152 THE CONTROL OF LIFE 



Henry Bentinck, Industrial Fatigue. King, 1918, Qd.) 

 The biological importance of change is recognised 

 in ' week-ends ' and holidays, and in many other fa- 

 miliar ways. We need to recognise it more, for it 

 staves off ageing. Railways and other means of rapid 

 locomotion have made it possible for many humble 

 people to live at a considerable distance from their 

 work, and have in the opportmiities of change that 

 they multiplied atoned for occasional disfigurements. 

 That the opportunities are often abused may be said 

 of every new door that is opened. 



(2) It seems well established that worry and anxiety 

 and fear contribute greatly to break-down. This 

 operates in several ways, partly through over-fatiguing 

 some particular area of the brain where is situated 

 that particular eddy which is the centre of our 

 brooding. But in another way. The worry and 

 fear have fatigue effects in various parts of the body 

 which influence the blood (increasing its hydrogen- 

 ion-concentration), increasing its acidity. If this goes 

 on increasing beyond the neutralising power of ad- 

 renals and liver, then there is a break-down. The 

 moral is, " Be aisy, and if you can't be aisy, be as 

 aisy as you can." Continuity is bad for us. Changes 

 are lightsome. There is a great deal to be said for 

 keeping the Sabbath. 



(3) One of the commonest things to happen is poison- 

 ing, which throws part of the system out of gear. 

 The poisoning may be due to intruding microbes ; to 

 bad food ; to stimulants and narcotics ; and very 



