HEALTH-EXERCISE: 
A DISCUSSION 
OF 
THE RATIONALE AND PRACTICE 
OF 
Butler's Lifting Cure. 
BY LEWIS G. JANES, 
PHYSICIAN AND INSTRUCTOR AT CURE, 
No. 830 Broadway, N. Y. 
" Habitual exercise is the cause and condition of that vital renovation 
of parts, which is the source and measure of constitutional vigor." 
Yeomans. 
NEW YORK : 
D. P. BUTLER -No. 830 BROADWAY. 
BOSTON1-No. 53 TEMPLE PLACE. 
1869. HEALTH-EXERCISE: 
A DISCUSSION 
OF 
THE RATIONALE AND PRACTICE 
OF 
Butler's Lifting Cure. 
BY LEWIS G. JANES, 
PHYSICIAN AND INSTRUCTOR AT CURE, 
No. 830 Broadway, N. Y. 
" Habitual exercise is the cause and condition of that vital renovation 
of parts, which is the source and measure of constitutional vigor." 
Yeomans. 
NEW YORK: 
D. P. BUTLER -No. 830 BROADWAY. 
BOSTON-No. 53 TEMPLE PLACE. 
1869. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, hy 
LEWIS G. JANES, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
District of New York. 
THE TROW & SMITH 
BOOK MANUFACTURING COMPANY 
46, 4S, 50 Greene Street, N. Y. HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
INTRODUCTORY. 
The Medical Profession has long recognized the remedial 
influence of proper exercise, as well as its invaluable agency in 
preventing disease, and various expedients have been devised 
and prescribed to secure its benefits. Pedestrianism, the 
Gymnasium, Horseback riding, Rowing, Calisthenics and the 
Movement Cure have each had their day, and are still resorted 
to, serving a good purpose, no doubt, as an aid to the develop- 
ment and use of the vis medicatrix naturae. 
I propose briefly to present the claims of Butler's Lifting 
Cure, as a safer, more complete and more economical system 
of exercise than any other, commending itself particularly 
to the medical profession as an exercise requiring little time, 
admitting of accurate prescription to patients, fulfilling all the 
conditions of well-directed physical training, with safety from 
over-exertion and injury. 
Unconnected with other questionable appliances or methods 
of treatment, it respectfully courts the investigation of all phy- 
sicians who would have within reach, an exercise which they 
can recommend, without fear of interference with their line of 
practice in other directions. No longer a subject of experi- 
ment, but illustrated by more than a thousand living demon- 
strations of its beneficial and curative effects, endorsed by 
many eminent physicians and teachers in all branches of the 4 
HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
medical profession, the Lifting Cure yet makes its strongest 
appeal no less to the common sense of the practical man and 
woman in every walk of life, who value health as the greatest 
of earthly blessings, than to the intelligent medical practitioner. 
To the Medical Profession with whom we act, and on whose 
cooperation, in a great measure, we depend, and to all others 
in search of the best means for regaining and preserving 
health, I commend this synopsis of its rationale and practice. 
HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE. 
To the inventive genius, diligent labor and patient perse- 
verance of Dr. D. P. Butler, of Boston, more than all others, 
the public are indebted for the perfection of the apparatus and 
system of exercise known as Butler's Lifting Cure. In this he 
was aided by the invaluable assistance and philosophical and 
systematic mind of Dr. Joseph H. Swain. Nor are we unmind- 
ful of the services rendered by Dr. Geo. B. Windship, who first 
turned public attention to the value of lifting as an exercise, 
and others who have aided in presenting it to the world. But 
Dr. Windship, using a cumbrous and imperfect apparatus, 
neither adequately recognized its curative effects, nor separated 
it, in application, from the crude and imperfect appliances of 
the old gymnasium. Dr. Butler, on the contrary, was the first 
to see clearly and proclaim the important and fundamental law 
of cooperative action, and conscientiously labored to perfect an 
apparatus whereby the whole body should receive sufficient and 
effectual exercise by a simultaneous effort of every part, thus 
economizing time, and enhancing the beneficial influence of the 
treatment. This principle of cooperative action in exercise, we 
believe to be of the utmost importance. Without it, in exertion 
taxing different portions of the frame unequally, there is far 
greater liability to strain, rupture and injury. Partial exercise, HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
5 
long continued, must result in unequal and abnormal develop- 
ment of the parts thus severely taxed, necessarily at the expense 
of some other fart or parts. But it will be seen from the fol- 
lowing explanation, that proper lifting taxes every portion of the 
hitman frame, giving to each part its due share of exercise, the 
weaker being aided and supported by the stronger, and all 
working together powerfully and harmoniously. Will, mind 
and body strive at once for increase of power, and that regu- 
lated action which in its ultimatum perfect health. 
