PUBLIC^ 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UC-NRLF 
 
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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 • in 2007 with funding from 
 Microsoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/brawiwoxkoverworOOwoodrich 
 
AMERICAN HEALTH PRIMERS. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 W. W. KEEN, M.D., 
 
 Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 
 and Surgeon to St. Mary's Hospital. 
 
AMERICAN HEALTH PRIMERS. 
 
 
 Brain-Work 
 
 Overwork. 
 
 ^dr. h: c. wood, 
 
 Clinical Professor of Nervous Diseases in the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania , Member of the National Academy of Science t etc., etc. 
 
 v>*Ko 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 P. BLAKISTON, SON & CO., 
 
 No. IOI2 WALNUT STREET. 
 188 2. 
 
Copyright 
 PRESLEY BLAKISTON. 
 
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 CONTEN 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. 
 
 INTR OD UCTION 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Are Nervous Diseases Increasing? — General Inten- 
 
 tion of the Book 
 
 . IO 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GENERAL CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 
 Exposure — Sexual Excesses — Alcohol — Tea and 
 Coffee — Gluttony 18 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 WORK. 
 Effects of Emotional and Intellectual Work — In- 
 struments of Brain — Unnecessary Work — Proper 
 Age for Labor — Difference in Labor-Power of 
 Sexes — Woman's Work. . * . * • 43 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 REST IN LABOR. 
 Law of Habitual Action — Proper Time of Work — 
 Variety of Work 76 
 
 M363797 
 
Vlll CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 REST IN RECREATION PAGE 
 
 Laws of Recreation — Sabbath Question — Sunday- 
 School — Games — Exercise — Vacation ; Length, 
 Method, and Place of Spending — Camping Out. 85 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 REST IN SLEEP. 
 Varieties of Sleep — How Sleep Rests — Theories of 
 Sleep — Going to Sleep — Time and Amount of 
 Sleep . . . no 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 Paroxysmal Labor — Stimulants during Labor — 
 Signs of Nervous Breakdown 122 
 
BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THERE exists, both within and without the ranks 
 of the Medical Profession, a wide-spread belief 
 that the exigencies of modern life are producing an 
 ever-increasing amount of nervous diseases. At first 
 sight it seems easy to decide whether this belief be or 
 be not well founded. In reality, however, it is at 
 present not possible to come to a positive conclusion as 
 to how much nervous diseases are upon the increase. 
 Reliable statistics, for America at least, are wanting; 
 and even the figures furnished by the Registrar- 
 General of England are open to grave criticism. 
 As, however, they are the best at command, the fol- 
 lowing table, taken from Dr. Althaus's work upon 
 "Diseases of the Nervous System/' is appended. 
 This table appears to prove that the importance 
 of the role played by nervous disorders does not 
 
 9 
 
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INTR OD UCTION. 1 1 
 
 increase. Another very curious result, seemingly 
 proven by the figures of the Registrar-General in the 
 hands of Dr. Althaus, is that the deaths from affec- 
 tions of the class under consideration are proportion- 
 ately more numerous in rural districts than in cities. 
 Thus, in a period of twenty-five years, the percentage 
 of deaths from nervous diseases was in London, io'66 ; 
 in the south-western counties of England, 11*20 ; in 
 Wales, 15*38. 
 
 In view of these figures, it would appear that the 
 popular belief in the increase of nervous affections 
 rests only upon the superiority of modern diagnosis ; 
 or, in other words, that nervous diseases seem more 
 frequent only because we recognize them more clearly 
 than did our fathers. It seems to me, however, that 
 to most minds they will appear to prove too much. I 
 think most professional men will agree in believing 
 that there is some fallacy underneath them, and will 
 refuse to surrender their belief that the increasing 
 wear and tear of modern life is showing itself in a 
 corresponding increase of nervous troubles. Of 
 course, in the limits of the Health Primer, it is not 
 possible to discuss this question at length; but it may 
 help, in preparing the ground for what is to follow, 
 to point out some of the more obvious, although often 
 forgotten, fallacies. 
 
 In the first place, it is very clear that the figures 
 of the Registrar-General fail to cover the whole case. 
 
12 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 Death is but one act in the Drama of Life. It is 
 notorious that very many of the most troubleful 
 nervous disorders produce not death, but life-long 
 misery, the victim perishing at last of some disease 
 not known as nervous. The record books of the 
 government office take no count of such cases. Thus 
 thirty years of confinement from spinal irritation may 
 end in a consumption, and as such appear in the rec- 
 ord. The history of epilepsy is but too often that of 
 a slow but irresistibly progressive failure of mental 
 power, until it may be the boy or girl disappears in 
 the gloom of the idiot asylum, finally to die of a pneu- 
 monia or a fever. Insanity rages or mopes in the 
 wards of the hospital, in after years to be noted by 
 the Registrar as a fatal dysentery. Often again, and 
 these are the saddest of cases, the mental warp is not 
 sufficient for the asylum, but is enough to render 
 miserable the life of the individual, and to blast the 
 happiness of the home circle. Death is the common 
 lot ; than which the living death, the perpetual tor- 
 tures of a nervous disorder, is far worse. How often 
 is suicide the index of a nervous breakdown ; yet who 
 registers suicide as a nervous disease ? 
 
 A very large number of the most fatal of nervous 
 diseases occur especially in early childhood. These 
 are, in many instances, the direct products of pri- 
 vations or of gross violations of the laws of health. 
 As the science of hygiene is being more and more 
 
INTR OD UCTION. 1 3 
 
 widely studied, and more effort put forth to obey 
 some of the most obvious hygienic laws, the nerv- 
 ous diseases of early childhood are becoming less 
 frequent. As a notable instance may be cited the 
 cretenism of Switzerland ; formerly, in certain dis- 
 tricts, the pathetically disgusting children and adults 
 met one at every turn. Now, under the improved 
 conditions of life, a creten is everywhere a sufficient 
 rarity to attract attention*. The diminution of fatal 
 infantile nervous diseases is probably sufficient to 
 affect the figures of the Registrar. Again, it must be 
 remembered that many of the registered nervous dis- 
 eases are really not diseases of the nervous system, 
 but of some other organ. 
 
 A man dies of convulsions due to excrementitious 
 poison, retained in the system because the kidneys are 
 diseased and unable to separate from the blood the 
 noxious matters which are continually being formed in 
 the body. Another man dies of an apoplexy, because 
 the diseased kidneys have produced simultaneously 
 both a disease of the arteries, whereby their coats have 
 lost their toughness and elasticity, and become brittle, 
 and also an increase in the size and power of the 
 heart, which causes it to drive the blood with excessive 
 force. Usually, the elastic artery dilates, r. <?., gives 
 a little when the on-coming blood-wave abuts against 
 it ; now the elasticity of the artery being gone, no 
 yielding is possible. In the place of toughness is 
 
14 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 brittleness, and when the abnormally powerful blood 
 stream strikes the diseased artery wall, no wonder the 
 latter often gives way and the current breaks through 
 into the brain tissue. The vital fluid, out of its 
 bounds, is a foreign body to the brain ; it tears, lacer 
 ates, destroys, and a death from apoplexy results. 
 
 In both these cases — in the convulsion, in the 
 apoplexy — a death from nervous disease may be 
 registered. Work, worry, the special exigencies of 
 modern life may have had nothing to do with the 
 fatal result. The disease, in fact, has not been of 
 the nervous system, but of the kidneys, the heart, 
 and the arteries. 
 
 Modern science is revealing more and more clearly, 
 on the one hand, that many of the so-called nerv- 
 ous diseases are really affections of other organs; 
 and, on the other hand, that many affections of other 
 organs are in part or solely dependent upon disordered 
 nervous action. Cut a muscle off from its connec- 
 tion with the nerve centres, in forty-eight hours the 
 microscope will show that its structure is altering. I 
 have seen the buttocks slough from a man in a few 
 days, as the result of an affection of the spinal cord. 
 How far pneumonia, and other acute and chronic dis- 
 orders, have their origin in nervous exhaustion, we do 
 not yet know ; but the more we do know the more 
 close does the connection seem. 
 
 A very notable illustration of such a breakdown oc- 
 
INTR OD UCTION. 1 5 
 
 curred last spring in the case of Supervising Surgeon- 
 General Woodworth, of the Marine Hospital Corps. 
 The winter had been spent in the severest labor, under 
 aggravated excitement and amidst great anxiety. It 
 ended in disappointment. Immediately erysipelas and 
 pneumonia appeared, and rapidly proved fatal. Not 
 a death from nervous disorder, but a death undoubt- 
 edly in great measure, if not entirely, due to a giving 
 out of the nervous system : a death from nervous strain, 
 from the rush and worry of life. 
 
 One very suggestive point, already noted, in the 
 figures of the Registrar-General is the greater pro- 
 portion of the deaths from the so-called nervous dis- 
 eases in the rural districts than in the cities. The 
 habitual disregard of hygienic laws in the town is 
 mostly of such a character as to breed fevers, con- 
 sumptions, and similar affections. In the country, 
 especially in the English country, from which our 
 statistics are drawn, the lack of crowding, the abund-. 
 ance of fresh air, the outdoor life, all have a dispo- 
 sition to diminish fevers, consumptions, and allied 
 ills; whilst, on the other hand, the long hours of hard 
 physical labor, the exposure to all sorts of weather, 
 the continuous hardships, have a tendency to cause 
 slow rheumatisms, degenerations of the organs of the 
 circulation and of the kidneys, and finally death from 
 diseases which seem to be, though they are not in 
 their essence, affections of the great nervous centre — 
 
1 6 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. ' 
 
 the brain. It is really the blood-vessels or the kid- 
 neys which are at fault. 
 
 The facts enumerated lead us to accept with great 
 reserve any deduction from the figures of the Regis- 
 trar-General as to the lessening in modern times of 
 nervous diseases. The figures do not belittle the 
 importance of work and worry, they increase that 
 of other causes. For our present purposes, it is com- 
 paratively unimportant whether nervous diseases are 
 or are not on the increase. They certainly are suf- 
 ficiently numerous and serious to warrant the most 
 careful consideration. 
 
 The exact degree, and even the exact character, of 
 the influences of modern life upon the human nervous 
 system for evil may not be fully known ; but certain- 
 ly we do know enough to warrant the statement of 
 the following summary or proposition : Modern life 
 has a twofold action in regard to nervous affections ; 
 it protects from many degenerations which are the 
 results of physical hardships and exposure, but it 
 tends to produce nervous exhaustion, which may end 
 in brain-softening or some other marked nervous dis- 
 ease, or may find its outcome in a pneumonia or a 
 fever. 
 
 It is evident that a Primer like the present should 
 give clear ideas how to meet and avoid not only 
 those causes of nervous disease which are peculiar to 
 our civilization, but also those which have long been 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 17 
 
 operative, and which are more gross in their charac- 
 ter. To these shall be devoted the second chapter of 
 this book, whilst subsequently work and worry will 
 Claim attention, and the final lesson be wrought out 
 of rest — the consoler of every tired and weary 
 worker. As, however, rest is a most important sub- 
 ject, and one of which the fullest discussion is neces- 
 sary, several chapters shall be given to its study. 
 2* B 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 GENERAL CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 
 
 IN the present chapter it is proposed to consider 
 those causes of nervous disease which are in no 
 ways especially incident to modern life. So far from 
 becoming more influential, many of these causes are 
 growing less and less potent, under that gradual bet- 
 terment of life conditions which is steadily taking 
 place throughout the civilized globe. It is very plain 
 that all bad hygienic conditions and surroundings 
 tend to cause brain deterioration — bad food, bad 
 water, habitual filth, living in badly ventilated, damp, 
 or dark houses — these and many similar circum- 
 stances are sufficiently potent. A brain that only 
 gets just enough nourishment to keep it alive will not 
 produce much, and will not develop its powers; a 
 brain that never has its proper bath of oxygen feels 
 the want of its kindly stimulus, and moves most 
 sluggishly in growth, as well as in thought-produc- 
 ing. 
 
 This aspect of the subject in hand is, however, so 
 closely related to general bodily hygiene, that it shall 
 
 18 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 1 9 
 
 not be discussed here in detail. But it does seem 
 right to repeat the oft-told but oft-forgotten platitude, 
 that all these ill conditions act with twofold power 
 upon the developing nervous system of the child : 
 that precisely as a force which does not sensibly 
 affect the mature tree twists the sapling, so do the 
 swaddling-clothes of bad hygienic conditions influ- 
 ence the growing, plastic mass of the child's brain. 
 Many a child's brain is as truly prevented from de- 
 veloping, or as distinctly forced into unnatural dis- 
 tortion by bad hygienic surroundings, as is the Chi- 
 nese lady's foot by its bands and wrappings. The 
 harvest depends not only on the natural soil, but also 
 largely upon the conditions of the early sowing. 
 
 With these preliminary remarks, I shall pass at 
 once to the consideration of those great causes of 
 nervous affection to whose discussion this chapter 
 has been assigned. These may be well studied under 
 two headings, Exposure and Dissipation. 
 
 Allusion has already been made to the effects of 
 physical exposure and hardship in the production of 
 nerve troubles, but the subject will bear a little more 
 elaboration. In the higher walks of life, as well as 
 in the lower, not rarely acute nervous disorders come 
 from sudden exposures. Not long since I saw a gen- 
 tleman who stretched himself upon the cold, damp 
 ground when heated, and the same evening suffered 
 from paralysis, produced by congestion of his spinal 
 
20 BRAIN- WORK AND VER WORK. 
 
 cord. Every practitioner of medicine must have 
 seen instances of paralysis of the face due to sudden 
 exposure of the heated countenance to a draught of 
 cold air, or of thinly-slippered feet to the cold earth. 
 Such cases of acute nervous disease due to sudden 
 exposure are, however, very rare, when compared with 
 those in which the nervous trouble has been second- 
 arily caused by diseases of the circulation or of the 
 kidneys, which have been the immediate result of 
 the exposure. Pneumonias, rheumatisms, etc., fol- 
 lowing a "cold," are patent to everyone; but the 
 damage wrought by the exposure is often far less 
 apparent, though none the less real and destructive. 
 It is to these insidious results that attention most needs 
 to be directed, because they are most often overlooked. 
 
 Not long since a physician of one of our inland 
 cities brought to my office a patient who was believed 
 to be suffering from chronic brain disease, on ac- 
 count of an intense headache, which dated back to a 
 few days' service in the militia, during the disturb- 
 ances in the mining districts of our State. This 
 headache was soon discovered to be due to Bright' s 
 disease of the kidneys, which, in turn, was undoubt- 
 edly the result of the exposure on the mountains. The 
 case is here mentioned, especially because it illustrates 
 so well the dangers which beset not only sudden sol- 
 diering, but also the " camp cure." 
 
 Habitual physical hardships are certainly more fre- 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 21 
 
 quently productive of nervous affections in the lower 
 than in the higher ranks of life ; but it is by no means 
 certain that this is true of what may be called acute 
 physical hardships and acute nervous trouble. Hab- 
 ituated from childhood to extremes of temperature, 
 to damps, and excessive exertion, the backwoodsman 
 or the sailor is a very different being from the man 
 he guides across the trackless waste of land or water. 
 Some years since, a very promising young physician 
 of this city died of Bright' s disease, for which no 
 other cause could even be imagined but that, in some 
 of his numerous camping excursions, the disease pro- 
 cess had been commenced. The person who is hab- 
 itually protected runs a risk from even an hour's ex- 
 posure. 
 
 It cannot be too strongly impressed that exposure 
 is a relative term. One morning, as the mists rolled 
 off the summit of Mount Tahawus, I crawled out 
 from under a pile of blankets, and, almost benumbed 
 with the cold, shiveringly gathered together the em- 
 bers of the dying camp-fire. A guide some yards off 
 rose from the damp ground, where he had spent the 
 night entirely unprotected, except by the cotton shirt 
 and pantaloons which hid his nakedness, and looking 
 at his coat hanging up in the tree overhead, said, 
 "I'll be goll darned if it war n't cold enough last 
 night to put one's coat on." 
 
 Whenever a person accustomed to the luxuries of 
 
22 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 city life goes gypsying, there is always danger from 
 exposure and hardships. "Camp cure," properly 
 carried out, has in it the promise of renewed life and 
 vigor — yea, even of* renewed youth ; but it has also 
 the seeds of death for those who, through ignorance, 
 carelessness, or recklessness, neglect the dictates of 
 that sound reason commonly called common sense. 
 In a later chapter, " camping out ** will be fully con- 
 sidered. For the present, it suffices to call attention 
 to exposure during camp life as a possible cause of 
 nerve troubles, and to the importance of guarding 
 against it. 
 
 In my own experience, exposure plays a very sec- 
 ondary role in the production of apoplexies, brain- 
 softenings, and the like, when compared with dissi- 
 pation. I verily believe that both in the higher and 
 lower ranks of life, whilst work and worry count 
 their victims by hundreds, dissipation counts its by 
 thousands. 
 
 Many of my readers may be tempted to skip the 
 rest of this chapter, which is to be devoted to this 
 subject. Very well. Only this shall be said, Let. 
 him who will, in his virtuous indignation or compla- 
 cency, pass these paragraphs by, search with me the 
 huge quarto of old Webster. In it we read, Dissi- 
 pation, " the act of scattering." The connection 
 with the word of the idea of vice seems to be mod- 
 ern — a natural outgrowth of the terrible scattering 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 2 1 
 
 ©f power which vice produces. My reader may not 
 be vicious, but how many of us can look over our 
 lives and say there has been no dissipation ? Every 
 injudicious effort, every unwise putting forth of power, 
 every indulgence in softening luxury, is a dissipation. 
 It is not, however, of such forms of dissipation that 
 it is intended here to speak. The word is employed 
 to introduce discussion of the excessive indulgence in 
 pleasures, which may be classified as gastronomic, 
 sexual, alcoholic — the groups being enumerated in 
 the reverse order of their fatality. 
 
 Alcohol, and its effects upon the system, would 
 form an appropriate topic for one entire Health 
 Primer ; at such length can it not, however, here be 
 considered. 
 
 If there be one subject about which it is more nec- 
 essary than another to write guardedly, and to beg 
 for an unbiassed hearing, it is alcohol. It has been 
 stated that no American judge, however honest, has 
 been known, in a political case, to decide against his 
 party. Precisely parallel is the case of alcohol. Par- 
 tisanship, pro and con, very often swallows up so 
 completely the reason of the author or speaker, as 
 to make his asserted facts as exposed as are his be- 
 liefs to the witticism of old Dr. Rush, who said : 
 
 "The French lie, and Dr. relies on them." 
 
 The average temperance lecturer is just as ready with 
 his misstatements as the lover of whiskey is with his. 
 
24 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 The results of a very thorough examination of 
 the action of alcohol upon the system, may be 
 summed up in a few words. In small amount, it is 
 an arterial and cerebral stimulant, increasing tli£ 
 activity both of the circulation and of the workings 
 of the brain ; in large quantities, it paralyzes both 
 brain and heart. It is in one sense a food, in that it 
 is capable of being burnt up in the system, and yield- 
 ing force. It does not seem to be, on the other 
 hand, a food in the narrower sense of the term, i. e., 
 it is not a substance capable of being formed into 
 tissue. When in sufficient amount, it seems to have 
 the power of checking tissue change, i. <?., of retard- 
 ing the chemical actions of the body. Taken with 
 food in proper quantity, it aids digestion by stimu- 
 lating the gastric glands to secrete. Taken without 
 food, and in a concentrated form, its irritant proper- 
 ties come into view, and acute or chronic inflamma- 
 tions of the stomach are produced. 
 
 Picked up by the veins of the stomach, the alco- 
 hol is carried directly to the liver, which, when 
 taken undiluted upon an empty stomach, r it reaches 
 almost as concentrated as when imbibed, and by its 
 irritant action chronic inflammation of the liver may 
 be produced. Carried through the blood-vessels, the 
 poison is constantly in contact with their walls, and 
 hence, in habitual hard drinkers, chronic inflamma- 
 tions of the coats of the vessels, with aneurisms and 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 2$ 
 
 apoplexies in their train, are frequent. Escaping 
 from the body through the kidneys, if in excess, 
 alcohol irritates those organs continually by its pres- 
 ence in their most secret structure, and Bright's dis- 
 ease or chronic inflammations of the kidneys result. 
 For the brain, alcohol has an especial fondness. In 
 the hollow places in the cerebrum, known as ventri- 
 cles, it has often been found in almost concentrated 
 solution. 
 
 The deaths directly and indirectly produced by 
 alcohol are so innumerable, that to speak of them is 
 to tell a wearily-known tale. A few figures, how- 
 ever, may be cited, to show the enormous percentage 
 of nervous affections produced by this agent. In 
 1844, it was reported to the English Parliament that 
 in the ninety-eight visited insane asylums of England, 
 containing in the aggregate 12,007 insane persons, 
 1,799, or fifteen per cent, of the cases, were due to 
 excessive indulgence in alcohol, and four per cent, to 
 dissipation, of which drunkenness formed one feat- 
 ure. Dr. Hutchinson reported in the Glasgow asy- 
 lum (1840 to 1846), one out of four cases as alco- 
 holic. More recently (1872), it has been officially 
 stated that in the Wakefield asylum sixteen per cent, 
 of all classes, and the Edinburgh asylum sixteen per 
 cent, of the men and seven per cent, of the women, 
 surfer from the abuse of spirituous liquors. The 
 collated reports of the insane pauper establishments 
 3 
 
26 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 of Engird seem to show that, in eleven per cent, of 
 all their inmates, mental ruin is referable to alcohol, 
 and that those who may be termed alcoholic insane 
 paupers yearly cost the state between $400,000 and 
 $500,000 for maintenance. Figures can be multi- 
 plied, all pointing in the same direction ; but only 
 a few more shall be quoted, gleaned from the dis- 
 ease and death records of Northern Europe. 
 
