All who know anything about the construction of the human frame admit the necessity of _exercise_ as a means of physical training. Exercise produces strength; inaction produces weakness. If we may trust the author of the “Castle of Indolence,” the women of England, a hundred years ago, were too effeminate:— “Here languid beauty kept her pale-faced court; Bevies of dainty dames, of high degree, From every quarter hither made resort, Where from gross mortal care and business free They lay, poured out in ease and luxury: Or should they a vain show of work assume, Alas! and well-a-day! what can it be? To knot, to twist, to range the vernal bloom; But far is cast the distaff, spinning wheel, and loom. Their only labour was to kill the time, And labour dire it is, and weary woe; They sit, they loll, turn o’er some idle rhyme, Then, rising sudden, to the glass they go, Or saunter forth, with tottering step, and slow; This soon too rude an exercise they find; Straight on the couch again their limbs they throw, Where hours on hours they, sighing, lie reclined, And court the vapoury god soft breathing in the wind.” This graphic description, with little or no modification, may be applied to a large class still. The peasant girl, when her spirits are buoyant, is allowed to obey her natural feelings—to dance and skip and run; and thus she grows up strong and straight. But the young lady is receiving constant admonitions to curb all propensity to such vulgar activity, and, just in proportion as she subdues nature, she receives the praise of being well-bred. Why this difference? Mammas, aunts, and governesses may be of opinion that a robust physique is undesirable—that health and vigour are plebeian—that delicacy, feebleness, and timidity are ladylike: but rosy cheeks, laughing eyes, and a finely rounded figure draw admiring glances from the opposite sex. A playground is an essential department of every school, and girls as well as boys should be taught the importance of vigorous exertion. But at all periods of life exercise is indispensable to health. Indolence destroys the very capacity of enjoyment; whereas labour puts the body in tone. A sensible young lady, some time ago, wrote as follows to the _Medical Journal_:—“I used to be so feeble that I could not lift a broom, and the least physical exertion would make me ill for a week. Looking one day at the Irish girls, and noticing their healthy robust appearance, I determined to make a new trial, and see if I could not bring the roses to my cheeks, and rid myself of the dreadful lassitude that oppressed me. One sweeping day I went bravely to work, cleaning the parlours, three chambers, the front stairs and hall, after which I lay down and rested until noon, when I rose and ate a heartier meal than for many a day.