The Medical Profession, as we have before said, for centu- 
ries have commended exercise as a remedial agent. But recog- 
nizing the necessity of exercise, no adequate means have been 
devised for making it sufficiently available. This Dr. Butler 
has enabled us to claim for the Lifting Cure, which we present, 
not as an experiment, but in the clear light of accomplished 
fact, as an exercise, complete, thorough, graduated to all per- 
sons and conditions of strength and health, from the most deli- 
cate child or invalid, to the most robust man or woman. The 
physician may measure and prescribe it with even greater accu- 
racy than his medicine or other hygienic treatment. 
The idea of lifting as an exercise may be repugnant to 
many, from a false conception of the position of the body and 
mode of action. It is usually connected in the mind with the 
idea of stooping, or bending the body in an unnatural and 
constrained position, and with an effort which would result in 
injurious strain or over-exertion. Nothing could be further 
from a true conception of this beautiful application of the laws 
of physical culture. To lift heavy weights, is not the prime object 
of this treatment; but the action should always be graduated 
to the condition of the patient. We propose briefly to explain 
why proper lifting is the most perfect exercise for a human being, 
and how it aids in effecting a cure of chronic, acute and organic 
diseases and deformities. 6 
HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
FIRST-ITS ADAPTABILITY TO THE BONY STRUCTURE. 
Various forms of apparatus for lifting graduated weights 
have been in use, from the rude appliances of the ordinary- 
gymnasium, Windship's combination of scale-beam and yoke- 
lifting machine, the ordinary spiral spring machine, and the 
side-lifting apparatus invented by Dr. Butler but used chiefly 
by Dr. Reilly of Chicago, to the apparatus now in use by Dr. 
Butler at his Cures, which from long experience, and practical 
tests upon more than a thousand patients, I believe to combine 
more excellent features than any other. Dr. Butler thus de- 
scribes his system of exercise: * " The lifting apparatus com- 
prises a substantial table, through the centre of which passes 
an upright rod, upon which the weights rest. This rod is 
raised or lowered by means of a screw, to obtain the exact 
height for the most perfect leverage for each individual. The 
screw passes though a nut resting upon a rubber ring, which 
is attached to a spring resting upon the table. Underneath 
the platform is a series of semi-elliptical springs, which are 
depressed as the weight is taken upon the body. Between all 
the joints of the machine are inserted artificial cartilages of 
rubber, which, with the springs, prevent sudden and abrupt 
action or strain, and bring the apparatus in harmony with the 
individual. Each of the four legs of the machine rests on solid 
balls, bedded, in rubber at top and bottom, thus allowing per- 
fect freedom of oscillation, and harmonizing the action of the 
machine with that of the body, in lifting. The lifting-bar, 
which, with all the apparatus, is patented, is so adjusted, that 
the hands, acting in opposite directions, receive the weight upon 
a mathematical line passing through the centre of its bearing; 
thus securing perfect adjustment. 
* The Lifting Cure. By D. P. Butler. Boston : 53 Temple Place. HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
7 
" In lifting, the patient stands upon rubber plates attached 
to the platform of the table, directly over the upright rod, 
which is surmounted by an eye, or socket, containing a pivot 
directly over the centre of the weight. Through this socket 
passes the lifting-bar,-a wooden cross-piece padded with buck- 
skin, adapted to the form of the hand, and so adjusted, that the 
pupil, grasping the handles as he stands astride the bar, with 
his spine directly over the rod, his shoulders in a perpendicular 
line with the hips and feet, and his head thrown back, takes 
the weight upon a straight line passing along the handle, and 
through the centre of the pivot on which the handle is pressed. 
