TRAINING AND ORGANIZATION 251 



they will follow if they have been properly trained and 

 are in good condition. I may suggest to you here that 

 the phrase " shaken troops " means, in very many cases, 

 that the nervous system of that particular portion of 

 the organism has itself been shaken and broken up. So 

 long as the nervous system of the body keeps its power 

 of reaction to a stimulus, so long will the muscles move. 

 If the nerve fibre which moves a muscle is disintegrated 

 or gets paralysed the muscle will not stir. If a nerve 

 end is wholly tired out the impulse is not carried over 

 until it is repaired by rest. We know, however, by physical 

 experiments that, after a muscle thus ceases to contract, 

 it will work again if stimulated directly by an electric 

 battery. From this we see that it was the end of a nerve 

 which temporarily broke down, and that the muscle cells 

 still keep their contractility. You may therefore learn 

 from this the high responsibility that rests on you to keep 

 absolutely fit in mind and body, for the fitter you are 

 the longer you will be able to transmit energy and carry 

 out the orders you receive. In most cases you need not 

 doubt that if you have men who will not move when you 

 order them, the fault lies either with you as a leader or 

 with the training of the men before or since you took 

 them over. But be readier to blame yourselves than 

 others. Of course you will see, on the theories I have 

 just suggested to you (and remember I have no time to 

 do more than make suggestions), that much depends on 

 the quality of the nerves and the quality of the reacting 

 muscles, on the quality of the officers and the quality of 

 the troops. It sometimes happens in war, as you must 

 know, that the men who will not move for one officer will 

 for another, and that on desperate occasions the Com- 

 manding Officer himself may have to come into the firing 



