BIOLOGY AND HEALTH 433 



forward with the toes straight ahead, not turned out as is commonly 

 done. " Toeing out " is as abnormal as " toeing in " but is so 

 common that it is less noticed. 



Posture. Standing. The human animal is not as yet completely 

 adapted to his erect position. This makes especial care necessary 

 to achieve a healthful posture both in walking and sitting. 



The head should be held up in a natural position with chin drawn 

 back, not stiffly, but with the feeling that you are pushing your 

 hat up. The shoulders may be either sloping or square by nature, 

 but need never be rounded forward. If we still walked on all fours 

 they would be pushed back by our weight; now we reverse the 

 process and carry weight upon them. This makes it especially 

 needful that we hold our shoulders back and our chest up to give 

 proper play to the lungs. 



The abdominal organs tend to press each other down and for- 

 ward. This has to be met, partly by raising the chest and partly 

 by strengthening the front body walls, to hold them in place. 



Sitting. In our modern life we do so much work sitting down, 

 especially reading and writing, that particular care has to be ex- 

 ercised in regard to this. The shoulders are apt to be bent forward, 

 the spine twisted sidewise, and the weight brought too high up by 

 sliding down in the chair. All these habits cramp the breathing 

 and digestive organs and may produce permanent deformity or 

 bad health. The obvious remedy is to sit back in the chair, with 

 shoulders up, and lean forward only from the hips. 



Hygiene of the Nerves. Man has reached the stage where mental 

 activity takes the place of physical exertion and there is consequent 

 danger of one-sided development. 



Mental fatigue is just as real as muscular fatigue. The brain 

 should not be forced to work when it is already tired nor when the 

 energy of the body has been used in hard physical labor. 



Mental hygiene is just as important as physical hygiene. A well- 

 trained brain, developed by proper exercise, is vastly more valuable 

 than powerful muscles and needs even greater care in its develop- 

 ment. True education means just this training and developing of 

 a skillful brain, rather than merely storing the mind with various 