Thus the mechanical law relating to the adjustment of the 
weight to the body by means of the cross-piece is fulfilled, and 
the weight bears equally on every part of the body. It is 
important for all these conditions to be fulfilled, that the effect 
upon the body may be perfect and complete. In our earlier 
experiments we tested thoroughly the effects of lifting by means 
of side-handles and rods, but finding that it precluded a perfect 
centralization of the weight and allowed an unguided lateral 
swaying movement, favoring a forward projection of the upper 
part of the body with a cross-strain the whole length of the 
spine and muscles of the back, with unequal action upon other 
organs, we overcame these difficulties by the invention of the 
single rod now in use, which centralizes the weight, so to 
speak, bringing it under perfect control, is conformed to the 
anatomical predisposition of the body to lift weights in front, 
as in ordinary labor, and gives to each part its due proportion 
of exercise. Our experience has demonstrated that the rela- 
tive positions of the handle, pivot, socket, and rod, with the 
body, cannot be in any way changed with equally beneficial 
curative results. 
" The proper height of the rod, being ascertained upon the 
first exercise, should be secured at each succeeding exercise by 8 
HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
exact measurement. The weight, resting by means of the iron 
nut upon the spring in the centre of the table, should be raised 
two or three inches clear of the spring when the body is erect, 
and the knees fully straightened. The greatest care should be 
observed in obtaining the correct position and adjustment of 
the body, no less in lifting the lighter than the heavier weights. 
The ankles should be about opposite the rod, the foot support- 
ing the forward hand slightly in advance of the other. The 
spine should be erect; the top of the shoulders well set back; 
the centre of the chest fully rounded out; the feet, hips, and 
shoulders in a perpendicular line; and the weight should be 
raised very slowly, followed by the spring, until a complete 
cooperation of all parts of the body has been attained; when 
the weight is raised free from the spring, and becomes a perfect 
dead-weight. Then this action is reversed, the weight being 
lowered as slowly as it is raised, avoiding any sudden or abrupt 
action. Thus we secure all the advantages, and none of the 
disadvantages, of perfect spring and dead-weight lifting. There 
is complete adjustment, thorough cooperation. 
" The position brings the body as near as possible into per- 
fect shape; the manner of lifting distributes the weight coop- 
eratively over the whole body, giving each organ and muscle its 
proper action, and developing the whole harmoniously. Com- 
mencing with a weight not more than half as large as the pupil 
is to raise at last, he should lift, usually, from four to six times. 
The first addition should be one-half the total amount to be 
added; the second, about two-thirds of the remainder; the 
third and last, always the least. Between the successive efforts 
of lifting, the patient should take sufficient time to rest, vary- 
ing from one to five minutes or more, according to the weight 
lifted; for invigoration follows from successive periods of action 
and reaction, not from actions following each other in quick 
succession. This would tend rather to exhaust; but the exer- HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
9 
cise, as a whole, should, in every instance, leave the pupil 
invigorated, not exhausted. 
" Commencing, in the first exercise, with a weight fully 
within the control of the patient, an addition of from five to 
ten pounds may be made on each succeeding exercise-day, 
until the maximum weight is considerably increased, and the 
attendant instructor perceives, from the manner of lifting and 
symptoms of the patient, that he should proceed no farther at 
present; then, on the succeeding exercise, his highest weight 
should be reduced about one hundred pounds in most cases, 
and he should again grade up as before. In some instances, it 
may be well to grade downward five or ten pounds each day, 
reversing the process of the ascending grade to the extent of 
fifty or one hundred pounds." 
