ndulgence in the pleasures of the table.
In such circumstances, the stomach and brain react upon and disturb
each other, till all the horrors of nervous disease make their
unwelcome appearance, and render life miserable. Too many literary men
and students know this from sad experience.

824. _We should engage in intense study in the early part of the day._
Nature has allotted the darkness of the night for repose, and for
restoration by sleep of the exhausted energies of mind and body. In
the early part of the evening, if study or composition be ardently
engaged in, the increased action of the brain, which always
accompanies activity of mind, requires a long time to subside. If the
individual possesses a nervous temperament, he will be sleepless for
hours after he has retired, or perhaps be tormented by unpleasant
dreams.

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822. Why should we not arouse deep feeling immediately before or after
eating a full meal? 823. How are the worst forms of indigestion and
nervous depression produced? What class of men know this from sad
experience? 824. What evils arise from studious application at night?

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825. It is, therefore, of great advantage to enter upon intense mental
application early in the day, and to devote several of the hours which
precede bedtime to entertaining conversation, music, and lighter
reading. The vascular excitement previously induced in the brain by
study, has then time to subside, and sound, refreshing sleep is much
more certainly obtained. This rule is of great consequence to those
who are obliged to undergo much mental labor.

_Observation._ The idea of gathering wisdom by burning the "midnight
oil," is more poetical than profitable. The best time to use the brain
is during the day.

826. _The close student and the growing child need more sleep than the
idler or the adult._ As steep is the natural repose of all organs, it
follows that the more the brain and other organs of the system are
employed, the more repose they require. The organs of the child,
beside sustaining their proper functions, are busy in promoting its
growth. This nutritive process is attended with a certain degree of
exhaustion. The impaired health of children often results from a
disregard of this principle. But, on the other hand, an excess of
sleep produces feebleness, by preventing the proper exercise of the
mind as well as the body.

827. _The length of time the bra