RATE OF OUTPUT 149 



(a) Activity. The outsider may gauge the activity of a factory 

 by studying its output, and so, much may be learned of a gland 

 by noting how much it secretes and when. Some glands secrete 

 continuously, others in spurts. With the former should be 

 placed the endocrine organs, with the latter the digestive glands. 

 Of course those which maintain a steady output may, under 

 stress, greatly accelerate their rate of secretion, and of the latter 

 class the salivary glands at least maintain normally a level of 

 secretion which under a suitable stimulus is enormously increased. 



There seems no doubt but that the industrial cell-group consists 

 of four different parts or activities. (I.) The factory itself 

 where the secretion is prepared. (II.) The store room where it is 

 packed and kept in bulk. (III.) The dispatch department where 

 it is first packed small and ready for delivery and then (IV.) is 

 sent out. Now when we speak of the activity of a gland we 

 refer exclusively to this last function, viz., active secretion. 

 What then regulates the rate of secretion ? Just those factors 

 come into play which operate in our industrial world. 



1. Stock on hand and rate of output from workshop. 



2. Efficiency of the dispatchers. 



3. Demand for goods. 



Normally, the store of goods on hand and the rate of manu- 

 facture do not materially influence the output. Of course, if the 

 operatives are poorly nourished or badly supplied with raw 

 material, then output will fall. Similarly, insufficiently fed or 

 overworked dispatchers will perform their duties half-heartedly 

 and output will be decreased, but as a rule this factor does not 

 come into play. 



The decisive element controlling rate of output is the demand for 

 goods. The store of goods is drawn upon and the factory speeds 

 up to replenish the store. If the stored material is sent out more 

 rapidly than it can be replaced, then overtime has to be worked 

 in the factory, and if persisted in, industrial fatigue is caused and 

 total cessation of work is the final result. 



These various conditions may be studied conveniently by 

 studying the intake of oxygen or output of CO 2 . In some instances 

 the intake of potential energy may be measured. From these 

 it is found, as in muscle, that a very small proportion of the 

 total O 2 intake goes to the dispatch department. That is, the 

 actual setting free of the secretion does not require much energy 

 (cf. muscle contraction). 



