CHAPTER XVIII 



SOME MATTERS OF GENERAL HYGIENE 



IT will bo woll to supplement the suggestions already 

 made with some others that do not readily find their place 

 under the titles of previous chapters. Emphasis has been 

 placed on the fact that all that favors the well-being of the 

 nervous system goes to support the general health. But 

 there is danger of a one-sided view if the opposite asser- 

 tion is not admitted; namely, that all that ministers to the 

 other systems helps to preserve the nervous mechanism. 



Five heads may be suggested which shall fairly cover 

 the requirements of hygiene. These are: (1) A sound in- 

 heritance, (2) successful nutrition, (3) suitably varied 

 activity in all departments of organization, (4) rest prop- 

 erly adjusted to the foregoing, and (5) a wholesome en- 

 vironment. When we consider the last-named subject we 

 find that it covers some matters for which the individual 

 is responsible and some which rest upon the community. 

 Sufficient attention has already been bestowed upon some 

 of these topics; others may now be granted a little space. 



The teachings of modern science concerning heredity 

 may have confused the thinking of some intelligent 

 readers, and it may be worth while to venture a few com- 

 ments. The widespread interest in eugenics makes people 

 who are intellectually honest anxious to be rightly in- 

 formed as to how far they can influence the physical and 

 mental estate of their children. The average man will 

 probably be found to have a very definite belief in this 

 connection. He thinks that his moral victories secure 

 stamina in the offspring, and that his lapses weaken his 

 progeny. He is likely to think that athletic training on 

 his part will endow his son with a superior musculature. 

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