 Hess found in a Swedish asylum that half the 
 insane men had been drunkards. Evidence, more 
 frightful even than this, of the ravages wrought by 
 alcohol is furnished by the effects of the removal of 
 the heavy tax on alcoholic drinks in Norway. In 
 eleven years, (1825-36,) the percentage of increase 
 for the whole population was, in mania, forty-one per 
 cent. ; melancholy, sixty-nine per cent., and dementia, 
 twenty-five per cent. Worse even than this was the 
 effect upon the rising generation, for idiocy increased 
 one hundred and fifty per cent. That this increase 
 was due to the augmented consumption of alcohol was 
 •shown by the inquiry made by Dahl, who found that 
 out of one hundred and fifteen idiots sixty per cent, 
 were the children of drunken fathers and mothers. 
 Drunkenness in the parent is the cause not only of 
 idiocy in the offspring, but of various other outputs 
 of nervous degeneration and nervous weaknesses. 
 
 Facts such as those just stated barb the arrows of 
 the total abstainer. To combat or to insist upon the 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 2J 
 
 argument that the abuse of alcohol by certain per- 
 sons renders its proper use by others unjustifiable, 
 does not belong to the province of this Primer. 
 
 The present duty seems to be to point out clearly 
 the exact physical relations of alcoholic potations to 
 nerves and their centres. From what has been said, it 
 is plain that the habitual use of large quantities of 
 alcohol is a deadly sin against the brain and its de- 
 pendencies. The results of an occasional debauch 
 are far less serious to the man or woman than are 
 those of habitual slight intoxication or " befuddling.' * 
 Whether there be or be not moral danger or turpi- 
 tude in the occasional drinking of a toddy or a social 
 glass, certainly, if the process be not repeated too 
 often, no physical ill results to the man himself. It 
 is the habitual, every-day use that is dangerous. 
 
 Even when the daily tipple never reaches the point 
 of slight intoxication, it is fraught with evil. Espe- 
 cially is this so if a strong liquor be used in an undi- 
 luted form and upon an empty stomach. A dram 
 taken in the middle of the morning, amounting to 
 two or three ounces of whiskey, is far from service- 
 able. The man who requires a couple of ounces of 
 whiskey or brandy before breakfast upon rising, has 
 travelled some distance on the road towards alcoholic 
 ruin. 
 
 The effect of an occasional excess may be worse 
 for the offspring than for the parent. A child begot- 
 
28 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 ten during a spree would be very apt to be idiotic or 
 epileptic, although the father had been sober for 
 many years previously. 
 
 It is by no means clear that any evil results are 
 produced by the habitual employment of small quan- 
 tities of well diluted alcohol, as beer or wine. Only 
 a few general truths can be affirmed with certainty. 
 It may be assumed as demonstrated, that in the 
 young and vigorous man, not over-worked, and sup- 
 plied with plenty of good food, alcohol is not in any 
 sense a necessity; and if in the least excess does 
 harm. 
 
 It tends to provoke appetite, and promote digestion 
 when too much is already eaten and digested. It 
 tends to limit tissue waste, whereas in health tissue 
 changes rarely, if ever, proceed too fast. It is plain 
 that to the sedentary person, whose unused muscles 
 require little food and waste too slowly, alcohol is 
 doubly dangerous. 
 
 The use of wine is more apt to be injurious to the 
 clerk than to the peasant, to the dweller in the city 
 than to the roamer on the mountains. The old 
 English squire was able to get drunk every night 
 through a long life, because every morning he gal- 
 loped madly twenty or thirty miles across the country 
 after the hounds. The violent exercises renewed his 
 tissues, used up the surplus food, flushed the glands 
 which are the sewers of the system, and washed out 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 29 
 
 through sweating skin the excess of alcohol and 
 the impurities produced by it, and thereby finally 
 prevented his sensuality from having a worse effect 
 than an occasional attack of the gout. 
 
 To those whom hard fate deprives of a supply of 
 proper food, I believe alcohol, in the form of beer or 
 a light " Land-Wein, M is a great boon. It renders the 
 bit of bread and cheese almost a sumptuous meal ; 
 it aids the digestion of coarse food which might 
 otherwise be a load to the stomach, and, like tobacco, 
 takes off some of the edge of physical hardship. In 
 Europe the food of the masses is very restricted in 
 variety, and often scanty and unwholesome. With- 
 out wine or beer, life would, seemingly, be harder 
 than at present. In America every one who works 
 has an abundance of good food, and alcoholic bever- 
 ages are unnecessary to the young and vigorous. 
 
 On the other hand, as the years draw on apace and 
 the forces of life fail, wine becomes a valuable aid 
 and comfort. The weariness of age, with its mani- 
 fold annoyances, craves a slight stimulant narcotic ; 
 the feeble digestion needs strengthening; the general 
 failure of force is well met by a substance whose 
 destruction in the system shall yield without effort 
 much of power. 
 
 In the mentally overworked, wine in moderation is 
 perhaps also beneficial. In all cases it must be borne 
 in mind that there is great danger, not only from 
 3* 
 
30 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 excess of a weak alcoholic drug, but also from un- 
 diluted, strong spirits, even when taken in small 
 quantities. v 
 
 To lay down a fixed amount of alcohol as the cor- 
 rect daily supply of an aged or overworked person is 
 evidently not possible. Individual idiosyncrasies 
 and habits vary too greatly and are too powerful. It 
 is as much as can be said, that without directions 
 from a physician, a half-pint of light claret in the 
 twenty-four hours should never be habitually ex- 
 ceeded. 
 
 Whatever the individual opinion may be on the tem- 
 perance question, it is certain that nowadays there is to 
 every one an abundance of warning as to the effects of 
 alcoholic excess. The value of temperance in the other 
 pleasure of the table is, however, not so often lauded 
 or appreciated. Not long since, in a company of 
 so-called temperance people, I joined a group of men 
 who were discussing with much warmth of feeling the 
 amount of money wasted in the United States on 
 alcoholic drinks. Jolly, well-fed reformers were they, 
 with rotund and placid outlines which bespoke ha- 
 bitual good cheer and good digestion. Each, during 
 the day, had had his usual overplus of food, yet each 
 soon swept from the table a most bounteous quantity 
 of the expensive luxuries furnished by the generous 
 host. One, two, three, perhaps four hundred dol- 
 lars* worth of provision gone to weigh down stomachs 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 3 1 
 
 already overcrowded, to enrich blood already too 
 richly fed, to still further choke emunctories already 
 clogged up with the surplus of food daily furnished 
 beyond the wants of the system. Injury to the sys- 
 tem from alcohol is great, injury from gluttony only 
 less. The yearly waste of money in alcohol in this 
 country is frightful, that of superfluous food only 
 less. Almost every one eats more food than is re- 
 quired ; indeed, the system is so constructed as to 
 provide for a habitual oversupply of food. The meat 
 that is not needed is soon broken up in the blood 
 into substances which are incapable of forming tissue. 
 These substances are really poisonous, and, if allowed 
 to remain, produce grave injury ; but in the skin, in 
 the intestines, in the kidneys, they meet with 
 thousands of glands whose duty it is to remove them 
 from the blood. These glands are the so-called 
 emunctories. 
 
 The power of these excreting glands is limited ; 
 they are only capable of so much labor. When a 
 great excess of food is habitually taken, they are 
 habitually overworked. The blood, under these cir- 
 cumstances, becomes loaded with improper materials ; 
 and it may be that the gouty habit is created, which 
 in turn is prone, sooner or later, to produce degen- 
 eration of the walls of the blood-vessels, resulting in 
 apoplexies. 
 
 The man who gets an occasional jolly hour from 
 
3 2 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 a moderate potation is, perhaps, morally no more of 
 a sinner than he who gets an occasional heavy night 
 from over-indulgence at the table, and appears, also, 
 to suffer no more of permanent physical ill. It is 
 the habitual over-eating or the habitual drinking 
 which plays havoc with vitality. Almost every well- 
 to-do person eats more than is necessary for the re- 
 quirements of the system. As above stated, Nature 
 has, however, provided for the removal of this excess ; 
 but overwork brings enfeeblement, and an excess of 
 noxious matters in the blood is a constant irritation 
 to the emunctories \ enfeebled and irritated, no won- 
 der these long-tried but faithful servants often finally 
 become fatally diseased. The food principles, which 
 are composed largely of nitrogen, are chiefly taken out 
 of the body by the kidneys. Hence it is an overplus 
 of food containing much of the nitrogenous principles, 
 i. e. , meats, which is especially liable to overwork and 
 irritate the kidneys. I believe myself that many seem- 
 ingly inscrutable cases of chronic disease of the kid- 
 neys depend upon excessive flesh-eating. 
 
 Very few, if any, of those who read this book will 
 ever suffer from an insufficient supply of food, but among 
 the so-called working-classes cases of nervous exhaus- 
 tion, hysteria, etc., are frequent, in which the lack of 
 proper nourishment has greatly aided in the produc- 
 tion of the disease. There are multitudes of seam- 
 stresses who chiefly subsist upon bread and tea. Under 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 33 
 
 these circumstances, the impoverished blood fails to 
 nourish the nerve-centres, and headache, hysterical 
 symptoms; and other manifestations of lowered nerve- 
 tone soon manifest themselves. The substitution of 
 beer for tea would be a decided gain in the dietary 
 of such persons. 
 
 As either extreme in food-taking is capable of 
 doing injury, what should be the food of the brain- 
 worker, and is there any especial diet to which he 
 should adhere? The answer to the second part of 
 this double question is : There is no food especially 
 adapted to nourish the organ of thought ; no pe- 
 culiar diet for the brain-worker. He or she should 
 eat such food as other rational beings eat, avoiding 
 excess, but always eating sufficient : bearing in mind 
 the fact, that while Nature provides for getting rid 
 of an excess of food from the system, she has no 
 means of making up a deficiency : remembering, 
 also, that a mixed diet, with plenty of vegetables and 
 fruit — meat usually not more than twice a day — is 
 the best. 
 
 Closely connected with this food subject is that of 
 the use of certain narcotic stimulants — tobacco, cof- 
 fee, tea, and their congeners. It may be thought 
 absurd to consider these substances under the head 
 of dissipation, — certainly the amount of injury 
 wrought by them is not comparable to that produced 
 by alcohol, — nevertheless, they are potent for evil, 
 
 C 
 
34 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 and their influence is very perceptible in the nervous 
 disorders of modern life. 
 
 In a class by itself stands tobacco, a substance 
 wMch acts upon the human organism as a most 
 deadly poison, but which is the daily solace of mill- 
 ions of human beings. In persons unaccustomed to 
 its use, even small quantities of it produce a horrible 
 nausea and vomiting, attended with giddiness and a 
 feeling of intense wretchedness and weakness. When 
 larger quantities are taken, the results are still more 
 pronounced — burning pain in the stomach, purging, 
 giddiness passing into a low delirium, a rapid, feeble, 
 and finally imperceptible pulse, cramps in the limbs, 
 absolute loss of muscular strength, and at last com- 
 plete collapse, deepening into death. 
 
 That a substance possessed of such powers should, 
 in spite of them, be so largely used by man, seems to 
 prove that there is in it some peculiar virtue fitting 
 the needs of the race. What, however, is the differ- 
 ence between the man and the woman, that one 
 should and the other should not crave or need this 
 drug ? A female cynic would say that the distinction 
 rests in the superior selfishness of the lord of crea- 
 tion, who is unwilling that his lady's boudoir, much 
 less her person, shall reek of that odor which he him- 
 self bears about with him. But I believe that, 
 although selfishness is operative, there is a deeper 
 cause for the prevailing difference. There is much 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 35 
 
 reason for believing that tobacco lessens the waste of 
 nervous tissue, enabling it to perform its labor with 
 less friction, so to speak, than would otherwise be the 
 case. Be this or be this not true, it is probable that 
 the tobacco habit is, in great measure, psychical, and 
 it is plain how that this psychical cause is more pow- 
 erful in the man than in the woman. In the busy 
 mart of the city, in the fatigues and excitement of a 
 military campaign, in the exposures of a hunter's or a 
 sailor's life, — wherever men strive and endure, — the 
 nervous system craves something that, after the day's 
 worry and battle, shall soothe it into quiet. The life 
 of the average woman is much more tranquil and uni- 
 form than that of the man, and her work is never 
 so active and intermittent as is his; her day's strife is 
 not so fierce, though it may be never finished. 
 
 These may seem useless speculations, but they 
 really serve to indicate what seems to me the proper 
 use of tobacco by the brain-worker, namely, that its 
 employment should be restricted to the hours of rest 
 and calm ; that it should be used to soothe the nerv- 
 ous system, and help it to settle into the state of 
 quiet in which it recuperates its powers. The more 
 sedentary, and the freer from emotional or other ex- 
 citement, is the life of the brain-worker, the less ex- 
 cuse is there for the use of the narcotic. Moderation 
 in the use of tobacco is almost as necessary to the 
 brain-worker as is moderation in the use of alcohol. 
 
36 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 I am sure that very frequently nervous breakdown is 
 hurried and assisted in its development by the con- 
 stant employment of the drug. 
 
 The manifestations of the excessive use of tobacco 
 are not always uniform, but in the great majority of 
 cases they consist of evidences of excessive nervous 
 irritability, especially affecting the heart. Minor ills, 
 such as chronic sore throat, dyspepsia, etc., are not 
 rare, but the serious symptoms which demand atten- 
 tion are usually connected with the heart. Cardiac 
 distress and palpitations, irregular, intermittent pulse 
 — these, in minor and major degrees, are nearly 
 always present when tobacco has played an impor- 
 tant part in the production of a nervous breakdown. 
 It should never be forgotten, that the sedentary 
 brain-worker bears tobacco much worse than does he 
 who leads an active outdoor life ; and also that the 
 same individual, during his periods of active outdoor 
 exertion, resists the deleterious effects of tobacco 
 much more strongly than he does when a desk-stu- 
 dent. More than this, not only do habits of life, 
 but also individual and race peculiarities, affect the 
 tolerance of tobacco. Idiosyncrasies, i. e., individ- 
 ual peculiarities, must be studied in the individual ; 
 but peculiarities of classes or races of people, i. e., 
 temperaments, may be studied as general princi- 
 ples. It may, therefore^ be laid down as a law, that 
 nervous temperaments badly withstand the deleteri- 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 37 
 
 ons effects of large amounts of tobacco. The phleg- 
 matic Teutonic student lives in an atmosphere of 
 tobacco -smoke which would be irresistible to his 
 nervous American confrere. 
 
 It is evident that, as with alcohol, so with tobacco, 
 no fixed rule can be properly enunciated as to the 
 daily amount to be used. I have seen a large num- 
 ber of cases in which tobacco had evidently been 
 very potent for evil ; and my experience seems to 
 warrant me in stating that very frequently, if not 
 usually, in the nervous American, who works hard 
 with his brain and takes but little exercise, more 
 than two mild cigars a day is injurious; and that it 
 is best to take the "smoke" after dinner, during 
 the hours of rest. 
 
 Theiri, the active principle of tea, and other iden- 
 tical or closely allied alkaloids, are found in various 
 plants, widely separated in their geographical distri- 
 bution, as well as in their botanical relations. When- 
 ever such a principle exists in a plant, that plant is 
 used by the inhabitants of the country as a drink. 
 Our North American Indian had his "Yaupon," or 
 black drink, made out of a species of ilex or holly. 
 Ilex Paraguayensis, Paraguay holly, or Paraguay Tea, 
 furnishes the beverage of a continent; the coffee- 
 bean, the coca-leaf, the chocolate-nut, the true tea- 
 leaf, burden the cbmmerce of the world. Though, 
 like tobacco, these various principles apparently 
 4 
 
3 8 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 lessen the waste of tissue, I conceive the great reason 
 of their universal use is psychical" — men take them 
 because their effects are pleasant. 
 
 Although these substances are similar in their 
 action, they are by no means identical. Of coca 
 and Paraguay tea I have had no experience, and few, 
 if any, of my readers will ever use them. I shall, 
 therefore, say no more about them. 
 
 Of the drinks habitually employed in this country 
 chocolate stands by itself in that it contains compara- 
 tively little of active principle. It is used almost 
 solely on account of its pleasant taste, and I have never 
 seen any ill effects from its use, saving only sometimes 
 a little gastric disturbance, produced, apparently, 
 by the fatty matter it contains. Those with whom 
 chocolate disagrees soon find it out, and it is not 
 necessary to say more about the subject. 
 
 Tea and coffee in their crude state contain the 
 same active substance. Experience teaches, however, 
 that their action upon the system is by no means 
 identical. The reason of this is not far to seek. 
 In the cup of tea the thein exists unchanged. But 
 the coffee-berry is roasted before using, and, whilst 
 part of this same alkaloid probably escapes change, 
 there is formed in the roasted bean, and conse- 
 quently to be found in the cup of coffee, a new sub- 
 stance — the so-called empyreumatic or tarry oil of 
 coffee. This is far from being devoid of activity. 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 39 
 
 Dr. Lehman, the great physiological chemist, has 
 found that it is even more powerful than caffeine itself, 
 especially in producing sleeplessness. 
 
 Daily experience shows, also, that coffee is inju- 
 rious to more persons than is tea, producing in very 
 many headache. This is, probably, in some cases at 
 least, due to its disagreeing with the stomach. It 
 often seems to irritate the mucous membrane. It is 
 notorious that in persons suffering from diarrhoea 
 coffee is apt to act as a purgative. 
 
 In armies, coffee is mostly used as the beverage to 
 lighten the fatigues of the campaign ; but I have been 
 surprised to find tea so greatly preferred in districts 
 of the Northern Wilderness, that the guides would use 
 nothing else. It is probable, therefore, that the two 
 beverages are similar in their general powers. The 
 symptoms most frequently produced by them are 
 headache and general nervousness — often, in coffee- 
 drinkers, dyspepsia being added to these ills, and 
 sometimes also palpitation or other disturbances of 
 the heart. 
 
 Wherever apparently causeless headaches exist, the 
 possibility of their being produced by the undue use 
 of tea or coffee should always be thought of. Not 
 long since I was called in consultation in a case in 
 which a severe, habitual headache had resisted treat- 
 ment for a year or more. Inquiry revealed that tea 
 was very largely taken three times a day, and stopping 
 
40 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 the habit cured the headache. The worst of these 
 cases are seen in poor women, who substitute tea for 
 meat, and live almost exclusively on bread and tea. 
 Under these circumstances, thin or poor blood, with 
 its train of nervousness, neuralgias, hysterias, etc., 
 are sure to be produced, partly by the action of the 
 tea, partly by the lack of proper food, partly by the 
 strain of overwork and anxiety. 
 
 It should never be forgotten, that amongst the 
 well-fed and comfortable there are persons who are 
 unable to withstand the deleterious effects of even 
 small quantities of tea and coffee, and that the 
 amount taken by an individual is not an absolute 
 measure of the mischief possible to be wrought. 
 The general law is, that in the sedentary and in those 
 of nervous temperament, the free use of the cup that 
 cheers, but does not inebriate, is most prone to do 
 harm. 
 
 In Germany, one may watch a yearling baby drink- 
 ing beer with its parents in the Volksgarten, and in 
 our farmhouses, or at the table of the laborer in this 
 country, the toddling child may often be seen with its 
 cup of tea or coffee. Elaborate argument is scarcely 
 necessary to prove that this is altogether wrong ; 
 the sensitive nervous organization of the child is es- 
 pecially susceptible to the action of narcotics. Every 
 physician knows that it is not safe to give a dose of 
 opium to the child proportionate to that administered 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 4 1 
 
 to the adult. In the open-air life of the farm, the 
 tea and coffee may have no perceptible influence on 
 the child ; but in the city, where everything tends to 
 increase the nervous temperament, so often inherited, 
 the effect is decided. To allow even a boy or girl in 
 their teens to study under the influence of one of 
 these stimulants, is an abomination. 
 
 It would seem natural here to speak of the employ- 
 ment of tea and coffee by the adult as a means of as- 
 sisting the brain to labor; but this will be better dis- 
 cussed in the next chapter. 
 
 It is now necessary to approach a subject whose 
 importance forbids silence, but whose nature is such 
 as almost to forbid utterance in a popular work like 
 the present. Yet how is the lesson to be learned, if 
 no one teaches it ? It is scarcely necessary or right 
 here to say much about the dangers of a sexually 
 impure life. Only this should be remembered, that 
 across the life of the man who yields once to temp- 
 tation, lies the shadow of a possible fate to himself, 
 and, if he marries, to those most dear to him, amongst 
 the most horrible on earth ; that no precaution, that 
 no supposed character on the part of his partner in 
 guilt, is any guarantee of escape from a disease which, 
 once induced, is ineradicable from the system. Also, 
 that apparent escape from evil consequences is by no 
 means always a real escape. 
 
 A large proportion of severe brain affections are the 
 4* 
 
42 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 result of contracted disease; and it has been my fate 
 to see many persons who were astounded when told 
 the true nature of their disorder — they having never 
 suspected that they had suffered, although they freely 
 confessed to having, in their youth, exposed them- 
 selves to the contagion. They thought they had 
 escaped, but the early sowing yielded in after years 
 its harvest of suffering and death. 
 
 A paragraph seems here to be required, also, con- 
 cerning the practice of secret vice by the young. This 
 notice is not only necessitated by the natural impor- 
 tance of the subject, but also by the widespread adver- 
 tisements of lying quacks both in and out of the secu- 
 lar, and even the religious, press. The effects of the 
 practice are not nearly so bad as the statements in the 
 advertisements indicate. Indeed, in my own experi- 
 ence, there have been at least two cases in which all 
 the suffering was mental and imaginative, to one where 
 there was a distinct physical basis of complaint. The 
 extent of the quackery shows the richness of the har- 
 vest — if patients were not forthcoming, money to 
 pay for the advertising would soon fail. By any moth 
 who may be tempted to be singed at the candle of 
 this class of quacks, the following considerations ought 
 to be well weighed : The advertising doctor has no 
 knowledge which is not possessed by the regular 
 physician, whilst, in the majority of cases, he is an 
 ignorant man. By advertising, he becomes a profes- 
 
CAUSES OF NERVOUS TROUBLE. 43 
 
 sional outlaw, and a man who is an outlaw among his 
 fellows may be safely set down as unprincipled. He 
 who has a reputation to lose will not risk it for a 
 trifle, much less throw it away. Usually, an advertis- 
 ing doctor is unprincipled as well as ignorant, and 
 will, by lying, by extortion, by keeping ill, etc., filch 
 all that he can from his victim. 
 
 The only sensible course in this, as in other cases 
 of real or imagined illness, is carefully to select a 
 well-educated doctor, and, if any doubt be still felt, 
 to request a consultation with a second physician. 
 
