The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-05-22
EFFECTS OF FATIGUE
The MIND AND rl+e BODY ARE lNTl-
MATELY ASSOCIATED.

The symptoms of wcarincss Considered by
speoiali-ts--It Is Begotten More Tn tho
Brain Than In the Muscie--How Men APP
proach the Danger Line.
IL Is a popular belief that wcariness is a
physical symptom alone-that is TO say,
people become tired because their muscles
hro weary, whereas, In truth, muscular
wcarness depends not on the muscle alone,
but on the manner In which the muscle
I'm its work is aided and supported by tho
rest Of the body. THE blood, sweeping
through the whole body, washes out OF the
muscles all hurtful bodies providing al
ways the blood stream Is pure II the
blood stream be sluggish, or II the blood
coming to the muscle be already loaded
with hurtful bodies, the clearance il slow
or wholly fails, and wearinoss comes on
apace. But even the simplest and rndest
muscular tasks are not carried out by the
muscles alone, for the brain and the nerves
share in them too. II is a common expe-
riencc that when we are weary almost, 10
may be, TO death, some sudden emotion,
some great joy or fear, may spur us 20 an
effort which just before seemed impossible.
Conversely an emotion may appear to take
from us all our muscular strength Now
that the muscles neither know nor feel
their weaTincss cannot be affected by any
emotion. That weariness which is put
aside by hope, or which Is hurried on by
despair, must be wearinoss not Of the
muscles, but Of the nervous system"
IL would be interesting to follow Pro-
fcssor Foster ms he goes on to prove the diff
ference between the brain and the nerves,
the brain being, Of course, the central mech
anism, the nerves mere bundles Of fibers
which carry the impulses to the muscles.
We must however, refer our readers to the
article itself for this and other informa-
tion and would direct their attention es-
pecially to the experiments by which Pro
fessOr Foster proves that the greater part
at least of WEAKNESS is begotten not in the
muscle, but in the brain
Let us now consider few Of the mental
symptoms Of fatigue or wearincss. Pro
fessor Foster insists that two facts must
be graspcd and rpmembered While IL may
bc said Of each member that the blood is
the life thereof, IL may with equal truth
be said the blood Is the death thereof.
The blood is the channel for food, but is
also the pathway for poison Again, all
our knowledge goes to show that tho work
of the brain, like the work of the muscles,
Is accompanied by chemical changes: that
the chemical changes, though differing in
details, are Of the same order in the brain
us in the muscles. 1t is true that the
changes in the brain arc smaller than
those Of the muscle but this is counter
balanced by the exceeding sensitiveness of
the nervous substance, the last giving
point 10 the caution that to do the maxi
mum OF brain work it is essential not to
render the brain more agile, but TO cncour-
age its humble helpmates so that their
more efficient cooperation may defer the
onset Of WEAKNESS.
Mind and body being thus intimately
associated no sensible person will isk the
destruction of health by neglcctinr either
the one or the other Sleep, good food,
healthy surroundings, rational h urs Of
work and sufficient exercise aro points
which many people have long reco Znizcd
as essential TO their well being, yet the
race for wealth, or for political advance
ment, or the struggle for existence, mny
causc the most enlightened TO neglect
them. At first a man so circumstanced at
tributes his lassitude, which is usually
confined to the early morning, to al ything
but the right cause. A feeling of depres-
sion and a sense Of i'll being may make
him miserable but unless the doctor takes
him in hand they will not check his down
ward course. Next he will become op-
pressed with the need OF increased effort,
u loss OF memory, and the difficulties Of
remembering what he reads. To this point
man may advance without fatal injury,
but should he proceed until everything mp
pears TO him dark and hopeless, a worry
and an apprehension, then he may be be-
yond rescue, and his next step may land
him in II lunatio asylum If he does not ter
inmate earlier In n graveyard.
DIR. Cowles Of the Mclean hospital has
fpt. -,
mental symptoms Of fatigue which all
brain workers should read. He shows in
a practical way how difficult it is TO re
store the weary TO energy and strength.
Overworked women, professional men, pol
iticians and others "work ON their
nerves" and say they don't feel tired,
and nothing is the matter" Many OF them
indeed insist that they feel better when
actively pursuing their ordinary occupa-
tions. DIR. Cowlcs declares this condition,
which comes ON insidiously, to be most
dangerous one. With the impairment of
the natural fatigue sense the mental effect
is that a man will not believe even his
PHYSICIANS diagnosis OF fatigue. He is
therefore prone to look for some other rea-
son for his sense of Ill being and inefii-
cheney and finds in rctrospection cause for
self rcproaGh and hopelessness in the fu-
turc, or insists upon revolution in his
affairs rs the only remedy for condition
Of which he himself Is the central cause
Here, then, We arrive at the two great fac
tors which have to he faced today in our
national and political life. The first, or
retrospective, cause lies at the root of the
present epidemic of suicide, Of which the
papers aro full. The second, or impair
ment Of the Judgment, cause lies at the
root OF the political impasse which its au-
thors declare can be cured only by rovolu-
tion.-London Hospital