Validity of Ergograph as Measurer of Work Capacity 33 



The right hand was superior to the left in the coordination of 

 the movement, but it lacked in endurance. It approached the 

 exhaustion point closely before any manifest feeling of discom- 

 fort arose, when its power waned rapidly. The left hand lost 

 gradually and more or less uniformly from the beginning to the 

 point of exhaustion, and its movements were always accompanied 

 by more or less uncomfortable sensations. Voluntary effort per- 

 sistently applied seemed to enable it to keep up the contraction. 

 The reverse was true in even a more striking manner for the left 

 hand of reagent M. It made a few long contractions of almost 

 uniform height and reached the exhaustion point without warn- 

 ing. Demonstrations of effort seemed inhibitory rather than 

 beneficial. The right hand showed about the same general char- 

 acter of record as the right hand of B. 



Statements with regard to the relative capacity of the two 

 hands would be difficult. Had the experiments closed at any 

 one of several different times, we might have been able to state 

 that the left showed' greater capacity for practice than the right, 

 or by stopping at different times, that the capacity for practice 

 of the two was relatively the same. Different muscles in the 

 same person seem to show idiosyncracies in the way they work. 

 What one accomplishes in the way of skill another makes up 

 through endurance. 



The Validity of Ergograph Records. — In view of the results 

 set forth above the question arises whether the ergograph can 

 really be used as a test of the work capacity or fatigue condition 

 of an individual. The most pertinent fact to be observed in the 

 results is that they show with some fluctuations a steady and 

 enormous increase as a result of practice, and that so far as this 

 experiment goes, and this is the conclusion of other experimenters, 

 practice gain is practically unlimited. There is, however, a limit 

 to practice gain. Practically it has been reached in the training 

 of trotting horses and of professional sprinters and oarsmen, but 

 the conditions in all such events can not be controlled. Wind, 

 weather, track, and water are important factors that can not be 

 kept uniform. While fluctuations in the records are most mani- 

 fest, in the long run they are far outweighed by the increase 

 which results from practice. 



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