- If it were not for the exertion required in getting to and from the beaches, dressing and undressing, and the momentary coldness of the water, many more Alimentives would go to the beaches in Summer than do.

Not Strenuous.

- Anything, to be popular with the Alimentive, must be easy to get, easy to do, easy to get away from, easy to drop if he feels like it. Anything requiring the expenditure of great energy, even though it promises pleasure when achieved, is usually pa.s.sed over by the fat people.

The Art of Getting Out Of It.

- "Let George do it" is another bit of slang invented by this type. He seldom does anything he really hates to do. He is so likable he either induces you to let him out of it or gets somebody to do it for him. He just naturally avoids everything that is intense, difficult or strenuous.

The Peaceable Type.

- If an unpleasant situation of a personal or social nature arises--a quarrel, a misunderstanding or any kind of disagreement--the fat man will try to get himself out of it without a discussion.

Except when they have square faces (in which case they are not pure Alimentives), extremely fat people do not mix up in neighborhood, family, church, club or political quarrels. It is too much trouble, for one thing, and for another it is opposed to his peaceable, untensed nature.

Avoids Expensive Quarrels.

- The fat man has his eye on personal advantages and promotions and he knows that quarrels are expensive, not alone in the chances they lose him, but in nerve force and peace of mind.

The fat man knows instinctively that peace times are the most profitable times and though he is not for "peace at any price" so far as the country is concerned, he certainly is much inclined that way where he is personally concerned. You will be amused to notice how this peace-loving quality increases as one's weight increases. The more fat any individual is the more is he inclined to get what he wants without hostility.

The Real Thing.

- The favorite "good time" of the Alimentive is one where there are plenty of refreshments. A dinner invitation always makes a hit with him, but beware that you do not lure a fat person into your home and give him a tea-with-lemon wisp where he expected a full meal!

Always Ready for Food.

- Substantial viands can be served to him any hour of the day or night with the certainty of pleasing him. He loves a banquet, provided he is not expected to make a speech. The fat man has a harder time than any other listening to long speeches.

The fashion of trying to mix the two most opposite extremes--food and ideas--and expecting them to go down, was due to our misunderstanding of the real nature of human beings. It is rapidly going out, as must every fashion which fails to take the human instincts into account.

Avoids Sports.

- No prizes lure a fat man into strenuous physical exercise or violent sports. Although we have witnessed numerous state, national and international tennis, polo, rowing, sprinting, hurdling and swimming contests, we have seen not one player who was fat enough to be included in the pure Alimentive type.

The grand-stands, bleachers and touring cars at these contests contained a generous number of fat people, but their conversation indicated that they were present more from personal interest in some contestant than in the game itself.

The nearest a fat man usually comes to taking strenuous exercise is to drive in an open car. The more easeful that car the better he likes it. He avoids long walks as he would the plague, and catches a street car for a two-block trip.

The Personal Element.

- Due to his immaturity, the fat person gives little thought to anything save those things which affect him personally.

The calm exterior, unruffled countenance and air of deliberation he sometimes wears, and which have occasionally pa.s.sed for "judicial" qualities, are largely the results of the fact that the Alimentive refuses to get stirred up over anything that does not concern him personally.

This personal element will be found to dominate the activities, conversation and interests of the Alimentive. For him to like a thing or buy a thing it must come pretty near being something he can eat, wear, live in or otherwise personally enjoy. He confines himself to the concrete and tangible. But most of all he confines himself to things out of which he gets something for himself.

Reading.

- The fat man is no reader but when he does read it is nearly always something funny, simple or sentimental. In newspapers he reads the "funnies." Magazine stories, if short and full of sentiment, attract him. He seldom reads an editorial and is not a book worm. The newspaper furnishes practically all of the fat man's reading. He seldom owns a library unless he is very rich, and then it is usually for "show."

Avoids Book Stores.

- In making the investigations for this course, we interviewed many clerks in the bookstores of leading cities throughout the United States. Without exception they stated that few extremely fat people patronized them. "I have been in this store seventeen years and I have never sold a book to a two hundred and fifty pounder," one dealer told us. All this is due to the fact with which we started this chapter--that the fat man is built around his stomach--and stomachs do not read!

