than from antagonistic muscles. Of course not all free exercises are subject to this objection, nor is it necessarily fatal even where it does apply, for other exercises tend to counteract these ill effects; but the tendency is bad and the theory is worse.

Free gymnastics usually come first when physical training is begun in city school systems; light hand apparatus is next, and the fully equipped gymnasium is the last step in the introduction of a well-developed system of gymnastics. A number of cities are now ready for the second and third stages of development in this order, and information concerning the apparatus ordinarily used in this country can not be amiss. In securing this information the aid of the manufacturers of such apparatus was sought. Letters were written to the Narragansett Machine Company, Providence, R. I.; John 'Gloy, Chicago, Ill.; Fred. Medart, St. Louis, Mo.; A. G. Spalding & Bros., Philadelphia, Pa., and to the Schumacker Gymnasium Company, Akron, Ohio. These gentlemen were asked for information concerning (1) the building of new school gymnasiuins; (2) the conversion of halls, attics, basements, etc., into gymnasiums; (3) the apparatus required and its uses; (4) the improvements made in the same by their respective firms, and (5) the

All of them responded fully and satisfactorily. There was necessarily a great similarity in their answers, and all minutely described the mechanical improvements in their own wares. The writer is convinced that the American manufacturers excel all others in the finish and in the mechanical excellence of their apparatus, but they have made but few changes that affect the essential character of the apparatus or the exercises to be performed. The following pages contain as many of the facts of general interest brought out by the replies mentioned as can be conveniently published. Repetitions and references to purely mechanical improvements have been omitted as far as possible.

FROM THE NARRAGANSETT MACHINE COMPANY, PROVIDENCE, R. I. [Prepared by Wm. L. Coop, Providence, R. I., assisted by Miss Ellen Le Garde, superintendent of physical training in the Providence public schools.]

A school gymnasium when best placed is in a separate building, which might be situated in the rear of the school buildings or in the center of a quadrangle formed by them and connected with the schoolhouses by passages. The edifice could then be constructed specially for gymnasium work and should be from 18 to 22 feet in height, the collar beams of the trusses supporting the roof. It could be rectangular in form, with sides in a proportion of 2 by 3 or thereabouts. If the room is less than 50 feet wide allowance should be made for at least 40 square feet of floor space for each scholar exercising.

If a separate building can not be had the next best situation is in the upper part of the school building. In many cases the peak of the roof can be utilized. If possible, a clear height of 18 feet should be secured at the center of the room for such suspended apparatus as traveling rings, flying rings, climbing ropes, etc. The side walls need not be over 6 feet high. Light can be obtained from dormer windows or from thick ground glass set in the roof. The floor of such a gymnasium should be ED 92- -36

suspended entirely separate from the ceiling and partitions of the rooms below. Tierods from the trusses can be used for this purpose, although they are somewhat of an obstruction in the gymnasium room, and should not be put in if the floor could be otherwise supported without great expense. The best possible means of deadening the floor, to prevent sound, should be employed, and, in any case, such a gymnasium can not be used for heavy jumping or fast running without the resulting noise disturbing the schoolroom below when in session. The position, however, is preferable to any other in the building, on account of light and ventilation and the opportunity to secure the necessary height without great expense.

Gymnasiums may be placed in a basement. If, however, the room can not be 16 feet or more high the traveling rings would not be of much use and climbing apparatus would also be limited in its value. Some form of ventilation that would be sure to thoroughly change the air of the room after each class had exercised should also be adopted. Care should be taken to drain under the floor thoroughly, that the floor may be absolutely dry. It should also be ventilated underneath to prevent dry rot of the floor timbers. Any swinging apparatus that is attached to the ceiling should be insulated or provided with roller bearings to prevent noise. School audience halls could often be used to advantage for a wide range of gymnasium work without any of the apparatus at all interfering with other uses of the hall other than the temporary removal of seats. On the side walls could be placed pully weights and racks for calisthenic apparatus. If suspended apparatus is demanded it could be so arranged as to be quickly hoisted out of the way. If the floor of the hall is not specially constructed to avoid the transmission of sound to the rooms below, such exercises as jumping, running, or stamping will necessarily have to be avoided while these rooms are being used. Where liberal halls (passageways) are provided in school buildings these may be used for gymnasium work. Racks for Indian clubs, dumb-bells, bar bells, poles, wands, hoops, fencing sticks, etc., can be secured to the walls, and even pulley weights can be placed to good advantage for class purposes. In a hall 20 feet wide and 50 feet long 25 or 30 children can exercise at one time in the majority of calisthenic movements, and a sufficient number of pulley weights can be arranged for all to take one-hand exercise in class. Low-studded rooms of from 10 to 12 feet may be used for all gymnasium work, except such as is done on apparatus suspended from or attached to the ceiling.

Gymnastic exercises may be performed in the aisles between the desks of the ordinary schoolroom, and in many of the movements the desks themselves can be utilized as a means of support. A device has been invented that can be secured to the ends of opposite desks forming a substitute for a parallel bar. Racks for calisthenic apparatus can easily be attached to the walls of the schoolroom under the windows and in such places as are not occupied by blackboards. This latter plan permits a ready arrangement of the pupils with apparatus in hand to rise from the seats to carry out any series of gymnastic movements.

