Page:Athletics and Manly Sport (1890).djvu/187

162 to raise the head higher than the shoulders. Pillows interfere with the breathing, and weaken the muscles of the neck. To sleep without a pillow, on a perfectly flat mattress, is the luxury of rest, because of the natural position. It soon increases the girth of the neck from one to two inches, by making the neck-muscles stretch and fully do their work. It allows the chest to deepen its breathing; and it prevents, to a large degree, wakefulness and snoring. The discomfort of putting away the pillow lasts less than a week, and once you have tasted the delight of a free, level sleep you will never be induced again to double your chin down on your breast, or your ear over on your shoulder, by using a pillow. All children should be told these reasons, and then their pillows should be taken away. A horse's or a dog's shoulders are higher than a man's; but he who wants to sleep well can learn from those animals how the head should be laid.

Go to bed at ten and get up at seven.

Open your bedroom window, and, if possible, make a draught through the room, but not across your bed.

Never exercise in a room with closed windows.

If you have no time for open-air exercise, go through various muscular motions with dumb-bells in your room, with the windows open, on