Naturally Realistic.

- The fat man has the child's natural innocence and ignorance of subtle and elusive things. He has the same interest in things and people as does the child; the child's indifference to books, lectures, schools and everything abstract.

Physical a.s.sets.

- "I believe I could digest nails!" exclaimed a fat friend of ours recently. This perfect nutritive system const.i.tutes the greatest physical superiority of the Alimentive. So highly developed is his whole stomach department that everything "agrees" with him. And everything tends to make him fat.

As Irvin Cobb recently said: "It isn't true that one can't have his cake and eat it, too, for the fat man eats his and keeps it--all."

Physical Liabilities.

- A tendency to over-eat results naturally from the highly developed eating and digesting system of this type but this in turn overtaxes all the vital organs, as stated before. Also, the fat man's aversion to exercise reduces his physical efficiency.

The pure Alimentive and the alimentively-inclined should learn their normal weight and then keep within it if they desire long lives.

Social a.s.sets.

- Sweetness of disposition is one of the most valuable of all human characteristics. Fat people possess it more often and more unchangingly than any other type. Other social a.s.sets of this type are amenableness, affability, hospitality and approachableness.

Social Liabilities.

- Gaining his ends by flattery, cajolery, and various more or less innocent little deceptions are the only social handicaps of this type.

Emotional a.s.sets.

- His unfailing optimism is the most marked emotional quality of this type. Nothing can be so dark that the fat person doesn't find a silver edge somewhere. So in disaster we always send for our fat friends. In the presence of an amply-proportioned individual everything looks brighter. Hope springs eternal in human b.r.e.a.s.t.s but the springs are stronger in the plump folks than in the rest of us.

Money spending is also a marked feature of the fat man. His emotions are out-going, never "in-growing." A stingy fat man is unknown.

Emotional Liabilities.

- A tendency to become spoiled, to pout, and to take out his resentments in babyish ways are the emotional weaknesses of this type. These, as you will note, are the natural reactions of childhood, from which he never fully emerges.

Business a.s.sets.

- The ability to make people like him is the greatest business and professional a.s.set of this type, and one every other type might well emulate. One average-minded fat man near the door of a business establishment will make more customers in a month by his geniality, joviality and sociableness than a dozen brilliant thinkers will in a year. Every business that deals directly with the public should have at least one fat person in it.

Business Liabilities.

- A habit of evading responsibility and of "getting out from under" const.i.tutes the inclination most harmful to the business or professional ambitions of this type. Again it is the child in him trying to escape the task set for it and at the same time to avoid punishment.

Domestic Strength.

- Love of home is a distinguishing domestic trait of all fat people. The fat man's provision for his family is usually as complete as his circ.u.mstances will permit and he often stretches it a point.

As parents fat men and women are almost too easy-going for their own future happiness, for they "spoil" their children. But they are more loved by their children than any other type. Being so nearly children themselves they make equals of their children, enter into their games and live their lives with them.

Domestic Weakness.

- Dependence on others, the tendency of allowing one's self to be supported by brothers or sisters or wife, is the chief domestic weakness of fat people. They should begin early in life to depend upon themselves and make it a practice to carry their share of family responsibilities.

Should Aim At.

- Developing more of his mental powers with a view to using his head to lessen the manual work he so dislikes, and cultivating an interest in the more mature side of the world in which he lives should be two of the aims of all extremely fat people.

Should Avoid.

- "Letting down," soft snaps and temptations to evade responsibility should be avoided by the fat. Elbert Hubbard said, "Blessed is the man who is not looking for a soft snap, for he is the only one who shall find it." This explains why the fat man, unless brainy, seldom lands one.

Strongest Points.

- Optimism, hospitality and harmony are the strongest points in the fat man's nature. Upon them many a man has built a successful life. Without them no individual of any type can hope to be happy.

His popularity and all-around compatibility give the fat man advantages over other types which fairly compensate for the weak cogs in his machinery.

Weakest Points.

- Self-indulgence of all kinds, over-eating, over-sleeping, under-exercising and the evasion of responsibilities are the weakest points of this type. Despite his many strong points his life is often wrecked on these rocks. He so constantly tends to taking the easy way out. Day by day he gives up chances for ultimate success for the baubles of immediate ease.

