him to embark in hazardous speculations. His organ of "Hope," generally predominates over his "Causality," and "Caution," and, urged on by largely developed propelling faculties, he frequently finds himself in deep water, without plank or life-preserver. He is too, of all men, least calculated, physically, to endure reverses, for although he may succeed, by his indomitable will, in buffeting the waves of adversity, his physical health suffers from all such encounters. Here, too, the proverbialist whispers" Live within your means. Dishonesty causes many failures. Let one man of extensive reputation and high standing in the commercial world, turn trickster and defraud a bank or railroad of a large sum of money, and the whole community suffers. Public confidence is shaken. Men who have contracted debts with a good prospect of being able to pay, cannot extricate themselves from an unexpected dilemma. Failure after failure follows in the wake of the defaulter, destroying the prospects of many careful as well as careless men. Do defaulters ever reflect that their dishonesty carries thousands to premature graves? Observation proves such to be the fact. But reckless men seldom look at consequences, and if they can only raise themselves from the ashes of a financial ruin, which their dishonesty has brought upon a community, their humane curiosity is not sufficiently awakened to inquire how many have been buried in it. Burns truly said, "Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn." Commercial men, who are supposed to regulate the monetary affairs of the world, should realize the powerful influence they exert over the physical well-being of the race. Recklessness by the few should not be tolerated by the many, or at least, not countenanced. Every "false step" brings with it multitudinous failures, and failures in business produce depression of mind, and depression of mind disturbs the harmony of the nervous system, and this leads to mental and corporeal diseases of every variety, according to the predisposition of victims. Do not strive to acquire sudden fortune. Remember that contentment is wealth, and that there is no real wealth without it. He who passes through life with a sufficiency of food and clothing, and a contented heart, has the benefit of all the wealth the world possesses. Excessive Study. "The mind, just like the stomach, takes And serves it for its gastric juice." Fig. 62. The mind may be overloaded as well as the stomach. Reading too constantly and studying too closely, is as injurious to the mind and nervous system as is eating too much to the stomach and blood. The back doors of many of our colleges and seminaries open into lunatic asylums and cemeteries. The literary world is full of physical wrecks, and many a mind has become bankrupt by trying to acquire knowledge too fast, like the ambitious business-man who fails, through his over-exertions to get rich. Avarice for knowledge is generally more successful than avarice for money, but while the failure of the former leads to an empty head, that of the latter THE STUDENT AT HIS BOOKS. only leads to an empty pocket. Every man is born into the world with a certain amount of mental capacity which will admit of cultivation, but not of forced growth. By gentle discipline the mental powers of a man will gradually develop, and reach maturity as early as good physical health will permit, but when the student attempts to crowd his mind with learning all at once, he not only fails to reach the high summit of his inordinate ambition, but often falls a helpless imbecile. "Professor Houghton, of Trinity College, Dublin," says a newspaper writer, "has published some curious chemical computations respecting the relative amounts of physical exhaustion produced by mental and manual labor. According to these chemical estimates, two hours of severe mental study, abstract from the human system as much vital strength as is taken from it by an entire day of mere hand-work. This fact, which seems to rest upon strictly scientific laws, shows that the men who do brain-work should be careful, first, not to overtask themselves by too continuous exertion, and secondly, that they should not omit to take physical exercise each dav F cient to restore the equilibrium between the nervous and muscular systems. Studies, to be improving, must be pursued with a relish, the same as good edibles are sought after by the epicure. If the mental appetite is too craving, gratify it sparingly, as every man should his corporeal appetite; if too dull, nurse it gently. An observance of this rule will prevent our institutions of learning from sending thou sands of mental dyspeptics into the world to flash and flicker with intellectual light, and then go out like a used-up tallow candle. Excessive Labor. "The night is come, but not too soon,- Foolish pride and aspirations for wealth more frequently than necessity, drive men to excessive labor. Both the mental and phys Fig. 63. ical system demand rest, and inflict a penalty on the individual who refuses to grant it. Not only has nature ordained night as a season of repose, but the God of nature has commanded that one day in each week shall be observed as a period of rest for all human beings, and has so impressed the necessity of such a regulation on the human mind, that, however diverse may be the religious