tendencies—Numerous subjects of study tend to confuse the mind rather than invigorate it—Illustrative cases—Teachers only in part to blame—Courses pursued in colleges—The importance of avoiding over-stimulation of any portion of the system in the period of youth—Ball clubs; rowing clubs—A similar tendency to over-stimulation of the brain in study prevalent in England—Over-exertion in the use of the brain tends strongly to create weakness and instability of action, and a condition which may be transmitted to children

73   CHAPTER VI. INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. Occupations of persons admitted to State asylums—Percentage of those having no education in industry, or regular occupation—Importance of industrial education to the brain—Difficulty of obtaining it greater than formerly—Education of the brain has taken the place of industrial education, and with unfavorable results—The education of the schools does not qualify the mass of people to earn a living: it tends rather to unfit them for industrial labor—The interests of society require that the largest number be educated to be self-supporting—To secure this it is necessary to begin early in life—The same principles apply to education for domestic labor 95   CHAPTER VII. MORAL EDUCATION. Examples of deficient moral education—It more especially pertains to the influence of home and relates to obedience—Respect and obedience toward persons in authority essential to any efficient system—This must be learned in early life if at all—Self-control essential to the growth of mental strength and discipline—The tendencies in the modes of home and school education 115   CHAPTER VIII. HEREDITY. Its importance as a factor in causing physical and mental characteristics in families and nations—Illustrations—Tendencies to morbid action, both mental and physical, may also be transmitted—Insanity—Dipsomania—How may unfavorable tendencies be avoided?—The influence of heredity acts toward elimination of unfavorable tendencies when existing on one side of the family—Importance of understanding this in relation to marriage—Education may do much toward aiding in the removal of unfavorable tendencies—Weak-minded children—Those born with peculiarities of physical and mental constitutions 125   CHAPTER IX. CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGES. Different views in relation to the influence of consanguinity—The customs of the ancient Egyptians, Syrians, and others—Experiments in the inter-breeding of cattle—Popular impressions as to its effects—Opposite views explained by understanding the laws of heredity—Favorable as well as unfavorable tendencies are increased—Hence unfavorable ones may be eliminated 145   CHAPTER X. ALCOHOL. General considerations concerning its effects upon the nervous system—Its use at the present time as compared with that of the past—Society now reaping the effects of its use in the past—Physiological effects of alcohol upon the system—Experiments of Dr. Parkes and Count Wollowicz—Its effect upon the action of the heart—Its effect upon the circulation of the brain, the blood-vessels, and cells, resulting in a less sensitive condition of these parts, and ultimately in organic changes—Its effect upon the character of mind; upon the electrical currents of the brain; upon other portions of the body; upon the brains of children and young persons—The alcoholic diathesis likely to be transmitted 153   CHAPTER XI. TOBACCO. Opposite views as to its general effects upon individuals—The physiological effects upon the mucous membranes, the heart, and the nervous system—Nicotin—Its elimination from the system by the lungs, skin, and kidneys—Its effects those of a narcotic and not of a stimulant—Its effects upon the brains of children and young persons—The use of tobacco by children should be forbidden by law—Its general effects upon society, socially and politically, as presented by M. Fiévée—It is not directly responsible in any large degree for producing insanity—Creates a diathesis which causes a diminution of intellectual and moral power 173   CHAPTER XII. SEX IN RELATION TO INSANITY. Relative frequency of the occurrence of insanity in the sexes—The sexual system in the female exerts a larger influence upon the nervous system in certain ways than that of the male—Sexual derangements dependent upon the debility of the nervous system—They are generally consequents and not causes of nervous debility—Functional derangements of sexual organs rare among the insane—A tendency to recovery in case they do exist—Other conditions not favorable to mental health