The worst results of brain-work are due to the extent to which it deprives us of proper exercise and fresh air.

Good, vigorous mental activity,--hard brain work, in fact,--when you are in good condition, is, if not overdone, as healthful and almost as invigorating as physical exercise or hearty play.

We often hear it said that the rush and hurry of our modern strenuous life is increasing the number of mental diseases and nervous breakdowns.

But there is no evidence that the strain of civilization upon our brains and nervous systems is damaging them, or that either nervous diseases or insanity are more frequent now than they used to be one hundred or five hundred years ago.

In fact, all the evidence that we have points in exactly the opposite direction; for, as we have seen, most of these brain and nerve diseases are due to infectious diseases, bad food, and bad living conditions generally, all of which the progress of modern civilization is rapidly lessening and preventing.
We are collecting our insane in modern hospitals and comfortable homes, instead of letting them wander in rags about the country, and this makes them live longer and seem more numerous.