New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-09-02
ATHLETICS IN FRANCE.
ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT
OF SCIENCE.
DISCUSSION BY DoCToRs-ALLEGED HffNoli~
ING EFFECTS OF BIcYCLEs-CoNDEMNA-
TIoN OF PUBLIC MATCHES.
Paris, August q.

TION OF PUBLIC MATCHES.
Paris August q.
The annual Congress of the French ASSOCIATION
for the Advancement of the Sciences tine name
officially adopted) opened at Caen on the yin OF the
month 1t was founded after the war Of 1so-h' ana
though II is far from having the national Chaiac'e
or authority OF the British Association after when
q was modelled its sessions are sure to bring out
the EXPRESSION OF French scientific opinion on many
questions OF the day
The second day taken up with an ahina'eu
discussion as 10 the place which ought 10 oe given
10 physical exercise in the education OF YOUTH anu
especially as to the propriety OF ie sport
(matches) among scholars The two chle1 organ
Tiers OF the Union Of Athletic Sports which already
comprises more than 5000 collegians OF the 'a'iou
State schools. on hand TO defend thelr o'"'V'
The faculty of medicine led off in the attack
NJ LIE Gendre. a doctor of Paris hospitals. began
nv pointing out an essential difference between
grown men and boys Gt is said that the college
matches have become fit only for professionals
In boys or very young men, such as the rle"0i,
collegian who Is seldom twenty years oiu anu
pays in the games from fourteen or even earlier
the various organs develop uDequaly AS conse-
ouence they suffer more than fully formed man
would do from abuse of physical exercise o1teh
vertable fever from over-fatigue declares itself on
the day after prolonged bicycle ride or violent
footbalI match The composition of the blood Is
modified the stomach is disordered by reason OF the
profuse sweating. and the heart may contract
nermanent hypertrophy from its over-diiatation IN
these races for a record All this Is quite apart
from mere accidents as at football where hhsiahu
counted In a single schoo-Quarter thirty-hVe grave
wounds and fifteen deaths. Canoeing. skating ana
in general all racing we'll as football are re-
sponsible for diseases of the heart Al Chrs'iaia'
In Norway the authorities have been obliged 70
interfere In sledging and skating races between
young girls OF from six TO ten wears OF age.
The real abuse IN all these sports Is IN the emu
laton excited among the students OF school, OF
between rival schools by the organizing OF matches
which are reported in the newspapers with as much
a,snIav as the theatrical news Such matches in
stead of proving useful balance to inteiiec'uai
labor interfere with studies and inJure the heai'h
of the scholars who take part in them ooupiy-oy
the moral preoccupaton which precedes and the
oyer-fatigue which follows
In practice. Or. lie Gendre proposes '"o ieS0'"
tions to the Congress:
To have each student undergo a medical examina-
ton before allowing him to devote himself 10 'hs
or that exercise;
To encourage physical exercise, out 10 MAKE WAL
on ''le sport In schools
The English word sport has been adopted by
the French in the limited meaning of any matches
races or athletic contests having sort OF gamoihs
interest and exciting to excessive ehor'
DR. Tissie Of Bordeaux, applied himself to bring
ing out the influence of physical exercise carried 10
excess on the nervous system. There is similarity
between the great nervous fatigue which follows
violent and prolonged exercise and certain hypnotic
states All fatigue is in the nerves; the muscles
simply lose their power following the theory OF
Nfosso) Now in violent and prolonged physical eX-
ercise the waste of the organism is both rapld
and extreme and. at the end its victim Is IN
etate OF "auto-intoxcation' and is left like pa
tient recovering from some infectious disease Inc
muscular overstrain in the case is Ike that which
results from such nervous shocks as are sometimes
produced by violent emotions when awake or by
fearful dreams.
Dr. Tisse gave the result of scientific ooser'a-
+ions made by him on a runner In a go-as-you-
please match of twenty-four hours
The first effect of the nervous exhaustion was a
feeling of great fatigue followed by loss OF interest
and disgust Next came phenomena OF illusion or
hallucnation Of double personality, loss OF memory
and great need of sleep and most OF all constant
automatism The doctor claims that the real aim
of every trainer for the ring is to produce TINS auto
matte state in the one who Is TO take part IN 'he
contest Of physical strength His whole science Is
20 transform the man he trains into being that
will keep on automatically and leave the brain-part
IN the trainer Something OF this occurs In all over
strain from prolonged physical exercise. The pioo-
ding action which results is akin 10 the constant
repetition Of the same word, over ana over ana
10 the fxed idea in monomana. II also mas us
parallel In the double personality often shown by
spiritualst mediums. A shower-bath. too strong Tor
the nervous system OF a French poet, In Ike man.
ner caused him to write verses that were decidedly
pathological.
While the defenders Of the bicycle and football
were stretching their TO take in these not very
clear details the doctor suddenly electrified them
81 quite agree with Professor Espinas. he said
Sin attrbuting the exaggerated credulity Of Eng
lshmen in regard 10 ghosts and manifestations OF
spirits 10 the rupture OF equilibrium between the
formation Of intelligence and the formation OF VIII
TO the advantage Of the latter. owing TO this abuse
OF physical exercise!'
mr. more Ineligible than the rest OF his discourse
The abuse Of athletic sports becomes an evil school
OF .suggestibilty" The players lose character and
tend TO retrograde from intellectual vo!ition to an
habitual automatsm II this tendency Is allowed
TO invade the schools 1t will end by taking posses
sion of society itself Just moderate exercise Is
good 80 these intensive exercises are bad 1t Is
not at a time when nervous fatigue Is increased
tenfod by intense social life that we should yet
further augment II by the abuse OF athletic sports
So far this learned diatribe had borne chiefly on
those athletic matches which actually require the
utmost nervous and muscular effort Of the contest
ants But Dr. Tissie could not end without direct
attack on the kind of physical exercise which
has won to itself men. women and children IN all
France. THE great attraction OF the velocipede
(bicycle) is its constant Indictment to automatsm
that is to the repression from the conscious to the
unconscious ego-from the civilized TO the prehis-
toric man."
NJ Bergonie. also OF Bordeaux. who is Just a ply
viologist-without a pennyworth OF psycholosy--tm-
idly represented his observation OF facts He
had thoroughly examined among others the
record man" S;ephane after his race OF 600 kilo-
metres (neary 1913 miles, in a ring He looked es
pecally for signs OF muscular tetanus. degenerate
reaction and time lost in electric excitation. He
found 10 variation: and after the muscular
contraction was absolutely normal. He had repeated
these observations others and on himself In
each case the fatigued muscle from the electrical
po:nt Of view, was as healthy after before.
This brought DR.. Tissie down TO terra frma, but
ne was not at the end Of his arguments against
matches and racing. He too. had examined
Stephane after his famous race from the side
Of organic waste. Urea and uric acid had greatly
Increased; phosphoric acid had doubled: there
ILL. tton ~ slnhates While he