American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1866-05-19
Physical and Mental Labor.


rather to see that there is a careful
ard exact balance kept up between
the exhaustive forces which he put
IN operation, and recuperating force
which must daily rep]enish his sys
tenn with new strength and vigor.
We are at this time witnessing the
efforts OF the mechanical world to
reduce their hours of labor, to make
one-third of the twenty-four hours
serve for wealth, "one-third for men
al recreation,' as they term it, and
ole-thlrd for sleep, or natural rest
The true object of this move we have
never stated, or at any rate not salts
@y,orily stated. The wealth-pro-
dUccrs in the mechanical branches
0i ,hiS country have never been over
worked. Ten or even twelve hours
physical labor day, does not of il
self wear out the system. The agri-
cultural body of wealth producers
toll six months ont OF the year four
teen hours a day, from sunrise to
sunset as the shortest period, and
thousands rise at daylight from May
to November, and commence their
work as soon as they can see. If the
recuperative powers Of nature are
not destroyed by excuses of intern
perance in eating, drinking, chewing.
smoking, or even slerping-for all
these may be carried to an intern
perate point-merc labor Of a phys
zeal character, ten hours day, or if
not too exhaustinr, twelve hours r
day, will not injurc the working man,
nor detract from the length of his
natural life. But labor is waste, and
perhaps th9 StaIwart man Of huge
bone and muscle will smile at the
idea advanced, that physical labor
produces far less waste of body than
mental; but such is the fact Chem
iStry introduces to us some startling
truths, and none more surprising
than this-mental labor is vastly
more destructive to the human sys-
tenn than physical. We learn from
chemistry that every manifestation
Of physical force involves the meta
morphosis Of q certain quantity of
matter. Professor Houghton, of
Trinity College, Dublin, asserts as
the result Of his investigations, that
in the human organism there is a
definite relation between the amount
Of force cxcrtcd and the amount OF
urea generated.
The urea formed daily III a healthy
man, weighing 100 pounds. varies
from 40 to $50 grains. OF this, 800
grains are the result Of vital work
that is, OF the force expended in the
motions of the digestive organs and
the heart, and in sustaining the tenn
perature of the body at a uniform
rate. This amount exceeds all other
force generated and expended III the
system, and equal to that required
to raise 769lbs. one foot high. In adj
dition to the mere act Of existing,
when this human machine works,
the bodily labor is equal to lifting
200 lbs. more one foot high daily,
which requires the formation of 1913
grains of urea. But the force en-
ployed in two hours Of hard mental
labor involves and expenditure Of
power equal to lifting ODD foot lbs,
and generation of urea weighing
Sc grains. This is Professor Hough-
tons declaration. It has been well
said by the WallinfOrd Comm Circu-
lar, in commenting upon these as
founding chemical theories, that "if
the man of muscle and sincw fancios
that the student or the writer who
sits motiOnlcss at his desk is doing
nothing he was never more mistak-
rn. The brain-wUker, in two hours
of close application, wears ont faster
than he who labors n whole dav in
digging a canal" This is the scicp-
tific diagnosis of the case, and we re-
spectfully ask the attention of the F.
legislative bodies of the several
States TO these extraordinary revela-
tons. IF the wOrkingmen now clam
Oring for less hours Of toll, and in
many instances for increased pay at
the same time, base their claims up
on the fact that ply sicaI labor is more
than mental, and that
they are using mp more than their
share of vitality in helping to sus-
tain Che commercial progress of the
country, that reason for reduced
hours of toll must fail to avail them.
In our humble opinion, Muscle and
sinew are, in the aggregate, q vast
deal better remunerated all Over this
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