In lifting on this apparatus in this position, the body is per- 
fectly upright, and the long bones of the limbs and the verte- 
bral column are brought into proper relations for sustaining 
the greatest possible weight with safety. The femur, tibia, and 
fibula, the long bones of the leg, act as a column of levers, in 
the direction of their greatest strength. The toes being turned 
well out and the knees bending outward, the femurs support 
each other in their pelvic sockets like an arch, the strongest 
mechanical position, instead of pressing backward and outward 
as in side and shoulder-lifting. The vertebrae act as a perpen- 
dicular column of levers, protected by their intervening carti- 
lages, which are compressed and consolidated in their action, 
instead of being separated, as in stooping, thus overcoming 
curvatures and deformities of the spine. The long bones of 
the arm, the humerus, ulna and radius, with the bones of the 
wrist and hand, one back and the other in front of the body, 
sustain the weight in the direction of their greatest strength, in 
a central position beneath the body, allowing proportionate exer- 
cise to the muscles and viscera of the front figure, instead of 10 
HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
giving a greater proportionate labor to the spine and muscles 
of the back, as in side and yoke-lifting. The point of suspen- 
sion being as near the termination of the spine as possible, the 
weight is perfectly controlled, swaying with the body and bear- 
ing equally on every part, instead of allowing one side to lift 
more than the other, as is the liability of side-lifting. The 
strength of the hands is the measure of the power of raising 
weights, acting as a natural safeguard against over-exertion, the 
greater liability of shoulder-lifting. All the parts work harmo- 
niously together, each sustaining its due proportion of labor, 
rendering the exercise perfectly safe, to the utmost limits of 
endurance, under a proper system of training. 
SECONDLY-ITS ACTION ON THE EXTERNAL MUSCLES. 
As with the bones, so also with the muscles. Dr. Reilly, 
of Chicago, speaking of the side-lifting apparatus, says : "Ten 
or twelve minutes health-lifting exercise, once a day, is found, 
after years of experience, to be amply sufficient to keep the 
body in good physical condition. This anomalous result is 
due to the simultaneous use of over four hundred of the five 
hundred and twenty-seven muscles of the human frame." 
Dr. Butler may well claim that, with his apparatus, every 
muscle of the body receives its appropriate share of exercise; 
for it is by no means uncommon for patients to perceive the 
muscular contraction upon the neck, face, scalp and ears, as 
well as the parts in more immediate approximation to the 
weight. 
Nearly all the large muscles are acted upon in the direction 
of their greatest length, as are many of the smaller ones. Thus, 
the muscular coating of every minute vein and artery is com- 
pressed, with powerful and beneficial effect upon the circulation, 
as will be seen hereafter. The abdominal muscles, contracting HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
11 
most powerfully, not only enable patients afflicted with hernia 
to exercise with perfect safety, but we have actually cured 
inguinal hernia, so that the patient has laid aside the truss 
after using it many years. There is not only no danger of 
injurious strain or rupture in proper lifting, but it furnishes the 
most hopeful prospect of an entire relief. So also, in cases of 
excessive abdominal deposit of adipose tissue, the tendency is 
always to solidify the flesh, and restore the natural propor- 
tions. 
This powerful cooperative pressure of the external muscles 
upon the viscera, produces a mechanical action of those organs, 
more complete and effective than can possibly be derived from 
any partial or special application of exercise. This will be 
further demonstrated hereafter. 
The fact that the entire muscular system is thus completely 
and thoroughly exercised in a few minutes, without fatigue, 
renders the Lifting Cure the briefest and most economical 
exercise for our business men, professional men, students, and 
all persons of sedentary habits, who are suffering from dyspep- 
sia, nervousness, debility, and the long train of attendant ills, 
and who are debarred from ordinary exercise for want of time. 
It is also the surest preventive of these difficulties. 
Rheumatism and all diseases of the muscular tissue here 
find their appropriate relief. The muscular power thus gained, 
is available, not only in lifting weights, but in whatever direction 
its exercise may be called forth. 
THIRDLY-ITS EFFECT ON THE VISCERA. 
