MENTAL ATTITUDE AND SCHOLASTIC WORK. 677 



ported by the endurance on the physical side which made long, continuous 

 study possible." 



Sye. — "I feel definitely that my fall term of school would have been better 

 had it not been for the experiment. The condition can not be wholly laid to 

 the diet. The interruptions caused by the trips to Boston every other week 

 were rather serious in reference to any school work. While of course the men 

 would not have been studying a great deal on Saturday and Sunday, yet the 

 trip away from school and the anticipation of these week-ends was something 

 of a disturbance to studying. During the fall term I had to force myself 

 more than usual to accomplish my necessary work. Because of my illness I 

 can not give any definite idea about the diet and my condition in the winter 

 term." 



Bro. — November 10: No change noted in mental ability. January 12: 

 "I feel good to-night, but the past few days I have been unable to study much; 

 I do not have enough to eat." January 26: "I feel better than usual to-night, 

 with the prospect of only one week more of the experiment; nothing special 

 to note, except that I have not accomplished much work." February 8: 

 "During the experiment I found that I could study fairly well immediately 

 following meals, but after a time or when it got to be an hour until the next 

 meal I was hungry and could not sit quietly and study. At such times I 

 found it better to get up and occupy myself in arranging the books on the 

 library shelves." {Bro was assistant librarian. See subject's comment on 

 diet, p. 279.) May 21: "During the experiment my mental attitude was 

 such that I thought the studies were interfered with by the diet. As I look 

 on it now, it does not seem that there was much interference aside from the 

 fact that one's interest and attention were more or less occupied with the 

 experiment and with looking forward to meal times. It was just as if a basket- 

 ball game were about to occur; you simply could not help thinking of it fre- 

 quently. Concerning the matter of mental attitude or disposition, I think 

 it was not a joke but a reality, and in all probability associated with the 

 reduction in diet, although there is possibly some connection with the occa- 

 sional lack of sleep. We called this condition 'crabbedness.' In my own case 

 I had to work in the library each night until 10 o'clock and I had to get up 

 earlier in the morning; there was no opportunity to make up for lost sleep, 

 and this at times affected my mental attitude, which was frequently that of 

 dissatisfaction and irritability. I recall, as was remarked by myself and 

 others several times, that after Sunday, when the men had had a good meal 

 (and more sleep), they would be decidedly changed in mental disposition and 

 would hardly seem Uke the same individuals." 



Vea. — February 2: The experiment has taken considerable of the subject's 

 time and he thinks he has frequently been unable to study as well as usual. 

 "Always thinking of eating". May 21: "Now on the uncontrolled diet it is 

 much easier to do my college work from the standpoint that it is easier to 

 concentrate my attention on it. When I sit down to work I do not continually 

 think of the matter of food. There has been a definite change in mental 

 disposition. Mr. X, who roomed near me, has often said lately, 'Why, Veal, 

 there is 100 per cent change in you since you commenced eating. When you 

 were on that experiment you used to come upstairs, slam your door shut, 

 and commence studying, and you weren't at all sociable.' I also have noticed 

 the change in this regard, but in the experiment it wasn't only just the matter 

 of reduced food; it was the many little inconveniences in connection with the 

 experiment, such as infringements upon the time of the men, so that they 



