The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-07-13
LEAVES ITS TRADEMARK.
Every Employment Has Peculiar
Mark Which 1t Stamps on Men.
Chicago Tribune.


leaves its trademark on the body. The
wise men in question are Gabriel Pre-
vost the French Psychologist and Mr..
Arbuthnot and DR.. Arfidge two English
physicians who have made exhaustive in
veSt1gations of the variations of the hu-
man frame as affected by its daily ac-
INVITES as to bony structure, muscular
system, senses, skin and organs within.
Each or these bodily elements proves to
be as susceptible to the imprints of eXer-
ton as is a blank sheet of paper to the,
marks OF the pen. Nothing done or moth
ing LETT undone fails to stamp its in
sigma upon them. subty and forcefully
lmpelling them to assume contours of
grace beauty, power, or their opposites.
In the old fairy tales, it is said the elves
could be traced on their busy errands
among men by the dainty impress they
left upon the grasses of wood and meadow.
Precisely SO the infinitely countless moves
ments which have to do the work of
the world may be traced on the marks
they leave on human bodies.
The principle at bottom lies in the
truth that most employments serve to
accentuate the development of certain
portions of the body at the expense of
others. This creates abnormalities,
whether they be the dreamy absent
minded gaze of the poet the bent back
the day laborer, or numberlcss other phys
tcal eecentricitiess which sometimes re-
quire Sherlock dimes to assoclate1yith
certain varieties of occupation. 1t is evil
dent that the body is not developed with
symmetry when 1t is always standing al
ways sitting down, always bending. or al
ways kneeling. 1t thrives best when 1t is
permitted to obey the laws of variety in
movement as well as in nourishment.
Hygiene and esthetics alike enjoin man
KIND to remember to maintain equilibrium
of forces. OF this most convincing proof,
said Mr.. Provost lies in the fact that,
apart from accidents. longevity attaches
to those professions which give most va
ried play to the entire organism, the
0rti lot and a-
said that police magistrates who have
practiced eyes rarely are deceived about
the profession of or work of a man While
there are many employments whose i'm
prints are less obvious TO the eye of the
observer, others are most patent. Looked
at closely even the state of being with
out employment, If such a thing as com
plcte leisure exists. cause its own de-
formity. 1t comes in the form of fatty
degeneration, anemia, and arrest of
growth throughout the system.
Any form of exertion tells Immediately |
upon the conformation of the skeleton.
Not only does the shape of the bones
of the human adult vary with such move
ments as are performed habitually or
with such routine attitudes as are as
sumed by the vigorous individual" says |
Arbuthnot, but also to the details OF |
the structure and functions of the sew
eral joints. If a person is habitually en- |
gagged in performing certain movements, |
the formation of the skeleton varies from |
the normal in a degree proportional to the |
length of period during which the move /
mentS are performed and to the amount
of energy expended" During a single
performance of an act there are present
numerous tendencies for the bones and
joints to undergo changes in form. Con- /
slant repetition enables these tendencies /
to become actualitleS. The earliest va
Ration from the normal is a tiXaton of ,
the physiological attitude which is norm |
ally pursued during its performance. Later |
changes are an exaggeration of the same |
attitudes. This is due to the changes in |
the bones and the intervening soft struc-
lures.
The peculiar character of the anatomy |
of the laborer Is first the fiXation of exag- |
gerated normal physiological attitudes Of |
activity, and second the eXaggera ton of |
the normal attitude of activity He does
not get the variation between rest and |
activity which is necessa~- to normal de-
velopment. During the period of a single |
rest attitude there are tendencies present |
to change the form of both the bone and |
the joints.
Compositors are always standing up and
are hence subject to palsy, varicose veins
and ulcers. The same is true of women
employed in shops who stand twelve and
thirteen hours consecutively. The bend
ing position is exaggerated in the occupa-
tons of the clerk tailor. shoemaker, gar
dener, engraver. woOdsawyer, laundress,
and the like. The vertebral column tends
to become deformed. as is apparent in
elderly gardeners and students Internal
calamities befal the abdominal -Viscera,
uons of digestive apparatus. headache and |
other disorders. Nurse girls. who con-
stantly carry little children, not always
little enough for their own good get lat
eral curvature of the spine and appear
one-sided; work people who stand a long
time lose the arch of the feet and get |
peculiar ankles. Nail-makers and lock-
makers are One-sded. The shoe-makers |
last presses against his chest and leaves |
its trademark in the form of a spoon like |
cavity of the breastbone. The hand un-
dergoes many changes, according to the |
person to whom it belongs. Great plan
lists who fascinate thrOngs of music low
ers with their melodies, produce the en-
chantment at the expense of exaggerated |
finger and hand conformation. which the |
esthete must view as defOrmities We
her could stretch nearly two Octaves.
Carpenters and miners in their less ar
tistic operations, change the shape Of
their hands by the way they handle theft
tools Artists have permanent mark
in the palette hole on the left thumb.
The leg has ITS own woes, to which
it falls heir from the legacies of exercise. /
GroOms and cavalry officers are inclined |
to have bow legs and to toe in parrot
fashion, as is admired in Japan and in
Indianland. Priests magistrates and all
who wear skirts drag their legs in walk
ing instead of raising them. as do sol
diers and correct pedestrians. Dancers Of
ballet who have worked hard at pointing
have an internal deviation of their bones
from a rectltude known as "onion."
Scrub women who pass much of their
lives on their knees have a swelling Of
the knee joints. Dentists leg is a re
suit of overstrain fatigue. and prolonged
muscular contraction. Another instance
of muscular trademarks is found among
fle-cutters They overexert the right
hand in their work with the hammer.
The hand and wrist finally weaken and
shrivel. The pressure of the phsel aga'rs
their thumb stunts the growth OF that
memhcr and bends 1t backward
In certain musicians one observes facial
trademarks. Flutlsts and clarlnetists may
he recognized ny the position of their
lips and their puffed cheeks Violinist4
who hold their Instruments in place with
their chin hang their heads and incline
them to one side As to special senses AMI
occupation they are improved bS use. One
argument for child labor in the old DAYS
dwet upon the fact that in certain forms
of work unless the laborers were trained
at an early age the necessary skill would
never be attained. Tactic precision,