PERFECT HEALrn 121 



ing on its apex. The modern athlete would furnish a model 

 for a Greek statue. Proportion, symmetry and harmony are 

 the foundation and essence of both strength and beauty. 



Our American maxim, "You can't have too much of a 

 good thing," is obviously untrue. Said the genial and wise 

 old writer of Ecclesiastes: ''Be not righteous overmuch, 

 wherefore :.houldst thou destroy thyself? Be not overmuch 

 wicked, neither be thou foolish, why shouldst thou die before 

 thy time? " The wise old Greeks said: '' Too much of noth- 

 ing.'' Symmetry and proportion giving strength and beauty 

 are necessary for the mind as well as the body. Mentally 

 many of us are monstrosities, cripples or " reversed cripples." 



What constitutes a healthy nervous system? What would 

 be its most marked characters, if we could discover so rare 

 a jewel? Its end and purpose, quite obviously, is to secure 

 that every incoming stimulus shall call forth from some muscle 

 or muscles an adequate response, one suited to the emergency. 



A fly alights on my nose or head, stimulating my skin. His 

 tickling is disagreeable and his presence undesirable. It is 

 not necessary to think much about him. Almost unconsciously 

 I wave my hand, and he departs. I may do far more; smite 

 at him and excite myself by addressing winged words as he 

 sails gaily away. I have wasted valuable energy. 



Our whole day's work is no more nor less than a series of 

 responses to stimuli coming from without or within. The suc- 

 cess "of the day's work is measured by the adequacy of the 

 responses, for which, and usually not for the stimulus, we are 

 responsible. The stimulus is merely an occasion. 



I awake in the morning, and the first horrible responsibility 

 of the day confronts me. I must get up. Just how or why I 

 do it, I do not know. I find myself on the floor. The chilly 

 air stimulates me to dress; the pangs of hunger call me to 

 breakfast, and the bell to my work. So it goes all day long, 

 stimulus and response. 



We are continually pelted by stimuli, like rich men besieged 

 by begging letters. To respond to every one means nervous 

 bankruptcy and insanity. Our first question must be: is it 



