Her
address was entitled "The Home Gymnasium," and I supposed that it
would consist of descriptions of machinery that could be put up in
one's own dwelling for gymnastic purposes, but I soon found that her
home gymnasium meant household duties. She said one could scrub the
table and obtain the best exercise for arms and chest, and at the same
time produce an article or piece of furniture which would be a delight
to the eye in its whiteness and brightness. She said that in
scrubbing the floor one obtained very much the same movement that
would be given in the gymnasium, while at the same time the exercise
would conduce not only to the personal advantage but to the happiness
of the family. She spoke of sweeping, and dusting, and bed-making, and
expressed herself as competent to do all these kinds of work, in fact,
as doing them. And she said she never felt more of a lady than when
scrubbing her kitchen floor, and she was not ashamed to be seen by her
friends at this work. If any one rang the door-bell, she said she
would simply put on a clean apron and go to the door, and remark
without hesitation that she was just scrubbing her kitchen floor, but
she was glad to see her friends.

This sort of a home gymnasium is at the command of nearly every girl,
and if she can bring herself to feel an interest in this home
gymnastic exercise, she may find it conducive not only to her own
physical well-being, but to the comfort and happiness of all about
her.

The question is often asked whether bicycle-riding is injurious for
girls, and I would say that in my opinion it depends largely upon the
girl. Has she good common sense? Of course I am speaking of the girl
who is in a normal condition of health. A girl of extreme delicacy, or
who is subject to some functional difficulty, or the victim of some
organic disease, might not find it advantageous to ride. A physician
should, in these cases, be consulted. But for the ordinary girl, the
girl of fairly good health, if she will learn how to sit properly upon
her saddle, will have the good sense to ride with judgment, it seems
to me that the exercise must be productive of great good.

My own experience is somewhat limited. I made some discoveries in my
attempts to ride. In the first place, I learned that it was important
to know how to sit. In reading a book on "Physical Culture and Hygiene
for Women," by Dr. Anna Galbraith, I found this sentence: "Sit upon
the gluteal muscles, and not