104 BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN PROBLEMS 



a loss of energy to the organism and a deterioration 

 of temper and character, and probably (in associa- 

 tion with nervous influences) a state of premature 

 senility. The remedy for this waste of human power 

 is to be found only in methods of education which 

 develop in the inhibitory cortical centers of the 

 brain the needful self-control, and which teach the 

 rational use of food as a source of energy and dis- 

 courage the overdevelopment of the element of 

 self-gratification. 



The capitalism which shows itself in the accumu- 

 lation of food stores early exhibits itself in efforts 

 at housing man and the fruits of his industry. 

 This leads in time to the substitution of indoor life 

 for outdoor life in a considerable measure. Two 

 important consequences come in the train of this 

 progress which must be charged to the debit side of 

 the account. First, a loss of interest in nature and 

 the resultant decadence of a valuable kind of inspira- 

 tion and knowledge ; and second, a reduction in 

 outdoor life and exercise which favors a decline in 

 physical health and which shows itself (especially in 

 overheated houses) in a greater susceptibility to 

 many kinds of infections, and to overdevelopment 

 of the emotional and sensual side of the character. 

 An unexpected result of excessive indoor life in 

 modern communities is a greater susceptibility to 

 tuberculosis, and it is highly suggestive to note the 

 certainly emergent fact that the best treatment of 

 this disease involves outdoor life by day and by night; 



