Cycling and Health

seven hundred and fifty miles in six and a-half days, that is about a hundred and fifteen miles a-day for six days in succession, by a man of fifty-six, is a thing to be well weighed and considered. M. Eousset carried himself, so to speak, all that distance by bis own powers and a little cheap mechanism. Moreover, he was probably in better health at the end of his journey than he was at the beginning. This performance of M. Rousset should be taken in conjunction with Dr. Richardson's letters on Cycling, which appeared last week in the Daily Graphic. Dr. Richardson is a staunch believer in the religion of Cycles. He has professed and practised his faith from the earliest days of its foundation, or rather of its modern development, until now : and he speaks with all the ardour of an enthusiast, and all the sober wisdom of an experienced professor. "Health and happiness for the middle-aged " is the thesis we set out to prove. The chief trouble of the average middle-aged man of the city class is what is known as a " sluggish'' or " torpid'' liver. We need not enter into any of the niceties of pathology here : the man in the street, as well as the doctor, has a fairly clear idea in his mind of what is meant by a sluggish liver. Now the bicycle or the tricycle, when properly used, converts the sluggish into an active liver ; and that in double-quick time. It is quite easy to understand why this should be so. The sluggish liver is the liver in which the blood circulates too slowly, and remains too long before it is passed forward into the lung circulation. The act of pedalling the cycle instantly quickens the circulation in the feet and legs, and in the course of