Popular Science Monthly 



901 



At lelt : " Shine " 

 hands. At right : ' 

 plate. The least 

 shiny patch, has 



most cases, the thumb, is touched or 

 held on a spot that is covered with 

 moisture or has been made smooth and 

 shiny with some substance. It stands 

 to reason that the ball will slide away 

 here with less friction 

 than where it is held 

 with a natural flesh- 

 grip. It follows there- 

 fore that this artifi- 

 cial release must have 

 considerable influence 

 in determining the 

 amount of spin im- 

 parted to the ball, and 

 it would seem a rea- 

 sonable deduction 

 that the amount of 

 spin and consequently 

 of curve must vary 

 considerably to cor- 

 respond with the de- 

 gree of slipperiness of 

 the patch on the ball 

 and whether it was on 

 top of the ball or on 

 the bottom. 



If anyone thinks 

 that the curve or swerve in these 

 balls is obtained from the effect of 

 the shine or the spit, apart from the 

 action of the spin, he may 

 speedily disabuse his 

 mind of the idea by put- 

 ting a number of 

 '^ " shine " or spitballs 



in a driving ma- 

 chine, such as 

 those used by 

 golf-ball makers, 

 and propelling 

 them violently. 



If, as is quite 



conceivable, the 



patches had any 



effect, it would 



not be consistent 



and persistent, 



for, if the wet 



retarded one side 



of the ball enough 



to be appreciable, 



the wet patch 



would speedily go 



Russell, of the behind the ball 



White Sox, just , , 



after delivering a ^^^ ^^^y ^nere, or 



powerful "spitter" swmg across and 



The " shine " ball and the spitball 



Shine ^^ ^ 5Kir\e 



ball leaving pitclier 



Shine " ball going over 



resistant portion, the 



gone to the front 



Moisture Mcisivjre 



At left : Spitball leaving pitchers hands. 

 At right : Spitball going over plate. Moist- 

 ure having gripped the atmosphere, that 

 portion goes behind the ball during its flight, 

 which it does not do in practical baseball 



show on the other side, when it would 

 produce a return swerve! 



Then baseballers would in that case 

 have a new ball, the zig-zag! 



The effect, if any, on a similarly-pro- 

 pelled " shine" ball 

 would probably be 

 opposed to that of the 

 spitball. 



The erratic flight 

 of these balls, and, 

 comparatively speak- 

 ing, the lack of con- 

 trol over them that 

 the pitcher has, lend 

 color to the idea that 

 their production is, as 

 I have indicated, 

 largely adventitious. 



Many prominent 

 players think that any 

 attempt artificially to 

 alter the natural flesh- 

 grip should be stopped 

 by law. This must al- 

 ways be diflficult ; but 

 if pitchers would only 

 understand that, to a 

 very great extent, the spitball and the 

 "shine" ball are myths, they would do much 

 better with a natural delivery, backed by 

 a little more practical knowledge as to 

 what it really is that they are trying to 

 do; and batters would lose a bogey. 



Nerve Shock Due to Detonations Less 

 Wearing Than War Strain 



THE term shell shock has misled many 

 persons to believe that it is due to 

 the profound impression or shock pro- 

 duced on the nervous system by the 

 detonations of high explosives. No doubt, 

 there are cases of actual brain or nerve 

 injury due to concussion of the air ac- 

 companying shell explosions, but these 

 mechanical causes are a great deal less 

 frequently responsible for war neuroses 

 than the mental effects of general war 

 strain. It is remarkable that these war 

 neuroses, common" as they are among 

 privates and officers alike, are seldom 

 found in men who have been' actually 

 wounded. Perhaps this seeming anomaly 

 is due to the actual wound shock offset- 

 ting the mental impression affecting 

 the controlling nerve-center in such cases. 



