THE QUESTION OP FATIGUE FROM THE ECONOMIC STANDPOINT. 285 



mediate stages between external economic causes and external economic 

 effects. Viewing the subject, then, objectively and externally, work 

 and rest may be regarded as two forces affecting the organism oppo- 

 sitely, and alternately producing by excess of one or other fatigue and 

 recovery. If work or lack of rest should so far gain a permanent 

 supremacy as to preclude all chance of recovery, then we may speak 

 of chronic or accumulated fatigue, but in general we shall regard simple 

 ' fatigue ' as the result of the work that preceded it and dating since the 

 last rest, daily, weekly, or yearly. 



It is this ' duration of work ' previous to any point of time that 

 will in our conclusion be the main factor correlated to the degree of 

 fatigue at that given time. 



As a preliminary to that, however, we must observe that there are 

 many other factors influencing the degree to which fatigue may occur in 

 any particular case. A strong individual on easy work and in pleasant 

 surroundings may after five hours' work be much less fatigued than is a 

 weakling after three hours on hard work and in noxious surroundings. 



From the economic standpoint and with the definition of fatigue 

 we have adopted, however, these other factors will appear rather as 

 ' predisposing conditions ' enabling excess of work or lack of rest to 

 take effect to different degrees than as ' active ' determining causes. 

 Attempts to enumerate all the conditions that are thus likely to influence 

 fatigue have been made by Max Weber, Emil Roth, and other psysio- 

 logists, and below we have classified their combined inventories, though 

 it is only the particular influences that seemed both determinant and 

 determinable that have been separately studied in Section V (B). 



1. The Nature of the WorTc. 



See Section I. a. 



2. The Surroundings or Environment of the Worlc. 



(a) Conditions of Factory Hygiene. See Section I.B. 



Temperature 1 Ventilation. 



Humidity J 



Light (Suitability and Cheerfulness). 



Eoom. 



Noise (Amount and Regularity). 



Smell. 



(b) Factory Organisation. 



A. The ' Incentive' to Speed or Quality. 



1. Type of Payment: 



By a Profit (a ' Surplus '). 



By a Fixed Wage : Rate or Boiiua. 



Time Basis. 



Piece Basis. 



2. Honour, Sporting Instincts, &c. 



3. Interest in the Work itself. 



