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TWELVE TO EIGHTEEN YEARS.
27
hence, when we bend forward, the inclination is greater; and as a natural consequence, the capacity of the chest is diminished, and the ability to breathe freely suspended. To this we may attribute pallor, ill-health, and affections of the chest. All the bones are more or less under the command of the muscles, and in such a case as that which we are supposing, it is the weakness of the muscles of the back
Fig. I.—Chest Expander.
that has caused the deformity; and, as a natural consequence, the exercise of those muscles will restore their healthy action, and with it, the figure to its natural position.
As a general rule, one arm is stronger than the other, and requires a separate exercise to restore the equilibrium; and this we attain by