Part 53 (1/2)
816. Taking for our guide the necessities of the const.i.tution, it will be obvious that the modes of treatment commonly resorted to ought to be reversed. Instead of straining to the utmost the already irritable powers of the precocious child, and leaving his dull compet.i.tor to ripen at leisure, a systematic attempt ought to be made, from early infancy, to rouse to action the languid faculties of the latter, while no pains ought to be spared to moderate and give tone to the activity of the former.
817. Instead of this, however, the prematurely intelligent child is sent to school and tasked with lessons at an unusually early age, while the healthy but more backward boy, who requires to be stimulated, is kept at home in idleness, perhaps for two or three years longer, merely on account of his backwardness. A double error is here committed. The consequences to the intelligent boy are, frequently, the permanent loss both of health and of his envied superiority of intellect.
814. How are such children usually managed? 815. What is the cause of their early promise and subsequent disappointment? 816. What mode of treatment should be adopted in educating precocious children? 817. How should the dull or less active child be treated? What is the usual course?
818. In youth, too, much mischief is done by the long daily period of attendance at school, and the continued application of the mind which the ordinary system of education requires. The law of exercise--that long-sustained action exhausts the vital powers of the organ--applies as well to the brain as to the muscles. Hence the necessity of varying the occupations of the young, and allowing frequent intervals of exercise in the open air, instead of ”enforcing the continued confinement now so common.”
_Observation._ It is no unusual occurrence, that on examination day, the best scholars appear indifferently. This may be the result of nervous exhaustion, produced by extra mental effort in preparing for the final examination. It is advisable for such pupils to divert their minds from close study for a few days previous to examination. During this time, the student may indulge in physical recreation, social intercourse, and a moderate amount of reading.
819. ”In early and middle life, fever, an unusual degree of cerebral disorder, is a common consequence of the excessive and continued excitement of the brain. This unhappy result is brought on by severe study, unremitted mental exertion, anxiety, and watching. Nervous disease, from excessive mental labor and high mental excitement, sometimes shows itself in another form.
What are the consequences of the error? 818. What error prevails in the present system of education? Why should youths be allowed frequent intervals to exercise in the open air? Give observation. 819. What is a frequent consequence of continued and excessive excitement of the brain?
820. ”From the want of proper intervals of rest, the vascular excitement of the brain has not time to subside. A restless irritability of temper and disposition comes on, attended with sleeplessness and anxiety, for which no external cause can be a.s.signed. The symptoms gradually become aggravated, the digestive functions give way, nutrition is impaired, and a sense of wretchedness is constantly present, which often leads to attempts at suicide.”
_Observations._ 1st. Moderation in mental exertion is more necessary in old age than in early or mature years. In youth and manhood, the exhaustion of the brain from over-excitement may be repaired, but no such result follows over-exertion in the decline of life. ”What is lost then, is lost forever.” At that period, the brain becomes excited, and is soon exhausted when forced to protracted and vigorous thought. Sir Walter Scott and President Harrison afford sad examples of premature death from overtasked brains at an advanced period of their lives.
2d. If the mind is incessantly engaged in the contemplation of the same object, there is danger from over-exertion of the brain at any period of life, but more particularly in old age. The more limited the sphere of mental action, the greater the danger of the brain being over-exercised. Hence the frequency of nervous diseases in poets, mathematicians, and musicians.
820. What often manifests itself from the want of proper intervals of rest? Why is moderation in mental action necessary in old age? What is the effect if the mind is incessantly engaged in the contemplation of the same object?
CHAPTER XL.
HYGIENE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, CONTINUED.
821. Having pointed out the evils arising both from inadequate and from excessive mental exertion, it remains to direct the attention to some of the rules which should guide us in the exercise of the brain.
822. _We should not enter upon continued mental exertion, or arouse deep feeling, immediately before or after a full meal._ Such is the connection between the mind and body, that even in a perfectly healthy person, unwelcome news, sudden anxiety, or mental excitement, occurring soon after eating, will impede digestion, and cause the stomach to loathe the masticated food.
823. The worst forms of indigestion and nervous depression are those which arise from excessive mental application, or depressed feeling, conjoined with unrestrained indulgence in the pleasures of the table.
In such circ.u.mstances, 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.