"It would be impossible for me to comment on any newspaper clipping such as 'sleep and grow thin.' I cannot know what the New York doctor had in mind," said Dr. D. C. Parmenter '13, the Medical Advisor of the University.
"It is well known that sleeping makes one not thin but fat. Men, while they do not grow as fat as women from oversleeping, do put on weight. Harvard men undoubtedly would, if they slept."
Dr. Parmenter was asked whether he had ever heard of passing a physical examination by sleeping. The case of a man who grew enough to pass the Annapolis entrance exams by merely going to bed was cited. Dr. Parmenter scoffed at the idea, exclaiming, "Perhaps the would-be middle failed to reach the required height, but he certainly achieved the height of absurdity."
