Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-09

ed by the integer /, the learned DR.. Ed
ward Smith finds the air inspired in q sit
ting position Is LIS; standing, LBS; walk
ing one mile per hour, L9; walking three
miles per hour, 3. %; walking six miles per
hour, z; riding, 4 5; swimming, 433 In
other words there is nearly twice as much
air taken into the lungs bv man while
toddling one mile per hour as when lying
in his bed, while if he exert himself to the
extent of brisk walk Of six miles per hour
he takes in seven times as much air as when
lying on his couch.
Literally Starved Day by Day.
The various movements brought into play
in the living body during athletic exer-
cises, eApepd energy or force, the steam, so
| to speak, of the human locomotive. The
locomotive requires renewal of fuel as the
steam becomes exhausted, it can therefore
be easilv understood that without adequate
fuel the engine would gradually reduce the
| pace until at last it stopped
1t has been seen in the description of John
| l. SuIlivan's exercises, that the weight of
| body, which in the thousand daily skippings
of the rope, be had to lit, involved a. ex-
| peaditure of energy and force requiring an
| amount of food to be stored away far greater
| than could be utilized in the tine BY the
animal economy without cfogging Its func-
| tions. Had such an amount OF food been
| consumed it could not fail to produce dys-
pepsia languor and the thousand ills result
| ing therefron, and a man in such q condl-
tion would not be fit for the excessive exer-
else he wa. daily called upon to perform.
Hence it is absolutely proven to my mind
that John L. Sullivan was, day by day,
starved, owing to the great amount OF exer-
eise demanded and the relatively small
amount of food which he could consume
Formation of blood demands proper and
ADEQUATE supply of food. The muscles, like
other tissues, are nourished by that wonder
full and complex fluid which Holy Writ
saws is ''the lie" The iliustrious John
Hunter demonstrated that it is blood
which nourishes tissues by grating the spur
of a cock into the comb.
sullivan's Muscles Lacked Tone.
Muscle must have. sufficient supply of
nervous influence. There are cells in the
muscles having nerve flaments finer than
anv silken thread, and these find their way,
wonderful though it seems, through the
spinal cord direct to the brain.
You will to strike, say ball, with your
right hand; the determination is formed in
the brain; an electric discharge is emitted;
thence it flashes along these nerve threads
OF spider-web fneness, to the muscles;
they contract and the ball is struck But
if the nervous or electric discharge is i'm
paired or interrupted. the muscle is unable
to respond, however strsng the will to
strike NAV be- Now, there is always a
continuous, though gentle description OF
electric or nervous discharge passing into
the individual muscles, in virtue of which
they are kept in a condition of tonus or
tone 1t is this tone or tonicity which
keeps the muscle in ready condition for
instant action. Want Of tone is popularity
expressed by the term fabby, l think.
Having led up to the subject in this way,
it will now be understood what is meant
when say that Sulivan's muscles lacked
tone.
The experiments of host of psychologists
have proved that if muscles are stimulated
to a point short OF exhaustion, that is, if
the work they are called on to perform is
ceased before fatigue ensues, the con-
tractility and healthy vigor of muscle is en-
HANGED if a sufficiently long period of rest
intervenes before work is resumed. On the
contrary, if this stimulation or work is car
ried beyond or even to the point of exhaus-
tion, progressive de ;erioration of the muscle
eontractility ensues. 1t is this contractilty
which yields the force and impetus to the
muscle OF action.
Hercules Could Not Have Stood It
The muscles of Hercules himself, suppos-
ing they had been subjected to such strain
as Sullivan's without sufficient rest and
nourishment, would have become non-effec- |
tive. Look at the black smiths bare arm at !
work in the smithy; see how the muscles |
stand out like cords, or, Longtellow says, |
''irm as iron bands" How came they SO? /
By steady exercise, proper nourishment and /
adequate rest The necessity for proper |
rest cannot be urged too much. 1 have the |
pleasure OF reckoning among my intimate |
friends a distinguished surgeon who once |
wss blacksmith, and who lost the power |
of his arm by overwork. His massive right |
arm lost its power to lift the heavy hammer. |
Why? Because. the firm which employed |
hrn having received a large colonial order |
for plows, subject to their being shipped by |
a certain time-all hands had to work day |
aud night ior week; and VIXEN my friend |
telt his arm getting weaker, his pride and |
would not allow him TO yield; |
besides. the extra pay was great tempta- |
tiou to hold on.
The order was completed but rest was |
then of no avail-that arm could never |
more strike the heavy blows the manutact-
urer OF hand-wrought plows required.
Did the trainers of Sullivan ever pause to
consider that they were dealing with hu-
man being subject to the ordinary laws Of
nutrition anu repair OF WaSteI
In the first place it is clear that they did |
not understand the evil effects on the hui
man constitution of alcohol, which, over
:, 900 wears ago, was known,to the barbarous
helvetii, for Cesar w1ote OF them: "Wine :
they do not permit to be brought among
them, because they are convinced that by |
that article men are enfeebled for enduring |
fatigue"
The Trainers Notion About Fat.
They did find, however, that the then
champion Of the world, in their estimation,
was too obese for fighting Did they ever /
consult any OF the many excellent experts |
as to how this surplus tat was to be reduced,
with the least expenditure of force, with
Gu: deterioratins the general health, and
without producing exhaustion? l cannot
suppose that this was done. 1 have no per-
sonal quarrel with those gentlemen, whom
have never seen. / hear them praised on
all hands, and am sorry / have to give ut
terance to views that must be unpleasant to
them. But must say that the condition
in which l found the ex-champion was such
that he could not have been in a fit condition
when lie entered the contest In this am
borne out by Mr.. McKeon, the masseur.
whose practical knowledge has been gained
by handling scientifically from boyhood up
to the present-involving the experience of
nearly quarter of a century-the muscles
of pugilists, athletes and ordinary men, in
sickness and in health.
Finding, therefore, that the ex-champiou
was too heavy Tor the fight with Corbett, it
appears to me that the trainers object was
to remove the obesity, thinking there was
nothing in the shape of exercise too difficult
Tor the champion OF hundred fights. In
tact. they thought his colossal frame was
made of adamant. Was anything more un-
rcaSnnahle than the thnnsand daiIr SLin