LESSON XX. HEALTH.-A LETTER TO MOTHERS. MRS. SIGOURNEY. 1. MOTHERS', is there any thing we can do to acquire for our daughters a good constitution'? Is there truth in the sentiment sometimes repeated, that our sex is becoming more and more effeminate'? Are we as capable of enduring hardship as our grandmothers were'? Are we as well versed in the details of housekeeping', as able to bear them without fatigue', as our mothers were'? Have our daughters as much stamina2 of constitution', as much aptitude3 for domestic duties as we ourselves possess'? These questions are not interesting to us simply as individuals. They affect the welfare of the community. For the ability or inability of woman to discharge what the Almighty has committed to her, touches the equilibrium1 of society, and the hidden springs of existence. 2. Outlines of the mysterious mechanism of our clay-temple we ought certainly to study, that we need not, through ignorance, interfere with those laws on which its organization depends. Rendered precious, by being the shrine of an undying spirit, our ministrations' for its welfare assume an almost fearful importance. Appointed, as the mother is, to guard the harmony of its architecture, to study the arts on which its symmetry depends, she is forced to perceive how much the mind is affected by the circumstances of its lodgment, and is incited to cherish the mortal for the sake of the immortal. Let 3. Does she attach value to the gems of intellect'? her see that the casket which contains them be not lightly endangered or carelessly broken'. Does she pray for the welfare of the soul'? Let her seek the good of its companion, who walks with it to the gate of the grave, and rushes again to its embrace on the morning of the resurrection'. 4. Fashion seems long enough to have attacked health in its strong-holds. She can not even prove that she has ren dered the form more graceful, as some equivalent for her ravages. In ancient Greece, to which our painters and sculptors still look for the purest models, was not the form left untutored'?8 the volume of the lungs allowed free play'? the heart permitted, without manacles, to do the great work which the Creator assigned it'? 5. Let us educate a race who shall have room to breathe. Let us promise, even in their cradle, that their hearts shall not be pinioned as in a vice, nor their spines bent like a bow, nor their ribs forced into the liver. Doubtless the husbands and fathers of the next generation will give us thanks. 6. Yet, if we would engage in so formidable a work, we must not wait until morbid habits have gathered strength. Our labor must be among the elements of character. We must teach in the nursery that "the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost." We must leave no place in the minds of our little ones for the lunatic9 sentiment, that the mind's healthful action, and the integrity10 of the organs on which it operates, are secondary to the vanities of external decoration. If they have received from their Creator a sound mind and a sound body, convince them that they are accountable for both. If they deliberately permit injury to either, how shall they answer for it before their Judge? 7. And how shall the mother answer it, in whose hand the soul of her child was laid, as a waxen tablet, if she suffer Fash ion to cover it with fantastic11 images, and Folly to puff out her feverish breath, melting the lines that Wisdom penciled there, till what Heaven would fain have polished for itself, loses the fair impression, and becomes like common earth? 1 EF-FEM'-IN-ATE, weak; tender; delicate; MIN-IS-TRA'-TIONS, our services or efforts unhealthy. 2 STAM'-I-NA, strength; solidity. 3 APT-I-TUDE, fitness; suitableness. 4 E-QUI-LIB'-RI-UM, a just balancing; due regulation. 5 OR-GAN-I-ZA-TION, proper arrangement of all its parts. 6 SHRINE, abode; temple; case or box in which any thing sacred is kept. as subordinate agents. 8 UN-TU-TOR-ED, to grow naturally; untaught. 9 LU'-NA-TI¤, crazy; insane. 10 IN-TEG'-RI-TY, soundness; healthful action. 11 FAN-TAS'-TI¤, foolishly odd; uncouth; unnatural. LESSON XXI. REST AND SLEEP. HODGKIN. 1. We have noticed the effect of exercise upon the muscular system; and we have seen that it is essential to the growth and healthy action of the body. We have seen that a period of rest is necessary for a fatigued muscle to recover itself; and we have also found that if the rest be too long continued, the muscle will be enfeebled thereby. 2. But rest has to be considered not merely with reference to its power of restoring the energies1 of the muscular system; it has an important influence on digestion, and also on the strength and activity of the mind. Moreover, the proper and economical employment of that most invaluable possession, time, depends very much upon the due limitation2 and arrangement of our hours of repose. 