Ideas For Boys | Page 6

it, then your stomach will have less work to do. Drink plenty of pure water between meals.
You want your body to be an efficient and strong machine so that it will endure long and continuous hours of work when necessary, hence you must train and exercise the muscles and organs of the body. Take a reasonable amount of exercise every day. Exercise in the open air when you can; play almost any kind of a game out of doors, it rests the mind and exercises the body. It is not necessary to get all of your exercise in playing ; learn to do useful things out of doors, if you are in the country you will find plenty of things to do, such as chopping wood, cutting the grass, or working in the garden or in the field. Learn to swim when young, the exercise is fine, and besides knowing how to swim may sometime save your life. Different games will interest you at different periods of your life. Baseball, football, swimming, tennis, golf, skating, are all good out of door games, and hand ball, billiards and pool and dancing are good indoor exercises. But don't do these things to excess do them in moderation. When you are short of time you can get excellent results by practicing deep breathing. Try to develop your muscles so that they will be strong and supple and not too heavy. Keep down your weight in a natural way. Don't overtrain or tax the muscles of the heart, bad results follow from this in after life. Overdevelopment of the physique is nearly as bad as under development. You must use judgment, and follow the advice of those who understand how to train.
Get up a perspiration every day, for many of the poisons of the body are eliminated through the pores of the skin. In this connection I don't know anything more beneficial to health, than a hot and cold shower bath taken each day. The hot water opens the pores of the skin and cleanses out the poisons, the cold water taken immediately afterwards stimulates the heart action, closes the pores of the skin and prevents colds. Brush your teeth daily and have the dentist keep the cavities filled.
One day when I was a boy I asked Dr. Wall, what, in his opinion was the most necessary thing to do to keep in good health. He replied, "Keep your bowels properly regulated and have them move every day." You take a considerable quantity of food into your stomach each day, and after the organs of the body have taken the nutrition out of the food, there is a large part of it which must be eliminated from the body through the bowels, for if the waste is permitted to stay in the body too long it poisons the system and causes sickness. It may be necessary for you, at times, to take medicine to help move your bowels; don't be afraid to take a couple of tablespoonfuls of castor oil or Russian oil now and then, they are as helpful to your digestive organs as lubricating oil is to machinery. As long as you take food into your stomach you must see to it that the refuse passes out; there is never a day you forget to eat, remember the other as well.
When you are sick, act on the advice of your doctor, and take your medicine. For several thousand years doctors have been studying the effect of different medicines upon the human machine or system and have accumulated very valuable knowledge. Therefore make use of this knowledge when necessary.
The proper development of a strong body while young is very important; you can develop your strength, and by so doing you will be better able to endure the strains and struggles which are sure to come to you when you reach manhood. If you become a business man, you will find that frequently important business matters will arise which will require all of your powers of endurance; should you become a lawyer and fight in the courts the battles of others, you will find that in order to successfully cope with your antagonists, you must have a strong body which will endure incessant work for weeks at a time. Bodily strength is a great factor in success.
We are all creatures of habits which are easily formed; but be sure you form good habits, then it is easier to do right than wrong.
Every boy likes to hear stories of his ancestors, and it is an advantage to him to know about them; study their characteristics, learn their weaknesses and their strength, take advantage of this knowledge and profit thereby.
A knowledge of music is a very delightful accomplishment, and does not require a great amount of