SOME MATTERS OF HYGIENE 393 



men of stronger character that most of them wish that 

 the matter had not become so obtrusive. They regret 

 that they have not more firmly confined it within bounds. 

 Nothing else so threatens the symmetry, the efficiency, 

 and the height of attainment of a man's life. 



Clearly, then, it is the part of wisdom to occupy one's 

 energies with many concerns which shall not minister 

 at all to the impulses of sex. As a man who is sailing a 

 boat places himself so that his weight shall tell against the 

 heeling effect of the wind so one should be at pains to 

 trim the craft in which he is making the voyage of life. 

 To bring it upon an even keel he must match other forces 

 against that which is always bearing him over to one 

 side. To drop the figure, he must set himself tasks 

 for the muscles and the intellect which shall keep sex 

 in abeyance. 



Appeals for sexual self-mastery in the name 01 good 

 taste, chivalry, social justice, and even religion have 

 genuine power. But we shall not set them forth in this 

 place. We shall be content to urge that the earnest 

 cultivation of varied interests, the finding of pleasure in 

 work and sport, the stimulus of friendships, and the 

 appreciation of the aged and the little children as well 

 as of our own generation will usually insure the relega- 

 tion of sex to its own proper but restricted place. Habits 

 (which may quite as well be mental as physical) which 

 extend its dominion are calculated to lead on to the most 

 unhappy distortion of ideals and to the forfeiture of the 

 highest prizes. 



Conclusion. The plea that has just been made is for 

 symmetry, for right proportion, for balance. By an 

 extension of the same teaching to all of life we are brought 

 back to the requisites of hygienic living which have been 

 named. Given a body of normal potentialities, one's task 

 is to nourish it, to set it to work and play, to grant it rest 

 as needed, and to provide it with an environment favor- 

 able to its maintenance and activities. Discussion of the 

 environment falls for the most part outside a text-book of 



