The glow of health is wanting, in the days of fast living. Life is very much an affair of rhythm, and a sound mind in a sound body can only be concord, method and orderly selfcontrol by the will-power. A successful competition, commenced in early life, becomes a fruitful source of impaired health and premature death.

Is there yet no other way, beside

These painful passages, how we may come
To death, and mix with our connatural dust?
There is, indeed, if thou would'st well observe
The rule of not too much, by temperance taught,
In what thou eat'st and drink'st, seeking from thence
Due nourishment, and likewise seeking due rest
Till many years over thy head return:

So may'st thou live, till, like ripe fruit, thou drop
Into thy mother's lap, or be with ease

Gathered, not harshly pluckt, for death mature.

MENTAL AND BODILY HEALTH CO-EQUAL.

Man is a problem of study, is simply an organism of varied powers and activities, and the true office of scientific inquiry, is to determine the mechanism, the modes and laws of its action-its waste and reparation.

The body is the servant of the mind, and is the medium between it and nature. The bodily organism which was so long neglected as of secondary consideration, is, in reality, the first and fundamental thing to be considered, and that, in reaching a knowledge of mind and character, through the study of the corporeal system, there has been laid a foundation of the science of human nature.

The relations which subsist between mind and matter, body and spirit, are exceedingly intimate, varied and extensive. The brain is an organ of power, and depends upon change, and change upon circulation; the lungs and heart are, therefore, immediately involved. To a high and sus

tained mental power, ample lungs and a vigorous heart are essential. And these organs, again fall back upon the digestive apparatus, which if feeble, may impair the capacity of a good heart and sound lungs and a well-constituted brain. The fundamental condition of all organic life is the uninterrupted renovation of substance, comprising the generation of new matter out of the nutriments and inhaled air, and the excretion of old matter, worn out and decomposed by the vital process. All these functions, in order to be normal, require a sound condition of the digestive organs, the organs of nutrition and of assimilation.

A healthy mind can be developed only through a healthy body, and again the body grows strong as the brain is exercised. It is only when the brain is educated or exerted at the expense of the body that harm is done. Education should embrace the entire circle of human capabilities, and, if it falls short of this, it is proportionally defective. The ordinary routine of the schools ignores the body. The student graduates with enfeebled health, and thus, in getting knowledge, he has destroyed the means by which it can be made practical and effective. On the other hand, the laborer, by unremitting physical toil, almost entirely ignores mental and moral culture. The result of this one-sided activity may be seen in the deformed character everywhere to be met with.

Health is the greatest good to the body. It is the harmonious activity of all its organs, performing all their functions, each in its sphere. Disease is the reverse of all this, and comes not as a punishment but as a result. Education must begin with the body, which preservation is equivalent to purity. Disease weakens physical power and suppresses spiritual energy. As long as the spirit remains in the body, it is subject to limitations.

Moral weakness, and even the commission of crime, depends on physical conditions to an extent few are aware of. A slight amount of bile in the blood, or an excess of renal products, may depress a person with hopeless despair, or drive one into paroxysms of passion. A subtle intimacy exists between body and mind; each affects the other. Fear depresses the vital energies of the system and muscles, and slackens the motions of life, causes the mind to shrink back on itself, and hence the system loses its positive power of resist

ance.

Disease is simply a disturbed physiological or healthy action, caused by a non-observance or disregard of the laws which govern the human organism in respect to diet, air, exercise, rest, water, clothing, sleep, conditions of the mind, and may be prevented by obedience to these laws.

Physical and mental disease are inseparable. The whole being must be in harmony with itself and with all surrounding circumstances, or perfect health cannot be enjoyed. Strength will come to body and mind by appropriate exercise, and peace through equanimity of mind, and equanimity of mind is the result of a proper observance of the laws, moral, mental and physical. One needs rest from cares and watchings and mental excitement, quite as much as from manual labor. It appears, by a fundamental law of our nature, that a sense of uneasiness invariably follows a longcontinued exercise of our powers, either corporeal or mental. The activity of the heart and brain can no more be dispensed with than the action of body and limbs; but we should not labor to excess, either mentally or physically; we cannot afford to rob heart and brain to feed bone and muscle. Constant toil enfeebles the body and produces intellectual torpor, social debasement, and is in the highest degree inimical to physical well-being.

The fact that the city is composed of an assemblage of men and women of a finer and higher grade, is of particular moment. Another set of faculties is brought into action; and, being actuated by new attractions, and acquiring thereby new habits, the shape of the head is changed, and the permanent expression of the face is modified. The city comes from the country; the street is replenished from the farm; but the city children going back to the farm show that a new element has been introduced into their blood. Their blood has become more progressive through a succession of influ

ences.

The physical evil of commercial life is excessive application, or anxiety, disordering the animal economy, weakening the mental powers. If mere volition wastes nerve tissue, one can see how very severe mental work is a drain upon the system, which calls for constant and careful hygienic living if it is to be supported and continued.

Moderation brings bodily ease and mental tranquillity. All the powers of the mind are momentarily dependent upon the integrity, purity and harmony of the brain. Recent discoveries in physiology have shown how immense is the influence of the brain over the functions of the body. The digestion of the food, the circulation of the blood, and through these all other organic processes, are profoundly affected by cerebral excitement. When the event producing a pleasurable or painful state of mind occurs shortly after a meal, it not unfrequently happens either that the stomach rejects what has been eaten, or digests it with great difficulty and under prolonged protest. Purely intellectual action, when excessive, will produce analogous effects. More or less of this constitutional disturbance will inevitably follow an exertion of brain beyond that which nature had provided for; and, when not so excessive as to produce absolute illness,

is sure to entail a slowly accumulating degeneracy of physique.

Excessive and continued mental exertion is injurious at any time of life. Consider, then, how great must be the damage inflicted by undue mental excitement on children and youths. Overaction of the brain and nervous system is equally fatal to the digestive process. The whole power

of digestion lies and depends upon a portion of the brain between firmness and veneration; undue excitement of the organ of veneration in childhood should be avoided as positively injurious. The connection between nutrition and reproduction is most intimate. The kind and quantity of food on which the mother subsists during the time of gestation deeply affect the child's body and soul. Constitutional predisposition to lymphatic habits as well as a highly wrought nervous organization does much toward fixing character and destiny. If you desire health and beauty, and to become the mother of healthy children, and remain a perpetually overflowing fountain of joy to your husband, study and obey the laws of your being.

HOW SHALL WE SUBVERT EVIL AND PREVENT DISEASE?

How has the sound health and vital stamina of our grandmothers been lost? The air, water and sunlight never fail. Where, then, shall we look for the causes of the decay of health and beauty? Is it not fashionable to be sentimentally pale, to have delicate health, and, alas, to be consumptive and die young? Sound health may shorten the duration of life by intensifying it; and a certain kind and degree of weakness may be the means of prolonging it. Every available means must be made use of to strengthen the constitution.

To fear the worst, oft cures the worst. If thousands are defrauded out of a large portion of their mundane