CEREBRUM AND THE LIFE OF THE INDIVIDUAL 101 



But if the exigency arises it should be possible for the 

 trained mind to meet it with equanimity. 



A store of happy memories and generous affections 

 should be competent to provide a foil to the depressing 

 influence of monotonous circumstances for a time at least. 

 Few would care to be tested long. Books have been one 

 of the chief resources of those who have contended without 

 degenerating against the tedium and pettiness of their 

 lot. Memorized portions of the best literature may have 

 a share in saving intellect and character from deteriora- 

 tion. The silent or audible rehearsal of such passages 

 may be more beneficial than a concert or a play. No one 

 can estimate the steadying power that has been operative 

 in the minds of our ancestors as they have pondered the 

 words of the Bible, "the ever-open Thesaurus" of immortal 

 truth immortally phrased. 



As we think of the means of avoiding a dead level of the 

 mental life and the value in it of reserve capacity for in- 

 hibition, the topic of the Sabbath suggests itself. It is 

 easy to caricature and condemn the Sunday of the Puri- 

 tans. Many of the restraints which it imposed may ap- 

 pear arbitrary and undesirable. But certain great bless- 

 ings came from it to those who cordially acquiesced in its 

 conventions, and even in a measure to those who con- 

 formed more grudgingly. It made a radical break with 

 the routine of the other six days and it encouraged self- 

 control rather than self-indulgence. The "Continental 

 Sunday," toward which we seem to be moving, has too 

 little of inhibition. The jaded nervous system, by a 

 property which may be called perverse, demands excite- 

 ment, when the real need is rest. We shall find in this fact 

 the key to much that we have to discuss in a later chapter. 

 The student who refuses to let his studies encroach 

 upon his Sunday is not likely to regret his course. He will 

 find a zest in his work when he resumes it on Monday which 

 is the direct consequence of the intermission. The relig- 

 ious prohibition of our fathers may not be well founded, 

 but the dictates of hygiene may be made to take its place. 

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