Tárogató, 1945-1946 (8. évfolyam, 1-7. szám)
1946-01-01 / 7. szám
14 TÁROGATÓ the Board of Allied Industrials. He said: “We are honestly trying to develop one of the greatest resources of the country in the interests of the people.” —Canadian Citizenship Branch. ALCOHOL AND THE BRAIN In a B.B.C. broadcast on “drinks,” the Radio Doctor said: “Now for alcohol. I am not going to lecture you on temperance. I want you to know the facts. Alcohol isn’t a stimulant. A stimulant is something which stimulates your brain to greater activity. Alcohol doesn’t. It depresses the brain, or at least part of it. We have two brains really, the lower brain—the older brain that keeps our domestic affairs ' in order, looks after our breathing and our sleeping and our digestion, and keeps our heart a-breathing. That’s the old, the animal brain. On top of that brain we higher animals have a newer brain which enables us to remember, to make judgments, to discriminate, to do things skilfully. Here lies the capacity for wisdom, for morality, and so on. It does its work by influencing, by controlling the lower brain, sometimes by pulling in the opposite direction. The lower brain wants to do something, and the higher brain restrains it. The old Adam is restrained by the new wisdom. Now, what alcohol does is to depress, to cut down the strength, the restraint, of the higher brain. Oh, it’s a bit of a food, but that’s hardly worth considering. You may be worried by things at work or at home. That worry is in the higher brain. The animal without it doesn’t worry. Alcohol will tend to sweep away the worry. You may be driving a car—what alcohol will do is to weaken your self-criticism, and to make your movements less accurate. You think you are driving better. You’re not. You just think you are, thanks to that one for the road. Alcohol doesn’t warm you up on a winter’s night. Oh, it makes you feel warm by increasing the rate at which your body loses heat. In fact it cools you down. The plain blunt truth is that from the food point it isn’t necessary, and it doesn’t do you good. This Beer is Best business is bunkum—if by that it means that it is a food.” —United Churchman. NEW YEAR NUGGETS A year often seems a long time to a boy because there are so many new things in it for him. There are plenty of new things for everyone who will keep his eyes open. * * * A year may seem sometimes like a little thing in a boy’s life; it is just one. But it is 365 days; it is 8,760 hours; it is over half a million minutes, and every minute counts for something. * * * One thing every boy who is healthy will do in the new year is—he will grow. We often think of growing as just getting taller. Don’t forget that growing also means knowing more and being better. * * * Some folk like old things because they are old; almost everyone likes newT things because they are new. A new thing is fresh and clean and beautiful; so is the new year. Let us not soil and batter it and break it with bad actions . * * * Boys think of a year made up of schooldays, holidays, and Sundays. Which is the most important? A good deal depends on how we use our schooldays, how we enjoy our holidays, and a whole lot on how we spend our Sundays. * * * Suppose all the things we had around us on New Year’s morning were really new and we had never had them before, home and friends, and good things to eat and wear and play with, sunshine and music, and all the rest, what a wonderful world it would be! But then, it is just as wonderful as it is. * * * “A Happy New Year.” What makes a new year happy? A smile, a kind word, may help. We often think that happiness consists in getting things, but the more happiness we can give away, the more we have ourselves. —Canadian Boy. SAINT-SAENS’ OBSERVATION OF ANIMALS By Juliette Laine The great French composer, Camille Saint - Saens, was a sincere lover of animals and insects, and his writings give numerous examples of his discoveries and personal experiments with denizens of the animal world. In one