The chief value of the Lifting Cure as a remedial agent 
does not depend upon the exercise which it furnishes to the 
external muscles. A large proportion of the maladies which 
afflict humanity, and that, too, most dangerous to life and 12 
HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
destructive to health, has its seat in the viscera-the internal, 
or vital organs of the body. 
It is a well-known physiological fact, that each organ has 
its proper action ; hence, its nerves,-avenues for conveying the 
vital forces,-and its muscular tissue, which, by its power of 
expansion and contraction, furnishes the medium for this 
action. These organs are connected,, directly and indirectly, 
with the external muscular tissue by muscular attachments. 
Thus, when the ■ external muscles are brought into powerful, 
cooperative action, as in lifting slowly, properly graduated 
weights, not only the exterior tissue, but the vital organs them- 
selves, receive their appropriate share of the exercise, and as 
really aid in lifting as the biceps or rectus. Thus, in lifting in a 
natural position, the strength of the human being, like that of 
a chain sustaining a weight, is tested by the strength of its 
weakest link or part; whether it be the hand, the leg, the spine, 
the liver, or the kidneys. Thus, also, the Lifting Cure becomes 
invaluable in the diagnosis of disease, unerringly indicating the 
weak or affected part. 
The unnatural postures which many of the occupations of 
life are apt to induce, as bending over books and sewing-ma- 
chines, bring the body into injurious and constraining positions, 
and are themselves sometimes sufficient to cause serious dis- 
ease. The Lifting Cure, on the contrary, causing the body to 
assume its normal, upright posture, the external muscles aiding 
the weaker viscera in regaining their natural places, and the 
viscera themselves gaining strength by gentle and appropriate 
exercise, furnishes the most complete and effective cure for 
prolapsus uteri and all visceral displacements, by whatever 
cause induced. HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
13 
The action thus described upon the muscular and vital 
systems, reinvigorates the frame through its influence on the 
circulation. 
Proper nutrition is essential to the preservation of health, 
and an indispensable element in the cure of disease. To 
secure it, it is necessary, ist, to supply the system with whole- 
some food in proper quantities; 2d, to give strength and well- 
regulated action to the organs of the body, thus securing a 
healthy circulation of the blood. However healthful the food, 
unless the organs are powerful and healthy, it cannot be properly 
digested or assimilated. 
Defective circulation, if not a cause, is an accompaniment 
to nearly all forms of chronic or acute disease; and if we can 
secure, through the medium of exercise, a uniformly healthy 
action and circulation of the blood, we strike at the root of the 
difficulty and must accomplish its cure. The external symp- 
toms are but the effort of Nature to accomplish this object. 
If we can aid her by freeing the channels from impurities, and 
cause the vital tide to flow unobstructed through every part, we 
furnish the means of most speedy relief. This the Lifting Cure 
most certainly accomplishes. As it gives to every part its pro- 
per share of exercise, its first effect is equalization. This influ- 
ence of exercise obtained through the Lifting Cure, on the 
circulation and vital processes, and which no other exercise 
gives in so great perfection, has been so well summed up by 
Dr. Wm. Jay Yeomans in his work on Physiology and Hygiene,* 
that I transcribe an extract from its pages. 
" Effects of Regulated Exercise. - All those vital 
processes which are essential to life, as digestion, circulation, 
FOURTHLY-ITS EFFECT ON THE CIRCULATION. 
* Elements of Physiology and Hygiene. Huxley & Yeomans. New 
York : D. Appleton & Co. 14 
HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
respiration, secretion, are carried on independently of the will, 
and give rise to a large and constant amount of activity in the 
system. But labor and exercise are performed by calling into 
action an additional system of agencies-those of the voluntary 
muscles-and to maintain these in a state of activity, involves 
an extra requisition upon the various involuntary organs. As 
the materials of the body are derived from the substance of 
food, so all vital power is derived from the force stored up in 
the food. Organic matter is in a state of molecular tension, 
and, when decomposed, these tensions are' given out in the 
form of physical forces. Food is organic matter, suited to 
undergo assimilation, and then to give out its molecular ten- 
sions in various forms, as animal heat, muscular power." 