 Secret vice, although its results have been greatly 
 exaggerated, is capable of producing, and does pro- 
 duce, much serious disease. Its practice is by no 
 means confined to males, and is very often persisted 
 in rather through ignorance than through want of 
 virtue. There comes, therefore, in the life of the 
 youth of both sexes, a time when it is the duty of 
 the appropriate parent to explain fully and modestly 
 the relations of the sexes. In regard to girls, Nature 
 points out the appropriate age, and the explanation 
 should immediately follow the first evidences of sex- 
 ual development. In regard to boys, individual needs 
 and circumstances differ, but about the twelfth or 
 fourteenth year would seem proper. Always the par- 
 ent should remember that innocence is not virtue, 
 but ignorance ; and that it is a very poor foundation 
 
44 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 upon which to rest in the temptation that comes, 
 especially in our large cities, to every one. 
 
 In a considerable proportion of the cases of nervous 
 breakdown which have come under my notice, the 
 disorder has had its origin in matrimonial excesses. 
 Intemperance in this regard rests as often in igno- 
 rance as in lack of self-control. Whether indulged 
 in through want of knowledge or want of virtue, ex- 
 cess always brings the penalty in the shape of weari- 
 ness, lassitude, loss of power to do mental work, and 
 gradual impairment of nerve-force, which may pro- 
 gress until the man or woman is reduced to a con- 
 dition of hysterical exhaustion. Sometimes excess 
 seems for a long time to bear no evil fruits, until 
 suddenly a serious organic nervous affection is de- 
 veloped. The danger from this source is especially 
 real to brain-workers, as the robust man, who leads a 
 life of activity in the open air, is far more able to 
 resist. The important point as to where the line is 
 to be drawn between proper and improper indulgence 
 must be settled by each individual for himself, with 
 or without the aid of his physician. To phlegmatic 
 persons, whose occupation is active, and whose work 
 is largely muscular, greater latitude is allowable ; but 
 for the nervous student, great caution is necessary. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 WORK. 
 
 BY the sweat of thy brow shalt thou earn thy 
 bread, is the old curse pronounced for trans- 
 gression. Labor of the lower kinds, — hard, muscular 
 work, — unskilled putting forth of brute strength in 
 mere toil, is a penalty, a sorrow, in spite of all that 
 may be written about the dignity of labor. A skilled 
 occupation is, however, far otherwise. Brain-work, 
 if it be not too severe, brings its reward with it in 
 a continual renewal of interest in life. Possibly the 
 man most to be pitied is he who has no object in liv- 
 ing — no work which gives zest to existence. Never- 
 theless, scarcely lower down in the ranks of misery is 
 he who has too much to do ; whose toil is beyond his 
 strength. 
 
 If the testimony of the people themselves is to be 
 received, the number of overworked members of this 
 community is something frightful in the aggregate; 
 but the catalogue of lazy men, who are forever talking 
 about the multitude of their labors, is not a short one. 
 Those who complain most of being excessively busy 
 
 45 
 
46 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 and jaded are usually the farthest from exhaustion. 
 The very busy man rarely finds time to think or 
 speak about himself. Perhaps in this is the real 
 peril — the danger of breakdown to the valuable life 
 is enhanced by the forgetfulness of self. 
 
 In the eager pursuit of wealth, fame, or other ob- 
 ject, the maxims of wisdom are apt to be forgotten, 
 and the warnings of the physician neglected ; in- 
 deed, too often are the warnings of Nature herself 
 overlooked, and the slight symptoms that presage the 
 storm unnoticed. The really busy man is the one 
 who most needs to read books of the character of the 
 present. To save the life of the man who is always 
 afraid of being overworked, it is hardly worth while 
 to write a Health Primer. 
 
 The human organism is able to endure an enor- 
 mous amount of continuous toil without detriment, 
 provided the labor be performed with as little friction 
 as possible. But .not rarely achievement bears no 
 proportion to effort ; too often* is it the waste, not the 
 legitimate outflow of force, which drains the supply of 
 energy^ 
 
 The thorough-going materialist, who follows his be- 
 lief to its extreme logical conclusion, teaches that pas- 
 sion and thought are the direct results of the action of 
 the brain ; that precisely as spittle is the secretion of 
 the salivary and buccal glands, so are ideas the secre- 
 tion of the brain. The writer and probably the great 
 
work. 47 
 
 majority of the readers of this Primer do not sub- 
 scribe to this doctrine. But the most enthusiastic 
 and orthodox of theologians, whilst asserting that 
 there is something endowed with perpetual life be- 
 hind the physical mass of the cerebrum, acknowl- 
 edge that for correct thinking a healthy brain is 
 necessary; and that the brain is an instrument — a 
 machine, one of the results of whose working is the 
 putting forth of thought. Every machine performs 
 its work in obedience to certain laws, and every 
 skilled mechanic ought to understand at least the 
 general principles of construction of the machine he 
 works with. 
 
 Before a fair discussion of the effect of work upon 
 the brain can be carried on between author and reader, 
 some slight account of the nature and structure of the 
 organ must be premised, for the sake of those who 
 are ignorant of this class of facts. 
 
 The conflict between the various grades of so-called 
 scientific and orthodox thinkers has waged so noisily 
 about the colorless, structureless material which is the 
 basis of all known life, — and in which indeed all known 
 life resides, — that every one to-day is familiar with 
 the word protoplas?n. Do not be startled, O reader. 
 Neither in or out of the paths of orthodoxy are we 
 to wander together in the study of the so-called higher 
 problems of life. I merely want to direct attention 
 to the fact, that the brain is only a mass of protoplasm, 
 
48 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 in the highest degree peculiar, and, as the scientist 
 says, specialized, i. e., set apart for a peculiar func- 
 tion or office. Now all protoplasm dies continually 
 in its own action. It is a sort of sphinx, intensely 
 active, ever dying, but ever renewing itself until the 
 time comes when, from some inscrutable law of its 
 own being, or from the failure of its supply of food, 
 it loses its power of recruiting itself, and in verity 
 dies forever. All bodies are either simple or com- 
 pound. Science has discovered that the ultimate 
 particle of an elementary or simple body has a defi- 
 nite weight, and probably also form. To this ulti- 
 mate indivisible particle the name of atom has been 
 given. A compound body also has its ultimate par- 
 ticle, which cannot be divided without destroying the 
 constitution of the compound body, or decomposing 
 it, as the chemist says. This ultimate compound par- 
 ticle is made up of a definite number of atoms, and 
 consequently has its fixed size, weight, and probably 
 form : it has been graced with the title of molecule. 
 
 Protoplasm is a mass of molecules, and when one of 
 these molecules has performed its life act, be that act 
 the making of a drop of saliva or the deduction of 
 the law of gravity, the molecule dies. The proto- 
 plasmic mass dies not, with its molecules, because 
 other molecules have not exercised themselves, and 
 are perfect. The protoplasmic mass does not waste, 
 because the remaining molecules immediately set 
 
work. 49 
 
 to work to take away the dead matter, and to form 
 a new living particle in the mould left by this 
 removal. Although the work of the brain proto- 
 plasm is so peculiar, its method of work and re- 
 quirements are precisely those of other protoplasm; 
 it must have oxygen and the other foods which 
 are carried through the body in the blood. This ne- 
 cessity requires that blood-vessels should everywhere 
 run through the brain. Again, the extreme speciali- 
 zation of the protoplasm of the nerve-centre causes it 
 to be extremely delicate, whilst many of its actions 
 are so essential to life, that protection from injury, 
 and even from any disturbance by external circum- 
 stances, is eminently demanded. This protection is 
 obtained by so placing the brain in a bony case — 
 the skull — that those portions of the brain which 
 preside over the breathing and circulation, i. e. y 
 the vital functions, are placed at the bottom, and are 
 covered by the whole mass of the brain itself, as well 
 as guarded on all sides by this skull. 
 
 The unyielding nature of the skull, and the softness 
 of the brain tissue, expose the cerebrum to remarkable 
 variations of pressure. If more blood goes into the 
 brain than usual, there must be within the skull an 
 unnatural pressure ; whilst if less blood than normal 
 goes to the organ, the pressure will fall. It is prob- 
 able that the variations in the amount of liquid in 
 the brain cavities compensate in a measure for these 
 5 D 
 
50 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 changes of the pressure, but every surgeon has seen an 
 abundance of cases of the so-called compression of 
 the brain, when consciousness was lost because of the 
 pressure upon the contents of the skull. 
 
 This very sketchy outline of the primary princi- 
 ples of construction and action which govern brain- 
 work is probably sufficient for the necessities of our 
 case. 
 
 It is plain how mental labor affects the brain. 
 A thought is the index-hand that marks the death of 
 a protoplasmic molecule, or rather of protoplasmic 
 molecules, for the production of a thought is usually 
 a complex process involving many molecules. Nor- 
 mally, this molecule or these molecules are removed 
 and replaced by the processes of nutrition as fast as 
 destroyed. If, however, thought follows thought with 
 such instant rapidity that no time is allowed for the 
 reproduction of protoplasmic molecules, by and by so 
 many molecules or working units will have been used 
 up as to produce a constantly growing scarcity of 
 those normal particles which are capable of building 
 up the new working units that shall replace those that 
 have been wasted by the continuous mental efforts. 
 Long before such a condition is reached, a profound 
 sense of weariness usually gives an abundant warning 
 that labor must be desisted from, and that the brain 
 imperatively needs rest in which to rejuvenate itself. 
 If during the day's labor not too much work has 
 
WORK, 5 1 
 
 been performed — if the process of destruction has 
 not gone too far, the brain, during the night's sleep, 
 is able to reconstruct all that was injured, and, when 
 the light summons to active life, to start as fresh and 
 perfect as it was the previous morning. If, however, 
 the work has been a little too severe or the period 
 of recuperation a little too short, the brain does not 
 quite recoup itself for its expenditures, and starts in 
 the morning a little less capable of effort. The loss 
 may be so slight as not to be perceptible, but it is the 
 many mickles which make the muckle. Let us sup- 
 pose, for illustration, that instead of there being in 
 the brain on the second day 30 million million of 
 molecules, there were only 29 million 999 thousand 
 900 million of perfect working units. The account 
 would be short; but so little short, that all would 
 seem perfect, the deficiency not being perceptible. Let 
 the process^go on week after week, month after month, 
 year after year — a constant growing poverty, no more 
 irresistibly perceived than many a slowly growing pe- 
 cuniary bankruptcy, — until at last not enough of mole- 
 cules are left for labor, and nervous breakdown ensues, 
 with perhaps scarcely enough of molecules remaining 
 to rebuild at all the mental machine. It is not hard to 
 understand, in this light, why so long time is required 
 for the recovery of a case of nervous exhaustion. 
 The brain merely tired may have the power of re- 
 forming a million of atoms in a night. The brain 
 
5 2 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 which has been using its substance can perhaps build 
 only fifty atoms in the specified time, and months are 
 required to replace the wasted tissue. Worse than 
 this, it would seem that the exhausted brain produces 
 molecules not only small in quantity, but also poor in 
 quality. It develops new molecules very slowly and 
 also very imperfectly. Hence it happens so often 
 that the brain, once thoroughly used up, never re- 
 covers its pristine powers. 
 
 It is a well-known fact, that the worst breakdowns 
 are those which have been very slowly brought about. 
 This may be because the brain becomes, as it were, 
 able to produce work and to destroy atoms without 
 the long-neglected sense of weariness being felt ; a 
 sort of benumbment coming over the organ, which 
 renders it insensible to its own needs, until it comes 
 to its last working units without having perceived its 
 oncoming poverty. It is like a spendthrift who will 
 not look at the wasting of his principal, but calls 
 everything he can get his hands on income until the 
 whole is gone. 
 
 It is indisputable, that the way in which mental 
 work is done influences greatly the destruction of 
 cerebral protoplasms, i. e., the wear of the brain. 
 It is therefore a matter of the greatest importance to 
 understand the best ways of working. In this, as in 
 so many other things which we are studying, indi- 
 vidual peculiarities are of importance. Of still 
 
work. 5 3 
 
 greater importance, however, are the wider principles 
 of uniform application to all classes of persons. 
 These shall be now considered ; idiosyncrasies seem- 
 ing to arrange themselves for consideration better 
 with the topics of the next chapter. 
 
 In the first place, it is plain that, if from any cause, 
 the brain fails to perceive the weariness which is its 
 safeguard, it may continue to go on in some supreme 
 effort of continuous work until its substance has been 
 so wasted that there is not enough left for speedy 
 recuperation. Usually, the most intense effort only 
 demands a proportionately complete and prolonged 
 rest. But there would seem to have been cases, or so 
 at least it is asserted, in which the continuous putting 
 forth of energy has been so severe and so protracted 
 as actually to use up the brain, and not leave enough 
 of power to carry on the vital action, and immediate 
 death has ensued. Such results as these plainly can 
 not occur under any humdrum circumstances. It 
 needs the excitement of battle to prevent the warrior 
 from feeling a severe wound, and to such excitement 
 must that be comparable which benumbs the brain 
 so completely to all sense of tire and causes it to 
 destroy itself. 
 
 The man who is set to ditching very rarely injures 
 
 his muscles or his nervous system by his day's work, 
 
 whilst he who is half- crazed by the excitement of 
 
 the boat-race may readily give himself life-long in- 
 
 5* 
 
54 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 jury. What is true of muscular labor is also true 
 of brain-work. Labor without excitement is far less 
 dangerous than work with excitement. The banker 
 who struggles in the hoarse, surging crowd of a 
 Black Friday does not do the intellectual work 
 of a scholar's day; but it may be months before 
 his nervous system recovers from the strain of that 
 one day, in which anxiety and excitement have had 
 the supremest mastery. Under these circumstances, 
 health and fortune are but too often wrecked to- 
 gether. Nervous exhaustion is very frequent amongst 
 brokers and stock speculators, but not more so than 
 among those whose speculative operations are based 
 upon grain, gold, or any other form of property. 
 Stocks are more easily handled and transferred than 
 most other valuables, and offer accordingly more 
 temptation to the gambling spirit. It is, however, 
 speculation, and not what it deals in, which marks 
 the transaction. Speculators are often said to have 
 broken down from overwork. In most cases, how- 
 ever, the man has really performed but little mental, 
 and absolutely no physical, labor. He has been 
 crushed, not by work, but by emotional excitement. 
 Here we come upon a most important factor in 
 the nervous destruction of modern life, which has 
 not before been noted in this Primer. Intellectual 
 work without excitement rarely kills, and only 
 after years of almost continuous labor. Even when 
 
work. 55 
 
 there is a moderate degree of habitual excitement, 
 death from overwork is a very lingering one. The 
 acute danger is confined almost exclusively to exces- 
 sive emotion. Why excitement renders work dan- 
 gerous, it is not difficult to see. As already stated, 
 excitement benumbs feelings In other words, the at- 
 tention of the patient is so riveted by the object which 
 causes the excitement, that minor attractions are un- 
 noted. The excitement prevents the brain from per- 
 ceiving the sense of weariness which warns that the 
 limit of safe labor is reached, and that the time has 
 come for rest. Then, again, in intellectual as in all 
 other forms of work, speed is attained only by the 
 exercise of great power — the difference of effort on 
 the part of the racer during the contest, and of a 
 cart-horse drawing the sulky which was used in the 
 race slowly round the track, is patent. A moderate 
 amount of excitement probably does no greater in- 
 jury than by increasing the speed and time of work. 
 In intense emotional excitement, the case is far 
 otherwise. It is inconceivable that any momentary 
 intellectual effort should permanently injure a man ; 
 it certainly is conceivable that a sudden emotion 
 should kill a man, and for it to seriously injure a per- 
 son is not of rare occurrence. Did any man, by think- 
 ing, ever change the color of his hair in a night? 
 Fright has undoubtedly effected such a change. Every 
 physic iar in large nervous practice must have seen 
 
56 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 hysteria, St. Vitus's dance, or other severe nervous 
 disease, developed by fright. Some little time since, 
 a child was brought to me by her parents with this 
 statement : The girl, apparently in perfect health, 
 went on a summer afternoon to walk in the country. 
 Overtaken by a sudden thunder-gust, she took refuge 
 under a tree. A violent stroke of lightning felled 
 a tree in her immediate vicinity, and in* a few hours 
 she was suffering from a violent chorea (St. Vitus's 
 dance), which required months of careful treatment 
 for its cure. 
 
 The method in which emotion acts upon the ner- 
 vous system is probably complex. In the first place, 
 it seems to me clear that in some way, not, per- 
 haps, at present to be understood, the molecules of 
 the protoplasm are directly affected. The stoppage of 
 the heart by fright or sudden fury, and tTie rush of its 
 movements in anger, are familiar proofs that emotion 
 paralyzes nervous action, or provokes intense dis- 
 charge of nervous force. The depressing effect of 
 long-continued, severe grief can hardly rest upon 
 other foundation than a slow change wrought in the 
 structure of the nervous system by the influence of 
 the emotion. With an instrument to measure the 
 force with which the blood moves in the arteries, it 
 is easy to demonstrate that physical pain produces 
 an immediate discharge of nervous energy. 
 
 But the result of excessive emotional excitement 
 
work. 57 
 
 does not solely depend upon the causes alluded to. 
 The excitement which strong emotion produces may- 
 be so intense as to be, in itself, a direct source of 
 peril and injury. In this excitement the speed of the 
 nervous action tells. Then, again, in many cases, 
 there is an alternation of conflicting emotions. This 
 is notably the case of the broker or stock speculator. 
 Indeed, in almost all cases of persistent, strong emo- 
 tional excitement, joy and fear, hope and anxiety, 
 continually alternate. These sudden transitions make 
 the brain comparable to an engine which is being run 
 not only at its utmost speed, but with continual rever- 
 sals, which strain its every part. 
 
 Under the influence of strong hope, the heart's ac- 
 tion is intensified, and the force of the circulation 
 increased ; whilst by fear the heart is paralyzed. 
 Consequently, there is a continual varying of the 
 pressure of the blood in the closed cavity of the 
 skull, so that the brain suffers upon a Black Friday 
 not only from its own intense molecular oscillations, 
 but also from a continual varying of the blood pressure 
 upon it. The mechanical influence of the sudden 
 alterations of pressure upon the brain, under the play 
 of conflicting emotions, is evidently one source of 
 peril, and is, perhaps, not sufficiently recognized. 
 Some time since, in my experience, a gentleman who 
 had failed in business, and whose sensitive nature 
 had suffered intensely because he was dependent for 
 
5 8 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 the necessaries of life upon his friends, unexpectedly 
 received, whilst at the table of an intimate associate, 
 a valuable government appointment. He ceased eat- 
 ing, and a few minutes later went to his boarding- 
 house, and up-stairs to his room. A short time after- 
 wards he threw open the window and yelled murder 
 into the night. Attracted by his cries, some persons 
 entered the house, rushed up-stairs, and found him 
 lying upon the floor. He had just sufficient con- 
 sciousness to state that some one had hit him upon 
 the side of the head ; in a few moments he became 
 unconscious, and soon died. The circumstances 
 were such as to render it certain that no one had en- 
 tered his room before the alarm which he had raised. 
 He had, consequently, not been struck. There was 
 no external bruise, but at the post-mortem examina- 
 tion a vessel was found to have been torn upon the 
 side of the head on which he had said the blow 
 had been received. Unquestionably, the sensation 
 of a blow was produced by the sudden outpouring of 
 the blood into the brain. In this case the walls of 
 the blood-vessels were certainly weakened by dis- 
 ease, and it is possible that this disease was in part 
 due to the long-continued despondency. Certainly, 
 the sudden passage from this condition of low spirits 
 to one of great exhilaration increased the force of the 
 circulation. The weakened arterial walls being una- 
 
WORK. 59 
 
 ble to resist this, gave way, and the blood escaped 
 into the brain. 
 
 In worry, not work ; in excitement, not calm in- 
 tellectual labor, lies the greatest peril. Nevertheless, 
 the calmest intellectual labor may become excessive 
 toil, and most men have to perform their brain-work 
 under more or less excitement. It is therefore essen- 
 tial to study how the greatest amount of labor can be 
 performed with the least possible strain or injury to 
 the nervous system. Of course, the rule to reduce 
 the excitement to as low a point as is possible must 
 never be forgotten. Again, if excessive excitement 
 be endured, prolonged rest must follow it. The rest 
 is not solely required for the recuperation of the ner- 
 vous protoplasms. The excitement, of course, causes 
 an afflux of blood to the part ; the blood-vessels are 
 dilated to their utmost. So soon as the excitement 
 subsides, they contract more or less completely to 
 their normal calibre. If the distention of these ves- 
 sels be too severe or too prolonged ; or if, what is a 
 more real danger, the dilatation be too frequently 
 repeated at short intervals, damage is wrought by the 
 coats of the blood-vessels being weakened. This 
 weakness prevents them from recovering their normal 
 condition or tone. Thus gradually is set up a state 
 of habitual excess of blood or congestion in the 
 brain. For it must be remembered that the force qf 
 the blood current tends everywhere to stretch weak 
 
60 BRAIN- WORK, AND O VER WORK. 
 
 vessels, to form, as it were, pools and bayous in 
 every place where the channels are opened out to 
 them. The more closely this subject is investigated, 
 the more evident becomes the need of a rest after 
 labor, proportionate in extent not only to the labor 
 itself, but to the excitAnent under which it is per- 
 formed. The nature of the rest thus required will 
 be fully discussed later ; at present, we must examine 
 the laws in obedience to which the brain shall be en- 
 abled to perform excessive work with the least possi- 
 ble injury to its structure. 
 
 If any machine is being run to its utmost speed, 
 great care is exercised to diminish resistance and 
 friction to as great an extent as possible. The good 
 mechanic keeps the cutting-bar of his planing-machine 
 as sharp as possible ; a well-drilled sawyer neglects 
 not the teeth that chew their way through the log. 
 The thinking machine — the brain — works with cer- 
 tain tools. It is clear that, if these tools or instru- 
 ments be dull or out of order, an enormous loss 
 of power must occur in using them. The most im- 
 portant of these tools of the brain are the special 
 senses. It is of the first importance to have the 
 organs of the special senses in good order. The 
 machinist who neglects his tools is usually consid- 
 ered a "poor tool." Yet there are hundreds of 
 brain-workers who never think that they are using 
 tools at all, much less what those tools are and in 
 
WORK. 6 1 
 
 what condition they may be. Perhaps most of those 
 who have ever overworked their nervous system until 
 a^ state of general nervous irritability was reached, 
 have noticed how irritating it is under these circum- 
 stances to listen to a person who speaks indistinctly. 
 Many have no doubt suffered, from the effort to see 
 or hear that which is indistinct, an almost unendura- 
 ble increase of nervousness, without knowing why the 
 effort was so irritating. The reason is not, however, 
 far to seek. 
 
