A NATURALIST'S THEORY 223 
My third case is that of an old friend, a naturalist, 
who lives an outdoor life. He too when a young 
man slept badly until he found by chance that lying 
north and south he slept well, and has followed that 
rule for the rest of his life. Having a " curious mind," 
he speculated as to the cause and came to the con- 
clusion that we naturally rest better when our heads 
are cool and our feet warm; that his rule is to lie 
with his head north and his feet south, because it 
must make a difference in the temperature with 
head towards the north pole and feet pointing to 
the torrid zone. One can't very well subscribe to his 
theory, seeing that, the cold and hot zones being so 
far apart, the difference of the earth's temperature in 
a space of five feet nine inches from the crown of his 
head to the soles of his feet can hardly be appreciable. 
However, a poor theory is better than no theory, 
as it affords relief to the mind; and as he has now 
rested comfortably in it for thirty-five years, he doesn't 
want a new one. 
Two or three years ago I was speaking on this 
subject to a friend who is now the rector of a country 
parish, but before going into the Church he was an 
employee of the Government of British Guiana. He 
said that what I told him reminded him of a curious 
experience he had in Guiana when it was his office 
to visit the Indians at various points in the interior 
of the country. He had Indians with him as guides, 
and whenever they camped at night, after putting 
up his hammock in the place he selected for it, near 
the fire, they made a great fuss over putting up their 