3. There are, properly speaking, but two degrees of repose. The one is that in which all bodily exercise is wholly, or to a great degree, suspended; while the mind still retains its consciousness,3 but is not employed on any subject calculated to fatigue or disturb it. The other, well known by the name of sleep, is that in which not only bodily exercise is suspended, but the operations of the mind also are stopped. Even dreams are an imperfection in sleep, and show that mental repose is not complete. 4. Although rest and sleep-the two degrees of repose to which we have alluded-give relief to the exhausted system, they are far from being precisely similar in their effects, nor can one be indifferently substituted for the other. Every one must be aware that when the body and mind are exhausted by long-continued wakefulness and exertion, a short period of sleep has a much greater restorative effect than complete tranquillity of body and mind without it. Who has not felt the force of the poet's expression, "Nature's sweet restorer-balmy sleep." 5. On the other hand, there are times when rest is neces sary, but when sleep is undesirable. The first part of the process of digestion does not go on so well during sleep as when the body is in a state of wakeful repose; and the mind, provided it has not been exhausted by long-continued application, is better fitted for some occupations after wakeful relaxation than after sleep. 6. What portion of time, and what part of the day should be devoted to sleep, are subjects of considerable importance; yet it will not answer to lay down a definite rule for all persons. Some individuals are so very active in their habits and dispositions, that a comparatively small portion of sleep is not only all which they require, but all which they can take; while others can give way to it at any time. 7. Both of these extremes are undesirable; but they may, happily, be very much corrected by careful attention to the formation of habit. Those who possess extreme activity of mind or body, and greatly curtail the rest required by both, can not fail seriously to injure their health. If they do not bring on some disease under which their exhausted frames sink after a short struggle, they become almost inevitably the victims of premature old age, decrepitude, and death. 8. On the other hand, those who give way to slothfulness," and devote an inordinate time to rest and sleep, have their energies destroyed; their bodies become flabby, bloated, and easily fatigued; and their minds, even in their most wakeful moments, are torpid, indisposed for continued attention to any subject, and unfit for close application. Such persons may be said to waste life in a threefold manner. First, all the time consumed in rest and sleep, beyond what the body and mind require, is lost; a second portion is lost in the diminished value of their waking hours; and, thirdly, the term of their life is likely to be shortened by the injury which their health sustains. 9. There is considerable difference in the amount of sleep required at different ages. Children, who have little power and much activity, are the soonest fatigued, and require the most rest. In old age there is generally the smallest necessity for sleep; yet exceptions to this are seen in the decrepitude of extreme old age, and in cases in which, in conse quence of disease, there is great tendency to sleep. In the prime of life, when the system is capable of making the greatest exertions, a medium portion of rest is required to restore the body, after exhaustion by fatigue; but even at this period of life, the differences depending on constitution and habit are very considerable. 10. From six to seven hours may be regarded as the average amount of time which those engaged in the ordinary concerns of life, and reasonably exercising both body and mind, may devote to rest in bed. Some persons have been able to do with from four to five hours; but in most of these cases the mind was kept in a state of excitement by a succession of momentous or intensely interesting subjects; hence instances of this kind are met with among severe students, military commanders, and persons engaged in political affairs. Health is generally injured and life shortened by a continuance of this habit. There are very few cases, excepting among persons with impaired health, in which the limit of six or seven hours need be exceeded. 11. The following distribution of time has been prescribed by some superior individuals who were well acquainted with its value. Lord Chief Justice Coke, of England, laid down a rule for himself in the following couplet: "Six hours in sleep; in law's grave study six; Four spend in prayer; the rest on Nature fix." This rule was somewhat modified by that excellent man and accomplished scholar, Sir William Jones: "Six hours to law; to soothing slumber seven; 1 EN'-ER-GIES, internal strength and activ-15 RE-LAX-A'-TION, a loosening or slackening ity. of the energies. 2 LIM-IT-A-TION, restriction; the act of lim-6 DE-CREP'-IT-UDE, that broken and infirm iting. state of the body produced by old age. 3 €ŎN'-SCIOUS-NESS, knowledge of what 7 SLOTH'-FUL-NESS, the habit of idleness; passes in one's own mind. inactivity. 4 RE-STOR'-A-TIVE, power to renew strength 8 IN-OR-DIN-ATE, excessive; immoderate. 9 MO-MENT'-Ous, highly important. and vigor. D |