Mark well the bearing of the following paragraph on our 
subject: " It follows, that in work, or exercise, the voluntary 
muscular system draws upon the involuntary functions for its 
supply of energy; and hence, in proportion to the force 
EXPENDED, IS THE GENERAL EXALTATION OF THE VITAL PRO- 
CESSES." 
The Lifting Cure produces preeminently this vital exalta- 
tion and action without exhaustion, instead of calling out 
muscular energy at the expense of the vital, as do other long 
continued and more violent exercises. 
To quote again from Dr. Yeomans, " As the circulation 
ministers immediately to all the functions, its energy rises 
and falls with their activity. Exercise increases the move- 
ments of the heart in both force and frequency, and accelerates 
the flow of blood through all parts of the body. The circula- 
tion is also aided by the contraction of the voluntary muscles, 
which by pressing on the walls of the veins, tends to force along 
the current of blood. Moreover, this increased activity of the 
circulation meets the increased demand of the muscles for new 
material, to renew the disintegrated structures; and it also HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
15 
speedily effects the removal of waste products, by rapidly 
transferring them to the proper eliminating organs. Thus, the 
complex stream from which the nutritive materials are con- 
stantly drawn, and into which waste matters are constantly 
poured, is directly affected both in its composition and rate of 
movement, by the state of action of the voluntary muscles. 
" Exercise, also, it is well known, heightens the calorifying 
functions. It is through the increased activity of the circula- 
tion that the body is warmed by exercise." 
These beneficial effects, which are partially and imperfectly 
obtained from ordinary exercise, are obtained more perfectly 
and completely from the cooperative effort of lifting. Instead 
of causing a congestion of the large arteries, with injurious 
effect upon the brain, £S is sometimes the result of misdirected 
exertion, the Lifting Cure increases chiefly the capillary action, 
clearing out the impurities which may have been lodged in the 
various ramifications of the venous and arterial network, and 
causing a delightful glow and exhilaration to the patient. It is 
wonderful to observe the potent influence of this treatment 
upon the skin and complexion. If yellow with jaundice or 
bile, overburdened with effete matters and obstructions, it 
shortly becomes clear and beautiful, acquiring the natural 
glow of health. 
FIFTHLY-ITS EFFECT UPON THE BE AIN, THE NERVOUS SYS- 
TEM AND THE MINI). 
Even more potent than the action of' the Lifting Cure on 
the muscles, the viscera and the circulation, is its effect upon 
the brain and nervous system. To this influence, in a large 
measure, is its curative value due. Dr. Butler's remarks, in 
his work on " The Lifting Cure," upon this effect of the exer- 
cise have been somewhat criticised, and the possibility of its 
producing a marked influence on the brain and mind has been 16 
HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
denied. Hence it may be well to note here the words of Dr. 
Yeomans on the connection of body, brain and mind, which, it 
will be seen, completely support the position of Dr. Butler, and 
emphasize the importance of well-regulated exercise in securing 
healthy mental action. 
"Nature," he says, "presents the problem, not of mind 
separate, but of mind and body bound up in a living unity, 
and the physiologist must take the question as he finds it." 
Again: " It is now universally admitted that the brain is 
the grand nervous centre of thought and feeling-the material 
instrument of the mind, and that all mental actions are accom- 
panied and conditioned by physiological actions. From the high 
complexity of composition of nervous matter, it is extremely 
unstable and prone to change. The brain is therefore not only, 
like all other parts of the body, subject to the double metamor- 
phosis of waste and repair, but the transformations take place 
in this organ with more rapidity than in any other part of the 
system. * * * If the cerebral circulation is lowered, mental 
activity is diminished; if accelerated, the mind's action is 
exaltedP 
Again : " It is important to note, not only that the mind 
and body are both governed by laws, but that they are to a 
great extent governed by the same laws. Whatever improves 
the physical qualities of the brain, improves also the mind; 
whatever deteriorates the brain, impairs the mind. They have 
a common development, are equally increased in vigor, capacity 
and power by judicious exercise, and are alike injured by defi- 
cient or excessive effort. * * * As thus the mind is depen- 
dent upon the conditions of the brain, while the brain is controlled 
by the bodily system, we see how impossible it is to deal with the 
mental powers in a practical way without taking the material 
organization into account." *. * * " As bodily and mental 
health depend in a great degree upon the same conditions, all HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
17 
that has been said concerning the sanitary influences which 
affect the corporeal system, has likewise its bearing upon health 
of mind." 
