, 1880-06-16
UvElRW0oRK rDUNDERWORK.
Esd ,I9;df fFsVmt the iISnesl retstE9a !.

derWOrk, received careful consideration
at the hands of DR.. Samuel Wnks,
f.. r. IS, in his drawing-room lee
ture. under the auspices of the National
Health Society, at the residence of Mr.,
G. Matthews, % Hartford street, Mayfair.
The lecturer CONNIE need by remarking
that the questions of overwork, over study,
and underworld could not be settled by any
fixed rule, and the only way in which
they could be considered would be in the
physiological aspect-by comparing the
body to a machine and estimating its
capabilities, or regarding it as a kind of
chemical laboratory in which various forces
were engaged in the supply of food to
supply the furnace, always remembering,
however, that the animal body, unlike the
mechanical one could not be wholly con-
tinuous in its action, as rest was necessary
to the production of animal power, Rest
and work were as natural as light and
darkness, day and night, and when the
physician was asked sometimes if q man
could work the "a hours at physical
labour, the answer would be that, given
slproper time for food and sleep, o mau
could work all the rest Of the "a hours.
But "proper food" and "proper rest"
were necessary in all classes of work-a
fact not recognized by people of supposed
intelligence, as he had had to prove to an
enthusiastic young curate that he would be
able to do better work by proper attention
to his physical wants-that this attention
to the body was d religious duty. in order
to enable aman to work to the full extent
Of bis powers. With regard to the people
who suffer from 'nerve depression" DR..
Wilks held that the mode of life of those
who thus suffered sufficiently accounted
for their condition-that they had pursued
Q course of living which had made its
effects felt in pressing mental toll of ope
kind upon the brain over heightened peri
DDS. The question was asked if by a per
son having physical exercise, gond food, and
rest, the remainder of the intervening hours
could be BEAUTIFULLY spent in mental labour.
This was a question which could not be
answered by rule. The points would have
to be considered as to the amount of phy-
steal exercise to De taken and the kind and
the character of the mental lsbour. There
were some kinds of mental labour which
were mere relaxations against others, and
remarkable examples had been presented
of the vigour derived from varied exer-
cises in mental labour alternatpd with
physical exercises /; but where the mental
labonr had been attempted without the
physical the persons bad broken DOVE.
Some persons, holding to the idea that
''use is second nature" had not accustom-
ed themselves to physical exercise in
the midst of their mental labour; but there
was a necessity for this physical labour,
and the body required it. The necessity
first was shown by the studious man pacing
bis room as the animals paced their cages
in the Zoo )" by the esrand boys in the
putting down their goods to fight
other boys, or in their covering" posts
all these were actions showing that the
body needed exercise. Then came the
question. If a, man has good food, rest,
aud exercise, can he spend the rest of the
hour in mental labour2 The answer was.
certainly he can but it must not be one
kind Ofmenial labOur or one kind of pur-
suit, for one pursuit would abnormally
exercise one small faculty of the mind and
cause it to be, OverwOrked to the impOver-
ishment and loss of other faculties. Such
q man would have strong opinions about
things of which he knew ~nothing-hei
hated foreign languages, and knew nothing
them; he abhorred~ theatres, and never
had been to one; disliked Darwin's views,
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