THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MUSCULAR WORK 



By M. S. PEMBREY 



CHAPTER I 

 INTRODUCTION 



ALTHOUGH muscular work hts always been one of the most im- 

 portant factors in every-day life, it has not received sufficient 

 attention from medical men. It has been the subject of much 

 writing, numerous casual observations, but few scientific investi- 

 gations. The practical importance of a knowledge of the influence 

 of muscular work was never greater than it is at the present time. 

 The migration from the land to the towns has deprived the youth 

 of this country of many of the opportunities for healthy muscular 

 exercise which their forefathers possessed. The increasing use 

 of machinery in all occupations has reduced the demand for 

 healthy muscular labour, and has thrown an extra strain upon the 

 nervous system of the working man. The much- vaunted advances 

 of medicine and surgery have prevented oftentimes the beneficent 

 action of the law of the survival of the fit, and a morbid sentimen- 

 tality under the guise of charity has pampered the degenerates of the 

 country. The bad must be taken with the good, but this necessity 

 does not make any thinking man satisfied with the conditions of 

 modern civilisation. Its defects are well recognised, and for this 

 reason the outlook is hopeful. The fear of a physical deterioration of 

 the race found expression recently in the appointment of a depart- 

 mental committee of inquiry, and serves at the present time as a 

 strong argument in the hands of the advocates of compulsory 

 military service. If degeneration is to be prevented, the public 

 must recognise more fully the vanity of luxury and the benefits 

 of healthy muscular exercise, whether it be as work or play, and 

 must insist that the population is not weakened by immoral efforts 

 to diminish the birth-rate and a healthy struggle for existence. 



Physiologists have often neglected the question of muscular 

 work or have devoted a vast amount of time and ingenuity to 



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