mmonplace of such directions, but woe be to the
man who neglects them!

When an overworked and worried victim has sufficiently sinned against
these simple laws, if he does not luckily suffer from disturbances of
heart or stomach, he begins to have certain signs of nervous
exhaustion.

As a rule, one of two symptoms appears first, though sometimes both come
together. Work gets to be a little less facile; this astonishes the
subject, especially if he has been under high pressure and doing his
tasks with that ease which comes of excitement. With this, or a little
later, he discovers that he sleeps badly, and that the thoughts of the
day infest his dreams, or so possess him as to make slumber difficult.
Unrefreshed, he rises and plunges anew into the labor for which he is no
longer competent. Let him stop here; he has had his warning. Day after
day the work grows more trying, but the varied stimulants to exertion
come into play, the mind, aroused, forgets in the cares of the day the
weariness of the night season, and so, with lessening power and growing
burden, he pursues his purpose. At last come certain new symptoms, such
as giddiness, dimness of sight, neuralgia of the face or scalp, with
entire nights of insomnia and growing difficulty in the use of the
mental powers; so that to attempt a calculation, or any form of
intellectual labor, is to insure a sense of distress in the head, or
such absolute pain as proves how deeply the organs concerned have
suffered. Even to read is sometimes almost impossible; and there still
remains the perilous fact that under enough of moral stimulus the man
may be able, for a few hours, to plunge into business cares, without
such pain as completely to incapacitate him for immediate activity.
Night, however, never fails to bring the punishment; and at last the
slightest prolonged exertion of mind becomes impossible. In the worst
cases the scalp itself grows sore, and a sudden jar hurts the brain, or
seems to do so, while the mere act of stepping from a curb-stone
produces positive pain.

Strange as it may seem, much of all this may happen to a man, and he may
still struggle onward, ignorant of the terrible demands he is making
upon an exhausted brain. Usually, by this time he has sought advice,
and, if his doctor be worthy of the title, has learned that while there
are certain aids for his symptoms in the shape of drugs, there is only
one real remedy. Happy he if not too late in discoveri