The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1896-01-07
EFFECTS OF FATIGUE
THE MIND AND THE BODY ARE INIT
MATElV ASSOCIATED.

The Symptoms Of WEAKNESS Considered by
Specialists 1t Is Begotten More In the
Brain Than In the MuscIe-How Men APP
proach the Danger Line.
1t is n popular belief that WEAKNESS Is a
physical symptom alone-that Is to say
people become tired because their muscles
are weary, whereas, In truth, muscular
WEAKNESS depends not on the muscle alone,
but on the manner In which the muscle
I'm Its work Is aided and supported by the
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 tho
blood stream be sluggish, or II the blood
coming to the muscle DO already loaded
with hurtful bodies, the clearance is slow
or wholly fails, and WEAKNESS comes on
apace. But even the simplest and rudest
muscular tasks arc not carried out by the
muscles alone, for the brain and the nerves
share In them too. 1t Is u common expo
rience that when we arc weary almost, 1t
may be, to death, some sudden emotion,
some great joy or fear, may spur us to 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 WEAKNESS cannot be affected by any
emotion. That WEAKNESS which is put
aside by hope, or which is hurried on by
despair, must be n WEAKNESS not of the
muscles, but of the nervous system"
1t would be interesting to follow Pro
fessor Foster as he goes on to prove the diff
ference between the brain and the nerves,
tho brain being, of course, the central mech
anism, the nerves mere bundles Of flbers
which carry the impulses to the muscles.
| We must, however, refer our readers to the
article itself for this and other informa-
ton and would direct their attention es-
pecially to the experiments by which Pro-
fcssor Foster proves that the greater part
at least of WEAKNESS is bcgotten not in the
muscle, but in the brain.
Let us now consider fow of the mental
symptoms of fatigue or WEAKNESS. Pro-
fessor Foster insists that two facts must
be grasped and remembered. While IL may
be said Of each member that the blood is
the life thereof, 1t may with equal truth
be said the blood is the death thereof.
Tho blood is the channel for food, but is
also the pathway for poison. Again, all
our knowledge goes to show that the 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 are smaller than
those Of the muscle, but this is counter
balanced by the exceeding sensitiveness Of
the nervous substance, the last giving
point to the caution that to do the maxi
mum Of brain work it is essential not to
render the brain more agile, but to encour-
ago it's humble helpmates SO that their
more efficient corporation may defer tho
onset of WEAKNESS
Mind and body being thus intimately
associated, no sensible person will risk the
destruction of health by neglecting either
the one or the other. Sleep, good food,
healthy surroundings, rational hours Of
work and sufficient exercise are points
which many people have long recognized
as essential to their well being, yet the
race for wealth, or for political advance
ment, or the struggle for existence, may
cause 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 anything
but the right cause. A feeling of depres-
sion and sense Of i'll being may make
him miserable, but unless the doctor takes
him in hand they will not check his down
|
pressed with the need of increased effort,
loss of memory, and the difficulties OF
remembering what he reads To this point
q man may advance without fatal injury,
but should he proceed until everything ap-
pears to him dark and hopeless, O worry
and an apprehension then he may be be-
yond rescue, and his next step may land
him in lunatic asylum If he does not ter
inmate earlier in graveyard.
DIR. Cowles of the Mclean hospital has
written most interesting paper on the
mental symptoms Of fatigue which all
brain workers should read. He shows in
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 theil
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
TONS DIR. Cowles declares this condition
which comes on insidiously, to be a most
dangerous one. With the Impairment o.
the natural fatigue sense the mental effect
Is that "a man will not believe even hi
physicians diagnosis Of fatigue. He Il
therefore prone to look for some other rea
= son for his sense of i'll being and inefh
cheney and finds in retrospeotion cause fol
self reproach and hopelessness in the fu
ture or insists upon a revolution in hi
affairs as the only remedy for q condition
of which he himself Is the central cause
' Here, then, we arrive at the two great fac
tors which have to be faced today In on
national and political life The first, o
retrospective, cause lies at the root Of tn
present epidemic of suicide, of which tn
papers are full. The second, or impair
ment of the Judgment, cause lies at tn
n root of the political impasse which its au
thors declare can be cured only by revolu
| tion Il nndon Hosnital