144 STUDIES IN ADVANCED PHYSIOLOGY. 



able to the prosy text-book, is ridiculed and classed as a 

 dullard. But in spite of the praise showered upon the 

 former, it ought to be an object of our pity, while the ruddy 

 health and the out-door instincts of the latter ought to be 

 things to emulate. This does not mean at all that the 

 training of the mind ought to be put into the background, 

 for no less than the muscles the mind needs its proper 

 amount of exercise to grow, but when such mental exercise, 

 especially in children, has reached the point of fatigue, 

 considerations of health call for a halt and invite attention 

 to the bodily wants of the child in question. 



Modern life has become such a severe struggle for exist- 

 ence that in the battle all else is lost sight of except the 

 ultimate goal desired, and so persons subject themselves 

 to greater and greater mental pressure in the firm belief 

 that they cannot afford as a matter of time and money to 

 stop in their foolish expenditure and look after the wants 

 of their mere bodily frames. A second reason is possibly 

 found in that element of American civilization character- 

 ized by foreigners as our " hurry." We object to walking 

 when it is possible to ride; we object to doing anything 

 with our hands when it may be done more quickly in other 

 ways. To take sufficient time for our meals seems fre- 

 quently impossible on account of the demands on our time 

 made by our business, while to break into the hurry and 

 routine of the daily work by taking a quiet, restful walk in 

 the open, fresh air an hour in the morning and an hour in 

 the evening seems entirely out of the question. We act on 

 the apparent belief that all of our business is so pressing 

 that we must jump on the quickest car home, eat our dinner 

 in the most hurried way, make the closest connection for a 

 car returning, and return at the end of such a day's work 

 not earlier than supper. The third reason is possibly found 

 in the fact that when one becomes accustomed to doing 

 without exercise there grows upon one more and more a dis- 

 inclination to take it. In this way exercise becomes more 

 and more a task, is more and more dreaded, avoided, and 



