at man into strenuous physical exercise or violent
sports. Although we have witnessed numerous state, national and
international tennis, polo, rowing, sprinting, hurdling and swimming
contests, we have seen not one player who was fat enough to be included
in the pure Alimentive type.

The grand-stands, bleachers and touring cars at these contests contained
a generous number of fat people, but their conversation indicated that
they were present more from personal interest in some contestant than in
the game itself.

The nearest a fat man usually comes to taking strenuous exercise is to
drive in an open car. The more easeful that car the better he likes it.
He avoids long walks as he would the plague, and catches a street car
for a two-block trip.

The Personal Element

Due to his immaturity, the fat person gives little thought to anything
save those things which affect him personally.

The calm exterior, unruffled countenance and air of deliberation he
sometimes wears, and which have occasionally passed for "judicial"
qualities, are largely the results of the fact that the Alimentive
refuses to get stirred up over anything that does not concern him
personally.

This personal element will be found to dominate the activities,
conversation and interests of the Alimentive. For him to like a thing or
buy a thing it must come pretty near being something he can eat, wear,
live in or otherwise personally enjoy. He confines himself to the
concrete and tangible. But most of all he confines himself to things out
of which he gets something for himself.

Reading

The fat man is no reader but when he does read it is nearly always
something funny, simple or sentimental. In newspapers he reads the
"funnies." Magazine stories, if short and full of sentiment, attract
him. He seldom reads an editorial and is not a book worm. The newspaper
furnishes practically all of the fat man's reading. He seldom owns a
library unless he is very rich, and then it is usually for "show."

Avoids Book Stores

In making the investigations for this course, we interviewed many
clerks in the bookstores of leading cities throughout the United
States. Without exception they stated that few extremely fat people
patronized them. "I have been in this store seventeen years and I have
never sold a book to a two hundred and fifty pounder," one dealer told
us. All this is due to the fact with which we started this chapter--that
the fat man is built