 The history of the recognition of a spoken word 
 may be briefly summarized. An impression is made 
 by the moving air upon the drum of the ear. The 
 membrane vibrates, and its movements or vibrations 
 are propagated along the auditory nerve in the inner 
 apparatus of hearing until they are registered upon 
 certain nervous ganglia, or collection of nervous mat- 
 ter, at the base of the brain. If this registration be 
 distinct, sharp, clear, the higher perceptive organs 
 of the brain read it without difficulty, and the list- 
 ener becomes conscious of the word without an effort. 
 If, however, the intonation be indistinct, the percep- 
 tive organs are only able, by a decided effort, to de- 
 cipher the blurred image recorded in the lower brain. 
 This effort normally may not be painful ; but if the 
 brain be exhausted, then the increased nervous irri- 
 tability is the indication of the effect of the strain. 
 The increased mental effort necessary in imperfect 
 6 
 
62 BRAIN- WORK AND VER WORK. 
 
 hearing is very perceptible to most persons who are 
 listening to a foreign language which they know well 
 by the eye, but to whose sounds the ear has not been 
 well accustomed. To the partially deaf, a similar 
 effort is necessary in following an ordinary conversa- 
 tion. Hence partial deafness adds materially to the 
 brain strain in an intellectual worker. In the case 
 of a lawyer of some note in this State, wax in the 
 ear exerted a perceptible influence in the causation 
 of a general nervous irritability and weakness, which 
 was fast impairing professional usefulness. A syringe 
 for the ear and a pair of spectacles for the eyes made 
 a happy man, and added some thousands a year to the 
 family income. 
 
 The most important of the perceptive instruments 
 of the brain, that which is most used and most apt 
 to get out of order, is the eye. This organ is won- 
 derful in its constructive adaptation to its duties. 
 But, as it exists in civilized man, whilst theoretically 
 all that can be desired, practically it is often very 
 imperfect. There are, in fact, as few perfect eyes as 
 perfect sets of teeth. 
 
 An image falling upon the front of the eye is 
 brought to a focus upon a certain nervous expanse 
 called the retina, at the back of the organ. The 
 impression made upon the retina is transmitted to 
 the nervous ganglia at the base of the brain and there 
 registered, to be taken note of by the higher centres 
 
WORK. 63 
 
 which preside over conscious visual perception. If 
 the rays of light be accurately focused upon the ret- 
 ina, a sharp image is there formed ; the retinal im- 
 pression being clear and distinct, that at the base of 
 the brain is correspondingly so. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, the perceptive organs read without labor 
 what is passing in the outer world. 
 
 It is plain, that if there be optical defects in the 
 eye, the retinal image will be indistinct, and only by 
 an effort will the upper brain be able to recognize the 
 blurred record made upon the lower brain. Moreover, 
 there are certain muscular structures within the eye 
 whose function it is to alter the position of the ocular 
 lenses so as to accommodate the eye to seeing ob- 
 jects at various distances. When there is any physi- 
 cal defect in the eye, these muscles are continually 
 straining in the endeavor to make up for the optical 
 deficiencies. 
 
 The muscles become wearied out by the incessant 
 overwork and act irregularly ; possibly they fail from 
 paralytic feebleness to change the focusing of the eye 
 to suit the ever-varying needs of ordinary seeing, or 
 more often the movements are rendered irregular and 
 restricted by cramps. As the result of the muscular 
 disorder, the image on the retina is further blurred, 
 and the brain suffers more and more. It is also very 
 probable that the imperfectly focused image acts 
 upon the retina itself as an irritant, in the course of 
 
64 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 time affecting its structure and impairing its power 
 of transmitting the image to the brain. In the be- 
 ginning, the eye trouble is only an easily remedied 
 mechanical defect ; uncorrected, in the end, it may 
 become a serious implication of the whole eye. 
 
 This process of eye-strain and brain-strain may go 
 on unrecognized for years, until at last the individual 
 is arrested by the giving out of the brain, or by the 
 retinal irritations becoming so severe that vision is 
 no longer endurable. In the great majority of cases, 
 however, Nature does not play this trick upon the per- 
 son who is insulting the law of his being, but gives 
 an abundance of warning in the form of headaches, 
 etc. Eye headaches are usually referred to the brow 
 itself, but sometimes to other portions of the head. 
 Pain in the brow or in the eyeball, inability to read 
 at night without discomfort, the fact that an evening 
 spent in the dazzling glare of a theatre is followed 
 by a morning of headache, a slight indistinctness of 
 vision, or sense of weariness or effort in seeing, any 
 of these warnings ought to be sufficient to send the 
 brain-worker post haste to the oculist. 
 
 To dwell upon the propriety of avoiding unneces- 
 sary work seems to be giving utterance to platitudes. 
 Not five days since, however, I saw a grain merchant 
 of large connections, who boastingly said, " Doctor, 
 I go on ' Change, buy and sell thousands of dollars 
 worth of wheat, flour, etc., and never take note of a 
 
WORK. 65 
 
 transaction until my return to the counting-house, 
 when I dictate to the clerk, who writes it out. In 
 twenty years I have not made a mistake." This no 
 doubt showed the possession of a very good memory, 
 but it certainly revealed the existence of a very poor 
 judgment, or the absence of proper thought. The mem- 
 orizing was really an added strain which was unneces- 
 sary, and none the less real from being unfelt. It 
 wa*s a most foolish addition to a sum of labor which, 
 in its final footing up, proved too much for the brain 
 of which it was required, and rendered mental bank- 
 ruptcy inevitable. 
 
 A very common form of unnecessary labor on the 
 part of authors is the unnecessary use of the pen. 
 There is a physical fatigue of the arm which reacts 
 most powerfully upon the cerebral territory which 
 directs that arm. Most of my readers know some- 
 thing of the so-called writer's palsy or writer's cramp, 
 in which the muscles of the forearm strangely lose the 
 power of guiding and driving along the pen, although 
 capable of wielding the blacksmith's hammer. This 
 affection is largely a local one, and is usually looked 
 upon purely as such ; but I am sure, at least in some 
 cases, it is connected with more deep-seated exhaus- 
 tion of nerve power. I have seen it in the clerk, who 
 showed no signs of brain failure, and I have seen it in 
 the hard -worked scientist, as the first symptom of a 
 progressive general failure of a nervous energy.* This 
 6* E 
 
66 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 would indicate what experience teaches to be true, 
 that the mere physical act of writing aids in using up 
 the vital powers of the hard-worked author. Any 
 one who has ever employed an amanuensis long 
 enough to become accustomed to the habit of dicta- 
 tion will, I think, confirm the much greater ease of 
 composition in this way than with the pen. If the 
 amanuensis be a short-hand writer, speed as well as 
 ease is gained. 
 
 As excessive emotion is so much more injurious to 
 the brain than excessive work, it is of primary im- 
 portance to the brain-worker to control the feelings. 
 This is true both of sudden paroxysms of passion 
 and of long-continued states of feeling. No less a 
 physiologist than John Hunter is said to have lost 
 his life by allowing himself to get angry, although 
 he well knew that the strain of passion was very dan- 
 gerous to his diseased heart. 
 
 The danger from over-ambition and anxiety are 
 much greater in this country than in Europe, pre- 
 cisely as life is more unsettled and its possibilities for 
 work and advancement much greater here than in the 
 older lands. Few things strike the American more 
 forcibly, when travelling in Germany and other con- 
 tinental countries, than the patient and even happy 
 contentment of the people with a hard lot as com- 
 pared with the feverish discontent to which he is at 
 home accustomed. 
 
WORK. 67 
 
 Many of my readers may say at this point, this is 
 very true, but we cannot control our mental states. 
 Here it is, however, where men overlook the influence 
 which they have over themselves and their destiny. 
 If a man believe in the Christian religion, he has no 
 logical excuse for discontent and over-anxiety. It is 
 taught that there is a good Father, who watches over 
 each person who tries to do right, and so takes care 
 that all shall in the end work for his good. Any one 
 who really believes this with a tithe of the force that 
 the religious melancholic believes that he is doomed 
 to eternal woe, is, by his belief, not only rendered 
 calm in danger, but happy and contented in adversity. 
 All over-ambition and anxiety must be rooted in want 
 of resignation to suffer in the present for future good, 
 or in want of absolute trust in the truth of Christian- 
 ity. Since the few people, who are not willing to 
 labor in the present for future competence and hap- 
 piness, are mostly those whose physical natures shelter 
 them against over-anxiety ; in the vast majority of 
 cases, lack of real belief in a Divine Providence is 
 the true cause of the discontent which, in so many 
 cases, helps to wear out the mental powers. 
 
 On the other hand, if a man can gain no comfort 
 from a Christian faith, he yet can do much to lessen 
 the emotional strain upon himself. Many persons 
 obtain some solace from other philosophies than that 
 of Christ. Fatalism really does at least benumb the 
 
68 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 sensitiveness of thousands of the race. The futil- 
 ity of striving against the inevitable has, to some 
 minds, an effect comparable to that upon conscious- 
 ness of the first violent blow the maniac deals his 
 head as he rushes against the wall. It is not, how- 
 ever, to such points as these, but to the more indirect 
 methods in which a man may mitigate the effects 
 of emotional strain, that I want especially to direct 
 attention. 
 
 There are but very few men who cannot, by a 
 direct act of the will, control their anxiety and am- 
 bition, at least in some measure. The man who does 
 not exert his will to influence his temper, is not much 
 respected by his fellows. We teach our children 
 from childhood the necessity of such control, and 
 exercise them in it. If a sudden emotion can be to- 
 tally suppressed, a more continuous one can be kept 
 under. This truth should be taught everywhere. 
 Men need to learn that by an effort they can inhibit 
 anxiety as well as anger. 
 
 One rule, into whose observance most men can 
 train themselves, is to avoid business cares out of 
 business hours. The man who carries his load eight 
 hours a day, will carry it longer than he who bears it 
 eighteen hours out of the twenty-four. There are 
 various helps at hand towards this relief — the collect- 
 ing of postage -stamps, the game af whist, the follow- 
 ing of some natural history study, the opera, a 
 
work. 6g 
 
 thousand methods of diverting the attention and 
 causing the mind to forget its strain, will suggest 
 themselves. In these methods there is, of course, 
 diversity of value. This shall be discussed in the 
 next chapter. At present, attention is only called to 
 the fact, often lost sight of, that by direct and indirect 
 means cares can be laid aside, and that the proper 
 doing of this makes an enormous difference in the 
 working power of a man. 
 
 This very day I was consulted by a gentleman, who 
 said : " Doctor, I swore to sift a certain matter to the 
 bottom, and kept thinking and thinking about it, 
 until here I am," It is exactly such action as this 
 against which I want here to protest most strongly. 
 The saddle that is never off soon galls. Systematic, 
 purposive, wilful laying aside of care and work is a 
 necessity to him who would accomplish his utmost. 
 
 Before passing to the subject of brain-rest, it is 
 right to speak of a fruitful cause of brain-failure and 
 of general shipwreck in life, namely, severe work at 
 too early an age. 
 
 During all the early years of life, the cerebral mass 
 is, for several reasons, excessively liable to evil results 
 from overwork. When the child is born, the brain 
 is only so far developed as to be the seat of an im- 
 pulse to reach for the breast and extract nourishment 
 therefrom. By and by into the sodden countenance 
 comes an expression of consciousness. The child 
 
JO BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 begins to feel, to hear, to see. From that time forth 
 development of the brain goes on rapidly. This de- 
 velopment, it must be remembered, is not a mere 
 growth, but a constant unfolding of latent powers — 
 a continual progress into a higher and higher life. 
 
 It is not necessary to show how, under these cir- 
 cumstances, overwork is especially dangerous. The 
 terrible possibility of diverting energy which should 
 be spent in development to the needs of labor, and 
 thereby dwarfing the brain itself, is never to be lost 
 sight of. No real work should ever be required of 
 the child under six years of age. Many children can 
 learn without work. Play that teaches, as in that mod- 
 ern improvement for very young children, the Kinder- 
 garten, does no harm. As the child progresses, short 
 hours, and strict attention during them, should con- 
 stantly be the aim. 
 
 The average age of the American college-student 
 is much less than that of his English brother ; con- 
 sequently, it is foolish to expect of him as large an 
 amount of work as is concentrated into the Cam- 
 bridge life of an English scholar. The pressure that 
 is put upon an ambitious boy at most of our higher 
 institutions of learning is very great ; some of the 
 young men break down at once — not, perhaps, suf- 
 fering from any nervous disorder, but dying of con- 
 sumption, or other disease of the constitution. Other ' 
 men pass brilliantly through their college career, and 
 
WORK. 7 1 
 
 afterwards disappear; whilst late in life to the front 
 come men whose lives at college have been not dis- 
 tinguished at all, or more distinguished for "larking" 
 than for study. This is, in part, no doubt due to the 
 fact that those qualities of mind or character which 
 give pre-eminence in the school-room, are often not 
 those which yield the richest fruit in later life. The 
 power of acquiring knowledge is the faculty which 
 puts the schoolboy at the head of his class. Very 
 often it is not associated with the power of using 
 knowledge to advantage, or with the judgment and 
 foresight which are so effective in the world's battles. 
 Again, in many cases, the young man does not 
 stand forward in the college course because the 
 motive power is wanting. The praises of the teach- 
 ers and older friends are no stimulant to him ; the 
 plaudits, the petty honors, are to him very little, com- 
 pared with the joyous life of the playground. When, 
 however, the struggle for existence comes, and the 
 pressure of real life is upon him, the motive is fur- 
 nished, — the latent, perhaps unsuspected, abilities 
 are aroused, the energy of play becomes the power 
 of work. Though these and similar reasons will ac- 
 count for many of the cases of failure of youthful, 
 brilliant promise, it can hardly be doubted that, in 
 many instances, there has been an arrest of brain 
 development, produced by too severe use in early 
 life. 
 
J 2 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 The injury thus wrought in the young brain by ex- 
 cessive study may not be apparent at the moment, 
 though, for this, it is none the less real. There have 
 been numerous cases in which the brain of the stu- 
 dious child has developed rapidly for awhile, and then 
 suddenly ceased to expand. It is perfectly conceiv- 
 able that a too rapid growth shall give an imperfect 
 result. Very 'rapid increase in other portions of the 
 body than the cerebrum often results in imperfection, 
 and it would seem as though, in the class of cases just 
 spoken of, the brain has developed so rapidly that its 
 tissue is not perfect ; or, perhaps it has exhausted all 
 its developmental force, so that, instead of increasing 
 in functional ability during the fifteen years succeed- 
 ing college life, it barely maintains its hastily-acquired 
 development. 
 
 There has been of late years a vast deal of atten- 
 tion paid to female education, and the co-education 
 of the sexes is the fashionable reform. The muscles 
 of the average man weigh just so much more than do 
 the muscles of the average woman, and the brain of the 
 average man just so much more than does the brain of 
 the average woman. When woman can compete with 
 man in muscular contest, she will probably be able 
 to compete with him in intellectual rivalry. 
 
 Every physician in large city practice must have 
 seen the sad results from the endeavor to put a man's 
 work upon a woman. Among the saddest wrecks of 
 
WORK. 
 
 73 
 
 our modern civilization are the faded, heartless, help- 
 less, and hopeless women who have been driven to 
 ruin by the stern necessity of daily bread ; but, per- 
 haps, sadder than these wrecks, because more unnec- 
 essary, are the sacrifices to the Moloch of excessive 
 culture made of their daughters by men of wealth and 
 position. 
 
 That co-education of the sexes does not work more 
 injury than, it does, is largely due to the fact that 
 woman ripens earlier than does man — that the girl 
 of eighteen is, in physical maturity, fully equivalent 
 to the youth of twenty-one. As a result of this, at 
 the ages of college life, the female brain is more ma- 
 ture, and proportionately tougher, than is the male 
 brain. The girl is nearer the work-level of the boy 
 than is the woman that of the man. 
 
 This is not the place to discuss woman's work in 
 the world ; but, because I have just said what seems 
 to me both important and true, though to many it 
 may be unpalatable, I may be allowed to express my 
 sympathy with every effort to extend the opportunity 
 of women to make a comfortable livelihood — a sym- 
 pathy which does not prevent surprise at the direction 
 of much of the modern movements. The legal and 
 the medical professions, among the most wearing of 
 all callings, are everywhere invaded \ but pharmacy 
 is left entirely to men, and clerical labor almost as 
 much so. The duties of a druggist are exactly such 
 7 
 
74 DRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 as trained women would meet men in as their equals, 
 or even as their superiors. The power of pleasing, 
 combined with deftness and accuracy of manipula- 
 tion, and with the ability to be physically content 
 with a sedentary life, are the qualities required by^ 
 the drug-clerk. Surely, these qualities abound more 
 in the weaker than in the stronger sex. The total 
 neglect of such a field, and the preference for the 
 tumult of the forum or the toil and exposure of med- 
 ical practice, seem remarkable. 
 
 If this subject were not so foreign to the object of 
 this Primer, I would like to discuss it in detail. Al- 
 most daily my walks lead me into a large publishing- 
 house, with, perhaps, twenty clerks, and but one 
 woman anfong them. In most of the large mercan- 
 tile establishments in this country a similar state of 
 affairs prevails. Why the so-called mercantile col- 
 leges should not include both sexes among their 
 scholars, is not at all clear to the average profes- 
 sional mind. 
 
 The learning of the lesson of not over-taxing the 
 brain before its full maturity is as important for early 
 manhood as for childhood. Before thirty years of 
 age, great business care, anxiety, or excitement is 
 doubly dangerous, because the brain is not yet tough- 
 ened for its work. Yet every American lad of twenty- 
 one believes himself capable of bestriding the Pegasus 
 at hand, be it in politics, in business, or in profes- 
 sional life. 
 
work. 75 
 
 The aged face toddling about with some diminutive 
 newsboy, into whose half a dozen years want has 
 compressed the misery of a lifetime, is pitiful enough. 
 But more peculiarly painful is it to watch, as it has 
 been my fate to do, the face of early manhood deep- 
 ening its lines to those of age, under the shadow of a 
 great toil and responsibility. The largest proportion 
 of persons who really break down under the pressure 
 of work, are furnished from the ranks of young men. 
 The veteran of many a conflict, toughened and be- 
 numbed by his years of labor and anxiety, carries 
 easily a load of care and responsibility that at thirty 
 would have crushed him. 
 
 This long chapter is at last ended. What in a few 
 words are the lessons which I have striven in it to 
 teach my fellow brain-workers ? 
 
 i. To avoid excitement and emotional disturbance 
 as far as possible. 
 
 2. To take proper rest, one proportionate to the 
 labor. 
 
 3. To keep in order the instruments with which 
 the brain works. 
 
 4. To avoid unnecessary labor and worry. 
 
 5. To avoid over-taxing the unmatured brain. 
 Very simple common sense rules, of which most 
 
 persons will say "I know all that," but of which most 
 persons, and possibly among them the writer of this 
 Primer, are, to a greater or lesser extent, habitually 
 disre^ardful. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 REST IN LABOR. 
 
 THAT labor necessitates rest is evidently as true 
 of the brain of man as of the muscular system. 
 But as brain-work is more complicated than muscular 
 work ; or, in other words, as the cerebral organization 
 is more complex than that which presides over locomo- 
 tion, so does it become more difficult to determine 
 exactly the nature of its proper rest. What I have 
 to say upon the subject seems to me best arranged 
 under these headings: Rest in Labor, Rest in Recre- 
 ation, Rest in Sleep. 
 
 Rest in Labor. — If it were possible really to obtain 
 for the brain true rest in labor, then would it be pos- 
 sible to work on uninterruptedly without fear of ex- 
 haustion. Plainly to do so is impossible ; in labor 
 complete rest is not to be found, but the phrase is 
 allowable ; because there is this much of truth in its 
 wording, namely, that there is work which is much 
 more laborious than it should be; and because the 
 heading serves well to open the discussion as to the 
 method in which the brain can be induced to produce 
 
 76 
 
REST IN LABOR. J J 
 
 the largest fruit with the least wear of its tissue. In 
 a measure, the ground of this discussion has already 
 been covered, but care will be exercised not to repeat 
 unduly. 
 
 There are certain laws which govern all nervous 
 centres, and under which the thinking part of the 
 brain acts as closely as do portions of less exalted 
 power. One of these laws is that of habitual action, 
 which may very well be expressed as follows : When 
 a certain series of nervous acts have once taken place, 
 there is a tendency to their repetition, the tendency 
 growing stronger and stronger as the ?iumber of repe- 
 titions is increased. If it were not for this law, edu- 
 cation would be of little value. The child learns 
 with pain and difficulty : as the habit of fixing the 
 attention is formed, and the memory strengthened, in 
 familiar speech, by use, learning becomes easier. 
 The musician at first plays the piece with slowness 
 and fatigue, but soon his fingers run over the strings 
 almost automatically. This gain is, for the musician, 
 not only in favor of the individual piece of music, 
 but also of musical methods, and of the general facil- 
 ity of playing. By repetition, not only is the habit 
 formed of playing easily the single piece, but also to 
 a less extent of playing a certain style of music, and 
 to a still less degree all music. 
 
 This law of habitual action is so imperative, that it 
 governs not only the correct movements of the cere- 
 7* 
 
yS BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 brum, but also its disease processes. Epilepsy is a 
 familiar and most striking instance of this. Usually, 
 this affection is dependent upon a cause which cannot 
 be reached ; but it may originate in an injury to the 
 head, a splinter in the flesh, a worm in the intestine, 
 or other tangible something. If a patient suffer from 
 epilepsy due to a removable cause, and this cause be 
 taken away, very rarely do the fits cease at once. The 
 paroxysms recur, although the original point of irrita- 
 tion is no longer present, because the nervous system 
 has formed the habit at certain intervals of exploding, 
 as it were, a mine of energy; or, in simpler language, 
 the fit recurs because it has occurred so frequently ; 
 and the longer the series of fits before the removal 
 of the irritant, the less the chance of breaking up the 
 acquired habit. 
 
