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ANSWERS TO PRACTICAL QUESTIONS 



25. Why do we gape when we are sleepy ? 



(See Question 15.) 



The stretching of the nerves may perhaps serve to 

 restore the equilibrium of the nervous influence, disturbed 

 by the attention being fixed during the day upon some 

 absorbing occupation. 



26. Is a fashionable waist a model of art in sculpture or 

 painting ? 



The Venus of Milo, in the Louvre at Paris, is the beau- 

 ideal of symmetry and beauty, yet the form indicates not 

 a "wasp-waist," but the full, free, flowing outlines of 

 nature. The sculptor and painter in copying the human 

 figure can make no improvement on its Divine maker. 



27. Should a fire-place be closed*? 



(See Physiology, page 100.) 



No. It is a most efficient means of ventilation. 



28. Why does embarrassment or fright cause a stammerer 

 to stutter still more painfully ? 



Stuttering is mainly a nervous disorder, and hence any 

 excitement tends to increase the impediment of the 

 speech. 



29. In the organs of voice, what parts have somewhat the 

 same office as the case of a violin and the sounding-board of 

 a piano? 



(See Philosophy, page 176.) 



The pharynx, the mouth, and the nasal passages all act 

 by resonance to modify the voice. 



