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Now I have for long been perplexed to find a means of remedying this, and at last I think I have discovered a method whereby the amount of will-power exerted by the pupil can be regulated. In the next chapter particulars are given of my new “Grip” Dumb-bell, which I think ought to prove a veritable godsend to all, and especially to those to whom reference has just been made.

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This appliance is very simple and may be described in a few words. It consists of a dumb-bell made in two halves separated about an inch and a half from one another, the intervening space being occupied by a small steel spring. When exercising, the spring is compressed by gripping the bells and bringing the two halves close together, in which position they are kept until the exercise is over. The springs can be of any strength, and consequently the power necessary to keep the two halves together can be varied to any extent.

The advantages of this arrangement are obvious. Whether he will or no, the pupil must grip the bells hard, and as the strength of the springs are known he can regulate his progress to a nicety as he grows stronger. There is also another point in connection with the new device to which I want to draw particular attention. It will often happen that a pupil who is exercising will feel “a bit off-colour” one day, and consequently less inclined to exercise, or he may be worried and perplexed by his business affairs to a degree which lenders it almost impossible for him to concentrate his mind solely upon the work. The natural consequence of either of these two conditions is that unless he possess very uncommon will power, if he is exercising with ordinary bells, he only does so in a desultory and half-hearted manner, and benefits little thereby. Now this is impossible with the “grip” bell—however preoccupied and worried the pupil may be he has a definite point upon which to concentrate his mind; he must exert a certain amount of force in gripping the bells to keep the two halves together, and consequently must put out a certain amount of will-power.