The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-06-18
CAMP DISCUSSES
 EFFECT OF SPORT ON HUMAN HEART
Yale and Harvard Crews Pre- pairing for Their Annual
 Contest
By WALTER CAMP
Special Corr espOndent of The AEe-HeraId Copyright. 1S22, by The AEe-Herald)

Special Corr espondent of The AEe-Herald
 Copyright 1Sa3. by The AEe-Herald)
 New York, June 17.-Word from the Yale and the Harvard training camps at New London today brings advices that the rival eights have at tained form that will enable them to make far better showing over the four-mile route than in the shorter regattas of the preliminary season. Whether this Is true or not 1t is cer- tain that the two frequently defeated crews will fight out their own indi- vidual rivalry, which means more to them than all the other races on the calendar, to the last ounce of their strength before acknowledging defeat. The same will be true at Poughkeepsie week from Monday; only here and there Is an added in- centiye, particularly between the Navy and Cornell
 What will be the effect upon the 64 men engaged in these varsity contests. and will there be any data later furnished to the public7 The public is growing increasingly inter ested in that remarkable organ in the human anatomy, the heart, and it's action. Apropos of all the cables th0N AAS CCAtAHB NAAtVs A<NAS lens heart. and whether or not she will follow the adyices of her par ents and not enter the Wimbledon tennis championship. there Is a great deal of misunderstanding about the work of that remarkable organ and what 1t does in response to strain In athletics.
 Affect of Athletics
 For years there have been periodi- .uI .1rw- ,R1 letics upon the heart. It had been said, and probably truly. that an or dinary practitioner in the medical field who was in the habit of exam ming only people who never engaged in any violent athletics would be much alarmed if he heard heart such as a physical instructor listens to after boat race or after a run. physician who Is engaged in the work of examining and handling ath- letes. has long ago become aware of the existence of quality called "ac- commodation" and he also knows that whatever the temporary condl- tion is, the majority of men do come through and thrive under it.
 The heart is a muscle, like other muscles. and grows larger and stron- ger under exercise. There is a nor nal enlargement of the heart which corresponds to the gradually inereas- ing efforts. Probably athletes who have been performing strenuous work for some years and then sud denly cease all these athletic activ- ties and plunge into a sedentary life, are the ones most likely to suffer.
 Mile. Benglen's Heart
 No one, of course. but her own phy- sicians knows the condition of Mile. Lenglens heart and hundreds of middle-aged lawn tennis players in this country sometimes wonder whether by following their favorite sport they are injuring themselves The heart Is not nearly as delicate an organ as many think and the work it does and continues to do un- der varying conditions is nothing short of marvellous. A man in train ing for athletic event, who is prop erly handled. increases his work gradually and his muscles. including the heart. respond to the demands and do it with safety. The wonder full part of 1t is that with some of the carelessness displayed there are not more injuries
 There is one phase of the matter that perhaps has not received suffi- cient attention, and that is the cus- tom that has grown up in all our athletics of the greatest administra- ton for the man who will not quit" One of the accusations against Mile. Lenglen is her abandonment of the match at Forest Hills against Mrs. Mallory was that she quit" It is undoubtedly true that in the case of boys, undeveloped and not properly trained. the will to do is so strong that the boy continues on after ex- hausted nature Is calling out for him to stop. It Is a fine spirit and has done much for all our boys from the standpoint of persistency. But the risk is there. nevertheless.