s an
instinct of our barbarous ancestry which may be kept and refined
through all future phases of civilization. This instinct is natural,
and the obedience to it enables us to gain more rapidly in other,
higher instincts which, if our ancestors had at all, were so
embryonic as not to have attained expression.

Nourishment, fresh air, exercise, rest,--so far as these are not
taken simply and in obedience to the natural instinct, there arise
physical stones in the way, stones that form themselves into an
apparently insurmountable wall. There is a stile over that wall,
however, if we will but open our eyes to see it. This stile,
carefully climbed, will enable us to step over the few stones on the
other side, and follow the physical path quite clearly.

III.

AMUSEMENTS.

THE ability to be easily and heartily amused brings a wholesome
reaction from intense thought or hard work of any kind which does
more towards keeping the nervous system in a normal state than
almost anything else of an external kind.

As a Frenchman very aptly said: "This is all very well, all this
study and care to relieve one's nerves; but would it not be much
simpler and more effective to go and amuse one's self?" The same
Frenchman could not realize that in many countries amusement is
almost a lost art. Fortunately, it is not entirely lost; and the
sooner it is regained, the nearer we shall be to health and
happiness.

One of the chief impediments in the way of hearty amusement is
over-seriousness. There should be two words for "serious," as there
are literally two meanings. There is a certain intense form of
taking the care and responsibility of one's own individual
interests, or the interests of others which are selfishly made one's
own, which leads to a surface-seriousness that is not only a chronic
irritation of the nervous system, but a constant distress to those
who come under this serious care. This is taking life _au grand
serieux_. The superficiality of this attitude is striking, and would
be surprising could the sufferer from such seriousness once see
himself (or more often it is herself) in a clear light. It is quite
common to call such a person over-serious, when in reality he is not
serious enough. He or she is laboring under a sham seriousness, as
an actor might who had such a part to play and merged himself in the
character. These people are simply exaggerating their own importance
to life, instead of recognizing life's i