 A plausible explanation of these facts is not hard 
 to find. Mental action, as has been insisted upon, is 
 always accompanied by molecular changes in proto- 
 plasm. Memory consists probably in a permanent 
 setting of some of these changes. Learning a piece 
 of music, or learning anything, is probably a casting 
 of some of the protoplasmic molecules into a particu- 
 lar form. In complicated acts, like piano-playing, 
 there is further a use of a certain number or portion 
 of the infinite multitude of nerve fibres which join the 
 nerve centres together Every time these nerve fibres 
 are traversed, they become more permeable to the 
 
REST IN LABOR. 79 
 
 nervous impulse; the road is at once opened up; 
 crooked places. made straight, roughness and obsta- 
 cles smoothed out. 
 
 Thus a certain succession of musical "impulses" 
 strike the ear time and again until the tune is learned, 
 i. e., until these impulses have not only so affected the 
 brain cells as to be recognized by the consciousness 
 as familiar, but also to make an impression so deep 
 that it is a permanent photograph on the brain cell. 
 In the musician, the brain cells, or protoplasm, in 
 playing the piece of music, give origin to a com- 
 plicated series of impulse, which travel out to the 
 fingers and their guiding muscles. In learning to 
 play a given piece by memory, the music, by the 
 repetition, has been permanently registered on the 
 brain protoplasm, and the various pathways of ner- 
 vous discharge have been travelled so often that these 
 registered impulses once set in motion again flow 
 down the well accustomed roads without any direc- 
 tion from consciousness. It is perfectly possible for 
 a man to play as automatically as does the music-box. 
 
 Whatever may be our theory as to the mechanism 
 involved, the fact is indisputable, that the brain works 
 with most ease in the manner in which it has been 
 accustomed to work. This is especially true of the 
 organ as it grows older. The proverbial difficulty in 
 getting new ideas, or rather new methods of thought, 
 into old men, is evidently due to the physical structure 
 of the organ having become too set and rigid to allow 
 
80 BRAIN -WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 of new channels of communication being formed, or, 
 in other words, of new ways of thinking ; for it must 
 be remembered that every new way of thinking is 
 associated with a new way of movement in connect- 
 ing fibres and the protoplasm of some brain cells. 
 The reason it is so difficult for an old brain to re- 
 member new things is doubtless similar. There must 
 be an end to the physical possibilities of photograph- 
 ing one impression upon another, even in an organ 
 offering so many millions of sheets as does the brain. 
 More than this, with age comes stiffness and rigidity, 
 and not easily does a new impression leave its mark 
 upon a mass of protoplasm which has been hammered 
 into hardness by the incalculable imprints of seventy 
 years of active life. 
 
 The law of habitual action is especially to be borne 
 in mind in regard to training. The finest effects of 
 training in most persons are to be gained only before 
 thirty years of age, and even after twenty-four in many 
 people comparatively little is to be accomplished. 
 This, of course, applies especially to methods of brain 
 acting such as ways of thinking. He who has never 
 been a student until he is twenty-four years old, will 
 rarely become one. To a less extent it applies also 
 to mere physical skill. A German manufacturer 
 said not long ago-to the writer, " Our workmen are 
 losing their skill because, in the new generations, 
 their time from eighteen to twenty-one is given up 
 entirely to the military service ; and from twenty-one 
 
REST IN LABOR. 8 1 
 
 to twenty-four one-half of each year is similarly 
 used. When they do get free, they are too old to 
 learn." 
 
 It is also owing to the law of habitual action that 
 new work is so difficult to the middle-aged or old. 
 Whenever a man past forty years of age is tempted 
 to enter into new fields of intellectual activity, he 
 should remember not only that the danger from brain 
 strain is far greater than if new methods of work 
 were not put upon his cerebrum, but also that the 
 chances of success are not nearly so great as if he 
 had started younger. It is very common to see old- 
 ish men, who have retired from business with a for- 
 tune, becoming restless from want of occupation, 
 engage in enterprises of a character to which they are 
 not accustomed, and fail. The reason of the failure 
 in such cases is not lack of ability, but the fact that 
 old brains, accustomed to one line of work, have 
 been unable successfully to compete in another line 
 with intellects more youthful or more appropriately 
 trained. 
 
 The law of habitual action holds to some extent 
 in regard to times of work. Theoretically, at least, 
 it is better to have stated periods for labor, for rest, 
 for recreation. Even in the case of methods, some 
 brains remain flexible much longer than do others ; 
 and in regard to the regular alternation of work and 
 rest individual differences are very great. Some 
 F 
 
82 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 minds are systematic from birth ; in others, system is 
 impossible ; in others, it is acquired. Whether the 
 peculiarities of the brain are* inherent or acquired, 
 they are to be consulted ; and so long as they do not 
 contravene any important law the brain works most 
 easily in obedience with them. 
 
 One man studies most fruitfully at night; another 
 finds that he can write most easily in the early morn- 
 ing; the former is prone to assert that the night is 
 the best time for intellectual labor, whilst the latter 
 waxes eloquent concerning the advantages of early 
 rising ; and if he be a doctor, like enough what 
 suits him must suit his patients. 
 
 The truth is that there is no inherent indisputable 
 superiority for brain labor of one time of the twenty- 
 four hours over another. English laws are all made 
 during the night watches, although the day is seem- 
 ingly the natural period of labor. 
 
 In the far north, men exist and prosper working 
 and sleeping alike during months of uninterrupted 
 daylight. The human organism needs exposure to 
 light ; provided it gets sufficient of that, it makes no 
 difference per se whether its work is accomplished at 
 one period of the twenty-four hours or another. It 
 is therefore not so much the time of work as the 
 regularity of it, which is to be thought of. 
 
 Systematic arrangement of the time, regularity 
 of work, is to some minds very important. It is, 
 however, largely dominated by what we may term 
 
REST JN LABOR. 83 
 
 mental individuality. There is no doubt that most 
 brains of power have individual characteristics in 
 their manner of working as well as in the character 
 of their work. Whether these have been the result 
 of circumstances, or are inherent to the peculiar or- 
 ganization of the brain, does not matter so far as the 
 present question is concerned. 
 
 These acquired or congenital peculiarities are, as 
 already stated, of great importance. Much can 
 often be done by effort to alter them, but sometimes 
 they are unconquerable. Indeed, it has seemed to 
 me that the more powerful and more original a brain 
 is, the more apt it is to be a law to itself. The 
 minor laws of mental methods are especially domi- 
 nated by these peculiarities. Habits of systematic 
 work, so important to some, seem impossible to 
 others. There are people in whom the cerebrum 
 will only produce in its own times and seasons. The 
 rule of conduct for each brain-worker is to study 
 carefully the instrument he uses, and, if it be possible, 
 to bring it into a systematic method of work, or into 
 some method best suited to his peculiar circum- 
 stances. It may be allowable to cite the author's 
 own profession as one in which it is necessary to 
 train the brain away from methodical study and 
 work. The literary or scientific physician, busy in 
 practice, must acquire the habit of writing, or read- 
 ing, or thinking, at odd moments; before dinner, or 
 in the carriage jogging about the streets, or in the 
 
84 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 office between the visits of patients. The power of 
 great accomplishment under the circumstances of a 
 medical life is almost always based upon the power 
 of taking up a subject at once, pushing it along and 
 dropping it in a moment. According to the nature 
 of his brain and the needs of his position in life, 
 so must the brain-worker use his judgment to con- 
 trol and train the wonderful instrument which has 
 been given him to work with. 
 
 Rest in labor is to be obtained to some extent by 
 proper variety in work. There is an old saying that 
 when an Indian gets tired of walking, he runs ; and 
 when a horse shows distress in a race, to break him 
 up for a few minutes, i. e. 9 to change the pace from 
 trotting to running. How far it is practicable for any 
 individual to carry out the indication of which I am 
 now speaking, must be left to the decision of his own 
 judgment. I am, however, well convinced that the 
 clerk who strains over long columns of figures every 
 day, for hour after hour, is really wearing himself 
 much more than is he who interrupts his labor with 
 tasks of a different character. It is not difficult to 
 invent a theory that shall explain the beneficial re- 
 sults of variety. Precisely as in the horse, different 
 muscular movements are called into play by varying 
 the pace, so in the case of brain-work, different 
 cells and fibres are in all probability employed in 
 different sorts of mental action. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 REST IN RECREATION. 
 
 STERN Miles Standish, at the head of his Puritan 
 bands, roaming the wild woods in search of the 
 wilder savage, no doubt would have smiled grimly 
 had any one suggested that recreation of some sort 
 is a necessity for the highest development of man. 
 Mayhap, however, sturdy Miles himself tingled with 
 a profane joy as he smote right vigorously those ene- 
 mies of the Lord — the red Indians. Certainly, the 
 fathers who nursed our good old English tongue in 
 the perilous days of its infancy, before it had girded 
 itself with strength for the conquest of the world, 
 better knew the value of joyful forgetfulness of care. 
 Well did they call it a re-creation. 
 
 Much that passes for enjoyment in this world, so 
 far from being a re-creation, is, in verity, a dissipation 
 — not a gathering, but a scattering, of force. Some 
 years since, a young lady giving an account of a 
 steamboat trip amidst the grandeurs of Lake Superior, 
 said, enthusiastically, "we had a magnificent time. 
 We danced every night until near daybreak, and 
 8 Sk 
 
86 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 never came out of our state-rooms until four o'clock 
 in the afternoon. ' ' Evidently, even re-creating would 
 be of no avail in such a case. There are, however, 
 numbers of sensible people who are not aware of 
 the principles which ought to underlie all pleasure- 
 seeking that is intended to aid in gathering force. 
 
 To those who have not any special object of thought 
 or life, pleasure-seeking is only a means of "killing 
 time," of getting rid of the monotony of existence; 
 but to the brain-worker, the hours of pleasure must 
 be made to yield as much of profit as is possible. 
 Life being an earnest effort, enjoyment must be 
 earnest, and act in unison with labor to a common 
 end. 
 
 The first principle to be borne in mind is that joy, 
 pleasure, all similar emotions, are really mental stim- 
 ulants, aiding — it may be by increasing the flow of 
 blood to the brain, or, perhaps, by a direct stimulant 
 influence upon the cerebral protoplasm — in the build- 
 ing up, restoring, and general repairing of the waste 
 which has been wrought by excessive work. Hence 
 is deduced the first obvious law governing the seek- 
 ing of recreation — pleasure must be given by the pur- 
 suit. This obvious truism is by no means always 
 remembered. What school-girl does not recall some 
 dreary hours of stupid "constitutional walks"? 
 What exile for health some banishment to places 
 where existence itself became a burden ? Whereas, 
 
REST IN RECREATION. 87 
 
 a little effort on the part of the teacher might have 
 filled the walk with interest ; and a little care exer- 
 cised by the doctor in selecting the place of exile 
 might have made the time of banishment bright in 
 after-life with pleasant memories. 
 
 There is no way of deciding beforehand as to what 
 will give most pleasure to an individual. The per- 
 sonal equation is here supreme. One man finds his 
 highest enjoyment in the prayer-meeting, another at 
 the card-table; one finds his choicest hours in the 
 calm languor of an ocean voyage, whilst to another, 
 the excitement of the chase is almost the ultimate 
 joy of existence. It is here perfectly safe to allow 
 the individual taste the fullest scope consistent with 
 virtue, and with certain physical and mental laws to 
 be spoken of directly. 
 
 The more important of the principles other than 
 that already mentioned, which should be borne in 
 mind in selecting our habitual recreations, are in- 
 cluded in the following sketch. 
 
 Recreation should not involve mental labor, espe- 
 cially labor of a kind similar to that of the working- 
 hours. There is one especial breaking of this law, 
 which is so frequent and so often injurious, that I 
 must direct especial attention to it; although the con- 
 demnation of the abuse expose me to misinterpreta- 
 tion and unfriendly criticism. I refer to the turning, 
 by religious persons, of a day which should be a Sab- 
 
88 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERV/ORK. 
 
 bath of rest and recreation into one of great labor — 
 the hardest, it may be, of the seven. There are, in this 
 city, plenty of school-teachers who toil in the secular 
 school-room all the week, and in the church and Sab- 
 bath-school-room all the Sunday. To the business 
 man, who ciphers through the week, measures tape, or 
 studies how he can sell for two dollars John Jones's 
 labor, that he has only paid one for ; to the misses 
 who, during the week, suffer from no greater toil than 
 that of attending to a few household duties and mak- 
 ing calls, Sabbath-school teaching may be a means of 
 doing good to themselves, as well as to others. On 
 the other hand, to the overstrained school-teacher it 
 is a grievous injury. Teaching is teaching, whatever 
 the subject may be that is taught ; the mental methods 
 are very similar, though the matter changes. The 
 labor of teaching out of the Bible on Sunday is, for 
 the teacher, a mere continuation of the labor of 
 teaching out of the grammar or the geography on the 
 week-days. Such a Sabbath-school teacher attempts 
 to wring out of her organism, weak and nervous 
 though it be, seven days' toil a week, in the very 
 teeth of the commandment "Six days shalt thou 
 labor, and do all thy work." She is wronging her- 
 self, and also those parents who tacitly agree to pay 
 her for the best she can give their children on a week- 
 day. 
 
 There is spread out for her the fields and the woods, 
 
REST IN RECREATION. 89 
 
 with their sunlight and shadow, with their pure air 
 and physical joys. In them may be found a real 
 Sabbath afternoon of calm recreation. Better for 
 her, and for those committed to her charge during 
 the week, that she gather there the refreshment and 
 strength that shall enable her to carry the Sabbath- 
 school lessons into her life, and scatter everywhere 
 through the week what the woods and fields have 
 given her on the Sunday. 
 
 The whole Sabbath question looms up here as a 
 subject of discussion ; but it is one not easily dealt 
 with, and I dismiss it with the suggestion for thought 
 that there is no rest out of sleep unconnected with 
 recreation, though, when one is tired, mere sitting in 
 a chair in quiet may be recreation. 
 
 Games have always been, and probably always will 
 be, a source of recreation with large classes of people. 
 They naturally divide themselves into out-door or 
 active and in-door or sedentary games. When prac- 
 ticable, those pastimes which involve much muscular 
 exertion are preferable for the sedentary student, be- 
 cause they yield the excellent fruits of exercise ; bu-t 
 of such games I shall speak more in detail in the 
 next section. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say of sedentary games 
 that they should suit the individual taste ; but it is 
 very necessary to point out that they should not con- 
 travene the rule laid down a few pages back in re- 
 8* 
 
90 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 gard to the laboriousness of recreations. All games 
 requiring severe thinking ought to be looked at with 
 suspicion by the man of active mental habits, and 
 the more closely allied the mental action required by 
 a game is to the habitual mental work of the indi- 
 vidual, the more decidedly should the pastime be put 
 in the background, even if there be a passion for it. 
 Of all games with which I am acquainted, chess is 
 the one most enticing and requiring most of mental 
 labor. It is absolutely to be condemned as a recrea- 
 tion to those whose life-work requires long-continued 
 hard thinking. With the man whose chief strain is 
 emotional, as is the case with many men in business, 
 the thinking of chess-playing may do no harm, or 
 even be beneficial. The game requires an entirely 
 different sort of cerebral action from that which is 
 habitual to such a business man. In regard to sci- 
 entists, the case is different. I was once quite fond 
 of the game, but found that the strain of its playing 
 was fully equal to that of severe composition or of 
 hard study of an abstruse science. After the work 
 was done, it was only chess-playing, and experience 
 soon led to a complete abandonment of the game. 
 It seems, nay, it is, foolish to waste so much of 
 mental energy on a pastime Such useless labor is 
 only excusable in those whose life-work is enjoy- 
 ment, whose strain is emotional, or whose day's 
 work is a round of monotonous labor not involving 
 
REST IN RECREATION. 9 1 
 
 the higher mental faculties. A practical test of the 
 value of a recreation, which may be applied to chess- 
 playing as to any other pastime, is: "Do I feel 
 brighter and more able for work after indulging 
 in it?" 
 
 In the far extreme from chess are certain games 
 which may produce an emotional strain by producing 
 an excitement passing beyond proper recreation. 
 The old gambler has become so habituated to irrita- 
 tion that nothing but the most severe prodding will 
 even titillate his feelings. But to any but the hard- 
 ened all betting upon games is a strain, which be- 
 comes more and more intense as the stakes become 
 more and more valuable. Evidently, such a pastime 
 in no way refreshes or strengthens for the next day's 
 work. 
 
 There are various games which produce a decided 
 excitement without passing the limit of possible good. 
 In choosing from among these, it should be remem- 
 bered that the rule heading this section here applies 
 thoroughly ; that he who has labored upon dry intel- 
 lectual subjects is better in the evening for an emo- 
 tional stirring up; whilst he who has spent his hours 
 in the turmoil and excitement of the stock or grain 
 exchange needs rather some calm intellectual pastime 
 which shall restore his mental equilibrium. 
 
 Recreation should be made conducive to bodily im- 
 provement. This rule or proposition evidently con- 
 
9 2 
 
 DRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 nects itself closely with the subject of exercise. 
 There is perhaps no other one hygienic theme which 
 in the last twenty years has received so much atten- 
 tion as has exercise, and concerning which so much 
 twaddle has been written. In it some, who speak 
 as those having authority, see the grand panacea 
 for all individual ills as well as the hope of the 
 perfection of the race. It does not seem to occur to 
 these fanatics that farmers and laborers not only die as 
 well as other people, but even appear to suffer nearly 
 or quite as much during their earthly pilgrimage. 
 
 In order to understand how much or how little of 
 good is to be expected from exercise, it is necessary 
 to comprehend what takes place in muscular move- 
 ments, and in what way they are beneficial. Volun- 
 tary motion of a hand and arm is the result of a 
 complicated series of acts. Successive discharges of 
 nerve-force occur, commencing in the upper brain 
 and passing downwards along the spinal cord and 
 outward along the nerves until the muscles are 
 reached, and are called by the nervous impulse or 
 force into action. It is a lesson not to be forgotten, 
 that in exercise, not merely the muscle, but almost 
 the whole nervous system, labors ; and that muscular 
 movements are just as truly a putting forth of nervous 
 power or energy as are mental efforts. 
 
 It is next proper to get a clear idea of how exer- 
 cise can do good ; a knowledge of what is and is not 
 
REST IN RECREATION. 93 
 
 possible often serving a most salutary purpose in cor- 
 recting extravagant beliefs and expectations. Re- 
 searches made in the laboratories of Germany seem 
 to show that the animal heat is chiefly, if not exclu- 
 sively, generated in the muscular system. Animal 
 heat, like the heat of the fire, is the result of com- 
 bustion ; not of a rapid, however, but of a slow com- 
 bustion, or, as the chemist would say, oxidation. 
 In combustion or burning, substances are destroyed, 
 that is, turned into gases, etc., and returned to the 
 air and earth. Now the blood has entering it from 
 all parts of the body partially effete or used-up mate- 
 rials. If the recent theories be correct, one of the 
 beneficial effects of exercise is in the destruction of 
 these effete substances. The aid here is twofold; 
 during exercise, the oxidation goes on most strongly 
 in the muscles, and hence during the exertion there 
 is an increased combustion of material which other- 
 wise would clog up the system ; further, the muscles 
 are themselves kept in health by the exercise, so that 
 the beneficial influence of the exercise is maintained 
 during the period of rest. 
 
 Exercise also, without doubt, does good by restor- 
 ing or maintaining the balance of the circulation. 
 When an organ is in active work, the blood flows to 
 it. A brain which is habitually worked to its full 
 powers is flushed with blood many hours out of the 
 twenty-four, so that there is always some danger that, 
 
94 BR % AIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 during the periods of quiet, the brain shall not be 
 able to free itself from the excess of blood. In ex- 
 ercise, the muscles are in action, the blood is drawn 
 to them, and thus the brain is relieved. Again, 
 during many hours of every day of life, digestion is 
 in full progress and the abdominal organs are full of 
 blood. If there be no outside force to aid these 
 abdominal organs, they in turn may not be able, dur- 
 ing their period of rest, to get rid of their excess 
 of the vital fluid. If brain-work and stomach-work 
 be forced and the muscles remain quiescent, it is very 
 likely that most of the blood of the body will be 
 concentrated in the head and abdomen, and the in- 
 dividual suffer accordingly. 
 
 That exercise is capable of doing good to the man 
 in other ways than those noted, we have no knowl- 
 edge. Its beneficial powers would seem to be lim- 
 ited to its aiding in purifying the blood and in equal- 
 izing the proportionate amounts of the fluid in the 
 different portions of the body. 
 
 On the other hand, it cannot too strongly be in- 
 sisted upon that exercise is potent for evil as well as 
 for good, and that when excessive it is certainly in- 
 jurious. The famous athlete, Winship, when in his 
 best condition, often fainted in a warm room ; and it 
 is notorious that a large proportion of professional 
 athletes die early of lung and heart diseases. The 
 reason of this is not far to seek. The heart and lungs 
 
REST IN RECREATION, 95 
 
 are naturally proportioned in power to the wants of 
 the body. When, as was the case with Dr. Winship, 
 the muscular system is preternaturally developed, a 
 preternatural amount of work is required of the 
 heart and lungs. Increase of the bulk of a man's 
 muscle means also increase of the bulk of his blood, 
 as well as increase of the territory to be travelled by 
 that blood. Such increase of blood and territory de- 
 mands an augmentation of power to drive the vital 
 fluid through the system, and also to get rid of the 
 gases of the blood. Only to a certain extent can the 
 heart accommodate itself by enlargement to this, 
 whilst there is no reason to believe that the lungs 
 can largely augment the surface which they have 
 for purposes of aeration. The probable explanation 
 of Dr. Winship's fainting in a hot, close room, is 
 that his heart and lungs, under the most favorable 
 circumstances, had as much as they could do to meet 
 the needs of the system, so that when the air became 
 impure, they were unable to fulfil the requirements. 
 At least, one of the reasons that men whose muscular 
 systems have been preternaturally developed so often 
 die of lung and heart diseases is to be found in the 
 fact that these organs are, in such people, habitually 
 overworked. 
 
