to health; _Fifthly_, that so soon as the muscles are properly and gymnastically exercised, and the ligaments and tendons stretched, the fingers set at liberty move glibly and freely over the instrument; and,