THE HYGIENE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 169 



and mastered his own situation. In many cases a 

 religious or semi-religious ideal, a conviction of a great 

 and restful reality beyond oneself, has steadied the 

 feverish system and given it poise. 



Of course the progress of recovery is helped by many 

 conditions that may be controlled. The causes that led 

 to the trouble are to be removed so far as they have 

 been discovered. They may be physical disorders, 

 calling for medical, surgical, or dietetic treatment. 

 The wearing of proper glasses may be important. So 

 far as the disturbing factors have been in the nature of 

 care, worry, domestic friction, and disappointment, 

 the circumstances must be made easier where this is 

 possible and fresh interests are to be invited. Life 

 needs to be simplified until it does not seem distracting 

 but it must not be made stagnant. Outdoor exercise 

 is essential. 



Rest and Sleep. We have seen that extreme fatigue 

 fails to bring automatically the rest which is desirable. 

 But ordinarily in health the inclination to rest after 

 activity is fairly trustworthy. The question is often 

 asked how far a change is a rest and how far actual 

 repose is to be insisted on. It is probable that some 

 strenuous individuals have pushed the doctrine that a 

 change is a rest farther than it should be carried. It is 

 a truth with limitations. 



The most complete rest is in sleep. In this state we 

 spend about one-third of our lives. Its nature is not 

 wholly clear but it may be said that to be awake is 

 more wonderful than to be asleep. The evident fact 

 is that the sleeping brain, particularly the cerebrum, 

 is in a condition of reduced activity. Decerebrate 

 animals still appear to alternate sleep and waking, thus 

 showing that the change from one to the other occurs in 

 some degree in the brain-stem. From our human 

 standpoint we think of sleep as a suspension of con- 

 sciousness or at least a shutting out of impulses from the 

 receptors and a great diminution in those going to the 



