2^6 FOOT-NOTES TO EVOLUTION. 



destroys the sanity of life. All stimulants, narcotics, 

 and tonics which affect the nervous system in whatever 

 way reduce the truthfulness of sensation, thought, and 

 action. Toward insanity all such influences lead; and 

 their effect, slight though it be, is of the same nature as 

 mania. The man who would see clearly, think truth- 

 fully, and act effectively must avoid them all. Emer- 

 gency aside, he can not safely force upon his nervous 

 system even the smallest falsehood. And here lies the 

 one great unanswerable argument for total abstinence ; 

 not abstinence from alcohol alone, but from all nerve 

 poisons and emotional excesses. The man who would 

 be sane must avoid, emergencies excepted, all nerve 

 excitants, nerve soothers, and " nerve foods," as well as 

 trances, ecstasies, and similar abnormal relations to the 

 external world. If he would keep his mind he must 

 never " lose his head " save in the rest of normal sleep. 



In general, great work is not accomplished under the 

 influence of drugs or stimulants. The great thoughts 

 and great deeds which move the world are those of men 

 who live soberly and whose nervous systems record 

 truthfully the facts of nature and of life. 



What is true of man is true of animals, and true of 

 nations as well. For a nation is an aggregation of 



many men as a man is a coalition of 

 The mind m c ^ Jn the ufe Qf & nad 



of nations. 



Lowell tells us, "three roots bear up 



Dominion Knowledge, Will, the third Obedience, the 

 great tap-root of all." This relation corresponds to the 

 nervous sequence in the individual. And as in general 

 the ills of humanity are due to untruthfulness in thought 

 and action, so are the collective ills of nations due to 

 national folly, vacillation, and disobedience. The laws 

 of national greatness expand themselves from the laws 

 which govern the growth of the single cell. 



