The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-03-04
p To THF CNCII "a FI0UR FMRARG AJAR IS G00D1FOR YOU


New York Sun Special Service. FL
Chicago, March 4.--Motormen, conduct
ors Of street railways, railroad men, mill
hands, and men in any walk OF life in
Whlch there is more or less shaking are
longer lived than the office clerk or any
one engaged in a sedentary pursuit and
mechanical shaking may be the reason for
It. This is the conclusion toward which
recent remarkable experiments have been
and are being conducted by A. p. Mat
thews of the University Of Chicago and
other workers in experimental physiology.
Mechanical Shocks" he says in ! his
article caused by the beating heart, mus
cular' movements, the Jar Of walking, and
the vibrations Of. the. floors Of buildings
and vehicles of transportation are among
the most important stimula of body cells,
ana It is an interesting question to what
extent they influence cell life''3
Two years ago Professor Jacques Loeb,
at that time head of the department of
physiology at the University Of Chicago,
startled the world by his discovery that
the eggs Of the sea tsurchin could be
matched without fertilization, by means Of
Keeping them in a proper solution Of salt
and water at a given. Temperature This
was called parthenogenesis.
NOW Professor Matthews, who is a pu-
p1l. of the great Loeb, has been able tc
match the unfertilized egg by a simple
mechanical motion, without using salt
water. It was in the process of these
experiments that DR.. Matthews was struck
with the idea of what effect shocks anC
shakings might have on the living tissue
OF man.. On this point Professor Mat.
theWs says: - = ~
THE question thus raised is of con.
siderable Importance. For example, @wha
effect has the constant vibrations of the
floors OF mills on the length of life, the
vital resistance and physiological func
tons of mill operatives ?'f ? H.: ~
How far will mechanical EARRING ac
count for the digestive and yasamotor dis
| turbances many suffer in every travel
| Are the motor men and conductors O.
street railways influenced by the repeated
and violent shocks to which they are con
stantly subjected?''
It will be seen that the professor be
!ieves that the good effects of mechanical
Jars and shakings may. be overdone.
they are too violent as is often the cas-,
In railway cars, and in other places thost
connected with this branch of activity ar,
likely to suffer injury and their lives ma.
even be shortened thereby. Up to: tn,
present time the professor and his asso
ciates have made no experiments upol
living man so that the results of their in
Vestigations up to date are suggestive S,
far as man: is concerned rather thai
actual.
| A further startling query raised by tn
| p1oAeSSOI Ill Tue course OF MS experiment
| has to do with the Fertilization of the eg,
of the sea urchin. He now points out tina
the mechanical agitation produced by tn
sperm upon entering the egg is probabl,
of far greater + importance than ha
hitherto been supposed.
| In regard to this Interesting subject O
inquiry Professor Matthews says: 49,.
4 The results obtained together wit
those on Parthenogenesis by smechanca
agitation, suggest that the mechanical
agitation produced by the sperm, as, i
enters the egg, may be of. far create
Importance than hitherto considered.
The point of the sperm enters the eg
and is then moved violently. from sid
to side by the lashingtail. The change
in the egg protoplasm which arise at thi
point may be the result of this motion an
not Of q chemical stimulation by tn
sperm head as has been supposed to b
the: case. Perhaps the failure to extrac
a fertiliziI1g substance from the sper1
may be thus expla iMed.'' ..,.-.'
r Professor Matthews conducted his eS
! periments mainly at woodstock Mass
where pr. Loeb. made mad many Of his. dis
cOVeTieS. % Sf. ,&%,