ful to have their food well done. Half-baked and soggy food proves indigestible.
Coffee and Tea
Should a boy drink coffee or tea? This is a question often asked by boys. Coffee and tea are the greatest stimulants known. But does a strong boy need.a stimulant? What is a stimulant and what does it do? A stimulant is a whip, making the body do more at a given time than it ordinarily would. It doesn't add any fiber to the tissues, doesn't add any strength, isn't a food, but merely gets more out of the tissues or nervous system than they would ordinarily yield. Of course there is a reaction, because the tissues have had nothing to feed on. Herbert Fisher says that Peary's men, who drank lots of tea on their voyage north, during the most trying time of their trip showed it in their haggard faces and loss of tissue. Their own tissues had turned cannibal and fed on their own material. Stimulants are not foods. They add no strength to the body. They exact of the body what ought not to be exacted of it. There is always a reaction and one is always worse off as a result. Growing boys especially should have nothing to do with tea, coffee, or any stimulant.
Alcohol and Tobacco
Alcohol is not a stimulant, but is really a narcotic that is very depressing. It dulls rather than stimulates. The same is true of nicotine in tobacco. No growing boy should use either. The first athletes to drop out of a race are usually drinkers, and all trainers know that smoking is bad for the wind.
Constipation
Those boys who find their digestion sluggish and are troubled with constipation may find the following plan helpful in overcoming the condition:
Drink a cool, copious draught of water upon arising. Then take some body-bending exercises. Follow this with the sponge bath. Then, if possible, take a walk around the block before breakfast. After school, play some favorite game for at least an hour. In the absence of this, take a good hike of three or four miles or a longer bicycle ride. At least twice a week, if possible, enter a gymnasium class and make special emphasis of body-bending exercises.
