The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-01-02
Hygiene Of the Brain.
From Die Lenia,s .Manthlr.l

Hygiene Of the Brain.
; From Die LeWis's Menthly.l
q The human prain is the most Wonde
e ful object in the world, and its pow,
n may be quadrupled by wise culture.
e The frst condition of healthy brai
e il exercise. Hard work is necessary |
u bring it up TO its best.
The brain is composed of flesh an
e blood, subject to physiological law, an
i is not q spiritual organ controlled b
: laws beyond our reach. Its first need
7 an abundaneasof good blood. It Is fuI
damental in the physiology Of the brai
7 that the blood shall be pure If We Lei
sen the supply of blood to the brain, G
a send poor, thin, badly -oxygenated bloc
= there, the organ will act feebly.
This brings up the question of tn
health of the stomach. The brain-Worke
must not abuse his digestive organs
! either in quantity or quality of food
!! Attention has often been called to th
l necessity of phosphorus for brain-worE
2 ers.
No thought acithou phosphorus is n
. more true than would be no though
tcithOut air, tcdter, etc. A lion or tiger
well fed, consumes more phOsphoru
than q man, but does he think more
The beaver, noted as being one of tn,
most thoughtful of animals, secrete
very little phosphorus.
, The most perfect diet for thinking
man or woman is not essentially differ
, ent from the diet most proper for {
growing boy or girl. There should bG
: plenty of nourishment of a kind easily
digested and assimilated, but not taken
In sufficient quantities to overload the
stomach. The brain does not work vel
when the stomach is filled with food, es.
pecially if indigestible. A few moments
of rest before meal, no brain-work at
meal times, nor for short space after,
are important conditions.
! / do not advise alcoholic stimulants
to brain-workers. While in few cases
they apparently give greater power to
| the brain, yet, as a rule, their influence
is only bad. If you take stimulants when
you are tired, and need nourishment
and sleep, in order that you may in
crease nervous exertion. you are draw
ing on your reserve of vital capital.
Air is food of very important kind
| for the brain-worker. The brain weak
ems at once when the air becomes i'm
pure or deficient. If supplied with pure
air, withouT draught, you would be able
to remember more and better than you
| do. / have often observed that the
power of fixing the attention becomes
less as the air becomes impure. Please
fix it in your mind that in order to per-
form good, healthy brain-work, it is ne
cessary to concentrate your attention
on what you are doing. The moment
this becomes difficult, it is better to
cease work and relax the organ of
thought for time.
Muscular exercise is a most import
ant means of brain hygiene, but should
not be too severe or too long continued.
Gentle exercise to keep the blood circu
lating and bring plenty of air into the
lungs, is sufficient. Very hard and long
continued physical labor dulls the brain,
and renders it less vigorous, for the rea
son that the muscles drain off too much
of the blood, thus robbing the brain of
its needed supply.
1t is essential for the brain-worker to
have frequent days of entire rest from
mental labor. During these periods con- |
siderable physical exercise may be ta- !
ken, and plenty of good nourishing food |
be eaten, to fill up the circulating YES
sells with new blood with which new |
work may be done.
There are some physical conditions of
healthful brain-work which | will men |
ton. The nerves and brain will not work |
well when there is any pressure on them |
Pressure on the brain stops its action. |
Pressure on q nerve trunk modifies or
prevents its action altogether. Pressure |
on the main nerve of limb, alters its |
conducting power, and causes sensa- |
tion of numbness. For this reason, all |
bands, shoes, or articles of dress which |
construct or press on the nerves Of the |
skin, interfere with and diminish brain |
action, in proportion to the amount of
pressure.
Women who wish to do the best brain |
work cannot be devotees of fashion, but |
must dress nationally.
Irritation of any nerve extremity pre- |
vents one from doing good brain-work.
A silver in the finger, toothache, a !
wound or boil, will prevent fine study
or thought.
A'certain amount of bodily heat is also |
necessary. When one is cold he cannot |
think well. Cold-blooded animals have
less active nervous systems than warm
blooded ones. In winter, when their |
temperature is less than in summer,
they cease to generate nerve force almost
entirely, and go into state Of hiberna-
tion. II mans bodily temperature is
lowered, as in exposure to long-contin-
ued cold, or from insufficient nutrition, |
cerebration diminishes or ceases. The
person feels drowsy, and this continues |
until warmth, nutrition and circulation |
are restored.
The question of sleep is an important
one / am a strong believer in the ne
cessity of sleep, though not a great
sleeper myself. think brain-workers-l
and especially young ones-require
eight hours sleep in twenty-four. Seven |
hours are all that require. Humboldt, |
whose age exceeded ninety years, and !
who was one of the most powerful /
brain-workers of his time, slept only |
four hours. Napoleon also allowed him
self only four hours of sleep during his
campaigns. If he had slept twenty-four
the world would not have been the /
worse for it. President Garfield told ME !
that, in his student days, he could study |
twenty hours out of the twenty-four for |
weeks and months. But he had an ex-
ceptionally vigorous constitution. Judge |
Foote, who died at the age of eighty
eight, wrote me that he formed the |
opinion in his youth, that people spent |
too much time in sleep, and he allowed |
himself but six hours, and found it snf-
ficient. Six hours, or even four hours /
of quiet, restful sleep, are of more value |
than eight hours of restless, disturbed |
slumber. One should be able, upon re-
tirin9, to throw off every care and /
thought. The bow constantly bent loses
its elasticity. The brain always on the |
strain loses its power to grasp ideas. For
this reason, one should form the habit |
of throwing off the burdens of thought |
with the clothing that is worn during |
the day.
It can be done easily with a little
practice. No one expects jaded stesd
to make the best time on the race-course,
and no reasonable person can think fer
moment that q brain cerebrates most
efficiently when it is weary. As a sharp
knife cuts more smoothly and easily than
a dull one, SO brain full of force and
vigor grasps and understands better than
an exhausted one.
OF the need Of strong, well-educated
will, need scarcely speak. The power
to say will, and make good the deeIa-
ration, is a very great one. 1t is viii
power that makes attention possible. ]
Then our work goes on so easily that We
are not conscious Of q personal effort.
But when q dificulty arises, the will il
called into immediate action, and woe
be to him or her whose viii is too weak
to meet the emergency. The viii is ca
pable Of q high degree of culture and
improvement. But the use of the will
has its dangers, and many have become
mentally and physically bankrupt BY
forcing the attention too long When
brainWork is not, to some extent, spon-
taneous, or when it is felt to be painful
and tedious. Il should be at once aban-
doned. know there are exceptions to
this. 81 to all rules, and that there are
DeopIe who spend their whole lives in
| inactivity Il not spuFred on to work By