To avoid this, we must therefore study the peculiarities of our _physique_, and the precise nature of our constitution, in relation to the exercise and the food we take. There is an old saying, "One man's meat is another man's poison," and a true saying it is. And here it may be said that the opinion and advice of the experienced athlete and professional trainer may be of some value, who invariably makes himself acquainted with the peculiarities of the _physique_ and the constitution, before he makes a single move, and who cleanses the system of all impurities before he begins to build it up into a perfect and impregnable whole. To adopt any other course than this would be but to mask or paralyze the seeds of disease for the time being only; for, if the system is not purged until it is as free from crudities, and as pure as that of a child, the seeds of decay and death will lie at the foundations of any superstructure into which it may be sought to build it. Those who are conversant with the mysteries and mechanism of the human frame, and who have studied its anatomy and its physiology, will tell you that its four hundred muscles, that are the primary agents in all our physical movements, are, in so far as the voluntary ones are concerned, sure to suffer vitally if not properly trained and kept in constant use. It is, indeed, to their exercise only that their efficiency is mainly due; for to allow them to fall into disuse for any length of time, would tend, not only to weaken them, but to paralyze them completely, which, of course, means to paralyze the whole frame. If we would set wind and weather, fatigue and hardships, at defiance, our muscles must be as hard as iron and our lungs as tough as leather. This condition once attained, the world is ours for the winning, for with these characteristics, an industrious spirit, and the fear of God before our eyes, we may, with a fair education, aspire to any eminence attainable in this free land. By constant and judicious exercise our muscles become fully developed, enlarged and strengthened. Look, for example, at the arm, or any of the limbs, or the chest of a young man who has never had any physical training, and what do you behold? Nothing in true shape; nothing full of life or resistance; everything soft and flabby and girlish; in short, a frame incapable of the slightest endurance, and a hot bed ready to receive and force at any moment the seeds of disease. On the other hand, take in at a glance the limbs and form of the man of trained muscles, and who is accustomed to the exercise necessary to their perfection. Mark his well assured and elastic step! His flesh, through the constant use of the sponge and proper exercise, is at once as fine as silk and as firm as steel. Were he to spring from a height of thirty feet, not a fibre of it would shake on his bones when he had struck the ground. Look at his finely developed chest, and his classic arm, glistening and corded like that of