It is well known that there is no cause of disease more 
powerful or more prevalent than derangement of the mental or 
nervous forces. A sudden shock, as when one unexpectedly 
hears of the death of a dear friend, will disturb the secretions, 
send the blood back from the extremities to the heart, and is 
sometimes of itself sufficient to cause serious physical disease. 
The severe strain upon the nervous system during the late war, 
the conflict and excitement of a population devoted to specula- 
tion and trade, are potent causes of disease, premature old age 
and death. Our lawyers and statesmen are struck down sud- 
denly, in the prime of life, from over-mental exertion. How, 
then, shall we reverse this process, and use the nervous forces 
to reinvigorate and reconstruct the human being ? 
The Lifting Cure does this primarily through the concen- 
trated, harmonious and powerful action of the will, through the 
nerves, upon the muscular tissue. All action originates in the 
brain, and is initiated through the action of the will on the 
nerves. In lifting properly graduated weights, increasing them 
slowly but surely from day to day, the will is constantly demand- 
ing increased action of the nervous forces, and they in their 
turn transmit the errand to the muscular tissues. Were it not 
for this constant, unvarying connection between will and nerve, 
nerve and muscle, muscle and blood, we should seek in vain 
for any curative result, or, indeed, for any result whatever. In 
this too much neglected, too little comprehended department 
of nervous energy we find the tap-root of our tree of life. Here 
must our constant culture be applied. 
It is found by long experience, that, if the mind fails to 
become interested in the treatment, if the patient wants confi- 
dence, and hesitates, the cure is more doubtful and its accom- 18 
HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
plishment is delayed. But here, also, is indicated the chief 
excellence of our treatment;-that in calling on will and nerve- 
energy by ever increasing demands, and never exhausting it 
by over action, a harmony is finally established between nerve 
and muscle and circulation, that trinity which composes the 
physical being of the wonderful unit-man ; by which his fell 
enemy, Disease, is most surely conquered and overthrown. 
The perceptible increase of power, as measured by the 
steadily increasing capacity for lifting weights, gives a confi- 
dence and sure encouragement to the patient, the value of 
which can hardly be over-estimated. In no other treatment or 
physical exercise can we measure this power, and determine its 
augmentation from week to week. This is not merely a test 
of muscular power, but of vital soundness, or health. Encour- 
aged by increasing strength, and corresponding gradual decrease 
of unfavorable symptoms, the patient perseveres in obeying the 
laws of health, which is the essential condition to the complete 
eradication of disease. 
The renewed energy given to mind as well as body, aids 
greatly in overcoming pernicious habits. Many of our patients, 
under this influence, have discarded tobacco and stimulants, 
without material discomfort or inconvenience, and it is needless 
to say, with great benefit to mental and physical health. 
Accepting our explanation of the effects of the treatment 
on the muscles, viscera, circulation and nervous system, the 
modus operand! of its curative influence will be readily con- 
ceived. Admitting its superiority as an exercise, it is unneces- 
sary to urge farther its curative value, to intelligent physiologists 
and physicians. Galen wrote, long ago, - "If diseases take 
hold of the body, there is nothing so certain to drive them out 
as diligent exercise." 
SIXTHLY-ITS CURATIVE EFFECTS. HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
19 
Dr. Yeomans, from whom I have quoted before, says : " If 
thus exercise be an essential condition of health, and the want 
of it a fruitful cause of disease, it is obvious that only by the. 
reestablishment of the needed exercise can health be regained." 
