LESSONS IN PENMANSHIP.-XIX.

IN Copy-slips Nos. 67 and 68 the learner will see how the letters V, W, and b are joined to letters that precede and follow them, and in these he will also find examples of the method of bringing the final curve to the right, which terminates the letters that have just been named, in a downward direction, in order to carry it with greater facility into the line that forms the loop

Wave

No. 70. An inspection of these elementary strokes will show that the letter r is formed of the top-turn, with the addition of a fine hair-stroke brought upwards along the right-hand side of the thick down-stroke of the top-turn as far as the line cc, when it is carried out to the right, in a graceful curve, as far as the line a a. The pen is then brought downwards, and the letter is terminated by a curved or hooked stroke, resembling in a great measure a small bottom-turn. When the letter r is

a

C

roller

of the letter e, which would be greatly curtailed in size and robbed of its proper proportions if the final curve of the V, b, or W that precedes it were carried to the right midway between the lines a a, cc, in the ordinary way, instead of being brought downwards as far as the line cc and then turned into the loop of the letter e.

The four remaining letters of the writing alphabet-namely, r, f. k, and z-each exhibit a peculiarity of form that is not to be found in any other letter. The elementary strokes which are combined to form the letter r are shown in Copy-slip No. 69, and the letter r itself in a complete form in Copy-slip

followed by e, the finishing turn, as in the case of the final curve terminating the letters V, W, and b, is made larger in order to carry it into the fine up-stroke commencing at cc, which forms the loop of the letter e.

An example of the letter r, in conjunction with letters preceding and following it, will be found in Copy-slip No. 71, in the word roller. The elementary looped stroke, turned at the top, which generally forms the upper part of the letter f, is given in Copy-slip No. 72. It resembles the loop-stroke, turned at the bottom, which enters into the composition of the letters j, g, and y, in a reversed position.

wertet ihr, become you. werten sie, let them become.

Sette du, become thou; Bere er, let him become; 3. Often, when repeated or customary action is implied, the genitive of a noun is made to supply the place of an adverb, as:—Tes Morgens schläft, des Mittags lieft, und des Abends spielt er, he sleeps in the morning, reads at noon, and plays in the evening. (§ 101.)

4. Ale (as), after sobalt, so viel, so weit, etc., is frequently Gitted, but must be supplied in translating, as-So viel ich was, so far as I know. So gut ich kann, as well as I can. Sebald femmt, as soon as he comes, etc. For other uses of als, see Sect. LX.

6. Wollen Sie dieses Jahr noch nach Amerika auswantern?

7. Ich habe

9.

es vor, aber ich glaube nicht, daß etwas daraus werten wirt. 8. Frankreich wurte im Jahre eintausend achthundert acht und vierzig eine Republik. 10. Ist Ihre neue Grammatik schon ett sprach: es werte, und es ward. beendigt? 11. Noch nicht, aber ich hoffe, daß sie in längstens vierzehn 12. Was soll aus mir werden? 13. Es wird Tagen fertig werden wird. ein heißer Tag werden, sprach ein alter Krieger, wenige Stunden vor der Schlacht, zu seinen Gameraten. 14. Die Sonne sank in das Meer, und es ward Nacht. 15. Der Kranke seufzt auf seinem Lager: will es denn nie Tag werden?" und der Taglöhner unter dem Drucke seiner Arbeit: wird es tenn nicht bald Nacht werden?" 16. Das Wetter ist schon ziemlich kalt geworten.

EXERCISE 65.

1. The present [Gegenwart] we know, the future [3ukunft] we know not of, and honour to that man who can quietly await [ruhig erwarten] the future. 2. Became your sister suddenly ill ? 3. No, she felt a violent headache cight days previously. 4. Do you intend to become a learned man? 5. Let us go home before it gets dark. 6. Most people become ill through neglect [turch Bernachlässigung]. 7. Many a one [Mancher] has become quite another man, after he has received a more careful education. 8. Most people become slaves of wealth instead of masters of it. 9. As soon as it becomes spring, the whole of nature revives again [belebt sich wieder].

