Brewer's: Dumb-bells

In New College, Oxford, there still is an apparatus for developing the muscles similar to that which sets church-bells in motion. It consists of a fly-wheel with a weight attached, and the gymnast is carried by it up and down to bring his muscles into play. The present apparatus was substituted for it, and answers a similar purpose, though the name is greatly obscured.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content