Excerpt from An Essay on the Systematic Training of the Body The object of this little volume is the advancement of physical education in schools. The book is therefore addressed chiefly to teachers. The first part of the Essay is intended to show the important position held by physical education among ancient nations, particularly among the Greeks; and to point out that the rise and decay of their general culture was intimately connected with the cultivation or the neglect of corporeal training. This historical sketch is, however, only an introduction to the second part of the Essay, which treats of physical education from a physiological point of View and, its design being chiefly that of substantiating and strengthening the opinions expressed in this latter portion, I have therefore not thought it necessary to give either great extent or completeness of illustration to my historical details. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.