Page:Athletics and Manly Sport (1890).djvu/155

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ETHICS OF BOXING AND MANLY SPORT.

both wet and dry.) If the athlete be thirsty, let him drink water, rinsing his mouth frequently. Supper, at six o'clock, should not be a second dinner; but neither should it consist of "slops" or gruel. The food recommended by Dr. Harris is excellent and sufficient. The athlete ought to be in bed by ten o'clock, in a room with open window, and a draught through the room, if possible, though not across the bed. He ought to sleep on a mattress, warmly but lightly covered, and without a pillow. As explained later on, pillows are unnecessary to all but certain sick people. They injuriously affect the breathing, weaken the muscles of the neck, making the neck lose one or two inches in girth, and take away the greatest luxury of rest and sleep.

Running, though indispensable for clearing the wind in the early weeks of training, should usually be dispensed with at least two weeks before a boat-race. "A crew," says W. K. Woodgate, "that has rowed a slow stroke, and has meantime got fit (into condition), by running, will row a quick stroke with more uniformity later on than a crew that has done no running, but has got fit by fast rowing. The latter crew has always been abroad when 'blown,' and so has contracted faults. The former, when the time