opinions of different people, all have a day professedly set apart for that purpose. Thus, Sunday is appointed by the Christians, Monday by the Grecians, THE OVERWORKED MAN IN HIS Tuesday by the Persians, Wednesday by the Assyrians, Thursday by the Egyptians, Friday by the Turks, and Saturday by the Jews. The strict observe ance of the day is, however, unusual. The business man, although he be a constant attendant at church, is apt to look over his accounts and lay down his programme for the week, while the literary character meditates on what he will write or speak, regardless of the sentiment of the Roman philosopher, Seneca, who said that "the mind of man is like the fields, the fertility of which depends on their being allowed a certain period of rest at the proper season." And a great deal of this over work is for the frivolous purpose of driving COUNTING-ROOM. a prettier span of horses than some neighbor, wearing a finer coat, holding larger estates, or possessing more of that attractive commodity-gold! The best remedy for this evil is contentment. This should be cultivated, for it is wealth. A contented man with fifty cents in his pocket, and a clear conscience, is far wealthier than the millionaire, whose Sunday, week-day, and night dreams are all about gold, and how more may be accumulated. Dismiss your avocations, all who can, at night and on Sundays, and acquire contentment if you would preserve your nervous systems in health, and your minds in happy placidity. There are, it is true, many so pressed with want that they can hardly do so. Our sewing-women are the most unfortunate representatives of this class; but even they would be able to accomplish more in the end by religiously observing some hours for rest, divided between sleep and out-of-door exercise. Sickness, and consequent compulsion to entirely abstain from work for weeks and months, would not occur so often, if those who are obliged to support themselves by the needle would pursue this rule. A healthful position can hardly be maintained in plying the needle steadily, in consequence of which the activity of the vital organs is interrupted, and the circulation of the blood impaired. Exercise of some kind every day, and a reasonable amount of repose every night, are absolutely necessary to preserve health of body and mind. To assist in preserving the strength of the eye, it has been wisely suggested by the Surgeon of the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital of London, that "needlewomen, embroiderers, etc., should work in rooms hung with green, and have green blinds and curtains to the windows. In China, this rule is adopted by the exquisite embroiderers of that country." Melancholy. Some writer has facetiously remarked that "there are many peo ple who keep pet griefs as certain other people keep lap-dogs, that they carry about with them wherever they go. These are the people who feel the best when they feel the worst, and are never so happy as when they are utterly miserable. Like the maiden who milked the cow with the crumpled horn,' they are always 'all forlorn,' and they keep a figurative dog to be 'tossed,' and a cat to be 'worried,' and a rat to be 'killed' upon every possible occasion. They turn dow the leaf at, 'Oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fou of tears,' as if griefs were like bulrushes, and flourished best in wet places." Melancholy seriously disturbs the circulation of the nervo-electric Fig. 64. THE MELANCHOLY MAN. forces, and causes an undue consumption of the latter in the brain. Melancholy people are almost invariably dyspeptic, because a full supply of the electric element is withheld from the pneumo-gastric nerve, which conveys from the brain the force that gives tone and activity to the digestive organs. Despondency of mind, in fact, affects all the organs of the system, more or less, on the same principle; the brain consuming, in its excitement, more than its natural allowance of nervo-electricity, and, as a consequence, withholding the vital element from the various organs which are dependent upon for healthful action. it Cheerfulness should be cultivated by every one. It is an antidote for many ills; and a laugh is of immense value, physiologically. It produces an electric effect throughout the whole system. It is felt in no one place particularly, but every nerve, muscle, and fibre is simultaneously titillated with the electric flash from the brain. All who have melancholy friends should try to excite them to laughter. A few hearty laughs will cure the most desperate case of melancholy. It is a Christian duty to look cheerful, and a blessed privilege to laugh. "Away with melancholy." Conclusion. Really the only melancholy which we may be excused for indulging, is that which must come over every one in observing the general illhealth with which we are surrounded, by the unfortunate customs and habits which we recklessly observe and blindly pursue. They are so multitudinous, and so impertinently insinuating, that they may be compared to the insects of summer. They creep into a man's hat; they crawl into his boots; they nestle in woman's waistbands, and they conceal themselves in her trailing drapery. They fall into the food we eat, and drop into the liquids we drink. With the greediness of fabled vampires, they suck out the little brain some |