402 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



will by economy accomplish the full result and not be fatigued — the 

 other works excessively and is wearied. The first is the better for 

 the doing — the second feels exhausted at the end. The nervous system 

 is in continual education from the cradle to the tomb. It is better 

 to maintain constant and accurate though economic functionation. 

 Overuse, or worse, disuse, results in dimming the lamp of life, and the 

 consequence is a marring of the elements of beauty. Complete relaxa- 

 tion or poise is the starting point of all effort. 



The most important ground for possible safeguarding and prolong- 

 ing of human comeliness is by means of securing and maintaining full 

 elasticity of all the tissues. Old age may be described from the stand- 

 point of physiology, as the period of hardening of the structures; it is 

 one of development, not necessarily of decay. This is both inevitable, a 

 normal change, and also there are many threatening exigencies stand- 

 ing ever ready to carry it over to the realm of disease.* The prevention, 

 as well as the cure, lies in the deliberate, accurate employment of 

 normal movements. If the activities have been habitually of an ob- 

 jectionable sort, monotonous in character as from labors limited in 

 scope or from choice, or inadequate in variety and character, the 

 tissues acquire stiffness sooner than they should. If the individual 

 has never acquired full symmetric development of muscles, as is true 

 of the large majority, these changes will appear earlier, and become 

 more conspicuous. Again, full muscular balance and competence is 

 conditional upon a certain degree of intelligent direction and impulse. 

 Sensations exist for the specific purpose of inciting us to action, either 

 immediate or remote. If they fail to initiate the proper actions their 

 failure is absolute. Brain exercise of all kinds is accompanied with 

 motor elements ; no force is lost. If the associative fibers in the brain 

 are inadequately developed by use and training there must be a 

 deficiency both in motor and in sensory areas. If the early sensory 

 promptings are insufficient in kind and variety there must result 

 inferior human machines. Action of all kinds, mental and muscular, 

 conditioning both efficiency and grace, can only exist in proportion to 

 the power and variety of the stimuli and responsiveness of the centers. 

 Action is the result of memory images, the outcome of sensory prompt- 

 ings. It is efficient if encouraged and is not if these stimuli are 

 neglected or suppressed. 



Old age is too often looked upon by those who have reached it 

 as an evil fate to be resented or bewailed. Without combating this 

 view from the standpoint of philosophy, let us reflect rather upon the 

 many instances of beautiful old age which it has been our privilege to 

 know. Is not this picture of well spent years familiar ? " She was 

 a wonderful creature with bloom and color, endowed with an intensity, 



* See The Popular Science Monthly, March, 1904, article by author — 

 subtitle ' Physiology of Decadence.' 



