From 1860 onwards, at the beginning of the year, the
Agricultural, Pastoral and Industrial Almanac of the Argentine Republic and Buenos Aires
, which was published by Paul Morta, a Parisian bookseller who used to visit in his business on Calle Bolívar (now the Library of the College), Bartolomé Miter, José Mármol, Dalmacio Vélez Sarsfield, Lucio V. Mansilla and Marcos Sastre, among others.
its
Almanac
It was popular for the wealth of information it offered on its two hundred pages. The edition for the year 1864 offers us a guideline of the importance that was beginning to be given to physical care. The advice of the French hygienist Apolinario Bouchardat, considered the father of diabetes treatments, was captured there. Considering the prestige of this man of science (professor of Hygiene at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Paris), we can estimate that many Argentines followed the published advice. What were the healthy exercises that the French advocated? Walking, running, jumping, farming and gardening, hunting, fencing, Basque ball, dancing and horse riding. Let’s see a summary of their proposals:
The walk or walk:
“If prolonged stillness,” he wrote, “presents serious drawbacks, walking in relation to forces only has advantages. It is an excellent exercise, which encourages circulation and consequently all acts of organic life.” The hygienist suggested the good use of the activity for the legs. But he argued that it was incomplete and he had to work his arms. To do this, he proposed copying trades such as those of the carpenter or the turner, for example. “The operations of sawing or splitting wood, which can easily enter the daily hygiene of all men, are enough to complete with the march, all useful movements.” As for the ladies, she advised another activity: “For women, the march and the piano are admirably associated to harmonize efforts.”
Regarding the walk as an exercise, but clarifying that it needed to be “continuous enough to attract heat, enough, accelerated to produce a soft sweat, and followed by strong frictions that encourage all the functions of the skin and prevent cooling” .
In addition, he maintained that it was “very convenient to get used to marching with a weight, which may be increased progressively, with the development of the forces. He said that the march carrying weight gave Roman legions a physical advantage and an effective weapon to prevent” disasters of epidemics. ”
The race:
“It is very useful for youth, increasing strength, maintaining and activating the functions of the skin, by this natural perspiration system, which as I said before must be completed by strong friction to be completely healthy.” Bouchardat assured that the race, “like all violent exercises, must be graduated for the time devoted to it and for the speed obtained.”
The jump:
“It enters more especially into the kind of efforts that only suit the youth and that also claim the power of habit,” that is, he claimed that it was a habit, also progressive, since it had to start with “more ordinary movements” and then move on to “combined and professional exercises”.
Tillage and gardening:
“From these important occupations that require the attention of almost the whole year, two very favorable conditions for health result, the continuation of work and the variety of exercises.” The French understood that the activity required enough effort to maintain a good condition. However, he was concerned about the change in body temperature. “When they have worked valiantly, enduring the heat of the day, it is necessary to recommend that during the time of rest, they carefully avoid the cooling that is so harmful to them. They drink the cold water in large gulps, they lie down on the humid earth and in the shade from a tree. There can be nothing more dangerous. ” In addition, he suggested to the country men, “skin cleaning, good rooms and a regulated diet” so that their care is perfect.
The hunt:
“There is nothing as convenient as hunting: accelerated walking with a weight, legs animated by passion, apparatus of the senses, hearing, and sight, exercised without fatigue.” The expert commented that hunting was “excellent for sedentary workers.” He only added that when they returned, they would not stop “immediately changing their sweat-wet clothes.”
Fencing:
“For the variety and grace of the attitudes, for the energy of the movements, fencing belongs to the first rank of the exercises.” And he advised: “When you come out of an assault, don’t forget the friction and rubbing that make up your hygienic complement.”
The ball:
It was clearly understood that he was referring to the Basque ball game, very popular in the 1860s and following. In this regard, he said: “It is a game that, providing rest to thought, exercises and fortifies the body, provokes dexterity and admits ever-increasing perspiration.” And he concluded: “This exercise unfolds the natural faculties, satisfies self-love through successive progress, fortifies health without any risk, prolongs vigor and keeps death away.”
The dance:
“By his varied and accelerated movements, he develops health and grace at the same time. It is the beloved exercise of youth, which is easily understood. He is neglected with age, despite the example that Socrates has left us, which I danced at a very old age. ” Sanitizing promoted the daily exercise of the dance, “with perseverance, as when it comes to professional work.” In his opinion, the dance “can replace the weak young woman whose size deviates [se refería a la debilidad de no mantener un peso saludable], most of the gymnastic exercises.
Riding:
“The man is identified, in a certain way, by the movements, with the noble animal that he leads. But nevertheless, horsemanship activates and develops mainly certain muscles to the detriment of other organs of locomotion”. He warned that if it was practiced in excess, “general movements become insufficient, and it is not uncommon to see ancient and excellent riders, get obese and walk irregularly.”
At the end of his series of tips, he set out to mark the drawbacks of moving in cars, instead of walking. “Do not envy those brilliant carriages that drag idle women from the cities. They are instruments that help to lower, little by little, the normal level of forces and, consequently, to bring forward the fatal hour.” The French professor stated: “Our legs are made for walking. The carriage is for me the negation of exercise and it also exposes us to the cold, depriving us of the best means of resisting it, movement.”
In this way, the Argentines of 1864, during the presidency of Bartolomé Miter, had guidelines for action to maintain a good physical condition. That they were not the only ones. At the end of the year, in the square where the majestic Planetarium is located today, the Buenos Aires Cricket Club, the first sports institution in the country, was founded.
ALSO
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