Out-of-door, or school yard, gymnasiums.-City schools, except those in the largest cities, have generally sufficient yard room to use for gymnasium exercises. In fact, if there is any yard room it can be used to advantage. Games that possess gymnastic features can be taught to classes of 60 pupils, or when such classes are too large for all to play in one game they can be divided in squads of 10 or 15, and all exercise in the same manner. Suitable games are being devised by gymnasium directors and published in gymnastic books now being issued. The children should be encouraged to play these games outside of the school yard, as a great advantage will be derived from the practice of them by the children and the substitution of games that have gymnastic value for those not so beneficial. Many of the games can be played without apparatus, but the addition of apparatus adds to the interest of the game. Rubber balls to be thrown and caught, barriers to be leaped over, objects to be collected or distributed, and other implements that develop skill and agility are desirable. An almost ideal game is very popular at present among gymnasts in the

Young Men's Christian Associations, which is well adapted for outdoor use. It is called basket ball, and was devised by Mr. James Naismith, one of the teachers of the Young Men's Christian Association training school, Springfield, Mass. The implements for the game consist of a large rubber or leather ball similar to a football and two baskets, or rings, that can be suspended at about 10 feet from the ground.

The pupils are formed in two divisions, the object of each division being to throw the ball into the goal of the opposite division, or prevent the opposite division from throwing the ball into theirs. The ball must not be carried or kicked, but must be thrown, and rough playing is prohibited. The game can be played by any number from 10 to 100. It calls for great skill and activity, brings into action all the players, and the chances of accident are very small. Systematized gymnastics can be carried on in the school yard. The calisthenic apparatus used in the schoolroom can with benefit be used outdoors when the temperature and weather permit. Such apparatus as ladders, ropes, poles for climbing, seesaw, giant stride, stilts, balancing beam, vaulting bars, etc., can be arranged to stand exposure to weather and adapted for outdoor use. In primary schools covered sand gardens could be provided. Such school-yard gymnasia should be open to the public during the summer months of school vacation, under a director. The opportunity for exercise and play in crowded localities would prevent a tendency to petty offenses, crimes, etc.; a place of innocent enjoyment would be afforded, and if kept open and lighted by electricity, would afford places of exercises, recreation, and rest for laboring men. The only cost entailed would be that of lighting and the salary of a care-taker, who should be invested with police rights of arrest, etc. These outdoor gymnasiums are provided for by law in all German cities of over 15,000 inhabitants, and the inhabitants are taxed to maintain them. One large central one in the larger cities is used not only for school purposes, but to train instructors. Such a public school outdoor gymnasium was established in Sandusky, Ohio, in May, 1892, under Hans Ballin, director of gymnastic work in the public schools.

School gymnasium outfits.-A simple outfit of apparatus should be selected at first, and if additions are made they can be selected by the director to conform to the course of training adopted.

The following two plans and lists are selected and arranged for a class of not over 60. In calisthenic exercises there is sufficient apparatus provided for each pupil, and exercises on chest weights may be performed with one hand only by the entire class. On the ladders, bars, etc., the class will be divided into four squads. The ladders may be hoisted out of the way and the vaulting bars and posts removed when the entire floor is needed. The uprights of the vaulting bars hold the cord or sticks for jumping and the vaulting bars sustain the free end of the adjustible ladders. Thus, by a judicious arrangement, the same piece of apparatus is made to serve a double use at the same cost.

In the high-school lists two varieties of special pulley weights are introduced (intercostal and back and loin machines) with a view to individual corrective work. With these outfits the exercises may be progressive in either gymnasium or in passing from one to the other, thus holding the interest of the pupils.

The general arrangement of the apparatus in the exact order indicated is not necessary, except as noted above, but it should be so arranged as not to interfere when in use and to require as little moving as possible. A description of the apparatus in detail is given on the following pages:

List of apparatus suggested for a grammar-school gymnasium.

The cost of this entire grammar-school outfit, erected in the gymnasium, will be nearly $650, in a good grade of apparatus.

This list of apparatus can be erected in a gymnasium, ready for use, for $1,000.

Classification of gymnastic apparatus adapted for use in city public schools.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION.

This description applies to the apparatus made by the Narragansett Machine Company, of Providence, R. I., who make Sargent gymnastic apparatus under the personal direction of Dr. D. A. Sargent, of Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass.; German apparatus under the supervision of C. F. E. Schulz, of Baltimore, Md., a graduate of the Turners' Seminary, and Swedish apparatus under the direction of Mr. Nils Posse, a graduate of the Royal Gymnastic Central Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.

Calisthenic apparatus.-Light apparatus adds to the interest in gymnastic exercises and increases its value.

Apparatus made for toys is generally worthless for gymnasium use, competition having reduced it in price and quality to that point where it is neither properly made nor of such material as to be durable. All calisthenic apparatus made of wood should be finished with shell-lac varnish, and all turned work should be polished in the lathe. Cheaper varnishes, put on with a brush, do not give so smooth a surface and when heated by the hands when in use becomes sticky. In all cases racks or some means of caring for apparatus when it is not in use should be provided and placed so that classes can easily take and replace the pieces they need while marching by in orderly manner.

Apparatus for lifting, thrusting, and swinging.-This is usually the first used, and light weights should be selected for beginners.

Dumb-bells are generally made of maple, and should weigh from one-half to 1 pound each. The handle should be large enough to fill the hand of the pupil using them and should not have any groove at the end near the bell, as is often found in those sold in the toy stores. Good dumb-bells of the above weights cost from 25 to 35 cents per pair. Iron racks of the form shown in fig. 1 are best adapted for holding the dumb-bells. The cost of these is 15 cents per pair with screws.

Musical dumb-bells, invented by Miss Ellen Le Garde, superintendent of physical education in the Providence public schools, is an admirable form for children. As will be seen by fig. 2, it consists of two pairs of bells connected by a handle. Each pair of

bells is arranged to hold a clapper or "sounder," which does not ring the bells until they are forcibly turned or shaken. The bells have a clear, sweet tone, are made of highly polished steel durably nickel plated, and have a polished hard-wood handle.

The peculiar value of the musical bell lies in the necessity for sharp, energetic action at the end of each movement to produce the sound, which everyone using