BRAIN EFFICIENCY 



219 



SKILL AND ENDURANCE IMPAIRED 



BY DRINK 



Tests in Target-Shooting in Swedish Army 



I. SKILLED TESTS 



Thirty shots fired in quick succession 



Non-Drinking Days: Average 24 hits oat 

 of80 Bhots 



Drinking Days: Average 8 bits onl of 



:5n Shots 



■ 



Alcohol taken equal to amount in P.j to 2 

 pints of 5 per cent beer, •_'(» to 80 minutes 

 before shooting, and an equal amount the 

 night before 



II. ENDURANCE TESTS 

 Non-Drinking Days: 860 Bhots fired be- 

 fore exhaustion 



Drinking Days: 2TS shot- fired before i I 

 haustion 



Alcohol taken 3o minutes before tesl vras 

 amount contained in about l l / 4 pints of 

 4 per cent beer 



are necessary: good food, sufficient sleep, and abstinence 

 from alcohol and tobacco. We have already discussed the 



question of food (page 169). 



The amount of sleep which grown people need depends 

 in part upon the kind and amount of work they do. But 

 all young people require a large amount of sleep. Chil- 

 dren from seven to ten years of age need at least twelve 

 hours of sleep every night, 

 while youths of high school 

 age need at least nine hours, 

 and ten would be better. 



At a baseball game, you 

 have noticed a boy catch a 

 " fly " when it looked like a 

 " home run," or how enthu- 

 siastic the crowd became 

 when the pitcher struck out 

 the last man with the bases 

 full. The nervous system 

 of both players was efficient 

 in a critical test. 



We all ride on the street 

 cars or railroads, but do you 

 know that most of the men 

 who run the street cars and 

 trains have to pass an ex- 

 amination to determine whether they can be trusted to do 

 their work properly and well ; i.e., whether their nervous 

 systems will stand the test? Among the questions which 

 their prospective employers are sure to ask is. M Do you 

 use alcoholic drinks ? " 



In order to judge the success of a piece of work we must 

 consider the quality and speed with which it is done. 

 Kraepelin made the following experiment, the results of 



Figure 230. 