OUR HOLIDAY.

GYMNASTICS.-VI.

THE construction we have next to notice among the appliances of the Gymnasium is that known as

THE VAULTING HORSE.

This consists in a figure made of wood, something in the form of the body of a horse, and the character of which will be seen by our illustration (Fig. 19). It is desirable that the block which forms the body of the horse should be covered with leather and well padded, but this is not indispensable. The legs, which must be very firmly fixed in the ground, should be so contrived as to be capable of elevating or lowering the body of the horse at pleasure, and the pommels also should be movable, so as to be adjusted at the most convenient distances for the performance of the different exercises.

In some gymnasia a more simple kind of construction, named a Vaulting Buck, is employed for the use of learners in the preliminary exercises among the Vaulting Horse series. The buck is a solid block, in form an oblong square, and supported either on four legs, or on one stout one, so fixed in the centre that the body of the buck revolves upon it. But as the first few of the exercises we have now to mention closely resemble those which are performed on the vaulting buck, we need not here make more than a passing allusion to the latter.

The body of the vaulting horse is divided into three portions, the neck, the saddle, and the croup. The saddle is, of course, the space between the two pommels; the neck, the narrower portion in advance of the pommels; and the croup, behind them. Near side is the side on your left hand, looking towards the neck from behind; and off side, the side on your right.

1. The first position for the learner to practise is the rest (Fig. 20). You vault into this position from the ground, either with or without a run. Placing the hands on the pommels of the horse you spring lightly up, until the thighs rest on the body of the horse, as in the illustration. Then descend to the ground, and, without leaving your hold of the pommels, spring up again and again several times in succession.

2. Still in the position of the rest, practise the free movement of the legs, first one and then the other, sideways as far as you can extend them. Afterwards move both together in the same way. The object of this exercise is to prepare the learner to mount the horse in a free and easy manner.

3. The saddle mount is performed in the following manner :Go into the rest on the near side, then throw the right leg upward, and let it pass over the croup; remove the right hand at the same time, and place it either upon the saddle or upon the front pommel, when you can come down easily astride the horse. This position is said to be crossways to the horse, and you are sideways when in the rest.

4. For the croup mount, you raise both legs upward from

rest, and, opening them when they are above the croup, you come lightly down into the seat.

5. In the neck mount, you start as with the saddle mount, but throw the right leg over both croup and saddle, removing both hands as the leg passes.

6. In dismounting from the saddle seat, the right hand rests upon the pommel in front of you, and the left is placed upon the saddle; you then throw the left leg backward over the croup, and, at the same time, grasp the back pommel with the left hand. This brings you back to the position of the rest, but on the off-side of the horse, and you then spring lightly to the ground. In dismounting from the croup, you throw up both legs backwards, and come to the ground on the off-side, without an intermediate position. From the neck you dismount as from the saddle, by swinging the left leg backwards, or you may occasionally descend to the ground by the direct leap forward.

Fig. 19.

There are various other ways of mounting and dismounting, more or less fantastic in their nature, but it would require too much space, and serve no practical purpose, to describe them here.

7. In descending from the horse, both in the exercises just described and in the more advanced of the series, the backward Bag off may be performed with advantage, as follows:-When the position of the rest is reached, grasp the pommels firmly, throw up the legs backwards, and, at the same moment, pushing off lightly with the hands, you descend to the ground some distance from the horse. In descending in this manner, you may also either turn to the right or to the left before coming to the ground, or completely round, so that the back is towards the horse when the feet touch the earth.

