316 ELEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGY 



have no more weight against this disease of chronic alco- 

 holism, than they would have against smallpox or typhoid 

 fever. 



576. Subjects for Compositions. Prevention better than 

 Cure. Habits. Sunshine. Natural Cures and Medicines. 

 The Influence of the Digestive Organs upon the Other 

 Organs. The Influence of the Muscles upon the Other 

 Organs. The Influence of the Blood upon the Body. The 

 Influence of the Nervous System upon the Other Organs. 

 Heredity. The Causes of Disease. The Rewards of 

 Right Living. The Influence of the Body upon the Mind. 

 The Body a Temple. Housekeeping. The Way of the 

 Transgressor is Hard. Nature as a Physician. Health 

 and the Disposition. The Mind and Health. Wonders 

 of the Body. Mysteries of the Body. What Fools these 

 Mortals Be. Health Fads. Medicine Crazes. Exposure 

 and Coddling. Pampering and Hardening. The Blessings 

 of Temperance. Effects of Use. Effects of Disuse. 

 Why are we Sick ? Adam's Apothecary Shop. 



577- Phrenology. There is a fantastic theory called phrenology 

 that young people should learn to estimate correctly. It is based on 

 dividing the head by guesswork into sections supposed to be the seats 

 of the various attributes of the mind, such as firmness, benevolence, 

 self-esteem, acquisitiveness, and what not. This attempt at science 

 was made over a century ago, and it has been known for a hundred 

 years to be nonsense. But it is turned to financial profit by charlatans, 

 who take advantage of the unlearned seeking a short cut to science. 

 Bumps on the head, instead of indicating the presence in the brain of 

 more gray matter, are due in many places to thickening of the bone, or 

 to air spaces in the bone. Phrenology belongs in the realm of ex- 

 ploded sciences along with astrology, or reading one's future in the 

 stars ; palmistry, or telling the fortune by reading the lines in the hand ; 

 and alchemy, or the search for the philosopher's stone, which was to 

 turn everything it touched into gold. 



578- Hypnotism, etc. Even when awake our actions are largely 

 controlled by the suggestions or influence of others. Although we are 

 awake, this influence is largely unconscious. But if one goes to sleep 