He is the most likable of all the types but his indolence sometimes strains even the love of his family to the breaking point.

How to Deal with this Type Socially.

- Feed him, give him comfortable chairs--the largest you have--and don't drag him into long discussions of any kind. This is the recipe for winning the fat man when you meet him socially.

And whatever you do, don't tell him your troubles! The fat man hates trouble, smothers his own, and you only make him ill at ease when you regale him with yours.

Don't walk him any more than is absolutely necessary. Let him go home early if he starts. He enjoys his sleep and doesn't like to have it interfered with.

- Make your conversation deal with concrete personal things and events. Stay away from highbrow subjects. The best places to eat and the best shows of the week are safe subjects to introduce when with very fat people.

How to Deal with this Type in Business.

- Don't give him hard manual tasks. If you want this kind of work done get some one other than an extremely fat man to do it. If you hire a fat man blame yourself for the result.

Give your fat employee a chance to deal with people in a not-too-serious way, but hold him strictly to the keeping of his records, reports and working hours. If this fat person is a dealer, a merchant or a tradesman keep him to his word. Start out by letting him know you expect the delivery of just what he promises. Don't let him "jolly" you into relinquishing what is rightfully yours. And keep in mind always that the fat person is usually good at heart.

Remember, the chief distinguishing marks of the Alimentive in the order of their importance are ROUNDED OUTLINES, IMMATURE FEATURES and DIMPLED HANDS. A person who has these is largely of the Alimentive type, no matter what other types may be included in his makeup.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 3 Thoracic the "thriller"]

CHAPTER II.

The Thoracic Type.

"The Thriller"

Individuals in whom the circulatory system (heart, arteries and blood vessels) and the respiratory system (lungs, nose and chest) are more highly developed than any other systems, have been named the Thoracics.

- This name comes from the fact that the heart and lungs (which const.i.tute the most important organs of these two closely-allied systems) are housed in the thorax--that little room made by your ribs for the protection of these vital organs.

Physical Resilience.

- A general elasticity of structure, a suggestion of sinews and physical resilience characterizes this type.

The Florid-Faced, High-Chested Individual.

- What is known as a "red face," when accompanied by a high chest, always signifies large thoracic tendencies. The high color which in an adult comes and goes is a sure indication of a well developed circulatory system, since high color is caused by the rapid pumping of blood to the tiny blood vessels of the face.

People with little blood, weak hearts or deficient circulation are not florid and must be much overheated or excited to show vivid color in their cheeks.

Betray Their Feelings.

- On the other hand, the slightest displeasure, enjoyment, surprise or exertion brings the blood rushing to the face and neck of him who has a large, well-developed blood-system. How many times you have heard such a one say: "I am so embarra.s.sed! I flush at every little thing! How I envy the rest of you who come in from a long walk looking so cool!"

The Man of Great Chest Expansion.

- The largest part of this man's body is around the chest. (See Chart 3) His chest is high for the reason that he has larger lungs than the average.

Advantages of a High Chest.

- The man of unusual chest-expansion has one great physical a.s.set. The person who breathes deeply has a decided advantage over the man who breathes deficiently. The lungs form the bellows or air-supply for the body's engine, the heart, and with a deficient supply of air the heart does deficient work. Efficient breathing is easy only to the man of large lungs, and only the high chested have large lungs.

Long-Waisted People.

- A long waist is another thoracic sign, for it is a natural result of the extra house-room required by the large lungs and heart. It is easily detected in both men and women. (See Chart 3) If you are a close observer you have noticed that some people appear to have a waist line much lower than others; that the belt line dividing the upper part of the body from the lower is proportionately much nearer the floor in some than in others of the same height.

Pa.s.sing of the "Wasp Waist"

- The "straight-up-and-down" lines of today's woman and the slimpsy shoulder-to-heel garments she wears have obliterated her waistline, but you will recall how differently the old "wasp waist" fashions of a score of years ago betrayed the secrets of the short and long waist.

The eighteen-inch belt, of which we were so falsely proud in 1900, told unmistakable facts about milady's thoracic development.

Belts vs. Suspenders.