124 L. B. NICE 



Stewart ('98) gave two grey rats 20 per cent alcohol to drink. 

 The activity of the alcoholic rats, as measured by revolving cages, 

 surpassed that of the controls. Thirty per cent alcohol decreased 

 the activity of white rats. 



In investigations on men Lombard ('92), Frey ('96), Kraepelin 

 ('99), Rossi ('94) and Schumburg ('99) showed that small doses of 

 alcohol increased the amount of work done with the ergograph. 

 Schnyder ('03) observed that alcohol when taken in a fasting 

 condition, increased the amount of work done with the ergograph 

 but when taken after or during a meal decreased it. With Hell- 

 sten ('04) 80 grams of absolute alcohol diminished the amount of 

 work he could perform. These doses were so large, however, that 

 they produced disturbances of digestion. Aschaffenburg ('96) 

 found that wine decreased the efficiency of typesetters. Rivers 

 ('08) considers that the increase of work noted by the above inves- 

 tigators under the influence of alcohol was due to faulty methods. 

 The interest of taking the alcohol stimulated the subjects to 

 extra exertions. His own experiments were carried on with con- 

 trol mixtures so the subjects did not know when they were taking 

 alcohol. He states that ''small doses, varying from 5 to 20 cc. 

 of absolute alcohol have no effect on the amount or nature of the 

 work performed with the ergograph, either immediately or within 

 several hours of their administration." 



Nicotine 



So far as I can find, no experiments have been made on testing 

 the effects of nicotine on muscular activity. Tobacco was found 

 by Lombard ('92), Harley ('94), Fere ('04) and Rivers ('08) to 

 decrease the amount of muscular work as recorded by the ergo- 

 graph, although the pleasurable sensations connected with smok- 

 ing would be expected to stimulate the subject and thus increase 

 the amount of work done. 



The fact that tobacco is forbidden to athletes when in training 

 for tests that require great muscular strength shows that it is 

 generally considered to have a depressing effect on muscular 

 activity. 



