214 



ELEMENTARY BIOLOGY 



This official demand for shorter hours rests chiefly on two 

 considerations : 



. i . The human stock must be preserved from the evil effects 

 of overwork, and the ordinary methods of bargaining about 

 hours and wages cannot be relied upon to secure what is 



fair for the workers. 



2. In certain occu- 

 pations the fatigue of 

 the worker is a direct 

 menace to the public. 

 This is especially 

 true in such occupa- 

 tions as railroading of 

 all kinds, elevator- 

 operating, work on 

 boats and ferries, and 

 the work of drivers 

 and chauffeurs, tele- 

 graph and telephone 

 operators, etc. 



Four-Room 

 Homes 



Three- Roor 

 Homes 



"wo-Rooir 

 Homes 



One- Room 

 Homes 



FIG. 81. Environment and physique 



Dr. Leslie Mackenzie had the weights and heights 

 taken of all the school children (73,848) of Glasgow. 

 The diagram shows the average weights of boys 

 (solid lines) and of girls (broken lines), divided 

 according to the kinds of homes the children lived 

 in. All the studies made show that poor food, disease, 

 overwork, poor housing, and other conditions in the 

 environment produce measurable deteriorations in 

 the physique of growing children 



In planning our own 

 programs we should 

 keep in mind the rela- 

 tive amount of effort 

 and the relative amount 

 of fatigue connected with 



each kind of occupation. 



We cannot get the best results from our work if we have fatigued 

 ourselves with play in the morning; nor can we enjoy our play if 

 we have worked too hard during the day. 



247. Work and rest. It is important to find out what kinds 

 of work are most fatiguing, and what arrangements of work 

 and rest, or what alternations of work, will make possible the 

 greatest amount of effective activity, with the least strain on the 

 human body. Short rest periods during the day, the alternation 