 It is very important for all who are training chil- 
 dren for brain-work to remember that an over-devel- 
 opment of the muscles is possible. Artificial sys- 
 
g6 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 terns, like that of Dr. Winship's, in which the mus- 
 clec are so cultivated as to be especially able for 
 great sudden efforts, are peculiarly bad. Great mo- 
 mentary muscular strength and great endurance under 
 continued exertion are by no means synonymous. 
 They may be united in the same person, but it is 
 possible to possess one without the other. To a 
 peaceably disposed person, who is neither a butcher 
 nor a belligerent, to be able to lift an ox is not ex- 
 tremely valuable ; while to be able to stand a hard 
 march of twenty hours' duration is almost invaluable, 
 because such a march requires that endurance which 
 enables a man to perform severe continuous labor of 
 almost any sort. Violent sudden efforts, habitually 
 repeated, are especially prone to develop the faculty 
 of excessive momentary strength. Weight-lifting, 
 health-lifts, and all similar forms of exercise are, at 
 least for the child, an abomination, the practice of 
 which cannot be too strongly condemned. What is 
 wanted is protracted muscular work or play of a light 
 character, to bring the habit of endurance. Boat- 
 ing, cricketing, out-door plays of all sorts, such as a 
 normal boy of himself naturally is fond of, are prob- 
 ably in most cases the best means at command for 
 training the embryo man. Only some little system 
 should be given, even to play. The use of gymnas- 
 tics for boys is, in some measure, open to objection, 
 as the open air is the right place for play; but in our 
 
REST IN RECREATION. g? 
 
 climate during much of the year out-doors is not so 
 attractive as it might be. Nevertheless, open air 
 sports are certainly preferable when the weather is at 
 all favorable. When gymnastics are practised, great 
 care should always be taken to see that the exercise 
 be not too severe to be persisted in for some time. 
 I would here especially commend to those who can 
 afford the expense such forest schools as that of Prof. 
 Rothrock as uniting in the highest degree opportuni- 
 ties for the proper physical and mental development 
 of boys. 
 
 What has been said of violent exercise for young 
 people is also applicable to adults. Health-lifts and 
 all forms of short, violent exercise should only be 
 employed when time cannot be had for out-door ex- 
 ercise. They are, however, not so injurious as in 
 the case of boys, because in the man the muscles are 
 more set and less easily influenced in their develop- 
 ment as to sudden or persistent strength. Still, 
 horseback-riding, boating, hunting, and other forms 
 of more gentle out-door exercise are, even for the 
 adult, far preferable to these modern devices for cheat- 
 ing Nature by attempting to get the good effects of 
 exercise at a less sacrifice of time than was intended. 
 The only excuse that can justify the use of these 
 methods or instruments is an impossibility of getting 
 something better, and there are very few men whose 
 9 G 
 
98 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 circumstances of life really force them to such make- 
 shifts. 
 
 There are persons who hold that there is an antag- 
 onism between brain and muscle. The position is 
 partially correct in that an extreme development of 
 one is at the expense of the other. A Winship can- 
 not be expected to have much brain power ; and it is 
 probably possible to develop a child which shall be 
 as much a brain-monster as some athletes are muscle- 
 monsters. Beyond this, so far as training children 
 is in discussion, the truth does not go. The best 
 man for doing a life of brain-work is he who has 
 been in childhood symmetrically developed, and 
 who has acquired all the endurance his constitution 
 will permit of. 
 
 There is certainly in the adult some antagonism be- 
 tween hard physical and mental labor. Muscular 
 work rests upon a putting forth of nervous energy, 
 and the man who has exhausted his stock of nervous 
 energy in violent exercise, cannot expect to perform 
 a prodigy of brain labor. Did any one, in the even- 
 ing of a day spent in following the hounds or tramp- 
 ing after a pair of pointers, ever compose a poem or 
 write a sermon ? The cup of tea or toddy, the easy 
 chair, the cheery story, finish far better the day's 
 work and prepare for the early bed. The converse 
 of this I believe also to be true. In my own experi- 
 ence, I am sure that when engagements are such as 
 
REST IN RECREATION. 99 
 
 really to work the brain to its highest capability of 
 production, exercise must be lessened or entirely 
 done away with ; only it must be remembered that, 
 at this high-pressure rate, the system cannot hold out 
 permanently, and that after long spells of such work- 
 ing, periods of rest and recuperation must make up 
 for the excessive consumption. Again, there are 
 persons who are possessed of very active and power- 
 ful brains, although their muscles are feeble. In 
 some of these cases it is a grievous mistake to incul- 
 cate the habit of exercise. There is a very well- 
 known brain-worker in this city, who was advised by 
 his physician to live in West Philadelphia, and every 
 day to walk backward and forward to his place of 
 business, a distance in all of not more than five 
 miles. The result of this was continued and pro- 
 gressive failure in the brain-power of production, 
 with no improvement of the general health. Not 
 until after some months of depression was the idea 
 suggested that mayhap the exercise was not beneficial. 
 When it was given up, not merely did the power of 
 work return, but the health began to recover. 
 
 In persons of middle age, whose muscular system 
 has almost wasted away from lack of use, any sudden 
 resumption of active habits is not desirable. By 
 attention to diet, by graduated exercise, the attempt 
 should be made slowly and permanently to recover 
 lost vigor. 
 
IOO BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 How much exercise, then, should the brain-worker 
 take to himself? From the propositions laid down a 
 few pages back, it would seem a correct deduction 
 that the proper amount of exercise is that which will 
 keep the muscles in good health and which will ena- 
 ble them to meet the physical requirements of the 
 rest of the body, /. e., to remove from the blood all 
 impurities and to draw from the internal organs % the 
 excess of blood in them. As with a good many other 
 general principles, the application of this to the in- 
 dividual case is not always easy. But usually a man 
 will be able to judge for himself by studying the 
 condition of his muscles ; if these are becoming more 
 and more attenuated or fatty, less voluminous and 
 more flabby ; if the elasticity of step and carriage is 
 growing less, more exercise is usually required. In 
 dyspeptic cases, exercise is also often very beneficial 
 in the relief of the stomachic distress. 
 
 Closely connected with the subject of exercise is 
 that of the summer vacation. In the first place, it is 
 proper here to insist upon the value of a periodical 
 complete annual rest, a rest which should be propor- 
 tionate to the severity of the winter's strain. Two 
 weeks is the accustomed vacation in mercantile circles, 
 but certainly is not long enough for ordinary purposes. 
 A hard-working man will, in the long run, produce 
 more for taking at least three weeks' holiday, and very 
 often a month or six weeks' rest is a saving of time. 
 
REST IN RECREATION. IOI 
 
 In the summer vacation, the end is twofold ; first, to 
 rest the wearied brain ; second, to restore as far as 
 possible the health of the muscles, of the digestive 
 organs, and of any other part of the body which may 
 have suffered damage during the winter's work. 
 
 It is usually the emotional as much as, or sometimes 
 even more than, the intellectual wear of the brain which 
 is destructive during the long year of labor, and con- 
 sequently, during recreation, freedom from anxiety 
 and other depressing emotions is of prime import- 
 ance. When a man is so situated that he cannot 
 take care, he is very apt to cease from care. The 
 ocean voyager is completely cut off from the receipt 
 of any news, and in this complete isolation lies one 
 of the chief sources of the great usefulness of sea- 
 travel. Home cares and home worries are left be- 
 hind; but as the shore is approached, and with it the 
 possibility of hearing of the progress of business and 
 other interests, with remarkable alacrity the mind 
 rises out of its apathy to take up the old burdens. 
 The isolation of the man who buries himself in the 
 wilderness is not less complete than that of the voy- 
 ager, and few of those who have spent their vacation 
 in the wilds will not recognize the same freedom 
 from anxiety that is felt upon the sea, as well as a 
 reawakening of the faculties, when the settlements 
 are approached, similar to that which occurs in the 
 voyager nearing shore. 
 
102 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 Along with, rest from anxiety and care during a 
 vacation, it is well to get the active assistance of 
 cheerful emotions. A jolly time is not merely an 
 enjoyment ; it is a benefit. A dull vacation is, in 
 a great part, a wasted vacation. What affords one 
 man pleasure is to another very tiresome ; and it is 
 the pleasure of the individual, not pleasure in an 
 abstract sense, which is to be sought after. 
 
 There is a peculiar variety of pleasurable sensation 
 produced by travelling, which aids very favorably in 
 unbending most minds. But in this country the va- 
 cations are usually of necessity taken in the hot 
 months, and car-riding in a torrid atmosphere laden 
 with dust is refreshing neither to the mind nor body. 
 I have seen many persons come back from their sum- 
 mer trips more jaded and exhausted than before 
 they started ; simply used up, mind and body, by 
 the fatigues of travel. This is, of course, worse 
 than a waste of time, opportunity, and money. 
 
 What is true of travel is no less true of the life 
 at many of our summer watering-places. Perpetual 
 camp-meetings, such as are seen at some of our mod- 
 ern religious sea-side resorts, and perpetual fashion- 
 able life, such as occurs at other sea-side resorts, are 
 about equally bad in their physical tendencies. 
 They both minister to a taste for excessive excite- 
 ment that is very exhausting, and they both yield an 
 annual harvest of nervous, hysterical women. For- 
 
REST IN RECREATION. IO3 
 
 tunately, the temptation to either mode of spending 
 a vacation is felt only by a very limited class of brain- 
 workers. 
 
 Passing these matters by without further discussion, 
 it is necessary to say a few words more about the 
 subject immediately in hand. The mental constitu- 
 tions of people vary so much that, as with habitual 
 recreation, so also with the annual vacation, no posi- 
 tive law of choice is possible. Under certain restric- 
 tions of physical and moral force, both in selecting 
 the habitual recreation and also in choosing a vaca- 
 tion, the man must be a law unto himself, and, with 
 a due regard to his physical and mental needs, decide 
 upon that which best suits his natural or acquired tastes. 
 
 Experience would seem to show that conditions 
 of the atmosphere not appreciable to the physicist, 
 have a most marked influence over the human organ- 
 ism. Sea air, mountain air, etc., really do appear 
 to influence a man physically for better or worse, 
 and in the choice of a spot for the summer vacation, 
 their power must not be lost sight of. Here again 
 individual peculiarities are inscrutable and tri- 
 umphant. As a rule, no physician can tell with cer- 
 tainty beforehand as to whether salt or mountain air, 
 a low or a high altitude, will suit a patient. Only by 
 trial can the idiosyncrasies be made out. Most per- 
 sons are able, from their own experience, to settle for 
 themselves what suits them best, and should be 
 
104 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK 
 
 guided by their own knowledge. It is worth noting, 
 however, that in a very large number of cases, the 
 best results are obtained by alternating the sea-shore 
 and the mountains — going first for two weeks to the 
 former, and afterwards for two to four weeks to the 
 latter. 
 
 The choice of the place in which a vacation is to be 
 spent involves »ery closely the method or way in which 
 the time is to be passed. In making the selection, it 
 is important that the choice be guided, not solely by 
 the direct needs of the brain, but also by the wants 
 of the muscular, digestive, and other parts of the 
 organism. The delicate man who so places himself 
 that for three or four weeks he will be forced to live 
 on sour bread and salt mackerel, will be very apt to 
 reap the reward of his folly. He who goes to the sea- 
 shore, to Saratoga, or to other resorts, and spends his 
 days in bed and his nights in the ball-, bar-, or bil- 
 liard-room, cannot expect to bring back muscles and 
 other organs in improved health. He may himself 
 enjoy such dissipation more than anything else, but 
 his muscles and digestive organs do not find the 
 same aid and comfort therein. The only things, 
 leaving out of sight spring waters and other medicinal 
 agents, that can modify the condition of the muscu- 
 lar system and relieve the digestive organs of an 
 habitual excess of blood are abstinence, air, sunlight, 
 exercise. The pleasures of abstinence are not best 
 
REST IN RECREATION. 105 
 
 enjoyed during a summer vacation, and nothing more 
 need be said about them here. 
 
 The popular appreciation of the value of fresh air 
 is very far from being as thorough as it might be. 
 During the rebellion, it was no uncommon sight to 
 see sick men, who had been languishing in the ward of 
 a hospital, suddenly improve when placed in exposed 
 tents. The windows of the wards had been habit- 
 ually kept open, but this was by no means as efficient 
 as the perpetual air-bath of a porous tent. The 
 more pure air the better, and by night as well as by 
 day. There is this much of truth in the popular 
 prejudice against night air — in malarious districts the 
 air after dusk does contain more of the peculiar poi- 
 son than does the atmosphere in the sunlight. But 
 in high, healthful districts, night air is very good air. 
 Of the value of sunlight, it is not necessary to say 
 much. Sufficient also has already been said concern- 
 ing exercise, and the method in which it does good. 
 It is right, however, here to caution against a not un- 
 common abuse of exercise in the summer vacation. 
 A man whose muscles are soft and flabby from ten 
 months of disuse, cannot expect them all at once to 
 equal the thews of a woodman or athlete. It is not 
 uncommon for an ambitious young man to injure 
 himself, or at least to fail of getting the good he 
 ought, by working too hard, especially in the begin- 
 ning of his trip. 
 
1 06 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 Some years since, I was consulted by a prominent 
 scientist, who said, " Doctor, when you are sick, who 
 
 attends you? " I replied, " Dr. . Why do you 
 
 ask?" " Oh, I want to find out whom the doctors 
 select to attend them; that man shall be my doctor." 
 If this line of reasoning be correct, camping out may 
 be considered as well recommended, for, whether in 
 Canada or the Adirondacks, the parties will be found 
 to contain an extraordinary proportion of medical 
 men. I believe myself that, under suitable circum- 
 stances, camping out is by far the best way of pro- 
 curing a healthful summer rest. It requires, how- 
 ever, a certain amount of natural aptitude, and of 
 robustness. To some persons the long hours in the 
 wilderness are very irksome ; and when there is no 
 zest for their pleasures, or appreciation of their end- 
 less natural charms, the woods become simply a place 
 for discomfort, hardships, and tedium. 
 
 The great value of " camp-cure " is to be found in 
 the freedom from care and anxiety which its isolation 
 produces ; in the constant pleasant excitement main- 
 tained by the continually shifting multitude of novel 
 objects and experiences ; in the continual exposure 
 to fresh air, and in the abundant exercise. Some of 
 these very sources of enjoyment and strength may, 
 however, readily become sources of danger. It is 
 wonderful, considering the extraordinary change in the 
 habits of life, how seldom persons "take cold" dur- 
 
REST IN RECREATION. 107 
 
 ing these trips. Nevertheless, it is very easy to lay the 
 foundations of a serious, if not fatal, illness by undue 
 exposure. 
 
 What was said very early in this Primer concerning 
 the relativeness of exposure should be borne in mind. 
 The man who sleeps on a bed beneath a roof all the 
 rest of the year is a very different animal from his 
 guide who is in the woods ten months of each 
 year. 
 
 Heavy woollen under-clothing should always be pro- 
 vided, when a camping expedition in any of our ordi- 
 nary northern regions is intended. Then care should 
 always be taken to have a sufficiency of covering for 
 the night. In most expeditions, it is essential not to 
 be loaded down with baggage ; but, after considerable 
 experience, I would most strongly advise every travel- 
 ler of this sort to provide himself with one strong 
 outer woollen suit, two complete sets of woollen un- 
 der-clothing, one heavy and one light, and a heavy 
 blanket, or, much better, a buffalo robe. I have found 
 the robe much warmer at night than is a heavy 
 double blanket, and not very much more burdensome 
 in the day. It is also necessary to take some rubber 
 clothing, either in the form of a coat, or else of an 
 ordinary army blanket. A wide, long coat has seemed 
 to me the preferable form. If the party consist of 
 two, and the nature of the route be such as to require 
 loads to be lightened, the night-clothing is best ar- 
 
IOS BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 ranged by one person taking the robe, the other a 
 blanket, and the twain sharing a common bed. 
 
 The light under-clothing should be worn in the 
 day, when the sun is warm and exercise abundant. 
 On cool nights all the under-clothing, as well as the 
 outer suit of clothes, may be worn. I am very sure 
 that more protection can be obtained out of a given 
 weight of wool by putting it in under-clothing than 
 in any other way. Were the nature of the trip of 
 such a character as to make it imperative to reduce 
 the impedimenta, I would greatly prefer to go without 
 the blanket, trusting to two suits of heavy under-cloth- 
 ing, than to skimp the under-clothing for the sake of 
 the blanket. 
 
 The right plan, especially for the inexperienced, is 
 to avoid all trips in which it is not possible to take 
 a proper supply of clothing. By means of horses in 
 the Rocky Mountain region, and of canoes in the lake 
 or river districts, of both East and West, the so- 
 journer is enabled to carry with him what is essential. 
 Camping out in districts other than these is very apt 
 to end in disappointment. Certain flying excursions 
 on foot to the mountain regions of the Adirondacks 
 are advisable, for the sake of the beautiful scenery ; 
 but it is better to make a central camp, from which 
 the voyageur may radiate. Even, however, with the 
 most careful laying out of such trips, I think the com- 
 
REST IN RECREATION. IO9 
 
 mon experience will confirm my decided verdict in 
 favor of well-watered districts. 
 
 The life of a man who is travelling through a wil- 
 derness is one of constant activity. During the day 
 canoes to paddle, portages to make, deer to be stalked, 
 hounds to be followed, and, as evening draws on, 
 tents to be pitched, fires to be made, supper to be 
 got ready, wood to be cut for the night, to say nothing 
 of making beds and the various other minor duties 
 — these manifold occupations constitute a round of 
 work that ceases only when the time of sleep draws 
 nigh. All this is most healthful to a reasonable being, 
 but campers-out sometimes injure themselves by their 
 ambitious attempts to equal the guide in labor. To 
 shirk work is to deprive the pastime of half its pleas- 
 ure ; but it is foolish to attempt to rival the trained 
 muscles of the woodman. Even when moderation is 
 practised, the first days of camp life are apt to be 
 severe to the man whose muscles are soft and flabby 
 from a year's disuse. It is a wise precaution to 
 " train" moderately for a few weeks before setting 
 out; an hour a day spent in active exercise will allow 
 the muscles to get rid of their flabbiness before being 
 called upon for the strenuous work of the wilderness. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 REST IN SLEEP. 
 
 AS sleep is a state or condition of which most of 
 mankind have sufficient of personal experience, 
 it is hardly necessary to define it. Nevertheless, it 
 is perhaps allowable to call attention to some of the 
 more important of its varieties as well as to discuss 
 its nature. I remember once having been utterly 
 confounded in my attempt to make a very intelligent 
 publisher believe that it is possible for one piece of 
 ice to be colder than another. Ice was not only to 
 his mind ice, but also the personification or realiza- 
 tion of cold, and could not be colder. So with re- 
 gard to sleep. To many minds it is the realization 
 of rest, and only some unfortunate victims fully com- 
 prehend that there is a sleep which does not refresh, 
 and has in it only the mockery of rest. 
 
 Probably every one who reads these pages Can, 
 however, remember moments in which he was him- 
 self hardly able to determine whether he was waking 
 or sleeping. Periods of quiet, in bed it may have 
 been, when, in endless succession, through the brain 
 
 no 
 
REST IN SLEEP. 1 1 1 
 
 whirled troublous or possibly pleasant dreams, scarcely 
 affected by consciousness, though not absolutely freed 
 from it ; times when the outer world seemed half for- 
 gotten, but had only half withdrawn itself, so that 
 even the slight impression of a mosquito on the 
 face, the rustle of the bed-clothes, the puff of air, 
 served to recall all the bitter and the sweet of 
 life. To very many persons this state is the prelude 
 of true sleep ; in times of sorrow or of anxiety it 
 may be almost all the rest the sufferer can find. 
 Then again there is a sleep that is a terror of unrest 
 to its victim — when horrible dreams, or busy 
 dreams — dreams of death, remorse, business — drive 
 along in a hurried rush so vividly that the sleeping 
 moments, when looked back upon by the memory, 
 seem more real and full of life than do the waking 
 hours. It is plain such sleep is not tired nature's 
 sweet restorer. Certainly any one who has ever had 
 a nightmare, when the death fray is lived through 
 over and over again, when the whole being is con- 
 vulsed with agony and the cold sweat starts from 
 every pore, will agree that all sleep is not rest. 
 Dreams have power to torture, to depress, almost in 
 proportion as they are beyond our control. I well 
 remember the pangs of being fed in a darkened 
 chamber for a feast of cannibals ; and the expiring 
 look that my youngest boy, whom I had vivisected, 
 once gave me, will never be forgotten. Sleep, there- 
 
112 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 fore, is not always rest, but trouble, and a troubled 
 sleep brings to the brain-worker loss of power of 
 labor. 
 
 As sleep passes, on the one hand, into wakefulness, 
 so, on the other hand, it may deepen into coma. Some 
 writers speak of coma and sleep as entirely different. 
 Possibly they are ; and yet we cannot draw the line 
 separating them. We call a condition of uncon- 
 sciousness, out of which the patient can be aroused, 
 sleep ; one out of which we cannot awaken him, coma. 
 A patient takes a small dose of chloral or opium. 
 He sleeps, and is easily aroused. Increase the dose ; 
 again he sleeps, but is less easily awakened. Let the 
 dose be larger still, and only by violent shakings, 
 loud shoutings in the ear, and other excessive disturb- 
 ances, can a degree of consciousness be restored, and 
 the restoration is but momentary. A little more of 
 the poison and consciousness has fled, it may be 
 never to return ; or by and by the coma grows less 
 profound, the patient can be momentarily aroused, 
 and after a time passes into a state of simple sleep. 
 The sleep and the coma have been produced by the 
 same agent, the opium or the chloral, and have, by 
 insensible gradations, passed into one another. It 
 would seem, therefore, difficult to believe that the 
 states are essentially different from one another. 
 
