The record-union., 1897-12-01
OvERTAxED NERVE CELLS.
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MENTAL
AND EMOTIONAL ACTIVITY.
Suggestions of Value to Parents
and of Interest to
Other Folk.

Many people VINO are not especially
| scientific in their habits and tastes, but
are fairly acute observers. realize THAI
a close relation exists between the con
| dition of ones nerves and the quantity
| and quality of work he can do. Carefui
| investigation of the matter by experts
rot only confirms the fact and partially
explains why such should be the case,
| but affords useful hints both to parents
and teachers in the management of
children, and to adults in securing the
| best results from their own activities in
life
| In a discussion of the influences that
often control the formation of charac-
ter, in The Popular Science Monthly
for September. Professor NJ. V. Shea
examines the physical effects of fatigue
on that part of the animal organism
known as the nerve cell. This cell is a
reservoir of energy. 1t is a sort OF stor-
age battery of vitality. A trifiing stim-
ulus comes to it from without, along
one of the nerve fibers, exciting thought.
| feeling or movement Any experience
of this sort involves a discharge, as OF
| electricity, along another set of fila
ments, and uses up some of the reserve.
| Under microscope a nerve cell is
| found to exist of an outer, pulpy shell
and central nucleus. 1t is Impractical
| BILE to examine human nerve cells; but
| elaborate experiments on frogs show
| that the nuclei of their nerve cells
shrink to one-half their natural size
| after prolonged stimulation. 1t is a
fair inference that similar change re-
suits from prolonged mental effort or
| excessive emotion in Here then.
is the material or physical side of what
we sometimes call nervous exhaus-
| ton"
More important, though perhaps less
| novel, are the changes in mental vigor,
| keenness of perception, and even In
what might be considered moral quail
ties, which are detected after a certain
amount of brain work. Elaborate tests
with school children reveal a distinct
! falling off in the ability to receive and
retain impressions, to distinguish be-
tween diagrams almost alike but not al
! together SO, to notice trif1ing differences
in color, and so on. With little folk, as
well as big ones, irritability of temper,
lack of self-control and various form of
viciousness often follow, in addition to
| these other results; both, at first, be-
ing only temporary manifestations, but
| likely to lead to chronic stupidity and
ugliness. OF course, there are great
natural differences between people and
their powers of endurance: but, allowing
| for this, the same general effects are
produced by overtaxing ones nervous
energy.
| Professor Shea points out some of the
! agencies in the home and school which
promote brain fatigue, intellectual slug
gishness and emotional estrangement.
Lack of nutrition is one of these. The
cerebral cells, in order to remain in a
| healthy and normal state. must absorb
| from the blood a certain amount of nu-
triment daily. But they require par
! ticuIar kind of material-not that
which is most favorable to the produc-
| tion of bone, or of fat, but albumen,
also known as protein. One-quarter Of
| the white matter of the BRAIN and one
| half of the gray matter consists of this
| substance OF the various foods most
] commonly eaten in this country, beef is
| especially rich in it. Not less than 29.1
per cent. of a beefsteak is protein; salt
Goldfish contains 21.6 per cent, beans
222, chicken 1913, rolled oats and fresh
| fish each 16, graham flour IA, wheat
| flour y, most pies and puddings about
6 or {, and vegetables (on an average)
not over ~.
| In several cases which have been
noted an analysis of child's blood has
shown a deficiency of nerve-building
elements. A change of diet has been
prescribed. and has been followed by
marked Improvement in mental activity,
keenness and endurance, as we'll as by
amiability. Stunted intellects and lack
of self-control may thus be traced, in
instances, to lack of proper food
| Intense excitement of any kind also
taxes the nervous energy. Teasing or
anything which provokes antagonism is
exhausting, and should be scrupulously
avoided in dealing with delicate chill
| dren. Overstimulation to effort in study,
speaking pieces or other activities that
demand either thought or feeling, are
objected to by Professor Shea, who says,
| il closing:
| ''Precocity is usually succeeded by me-
| diocrity, If by nothing worse. 1t is sig
nffcant that those races that are most
precocious are ultimately the least in
| telllgent and progressive. more nearly
resembling the lower orders of animal
| life, where the young possess at birth
nearly all the powers they ever attain,
and so are not educable to any great
| degree. 1t is to be feared that over
stimulation in numerous ways of chill
| dren in American homes and schools
| leads to early cessation of, and hence
to an ultimately inferior, physical and
mental development"