INDUSTRIAL LABOUR 439 



Fencing calls for rapid displacements of the body and is fatiguing. 

 Under normal conditions gymnastic exercises, without apparatus 

 are satisfactory and hygienic. They strengthen the muscles and 

 predispose the subject to better work. 



Rowing can cause excessive fatigue. Some dynamo-metric 

 measurements were taken with a boat manned by five rowers. 

 It was found that at a speed of 5 metres per second the work done 

 by each rower amounted to 22 kilogrammetresX 1 ) i.e., 237,600 

 kgm. for an effective duration of rowing of 3 hours. 



Boxing is a sport which makes severe demands on both strength 

 and speed. The blow of the fist is delivered at a very rapid rate 

 6 to 8 metres per second ; but its total duration is of the same 

 order as that of a sword thrust. ( 2 ) 



As a rule, the conditions requisite for best results have been 

 studied with some care in sports and warlike exercises, with the 

 result that substantial progress has been made therein. Far less 

 attention has, up to now, been accorded to similar studies on the 

 arts of peace which are the source of human well-being. The 

 failure adequately to investigate the conditions conducing to 

 economy in human industrial labour is a sign of bad industrial 

 organisation. 



335. Nervous Activity. The effective energy of man is not 

 exclusively muscular. Many occupations call for intellectual 

 activity and cause important " nervous expenditure/' Skill is 

 compounded of attention and intelligence. By long practice 

 motions tend to become automatic. But such acquired qualities 

 still demand for their rapid manifestation a certain expenditure 

 of nervous energy. 



The careful selection of persons whose quaHties fit them for 

 the work which they have to perform results in increasing output 

 in factory and workshop. Taylor gives a simple example of this. 

 Certain girls were employed in the examination of the steel balls 

 for cycle bearings. The operation was as follows : The balls 

 to be examined were placed on the back of the left hand and rolled 

 along between the closed fingers under a very bright light to de- 

 tect scratches,, dents or similar defects. The rejected balls were 

 removed by means of a small magnet held in the right hand. 

 The work needed the closest attention, the nervous fatigue of the 

 girls was often considerable, although they were comfortably 

 seated. 



By careful selection of the workwomen, and by the control and 

 direction of their movements, Taylor was able to reduce the 

 working day to 8J hours and at the same time increase the daily 



(!) Bull. Soc. Ing. Civ., Dec., 1888. 



( a ) Demeny (La Nature, Oct. llth, 1890). 



