hey will have one more resource
when the pressure of mature life becomes severe."
Before concluding this discussion a word might be added concerning the
relation between fasting and mental activity. Prolonged abstinence from
food frequently results in highly sharpened intellectual powers.
Numerous examples of this are found in the literature of history and
biography; many actors, speakers and singers habitually fast before
public performances. There are some disadvantages to fasting,
especially loss of weight and weakness, but when done under the
direction of a physician, fasting has been known to produce very
beneficial effects. It is mentioned here because it has such marked
effects in speeding up the mental processes and clearing the mind; and
the well-nourished student may find the practice a source of mental
strength during times of stress such as examinations.
SLEEP.--"About one-third of an average human life is passed in the
familiar and yet mysterious state which we call sleep. From one point
of view this seems a large inroad upon the period in which our
consciousness has its exercise; a subtraction of twenty-five years from
the life of one who lives to be seventy-five. Yet we know that the
efficiency and comfort of the individual demand the surrender of all
this precious time. It has often been said that sleep is a more
imperative necessity than food, and the claim seems to be well
founded." It is quite likely that some students indulge in too much
sleep. This may sometimes be due to laziness, but frequently it is due
to actual intoxication, from an excess of food which results in the
presence of poisonous "narcotizing substances absorbed from the
burdened intestine". This theory is rendered tenable by the fact that
when the diet is reduced the hours of sleep may be reduced. If one is
in good health, it seems right to expect that one should be able to
arise gladly and briskly upon awaking. By all means do not indulge
yourself in long periods of lying in bed after a good night's rest. If
we examine the physical and physiological conditions of sleep we shall
better understand its hygiene. Sleep is a state in which the tissues of
the body which have been used up may be restored. Of course some
restoration of broken-down tissue takes place as soon as it begins to
wear out, but so long as the body keeps working, the one process can
never quite compensate for the other, so there must be a periodic
cessation of ac
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