Balancing upon the horse is performed in a variety of ways, but in these exercises the legs must not touch the horse. One form of balancing is shown in Fig. 21. In executing this balance you start from the croup seat, and throw your legs gradually behind you, leaning well forward upon the hands at the same time, the weight of the body resting upon them. In this way you raise the legs to the position shown in the illustestaon, and, as you become more expert and confident, you may continue the upward movement until you stand upon the hands. 1st who attempting to perform this feat, it is necessary that anna one mond be close by the gymnast to render assistance in saun it in pray szemeļ,

koa anma kind of movement may be performed from the premom alvandy described as the rest (Fig. 20), but in this case wow fran the moment of starting, may be kept entirely Grasping both pommels firmly, gradually Faise the legs from the ground until the kness pass between the arms, but without freshing the saddle. Then you may conkirse this movement until the legs are thrust Antisly through the arms, and extended straight before you, when you are, as it work, in a sitting position, but resting enhealy upon the hands. This is a capital wester 4, and, with a little care, may be perfrmed in perfect safety. When weary of Ana position, spring forward to the ground, descending on the other side of the horse, Book without allowing any portion of the Jeely to touch it in passing. Remember horn the rule already given in our paper Im haping exercises, to alight on the balls of the fort, bending the knees slightly as go touch the earth, and you thus come del shock

le on the saddle seat, grasp the forward pommel, jeong the lees just clear of the horse, raise the * siment a straight line with the head, the legs kemummads on either side. After you can may bring the head downward until it and stand on your head, the hands, of

course, grasping the pommel; but here, again, it is necessary to have one or two persons by to assist you in case of a slip.

11. The balancing movement will assist you in changing readily from one seat to another. Thus, from the croup seat you raise the body as in Fig. 21, the legs being close together; you then throw the legs downward and forward along the side of the horse, and, when level with the saddle seat, pass one leg over; then removing the hands to the front pommel, the change of seat is complete. The change from the saddle to the neck may be made in the same manner.

12. In changing from the croup to the neck without the intermediate seat, you first grasp one pommel in each hand, then raise the legs (Fig. 21), and swing them forward as before, but as you pass one leg over the neck you face about, and come into the seat with the forward pommel in front of you. These exercises may be done on both the near and off sides of the horse in turn.

13. Sit on one side of the croup, and grasp one

Fig. 21.

pommel in each hand, then raise the body and pass it completely over and round the horse until you reach the neck seat, and descend into it, facing about as before. In this exercise the- body describes a complete semicircle, the weight resting upon the hands.

14. There are various ways of vaulting over the horse, one of which is shown in Fig. 22. Grasp both pommels before taking the spring, but relinquish the hold of one hand as the body passes over. A run of a few paces will give an additional impetus for the spring, but the movement should also be prac tised from the standing position.

15. Vault straight over the horse, after a short run, by placing the hands upon the pommels and springing upward, the legs passing between the arms, and the knees being raised towards the chest as you pass over. This exercise may afterwards be done with the knees lowered and the legs bent straight behind in taking the jump, which will give variety to the movement. But these vaults should be practised only by an expert gymnast.

Other vaults are taught in our gymnasia, some of a much more difficult and daring character. Among these may be mentioned the leap over the horse without touching it with any part of the person, technically known as the free leap. It is usual to prepare for this exercise by vaulting from the ground on to the saddle, resting one foot thereupon; and after the gymnast can accomplish this, he is allowed to attempt the free leap. There is a still more hazardous feat, known as the tiger leap, which is performed by springing from the ground with the head thrust forward and the arms extended, and so clearing the horse something in the manner in which a cat would perform the movement whence its name. Again, somersaults over the horse are practised occasionally, generally starting from the position of the rest; but we cannot commend any of these performances to the emulation of our readers. In the gymnasia in which they may occasionally be seen, only advanced gymnasts are allowed to attempt them, nor is even the expert performer left without the aid of one or more attendants, who stand by in readiness to give any assistance that may be required. Even in the simpler performances upon the horse caution is requisite, as in many other gymnastic exercises.

'Fig. 22.