the table. The
secret of posture consists in avoiding all bad positions, and in not
continuing any one position too long. The ordinary carriage of the body
is an object worthy of the attention of every parent and instructor. The
more favorable impression which a man of erect and commanding attitude
is sure to make, should not be overlooked. But there is a greater good
than this; for he who _walks erect_, enjoys better health, possesses
increased powers of usefulness, realizes more that _he is a man_, and
has more to call forth gratitude to a beneficent Creator, than he who
adopts an _oblique_ posture. It was just remarked that "physical
uprightness is next to moral." Physical _obliquity_, it may be added, is
akin to _moral_. If they are not German-cousins, there can be little
doubt but that, considered in all its bearings, the tendency of the
former is to induce the latter.

Important as an erect posture and a well-developed chest are to
gentlemen, they are in some respects even more so to the fairer sex;
for, in addition to the advantages already considered, which both enjoy
in common, these impart to them a peculiar charm, that to men of sense
is far greater than pretty faces, which Nature has not given to all.
"For a great number of years, it has been the custom in France to give
young females, of the earliest age, the habit of holding back the
shoulders, and thus expanding the chest. From the observations of
anatomists lately made, it appears that the clavicle or collar bone is
actually longer in females of the French nation than in those of the
English. As the two nations are of the same race, as there is no
remarkable difference in their bones, and this is peculiar to the sex,
it must be attributed, as I believe, to the habit above mentioned,
which, by the extension of the arms, has gradually produced an
elongation of this bone. Thus we see that habit may be employed to alter
and improve the solid bones. The French have succeeded in the
development of a part in a way that adds to health and beauty, and
increases a characteristic that distinguishes the human being from the
brute."[9]

[9] Quoted into the Schoolmaster (a work published in London under the
superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge)
from a lecture delivered by Dr. J. C. Warren before the American
Institute of Instruction, August, 1830.

THE MUSCLES.--The muscles consist of compact bundles of fleshy fibers,
wh