"The average person, little realizes the danger of brooding over slights, injuries, disappointments, or misfortunes, or of an unnatural attitude towards his fellowmen, shown by unusual sensitiveness or marked suspicion. Yet all these unwholesome and painful trains of thought, may if persisted in and unrelieved by healthy interests and activities, tend towards insanity. Wholesome work relieved by periods of rest and simple pleasures and an interest in the affairs of others, are important preventives of unwholesome ways of thinking. We should train ourselves not to brood, but to honestly face personal difficulties."--(Why Should Anyone Go Insane?, by Folks and Ellwood.) Prevention of insanity consequently depends chiefly upon avoiding alcohol and communicable diseases, especially syphilis; upon good hygiene, self-control, and avoidance of bad mental habits; and upon adopting a program of living and working that will not overtax one's nervous strength. Sleeplessness, unusual nervous fatigue following slight exertion, and diminished power to control the emotions, are among the danger signals. And when a person becomes unusually depressed or morose, excited or irritable, suspicious, unreasonable, or "queer," it is probable that expert medical advice should be obtained as quickly as possible. EXERCISES 1. What is a symptom? Why are early symptoms especially important? 2. Distinguish between objective and subjective symptoms. 3. Tell all you can about normal and abnormal variations in the body temperature. What symptoms would lead you to take a person's temperature? 4. Describe the method of taking temperatures. 5. How should you cleanse a clinical thermometer? What are the dangers of neglecting to cleanse it properly? 6. Describe both normal and abnormal pulse and respiration. 7. Discuss the significance and importance of pain. 8. Describe early symptoms of tuberculosis, cancer, and mental illness. What is the first step to be taken when any one of these symptoms appears? 9. What symptoms of all those mentioned in this chapter did you notice in the last sick person with whom you had anything to do? 10. What are the essentials of a good daily record? The following is an account that a mother gave of the first twenty-four hours of a child's illness. Make a chart for the patient, and include in it all the information the mother gave. Which do you consider more useful, your chart or the narrative?