Validity of Ergo graph as Measurer of Work Capacity 41 



This strikes us as a very significant and important point. At 

 the end of the first curve the reagent has reached a point of com- 

 plete exhaustion for voluntary effort. In one minute he makes 

 a certain amount of recovery. He works again to the point of 

 exhaustion and makes a certain recovery which is less than in 

 the first pause. Practice renders the first pause increasingly 

 more valuable and at the same time enhances the value of the 

 second to even a greater extent. The emphasis is to be laid upon 

 this : Exhaustion does not always mean the same thing. It 

 may be understood why recovery from exhaustion should grow 

 with practice, but it is not quite so clear why recovery from the 

 second exhaustion should grow through practice .more rapidly 

 than from the first. Let one suggestion suffice : The amount of 

 work done in writing the first curve is greater than in writing 

 the second. The rate of recovery may depend upon the amount 

 of work done just previous to the recuperation period. The 

 paralysis resulting from the first work is due mostly, let us sug- 

 gest, to the presence of accumulated waste products in the ner- 

 vous centers. A certain proportion will be removed in the fol- 

 lowing pause. During the writing of the second curve, which 

 requires less time, the accumulation of waste will be less. Since 

 the paralysis is now due to the exhausted condition of the cells 

 as well as the presence of waste products, the recovery from the 

 removal of toxic waste will be more complete or go on more 

 rapidly, and thus create a more favorable disposition for work. 

 The favorable disposition is further enhanced by the motory 

 excitement which follows the effort in writing the first curve, 

 and it may be increased during the writing of the second. The 

 more rapid recuperation during the second pause may be attrib- 

 uted to the higher degree of motory excitement at that time. 

 The exception to the constantly increasing value of the pause is 

 to be found in the third period for B.'s right hand. In the third 

 period the right hand of B. was rendered practically useless by 

 the fact of the broken mask which has been spoken of before. 

 The work was suspended because it proved too painful to be 

 continued. The condition so far as its effects upon the reagent 

 were concerned was like a return to a condition before which any 



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