 It is difficult, if not impossible, to decide fully in 
 what lies the beneficial effect of natural, untroubled 
 
REST IN SLEEP. 1 1 3 
 
 sleep; but it would seem to be in the suspension of con- 
 sciousness. I do not believe that the cerebral proto- 
 plasm ever ceases during health to evolve thought. I am 
 not able, it is true, to prove the truth of my belief on 
 this point ; but no one can disprove it, and the drift 
 of the evidence seems to me to indicate that dream- 
 ing is always going on in natural sleep. Certainly, 
 the forgetfulness of having dreamed is no proof that 
 dreaming has not occurred. Any one who has slept 
 with a person who, when asleep, habitually expresses 
 his feelings in talk, must have heard snatches of con- 
 versation, even boisterous laughter or sorrow-laden 
 sighs, of which, in the morning, the sleeper has had 
 no memory. Again, most of us can call in mind some 
 sudden waking, in which we have a definite, unmis- 
 takable feeling of an interrupted dream, but no 
 knowledge of what the dream was. There are some 
 persons who are such inveterate sleep-talkers that 
 they will answer questions rationally in their sleep 
 without awaking. I have known important secrets 
 revealed to a bed-fellow, no memory of the talk re- 
 maining. 
 
 It is by no means certain that even in coma the 
 " thought cells M cease their action. Other portions 
 of the brain labor on through life. The centres 
 which govern respiration maintain in continuous 
 action the respiratory muscles. The brain cells 
 which preside over the heart's action never cease 
 10* II 
 
114 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 from their censorship. It is far from being proven 
 that the rest to the mind during sleep is due to a ces- 
 sation of activity in the thought cells ; it is, indeed, 
 most probable that no such arrest of activity occurs. 
 Rest would seem to come largely from the relaxation 
 of effort, from withdrawal of consciousness and of 
 external impulses, and the consequent freedom for 
 the protoplasmic movements to run on uncontrolled. 
 In this way the balance of nervous energy may re- 
 store itself, a sort of equalization taking place be- 
 tween the various cells which have been irregularly 
 constrained and active during the day. 
 
 As unconsciousness is so important an element in 
 sleep, one of the best tests at our command as to the 
 character and the real value of a certain sleep is to 
 be found in its unconsciousness. The sleep which 
 rests most is that which is quietest, and of which 
 there remains no memory during waking hours. The 
 sleep that rests most is that which the brain-worker 
 especially needs, and the quiet, so-called dreamless 
 sleep is that which he must seek. 
 
 From time to time various theories have been pro- 
 pounded to account for the production of sleep, and 
 some of them have been made the basis of discussion 
 as to the proper treatment of wakefulness. Of these 
 speculations, there are only two of which, at present 
 writing, it seems necessary to speak. According to 
 the teachings of one of these theories, there is de- 
 
REST IN SLEEP. 1 1 5 
 
 veloped, by the activities of the waking hours and 
 the consequent destruction of tissue, one or more 
 substances or principles, which have a peculiar rela- 
 tion to the nerve cells, comparable to that possessed 
 by morphia, by reason of which they lull the cerebral 
 centres into sleep. The idea of this theory is, per- 
 haps, more lucidly expressed by the statement that 
 the destruction of tissue which takes place during 
 mental and bodily exercise produces a narcotic prin- 
 ciple which puts a man to sleep. 
 
 This theory rests upon no experimental or other evi- 
 dence of any scientific value whatever. As the nar- 
 cotic principle cannot be isolated, its existence is a 
 gratuitous supposition. Sleepiness is by no means 
 always proportionate to the waste of tissue during the 
 waking hours past. When a physiological theory 
 rests upon no firm foundation, and is at the same time 
 unnecessary and improbable, it is best abandoned 
 without too much waste of time or words. 
 
 The second theory is more plausible, and has re- 
 ceived more wide-spread assent. It is that sleep 
 is dependent upon anaemia of the brain, or, to speak 
 less technically, upon the presence of less than the 
 proper amount of blood in the brain. It is a well- 
 known fact, that for a part to perform actively its 
 duties, it must have an abundance of blood. Fur- 
 ther, it is abundantly proven by the phenomena of 
 disease, that if the supply of blood be cut off from a 
 
1 1 6 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 portion of the cerebrum, that part of the man at once 
 loses all power of action ; also, that if the supply of 
 blood be taken away from any considerable portion 
 of the upper brain, complete unconsciousness results. 
 Led by these facts, certain physiologists invented the 
 instrument which has been known as a cerebrometer. 
 This consists of a glass tube, ending below in an expan- 
 sion or hemispherical bulb, whose bottom is cut off. 
 Over the ground edges of this is secured a piece of 
 flexible sheet-rubber or membrane. A round opening 
 having been made in the skull of the animal, the bulb 
 is fitted tightly, so that the membrane rests upon the 
 brain. Mercury is then poured into the upper open 
 end of the tube, until it fills the bulb and reaches to 
 a certain height in the tube. It is evident that when 
 the brain contains little blood, and the pressure in- 
 side of the skull is small, the mercury will be low in 
 the tube, and that when a rush of blood into the brain 
 raises the pressure, the mercury will be forced up the 
 tube. By means of the cerebrometer it has been shown 
 that during sleep there is little blood in the brain, 
 whilst during the waking moments the pressure rises. 
 These facts do not, however, prove the truth of the 
 theory. It is perfectly possible that the lessened flow 
 of blood is due to the sleep, and not the sleep to the 
 lessened flow of blood. When any organ is in active 
 exercise there is, as already stated, a flow of blood to 
 it. When a salivary gland secretes spittle, it fills with 
 
REST IN SLEEP. l\J 
 
 blood; but it is abundantly proven that the flow of 
 blood is not the cause of the secretion, but the se- 
 creting impulse the cause of the flow of blood. So, 
 probably, is it with the brain; the awaking out of sleep 
 brings blood to its active protoplasm, "and when the 
 latter becomes quiescent, the vital fluid no longer 
 needed inside of the skull seeks other quarters. 
 
 Unconsciousness can undoubtedly be produced by 
 a great excess of blood in the brain, and, as already 
 shown, the line between sleep and coma is not a clear 
 one. The anaemia theory of sleep is certainly not as 
 yet demonstrated, and to me it seems improbable. 
 The simplest and most probable explanation of sleep- 
 production seems to be, that the highest brain proto- 
 plasm is so constructed that at certain times it rests 
 from active exercise, because it has exhausted its en- 
 ergy, and that the impulse to sleep is from within, 
 not from without, the nerve-centres. The law of 
 habit, which was discussed in the earlier part of this 
 book, has, in all probability, much to do with the 
 production of sleep. A brain may not really have 
 done much work, but composes itself to sleep at a 
 certain time in the twenty-four hours, because such 
 has been its habit for many years. 
 
 Whatever may be the correct theory of sleep, I 
 think observation has clearly shown that, for sleep to 
 be perfectly obtained, the following accessories are re- 
 quired : — First, the power of shutting off the imme- 
 
1 1 8 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 diate past, and breaking away from the work the mind 
 has been most intently engaged upon during the day. 
 Second, the power of locally regulating the supply of 
 blood in the brain, so that it shall be adapted to the 
 wants of the brain, and be neither too much nor too 
 little for the needs of the moment. 
 
 When the regulation of the blood supply is seri- 
 ously deranged, the doctor should be seen at once. 
 To discuss in detail such a medical point is beyond 
 the scope of the present volume. It is only necessary 
 to say that by exercise, proper living, and all other 
 methods which are described in works on general 
 hygiene, the brain-worker must endeavor to keep up 
 the general health, and prevent any disturbance of the 
 circulation. 
 
 So far as the voluntary acts of the individual are 
 concerned, " going to sleep " is usually simply a shut- 
 ting out both of the past and of the outer world of 
 the present. The methods of doing this are various — 
 some direct, some indirect. By a stern effort of the 
 will, some people seem able to quiet the attention. It 
 is largely by possession of this power that these in- 
 dividuals are able to go to sleep whenever they desire. 
 More mysterious than this, although in some way re- 
 lated to it, is the power which various individuals 
 have of waking out of sleep at a time upon which they 
 have previously determined. 
 
 Counting numbers backwards, imagining some 
 
REST IN SLEEP. I 1 9 
 
 pleasant but not exciting "castle in the air," even the 
 physical acts of getting quiet and shutting the eyes, 
 are simply useful as indirect aids in lulling the atten- 
 tion, by shutting out all disturbances which shall ex- 
 cite it. 
 
 With a clear idea as to what it is 7 desired to do, 
 those who do not go to sleep easily are much more 
 apt to hit upon some effective device. With some a 
 short period of cheerful converse, with others a reli- 
 gious meditation, or the calmative effect of a cigar, 
 or a chapter or two out of a light book, or a medi- 
 tative glass of ale and its companion crackers, or 
 even, as I have known of, a cold bath, answer the 
 desired end of breaking off the thread of the day's 
 work and excitement. Beyond such simple expedi- 
 ents as these, it is not well to go without medical 
 advice. 
 
 A vital question, which must offer itself for solu- 
 tion to every brain-worker, is, how much sleep must 
 I take, and when shall I take it? In a previous chap- 
 ter, the opinion has already been expressed that the 
 time is not a matter of much moment, provided that 
 enough of sleep is taken with regularity. If a part 
 of the night's sleep is replaced by an afternoon nap, 
 well and good ; provided that the nap be taken sys- 
 tematically and not intermittently. There is no real 
 objection to sitting up late at night or to getting up 
 early in the morning, provided sufficient time for 
 
1 20 BRAIN - WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 sleep is allowed. It is of little importance in the 
 life history of a candle at which end you begin to 
 burn it ; but to burn both ends simultaneously is 
 soon to finish the candle. If you go to bed late, 
 don't get up early. 
 
 In the amount of sleep required, individuality 
 counts for a good deal, but not for so much as many 
 persons claim. There may have been men born 
 since the creation with heads under their arms, but I 
 have never seen one. There may have been men 
 who could work hard and continuously on four or 
 five hours' daily sleep, but it has never been my lot 
 to know one. I have watched a number of indi- 
 viduals who affirmed that five or six hours were suf- 
 ficient for them, and have been convinced that, in 
 a few of these cases, the amount named was really 
 all that was taken ; but have in every instance seen 
 the individual, by some form of breakdown, suf- 
 fer the penalty of having endeavored to cheat Na- 
 ture. There are not many men who are able to per- 
 form severe mental work year after year, without 
 suffering, on less than an actual daily sleep of seven 
 hours. Any who, except in advanced years, can get 
 along with less than six hours is a lusus natarcz ; and 
 there are many who require more than seven hours. 
 This rule is especially modified by two factors, 
 whose importance is not always recognized — the first 
 of these is age ; the second, work. The child who 
 
REST IN SLEEP. 121 
 
 is using his brain at school should have all the sleep he 
 will take; less than nine hours is not rarely a scanty 
 allowance. The grown youth or the middle-aged man 
 require less sleep than does the child. It is to them 
 that the rule just enunciated especially applies. As 
 middle life is passed, the daily need of sleep is 
 lessened. A man at sixty usually requires less rest 
 than he did at thirty-five. Why this is so is not 
 altogether clear. It is possibly because a man at 
 sixty usually works less than he does at forty. Even 
 if he accomplished the same results, by long habit 
 the work has become easier and without effort. It is 
 quite possible, that if a man at sixty engage in a new 
 kind of labor, his sleep-needs will equal those of the 
 younger man. As old age draws on, there is a steady 
 increase in the sleep requirements, until finally nine, 
 ten, or twelve hours daily are well passed in forget- 
 ful ness. 
 
 Every one recognizes that severe physical work 
 must be followed by a corresponding rest; but it is 
 not so universally remembered that the one law rules 
 mental and physical labor. When a man works hard 
 with his brain, he must rest hard not only in recrea- 
 tion, but also in sleep. If a personal allusion may 
 be pardoned as an illustration, I have found that, 
 when using my brain vigorously, about one hour more 
 of sleep was required daily than when, for a number 
 of successive days, no effort was put forth. 
 ii 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 THERE are one or two still untouched subjects 
 upon which it seems right to say a few words 
 before closing this brief essay. In the lives of most 
 men who struggle upwards, there come periods when 
 it is necessary to perform a great deal of labor in a 
 short time. If the object to be gained is sufficiently 
 important, it is perfectly justifiable to take a certain 
 amount of risk of suffering from overwork. The risk 
 is, however, comparatively slight, if the principle of a 
 compensating rest after the exertion be borne in mind. 
 Acute brain exhaustion following a spell of work is an 
 entirely different condition from the breakdown which 
 results from a long-continued strain. In the acute 
 attack, the brain almost invariably recovers itself en- 
 tirely in a comparatively short time. There is, how- 
 ever, great danger in a too frequent repetition of this 
 spendthrift process of paroxysmal labor. 
 
 When a large production is necessary in a short 
 time, it is important to reduce the strain to the lowest 
 degree possible by attention to the various principles 
 
CONCLUSION. 123 
 
 already discussed in this Primer. In most cases, ex- 
 ercise is for the time being to be neglected; but only 
 under the most extraordinary circumstances is it wise 
 to curtail the amount of sleep. 
 
 The question as to the use of stimulants always 
 presses itself to the man jaded with overwork. They 
 are, if possible, to be avoided, or, at most, to be used 
 with the greatest caution. Tobacco, though it some- 
 times seems to soothe, is a most dangerous friend, and 
 its free use during a spell of hard work is very apt to 
 increase sensibly the peril. Alcoholic stimulants are 
 likewise dangerous allies, which should be treated with 
 the utmost caution. In some persons they do aid 
 in mental effort, but any use for such purpose is but 
 too apt to lead to dependence upon them, with its 
 resultant progressive demoralization. To lawyers over- 
 wrought by the exigencies of a great trial, they are 
 especially attractive, because there is at such times a 
 distinct physical as well as mental basis of exhaustion. 
 In the case of generals during a hard campaign, the 
 temptation is even more urgent. Indeed, it may be 
 stated as a general principle, that the more the brain- 
 work is performed under circumstances of excitement 
 and bodily fatigue, the more forcibly does alcohol pre- 
 sent itself. It should, however, never be forgotten that 
 alcoholic stimulants do not give real power, except 
 when taken along with food, whose digestion they facili- 
 tate. A dish of raw oysters, with a bumper of claret or 
 
1 24 BRAIN- WORK AND O VER WORK. 
 
 a glass of ale, may afford the often-needed sustenance 
 during the labor of a protracted speech, or of an ex- 
 citing political or military contest. It seems to me 
 very important to the advocate that he should never 
 spend many hours in court without light but sustain- 
 ing food. Indeed, it should always be a guiding 
 principle, when physical labor and mental labor go 
 hand in hand, always to take simple food at not too 
 long intervals. I certainly have seen injury from the 
 habit of going from breakfast to a late dinner without 
 food, or only with a very light lunch. 
 
 Tea or coffee is to many, if not to the majority of 
 persons, a better stimulant to mental effort than alco- 
 hol, and certainly far safer. The abuse of them is 
 very much less perilous than is that of whiskey or 
 brandy, but it certainly does increase the penalty to 
 be paid for the excess of labor. Coffee is perhaps 
 more apt to produce unpleasant symptoms than is tea, 
 though individual peculiarities here play an important 
 part. 
 
 Both to the paroxysmal and steady brain-worker it 
 is important to be able to perceive the indications of 
 the coming storm, and so avert evil. The fore warn- 
 ings of nervous breakdown are sometimes very plain, 
 and sometimes so obscure, as to be read only by the 
 most skilful physician. To discuss them at all satis- 
 factorily, would carry one far beyond the bounds and 
 
CONCLUSION. 125 
 
 scope of this Primer \ all that can be done is simply 
 to outline a few of the more important. 
 
 Excessive nervousness, or irritability, as every un- 
 fortunate wife of a hard driven brain-worker well 
 knows, is a very common result of overwork. Its 
 meaning is that the over-taxed nervous system is so 
 exhausted that the least discord or unnecessary effort 
 is painful to it. It is often preservative of health, 
 because it becomes so annoying to the man himself 
 as to drive him to rest. What pain is to the broken 
 limb, such is nervous irritability to the exhausted 
 brain j by suffering, it forces the worker to let his 
 nervous systemrest. It rarely presages those serious 
 disasters which come suddenly after a prolonged strain 
 lasting for years. The dangerous brain condition is 
 that in which the cerebrum has become so benumbed 
 as not to feel the peril, and demand a halt. 
 
 Headache is another of those fortunate symptoms 
 which are of a character to make themselves so felt 
 as to force the attention of the brain-worker. The 
 head is often the seat of unpleasant sensations which 
 are not headache, but which, as the signs of mental 
 over-driving, are of even more serious meaning than 
 is headache. Such are a sense of weight on the top 
 of the head, a feeling of constriction of the forehead, 
 or a more general cephalic distress. Such phenomena, 
 occurring after long-continued strain, are very sig- 
 nificant, and should always be heeded. 
 
126 BRAIN-WORK AND OVERWORK. 
 
 Sleeplessness is a very common indication of over- 
 work, which, when pronounced, demands medical ad- 
 vice. Of still more importance are the following 
 manifestations, and the only counsel I can give those 
 who suffer from them is, to lose no time in trifling, 
 but to seek at once the best medical attention. Such 
 are numbness in one or more of the extremities, per- 
 manent slight loss of control over some groups of 
 muscles, momentary loss of consciousness, failure of 
 memory, or loss of the power of fixing the attention.. 
 In some cases the forewarnings consist simply of 
 momentary losses of power in the arms or legs. 
 
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 American. 
 
 44 A valuable book for all who are interested in the best use and preser* 
 vation of the vision."— N. E. Journal of Education. 
 
 44 A compact volume, full of information to all classes of people."— Book- 
 seller and Stationer. 
 
 44 A comprehensive treatise, well calculated to educate the public."— 
 Kansas City Review. 
 
 44 G-ives excellent advice."— Chicago Journal. 
 
 44 To teachers particularly the book is of interest and importance."— 
 Educational Weekly. 
 
Select List of Books. 
 
 VACCINATION 
 
 AND 
 
 SMALLPOX. 
 
 A NEW BOOK BY DR. JOS. F. EDWARDS. 
 
 3£mo, CLOTH. PRICE 50 CENTS. 
 
 This is a most timely monograph, for, owing to the spread of this dread 
 disease, the subject is of interest to every one. The author's aim is to sho n 
 the advantages of being vaccinated and the fallacy of the arguments used 
 by those opposing it, with advice as to the care and management of Small- 
 pox patients. 
 
 BIBLE HYGIENE; 
 
 OB, 
 
 HEALTH HINTS. 
 
 BY A PHYSICIAN. 
 12mo, Cloth. JPrice $1.00. Paper, 50 cts. 
 
 This is a most curious book, interesting in an historical as well as a theo- 
 logical and sanitary light. 
 
 It has a threefold purpose : First : To impart, in a popular and easily 
 understood form, those elements of health preservation which are fast 
 taking the place of medicines. Second : To show the importance of the 
 health hints contained in the Bible. Third : To prove that modern ideas 
 on the preservation of disease run in a parallel direction with the laws of 
 Moses and other Biblical writers. The author has consulted many books 
 and different editions of the Bible in preparing his work, compressiog into 
 the volume a great amount of valuaDle information and the conclusions 
 of many other writers. 
 
 WHAT EVERY MOTHER SHOULD KNOW. Bv Edward 
 Ellis, m.d., Author of a Practical Manual on the Diseases of Children. 
 16mo. Cloth. Price 75 cents. 
 
 '« As it is only too true that our children have to dodge through the early 
 part of life as through a sort of pathological labyrinth, we must be thank- 
 ful to meet with such a sensible guide for them as Dr. Ellis. He is emi- 
 nently a practitioner among doctors, and a doctor among practitioners ; 
 that is to say, he is learned and well knows what is known, can do what 
 should be done, and can put what he has to say in plain and comprehensive 
 language."— Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 "The author has a faculty of sketching out the characteristics of dis- 
 eases and their treatment in striking outlines, and of making his points 
 ve r" *"^, r and impressive."— A". Y. Medical Record. 
 
P. Blakiston, Son & CoJs 
 
 DRUGS THAT ENSLAVE. The Opium, Morphine, Chloral, 
 and Hashisch Habits. By H. H. Kane, m.d., of New York City. One 
 volume. 12mo. With Illustrations. Price $1.60. 
 
 A curse that is daily spreading, that is daily rejoicing in an increased 
 number of victims, that entangles in its hideous meshes such great men as 
 Coleridge, De Quincey, William Blair, Robert Hall, John Randolph, and 
 William Wilberforce, besides thousands of others whose vice is unknown, 
 should demand a searching and scientific examination. 
 
 41 A vivid and startling expose* of the increase of this form of intemper- 
 ance, and the terrible sufferings endured by those trying to free them, 
 selves from this habit."— Pittsburg Telegraph. 
 
 " It is well that such a warning as is contained in this book should be 
 sounded." — Albany Evening Journal, c 
 
 44 The volume seems to be a summary of the results of the most approved 
 practice, both in Europe and this country."— New York World. 
 
 M A work of more than ordinary ability and careful research. . . . For 
 the first time, reliable statistics on the use of chloral are classified and 
 published. . . . And it is shown that the use of chloral causes a more 
 complete and rapid ruin of mind and body than either opium or morphine." 
 .—Druggists' Circular and Gazette. 
 
 M The effects of the habits described are set forth boldly and clearly, and 
 the book must have a beneficial effect. It will do still better service in de- 
 terring persons from experimenting 'to see what it is like.'" — Charleston 
 (S. C.) News and Courier. 
 
 "The subject of the chloral habit has not been investigated by any one, 
 we believe, so thoroughly as by Dr. Kane."— Af edical Record. 
 
 44 There is ground for a new temperance movement here. The book is a 
 valuable one. It is written in a practical manner, and has nothing of a 
 sensational character."— Philadelphia Ledger. 
 
 THE OCEAN AS A HEALTH RESORT. A handbook of 
 Practical Information as to Sea Voyages, for the use of Tourists and 
 Invalids. By Wm. S. Wilson, l.r.c.p.. Lond , m.r.c.s.e. With a 
 Chart showing the Ocean Routes, and Illustrating the Plr sical Geo, 
 graphy of the Sea. Crown 8vo. Price $2.50. 
 
 HEALTH RESORTS. Health Resorts for ,the Treatment of 
 Chronic Diseases. A Hand-Book, the result of the author's own obser- 
 vations durinar several years of health travel in many lands; contain- 
 ing also remarks on climatology and the use of mineral waters. By T. 
 M. Madden, m.d. 8vo. Price $2.60. 
 44 Rarely have we encountered a book containing so much information for 
 
 both invalids and pleasure seekers."— The Sanitarian. 
 
