94 CONDITIONS OF MUSCULAR ACTION. 



no longer capable of repairing the waste consequent 

 upon exercise, or of affording a healthy stimulus to 

 the vessels and nerves which animate the muscles. 

 Languor, debility, and exhaustion of mind necessa- 

 rily follow ; and the individual is left susceptible of 

 no stimulus but that of ardent spirits or of excited 

 or reckless passion. 



In youth, not only must the waste of materials be 

 replaced, but an excess of nourishment must be 

 provided, to admit of the continued growth which 

 is the chief function of our earlier years. If this be 

 denied, the development of the bodily organs often 

 receives a check which no subsequent treatment 

 can remedy, and a foundation is laid for diseases 

 of debility which afterward imbitter and endanger 

 life. From pretty extensive inquiry, I am satisfied 

 that in boarding-schools, especially for females, this 

 important principle is often disregarded ; while the 

 conductors are at the same time without the least 

 suspicion of the evil they are producing, and even 

 take credit to themselves for only checking sensual 

 appetites, and promoting temperance in eating as 

 well as in drinking. Youth requires the best and 

 most nutritious food, and such ought regularly to 

 be provided. Weak broth, twice-cooked hashes, 

 and quantities of vegetables and watery milk, are 

 not sufficient sustenance for a young and growing 

 frame. Can we be surprised that, with such a diet, 

 , worm-powders and stomachic medicines are in con- 

 stant demand, and that, even with the assistance 

 of these, the girl shoots up thin, pale, and fleshless ? 

 Let it not be supposed that I wish to make a god 

 of the belly : my object is the reverse of this, and I 

 am sure that no better means can be used to effect 

 it than to give a sufficiency (not an excess) of whole- 

 some and nourishing food, which alone will satisfy 

 the stomach, and obviate the constant craving 

 which is a frequent and painful concomitant of de- 

 ficiency of food. Let it be considered how soon, in 



