ASPECTS OF MENTAL ECONOMY. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



In this essay I have ventured to discuss from a particular 

 point of view the question, How can a student make the most 

 of himself ? In one or another of its aspects this matter is 

 considered alike by religion, by psychology, by ethics, by educa- 

 tion, by hygiene, and by other philosophies and sciences. Each 

 regarding a special phase of man's being seeks to advise him 

 concerning his conduct so that he may attain the highest pos- 

 sibilities of his nature. Thus, religion counsels him respecting 

 the deportment which will prepare him for habitation in an- 

 other world ; ethics aims to so determine his demeanor that he 

 may dwell in the spirit of justice with his fellowmen; educa- 

 tion delineates the processes by which he may secure the full- 

 est development of intellect and character. The phase of this 

 large subject which is discussed herein is indeed a^ narrow but 

 yet, I believe, an exceedingly consequential one. Taking a 

 doctrine accepted by modern science, that, looked at in a certain 

 light, a human being is seen to be a machine fashioned to do 

 a given amount of work, depending upon the quantity of en- 

 ergy which may be utilized for this purpose, I have sought 

 to examine the ways in which this energy can be most read- 

 ily generated and wisely conserved so that it may be employed 

 in profitable production of either a mental or physical sort. 



The view-point I have taken is what might perhaps be called 

 an energeic 1 one. If this should sound too materialistic to 

 some readers they will certainly not be aggrieved when they. 



1 I coin this word to express precisely a certain relationship of mind and 

 body which is discussed at length in the course of the essay. 