 ON NURSING. A Manual for Hospital Nurses and all engaged 
 in attending to the sick. 4th Edition. With Recipes for Sick Room 
 Cookery, etc. Price 75 cents. 
 Gives complete directions for the management of the sick room, for feed- 
 ing, washing and dosing patients, about accidents and operations, use of 
 Aheromet^r, cupping, etc., etc., etc. 
 
Select List of Boohs. 
 
 HOW TO LIVE. 
 
 A GUIDE TO HEALTH AND HEALTHY HOMES. 
 By GEORGE WILSON, M.D. Second Edition. Edited by Joseph G. Richardson, 
 
 Professor of Hygiene University of Pennsylvania. 
 314 Pages. Price, cloth, $1.00; Paper covers, 75 Cents. 
 
 SCOPE OF THE WORK. 
 
 The object of the author in writing this book is to advance the art of 
 preserving health; that is, of obtaining the most perfect action of body 
 and mind during as long a period as is consistent with the laws of nature. 
 Though many books have been written analogous to the subject, there is 
 none like this; sufficiently simple, and at the same time systematic and 
 comprehensive. A glance at the table of contents will convince the reader 
 of its completeness and reliability as a guide to all those wishing to lead a 
 happy, healthy and long life. 
 
 Chapter I is a general introduction to the whole subject, giving a few 
 statistics in regard to death rates, and remarks showing the great number 
 of preventable diseases and the possibility of reducing the many early 
 deaths by a proper regard of simple health rules. Chapter II is explana- 
 tory of the different functions of the human body, for the more thorough 
 understanding of the following chapters. Chapter III is headed Causes 
 of Disease, self induced and social ; treating of intemperance in food as 
 well as drink and tobacco, mental overwork, immorality, idleness, irregular 
 modes of living, sleep and clothing, contagious diseases, consumption, etc.; 
 unsound food, impure air, etc., e**. * Chapter IV is more particularly 
 devoted to food and diet, their proper choice, digestive qualities and prepar- 
 ation. Chapter V treats the subjects of cleanliness and clothing. It is 
 astounding, the ignorance displayed by the majority of people on these 
 points, and Dr. Wilson gives many useful hints invaluable to every one. 
 Chapter VI is on Exercise, Recreation, etc., giving the proper amount of 
 exercise to be taken by boys and girls, young and old, explaining its 
 necessity and good effects ; details are also given lor the proper training 
 for racing and athletic sports as recommended at various universities. 
 Chapter VII treats of the more general theme of the Home and its sur- 
 roundings, drainage, water supply, ventilation, warming, outside premises, 
 ana innumerable hints of value about choosing or building a new home, and 
 the alteration and healthful arrangement of an old one. Chapter VIII, 
 Diseases and their prevention, and concluding remarks. 
 
 Only an outline of the scope of this book can be had from these few gen- 
 eral headings, but it would De impossible to give in so limited a space the 
 thousand and one subjects handled, popular errors corrected, ana useful 
 hints given by Dr. Wilson, in these three hundred and fourteen closely 
 printed pages. A general index completes the volume, and the well known 
 name of Prof. Richardson on the title page, as editor, is an additional guar- 
 antee of its trustworthiness as a guide in all things relative to health and 
 How we should live. , 
 
 PRESS NOTICES. 
 
 11 The book aims at the prevention of Disease. It abounds in sensible 
 suggestions, and will prove a reliable guide."— Churchman. 
 
 " A most useful and, in every way, acceptable book."— New York Herald. 
 
 " Full of good sense and sound advice."— Educational Weekly. 
 
 ** Deserves wide and general circulation."— Chicago Tribune. 
 
P. Blakiston, Son & Co.'s 
 
 ON HEADACHES. The Nature, Causes, and Treatment of 
 Headaches. By Wm. H. Day, m.d. Third Edition. Illustrated. 
 
 Price, in paper covers, 75 cents ; cloth, $1.25 
 "The work is one that will be read with interest by those who are called 
 on to treat the disease — and even more by those who are at the same time 
 personally acquainted with its tortures."— Ohio Medical Recorder. 
 
 THE MANUFACTURE OF PERFUMES, POWDERS, 
 
 Soaps, etc. The Art of Perfumery ; or, the Methods of Obtaining the 
 Odors of Plants, and Instruction for the Manufacture of Perfumery, 
 Dentifrices, Soap, Scented Powders, Odorous Vinegars and Salts, 
 Snuff, Cosmetics, etc., etc. By Gr. W. Septimus Piesse. Fourth Edi- 
 tion. Enlarged. 366 Illustrations. 8vo. Cloth. Price $5.50 
 
 "An excellent book." — Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 44 It is the best book on Perfumery yet published."— Scientific American. 
 
 44 Exceedingly useful."— Journal of Chemistry. 
 
 4 ' Is in the fullest sense comprehensive."— Medical Record. 
 
 POISONS AND THEIR ANTIDOTES. A Memoranda of 
 Poisons and their Antidotes and Tests. By Dr. Thomas Hawkes Tan- 
 ner. Fourth Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Price 75 cents. 
 This most complete manual should be within reach of all ; for, as an addi- 
 tion to every family library it would be the means of saving life and allay- 
 ing pain when the delay of sending for a physician would prove fatal. It 
 shows at a glance the treatment to be adopted in each particular instance 
 of poisoning. 
 
 INTERMARRIAGE. A Scientific Inquiry into the Causes why 
 Beauty, Health, and Intellect result from certain unions, and Deform- 
 ity, Disease, and Insanity from others. By Alexander Walker. Illus- 
 trated. 12mo. Cloth. Price $1.00 
 The work is not of that empiric character which its title might lead some 
 readers to suppose ; but a careful philosophical treatise . It is entitled to 
 great consideration; and even if the author's theory as applied to the hu- 
 man species be wrong, the facts here accumulated, on the subject of cross 
 breeding, etc., cannot fail to be of high value and interest to stock farmers 
 and others. There is nothing indelicate in the work, to an enlightened 
 reader. 
 
 MARRIAGE, In its Social, Moral and Physical Relations. By 
 Dr. Michael Ryan, Member of the Royal College of Physicians and Sur- 
 geons, London. 12mo. Cloth. Price $1.00 
 
 DANGERS TO HEALTH. * A Pictorial Guide to Sanitary 
 Defects, showing the many defects in Sewers, Drain Pipes, etc., and 
 how they may be detected. By T. Pridgin Teale. 8vo. Illustrated. 
 
 Price $3.60 
 With 70 illustrations, most of them colored, showing in the clearest way 
 the dangers to health arising from carelessly laid drains and old sewers. If 
 any testimony is needed to show the increasing interest taken by the public 
 in such commonplace matters as drains and waste pipes, it is to be found in 
 the fact that two large editions of this book have already been sold. 
 
Select List of Books. 
 
 LONG LIFE. The Art of Prolonging Life. By C. W. Hufe- 
 land. New Edition. Edited by Erasmus Wilson, m.d. 12mo. Price 81.00 
 
 4 * We wish all doctors and all their intelligent clients would read It, for 
 surely its persual would be attended with pleasure and benefit."— Ameri- 
 can Practitioner. 
 
 *• We all desire long life, and the attainment of that object, as far as it 
 can be accomplished by an adherence to the laws prescribed by nature, 
 may be furthered by a perusal of Dr. Hufeland's book, which is written in 
 a style so perspicuous and free from technicalities as to be readily compre- 
 hended by non-professional readers."— Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. 
 
 "The work is a rational and well ordered presentment on a subject of 
 moment to all. It prescribes no panacea, but puts in requisition instru- 
 mentalities that are in everyone's reach. It should be read by all."— North 
 American. 
 
 ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO. Alcohol; its Place and Power. 
 By James Miller, f.r.o.s.; and, Tobacco; its Use and Abuse. By 
 John Lizars, m.a. The two essays in one volume. Cloth, Price $1.00 
 Either essay separately. Price 50 cents. 
 
 M A perusal of this work rather startles a smoker and chcwer, and gives 
 one an idea of the silent work going on in the system. It certainly shows 
 that a man must sooner or later feel the pernicious influences of alcohol 
 and tobacco. Let smokers and absorbers read it, and then make their cal- 
 culations on the length of time they will last under a continuation of the 
 evils, and whether it is not best to heed the facts there laid down and * mod- 
 erate' a little."— Calif ornian. 
 
 M They are full of good, strong, medical sense, and ought to be very influ- 
 ential agents against the vices they assault."— Cvngregationalist. 
 
 44 We have seldom read an abler appeal against the demon of intemper- 
 ance, or one enforced by more cogent arguments. "— Philadelphia Inquirer. 
 
 THE MENTAL CULTURE AND TRAINING OF CHIL- 
 
 dren. By Pye Henry Chavasse. 12mo. Price $1.00 ; paper cover, 60 cts. 
 
 The mental culture and training of children is of immense importance. 
 
 Many children are so wretchedly trained, or rather, not trained at all, and 
 
 so mismanaged, that a few thoughts on this subject cannot be thrown 
 
 away, even upon the most careful. 
 
 ON INDIGESTION. Indigestion: What It Is ; What It Leads 
 To ; and a New Method of Treating It. By John Beadnell Gill, m.d. 
 Second Edition. 12mo. Price $1.2& 
 
 44 Indigestion, pure and simple, is responsible for almost all the other dis- 
 eases that flesh is heir to. Rheumatism and gout are the direct conse- 
 quences of this disorder, as well as heart and lung3 troubles. To care this 
 diseased state of digestive and assimilating organs Dr. Gill, a distinguished 
 English physician, has written this able treatise. He has summed up some 
 eighty-eight cases and their natural remedies, besides a system of eliminanta 
 and tonics. Great stress is laid on proper bathing, as a curative agent, and 
 on drinking hot water and its other uses. The fact of a seeond edition 
 being required within a few months of the first, needs no comment, and 
 points the demand."— Philadelphia Ledger. 
 
P. Blakiston, Son & Co.'s 
 
 RULES OF ORDER; A LEGISLATIVE MANUAL. 
 
 Kules for Conducting Business in Meetings of Societies, Legislative 
 Bodies, Town and Ward Meetings, etc. By Benj. Mathias, a.m. 
 Seventeenth Edition. 16mo. Cloth. Price 60 cts. 
 
 DOMESTIC MEDICINE. A Condensed Compend of Domes- 
 tic Medicine, and Companion to the Medicine Chest. By Drs. Savory and 
 Moore. Illustrated. 32mo. Cloth. Price 50 cents. 
 
 ON HEADACHES. Ninth Thousand. Headaches, Their 
 Causes, Nature and Treatment. By Henry C. Wright, m.d. Cloth. 
 
 Price 50 cents. 
 
 CHEMISTRY PRIMER. A Primer of Chemistry, including 
 Analysis. By Arthur Vacher. 18mo. Cloth. Price 60 cents. 
 
 PRACTICAL MINERALOGY. Practical Mineralogy, Assay- 
 ing and Mining, with a description of the Useful Minerals, and in- 
 structions for Assaying and Mining according to the simplest methods. 
 By Frederick Overman. 12mo. Cloth. Price $1.00 
 
 ON COPPER. The Chemistry and Metallurgy of Copper ; the 
 art of mining and preparing ores for market, and the various pro- 
 cesses of Copper Smelting, etc. By A. Snowden Piggott, Analytical 
 and Consulting Chemist. Illustrated . 12mo. Cloth. Price $1.00 
 
 THE MICROSCOPIST. A Manual of Microscopy, and Com- 
 pendium of Microscopic Sciences, Micro-Mineralogy, Micro-Chemistry, 
 Biology, Histology, etc. By Joseph H. Wythe, a m., m.d. Fourth 
 Edition. 252 Illustrations. Price, Cloth, $6.00; Leather, $6.00 
 
 " Its text is well written, concise and comprehensive, but its chief value is 
 
 to be found in the two hundred and five illustrations, whose scope embraces 
 
 almost every class of subjects the amateur is likely to desire knowledge 
 
 upon." — Philadelphia Medical Times. 
 " The work is clearly written and its matter presented systematically and 
 
 in very judicious proportions. It contains a great number of beautifully 
 
 colored plates, which will prove helpful to the student."— Popular Science 
 
 Monthly. 
 
 HOSPITALS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. Pay Hospi- 
 tals and Paying Wards throughout the World. Facts in support of a 
 system of medical relief. By Henry C. Burdett, m.d. 8vo. Cloth. 
 
 Price $2.25 
 BY SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 PROGRESS, MANAGEMENT AND WORK OF COTTAGE 
 
 Hospitals; with many Plans and Illustrations. Demi 8vo. Cloth. 
 
 Price $4.50 
 " Mr. Burdett displays and discusses the whole scheme of hospital accom- 
 modation, with a comprehensive understanding of its nature and extent."— 
 American Practitioner. 
 
 DEAFNESS, GIDDINESS, ETC. Deafness, Giddiness, and 
 Noises in the Head. By Edward Woakes, m.d. Illustrated. 12mo. 
 
 Price $2.50 
 
Select List of Books. 
 
 LIFE THEORIES. Life Theories and their Influence upon 
 Religious Thought. By Lionel S. Beale, m.d. Six colored plates. 
 12mo. Price $2 OO 
 
 BY SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 PROTOPLASM ; or, Matter and Life. Third Edition. En- 
 larged. 16 Colored Plates. Cloth. Price $3.oo 
 
 BIOPLASM. An Introduction to the Physiology of Life. Illus- 
 trated. 12mo. Price $2.26 
 
 THE MICROSCOPE AND ITS REVELATIONS. The 
 most Complete Text-Book on the Use of the Microscope. By W. B. 
 Carpenter, m.d., f.r.s. Sixth Edition. Enlarged. 600 Illustrations 
 (some colored). 882 pages. Cloth. Price $5.50 
 
 WATER ANALYSIS. Potable Water; How to form a Judg- 
 ment on Water for Drinking Purposes. By Chas. Ekin. Second Edi- 
 tion. 12mo. Price 76 cents. 
 
 PRACTICAL HYGIENE. A Complete Text-Book of Practical 
 Hygiene. By Edward Parkes, m.d. Fifth Enlarged Edition. Illus- 
 trated. Thick Octavo. Cloth. Price $6.00 
 "Altogether it is the most complete work on hygiene which we have 
 seen." — New York Medical Record. 
 
 44 We find that it never fails to throw light on any hygienic question which, 
 may be proposed."— Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. 
 
 44 We commend the book heartily to all needing instruction (and who- 
 does not) in hygiene."— Chicago Medical Journal. 
 
 A HANDBOOK OF SANITARY SCIENCE. Hygiene and 
 Sanitary Science. By George Wilson, m.d.. Medical Officer of Health. 
 With Illustrations. Fourth Edition Revised. Demi 8vo. Cloth. 
 
 Price $2.15 
 
 CHEMISTRY FOR BEGINNERS. Progressive Exercises in 
 Practical Chemistry. By Chas. L. Bloxam. 89 Illustrations. Cloth. 
 
 Price $1.75 
 This book is intended for those commencing the study of Chemistry. 
 41 A great amount of practical information is here condensed, such as only 
 a practical teacher could prepare." — New England Journal of Education. 
 
 CHEMISTRY, ORGANIC AND INORGANIC. A Complete 
 
 Text-Book. By Prof. Charles L. Bloxam. Fourth Edition. Nearly 
 
 300 Illustrations. 8vo. Cloth. Price $4.00 
 
 Recommended at many schools and colleges throughout the United 
 
 States. 
 
 JOS" These Books can be procured from Booksellers generally, or will be 
 sent, postage paid, upon receipt of the price by the Publishers. 
 
P. Blakiston, Son & Co.'s 
 
 POPULAR SCIENTIF IC BOOKS. 
 
 JS^ 3 " Either of the following books sent, postpaid, to any address, 
 upon receipt of 
 
 ANY SIX BOOKS FOR FIVE DOLLARS. 
 
 HOW TO PROLONG LIFE. By C. W. Hufeland. Cloth. 
 
 DRAINAGE FOR HEALTH. ( Excellent advice about the 
 draining of land and dwellings, pipes to be used, etc. Cloth. 
 
 WATER ANALYSIS, for Sanitary Purposes. A practical ex- 
 position of the subject. By Prof. Ed. Frankland. Cloth. 
 
 INTERMARRIAGE. Why beauty, health and intellect result 
 from certain unions, and deformity, disease and insanity, from 
 others. Cloth. 
 
 BIBLE HYGIENE. The relation between the Laws of Moses 
 and other Biblical writers and the Hygiene of the present. Cloth. 
 
 COPPER; Its Chemistry and Metallurgy. Piggott. Cloth. 
 
 MENTAL CULTURE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN. 
 By Henry Chavasse. Cloth. 
 
 MARRIAGE; Its History and Philosophy. By Dr. Michael Ryan. 
 Cloth. 
 
 HOW TO LIVE. A useful home book, containing many valu- 
 able suggestions. Wilson. Cloth. 
 
 PRACTICAL MINERALOGY. Assaying and Mining. Over- 
 man. Cloth. 
 
 ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO. Their Use and Abuse. Miller 
 and Lizars. Cloth. 
 ftf^T Either of the following books sent, postpaid, to any address, 
 
 upon receipt of 
 
 SEVENTY-FIVE CE3STTS. 
 Any Six Books for Three Dollars and Seventy-five Cents. 
 
 HEADACHES: Their Causes and Treatment. Dr. Day. Paper. 
 POISONS AND THEIR ANTIDOTES. Should be in every 
 
 family library. Tanner. Cloth. 
 DYSPEPSIA: HOW TO AVOID IT. Edwards. Cloth. 
 SLIGHT AILMENTS: Their Nature and Treatment. Beale. Paper. 
 
Select List of Boohs. 
 
 HOW TO LIVE. A useful home book, containing many valu- 
 able suggestions. Wilson. Paper. 
 
 INFANTS; Their proper Management in Health and Disease. 
 Hale. Cloth. 
 
 MALARIA ; Where Found, its Symptoms, and How to Avoid it. 
 Edwards. Cloth. 
 
 GOOD AND BAD EYESIGHT. A popular exposition of the 
 physiology of vision. Illustrated. Carter. Paper. 
 
 CONSTIPATION. Its relief by habits of living, eating, and 
 exercise. Edwards. Cloth. 
 
 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. What every mother should know 
 about them ; in plain, comprehensive language. Ellis. Cloth. 
 
 WATER. How to form a judgment on the suitableness of water 
 for drinking and cooking. Ekin. Cloth. 
 
 BRIGHT'S DISEASE. How persons afflicted with this disease 
 ought to live. Edwards. Cloth. 
 
 NURSING OF THE SICK, with Rules for Diet, Hygiene, In- 
 valid Cooking, etc. Domville. Cloth. 
 &T Either of the following boohs sent, postpaid, to any address, 
 
 upon receipt of 
 
 FIFTY CEZSTTS. 
 Any Six Books for Two Dollars and Fifty Cents. 
 
 A PRIMER OF CHEMISTRY. Vacher. Cloth. 
 
 RULES OF ORDER, for Conducting Business in Meetings of 
 
 Societies, Legislative Bodies, Town and Ward Meetings, etc. 
 
 Mathias. Cloth. 
 AMERICAN HEALTH PRIMERS. (See special list.) Cloth. 
 ALCOHOL, Its Place and Power. Miller. Cloth. 
 EMERGENCIES. What to do first in accidents, poisoning, etc. 
 
 Dulles. Cloth. 
 BIBLE HYGIENE. The relation between the Laws of Moses 
 
 and other Biblical writers and the Hygiene of the present. Paper. 
 COMPEND OF DOMESTIC MEDICINE. By Savory & 
 
 Moore. Cloth. 
 HEADACHES ; Their Causes and Treatment. Wright. Ninth 
 
 Thousand. Cloth. 
 TOBACCO. Its Use and Abuse. Lizars. Cloth. 
 VACCINATION AND SMALLPOX. Edwards. Cloth. 
 
Select List of Books. 
 
 SLIGHT AILMENTS: 
 
 THEIR NATURE AND TREATMENT. 
 
 By LIONEL S. BEALE, M.D. 
 
 Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 
 
 OCTAVO. PRICE, CLOTH BINDING, $1.25; BOUND IN PAPER, 76 CENTS, 
 
 Every one suffers from time to time with slight derangements of the 
 health ; derangements not dependent upon or likely to determine any 
 important change in any organ or tissue of the body, but du^ to some 
 temporary disturbance which, though painful and unpleasant, may be 
 easily relieved by any one understanding their nature and cause. 
 
 A little too much food, or food of a bad kind, or food badly cooked, 01 
 eaten at the wrong time or too quickly, a glass of bad wine, bad milk 01 
 water, to say nothing of the disturbances occasioned by changes of atmos- 
 phere, and a hundred other causes, bring about such normal changes in the 
 body as to make even the strongest and healthiest among us to feel for a 
 time unwell ; almost every one, in fact, experiences such departures from 
 the healthy condition. It is about these Slight Ailments, which cause sc 
 much discomfort, and often a great deal of pain, that Dr. Beale treats, 
 The old adage, that " prevention is better than cure," applies pertinently 
 to slight ailments, as it is these which are often the forerunners of disease 
 and doctor's bills. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 " It abounds in information and advice, and is written for popular use." — 
 Philadelphia Bulletin. 
 
 " A valuable work for the family library." — Boston Transcript. 
 
 " Clear, practical, and a valuable instructor." — Baltimore Gazette. 
 
 " In a very important sense, a popular book." — Chicago Advance. 
 
 " An admirable treatise upon the minor ills which flesh is heir to." — Spri?igjiela 
 Republican. 
 
 Any book in this Catalogue will be sent, postage prepaid, upon 
 
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 Money should be sent by Draft, Post Office 
 
 Money Order, or Registered Letter. 
 
 The publishers have an extensive stock of books in all branches of Medi. 
 cine and Scienoe. Catalogues furnished upon application, correspond* 
 ence solicited. 
 
 P. BLAKISTON, SON & CO., 
 
 BOOKSELLERS, PUBLISHERS AND IMPORTERS, 
 1012 WALNUT ST.' PHILADELPHIA, 
 
CO 
 
 
• U i C BE, "<EL 
 
 III