Am I able to walk ten miles with ease? when introduced to a stranger of either sex or any age, to converse agreeably, profitably and without embarrassment? to entertain visitors so that all enjoy themselves? to read essays or poetry with as much pleasure as a novel? to listen to a lecture, and be able afterwards to rehearse the main points? to be good company for myself on a rainy day? to submit to insult, injustice or petulance with dignity and patience, and to answer them wisely and calmly? When you are able to answer, "Yes!" to these queries, your nerves are sound. * * * * * CHAPTER X FIRST STEPS TOWARDS HEALTH "All sick people want to get well, but rarely in the best way. A 'jolly good fellow' said: 'Strike at the root of the disease, Doctor!' And smash went the whisky bottle under the faithful physician's cane." In neuropaths, all irritation to the nervous system is dangerous, and must be eliminated, and to this end, eyes, ears, nose and teeth, all in close touch with nerves and brain, must be put and kept in perfect order. The Eye. Only 4 per cent, of people have _perfect_ sight. Errors in refraction--common in neuropaths--mean that the unstable brain-cells are constantly irritated. Dodd corrected eye-errors in 52 epileptics, 36 of whom showed improvement. You take your watch to a watchmaker, not a chemist; take your eyes to an oculist, and if you cannot afford to see one privately, get an eye-hospital note. (To allow a chemist or "optician" to try lenses until he finds a pair through which you "see better" is very dangerous.) Then you go to a qualified optician, who makes a proper frame, and inserts the lenses prescribed. Patients should inquire if the glasses are to be worn continually, or only when doing close work or reading. The Ears. Giddiness and other unpleasant symptoms may be due to ear trouble. If there is any discharge, buzzing or ringing, see a doctor, for if ear disease gains a firm hold it is usually incurable. The Nose. Neuropaths often suffer from moist nasal catarrh, or from a dry type in which crusts of offensive mucus form, the disagreeable odour of which is not apparent to the patient himself. He must pay careful attention to the general health, take nourishing food, and wash out the nose three times a day with: 1 oz. Bicarbonate of Soda, 1 oz. Common Salt, 1 oz. Borax, Dissolved in 1 pint hot water. For obstinate nasal trouble, consult an aural surgeon. The Teeth. "Most men dig their graves with their teeth."--Chinese Proverb. Serious ills are caused by defective teeth, for microbes decompose the food left in the crevices to acid substances which dissolve the lime salts from the teeth, and this process continues until the tooth is lost.