This principle has long been received by the medical pro- 
fession. In submitting the Lifting Cure as the most available, 
systematic, safe and agreeable form of exercise, we are simply 
supplying a method whereby physicians can secure this most 
desirable aid. It will readily be comprehended that a system 
of treatment which thus acts directly on the centres of vitality, 
aiding the natural processes of digestion, excretion, circulation 
and nervous energy, freeing the system from impurities and 
giving tone and life to the weakened organism, must be most 
effective and permanent in its results. Its method of cure in 
organic diseases, is, through the stimulation and strengthening 
of the natural processes, to create new organs, uncontaminated 
by disease, unpoisoned by effete and decaying matters. Through- 
out the whole range of chronic diseases, we have met with unvary- 
ing success. 
Where the difficulty is simply weakness, the Lifting Cure 
removes it by giving strength. 
Where deformity exists, the Lifting Cure, by bringing the 
body into perfect position, under the stimulus given by prop- 
erly graduated and increasing weights, tends always to 
remove it. 
Where displacement of organs has resulted, from whatever 
cause, the Lifting Cure, by restoring them gradually to their 
natural position, and strengthening them, with their adjacent 
muscles, has proved most effectual as a cure. 
Where congestion, or unequal and torpid circulation deranges 
the system, the Lifting Cure, by its harmonious and powerful 
influence, cannot fail to promote equalization and healthy 
action. 20 
HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
Where pain exists, resulting from congestion or unequal 
nervous action, the Lifting Cure, by equalization, quickly 
removes the difficulty. 
Where there is nervous debility, from over-mental action or 
excess, the Lifting Cure, by presenting proper physical exer- 
cise, quiets, and restores the true equilibrium between body 
and mind. 
Where digestion is impaired, or constipation exists, the pow- 
erful and beneficial action of graduated lifting speedily produces 
relief. 
In diseases peculiar to women, the Lifting Cure, by furnish- 
ing proper physical and mental stimulus, has proved most 
efficient as a method of cure. 
In consumption and lung diseases, the Lifting Cure, by its 
influence on the circulation and nutrition, and the powerful 
and healthful action of the lungs which it induces, furnishes a 
most potent aid both in prevention and cure. 
From all humors, the Lifting Cure, by its influence on the 
circulation, purifies the body. 
In many acute diseases, if applied in season, the Lifting Cure 
furnishes immediate relief. 
As a preventive of disease, the Lifting Cure furnishes the 
simplest, most effective and most available means. 
In short, by presenting an agreeable form of exercise, capa- 
ble of so gentle application that the most delicate invalid can 
safely attempt it, and, on the other hand, becoming the most 
powerful agent known, for physical culture and development, it 
is available to all who need bodily exercise-and who does not 
need it ? 
It works in harmony with all Hygienic agencies. 
It invites the attention of all who seek restoration to health 
or an increase of physical vigor. 
We especially and respectfully ask the investigation and HEALTH-EXERCISE. 
21 
favorable consideration of the Medical Profession, aiming to 
supply a need, and furnish an efficient aid to them in their 
labors for the alleviation of suffering humanity. 
To physicians, and all interested to inquire, we will be 
pleased to give verbal statements of the effects of the treat- 
ment in individual cases, covering a wide range of diseases, 
which, for obvious reasons, we do not insert here. 
All desiring information, are respectfully solicited to call 
at our rooms, where every facility for investigation will be fur- 
nished. 
Better than any theory or explanation, is the sure test of 
practical experience. To this we invite all who would know 
more of the Lifting Cure. i 9 
I BUTLER'S LIFTING CURE, I 
No. 830 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
I - I 
1 i 
p D. P. BUTLER, Proprietor, 
No. 53 Temple Place, Boston, Mass. || 
I | 
I I 
I J. W. LEAVITT and L. G. JANES, | 
v Physicians and Instructors. st 
II Of 
LEWIS G. JANES, Business Agent. 
I LADIES' DEPARTMENT. I 
I CAROLINE E. YOUNGS, | 
i Attendant Physician and Instructor. 1! 
i I 
I . i 
For terms and other information, apply at Office, 
i No. 830 Broadway.