410 PRACTICAL HYGIENE 



also as a safeguard against the unhealthful and immoral 

 habits contracted so often from idleness. Even physical 

 exercise which has for its purpose the reenforcement of 

 the body against disease may frequently consist of useful 

 work without diminishing its hygienic effects. 



The Mental Attitude. While a proper thoughtf ulness 

 and care for the body is both desirable and necessary, it 

 is also true that over-anxiety about, or an unnatural atten- 

 tion to, the needs of the body reacts unfavorably upon 

 the nervous system. Observance of the laws of health, 

 therefore, should be natural and without special effort a 

 matter of habit. The 'attention should never be turned 

 with anxiety upon any organ or process, but the mental 

 attitude should at all times be that of confidence in the 

 power of the body organization to do its work. Fear and 

 morbidity, which are disturbing and paralyzing factors, 

 should be supplanted by courage, cheerfulness, and hope- 

 fulness. 



Let it be borne in mind that hygienic living requires 

 nothing more than the application of the same intelligence 

 and practical common sense to the care of the body that 

 the skillful mechanic applies to an efficient, but delicate, 

 machine. And, just as in the case of the machine, care 

 of the body keeps its efficiency at the maximum and 

 lengthens the period that it may be used. This end and 

 aim of hygienic living is best attained by cultivating that 

 attitude of mind toward the body that avoids interference 

 in the vital processes and permits the natural appetites, 

 sensations, and desires to indicate very largely the body's 

 needs. 



Attitude toward Habit-forming Drugs. Among the dif- 

 ferent substances introduced into the body, either as foods 

 or as medicines, are a 'number which have the effect of 



