50 David H. Dolley, 



the nucleus). The final state of depression can be easily and perhaps 

 more clearly expressed by the qualifying adjectives "complete" or 

 "absolute" (fatigue of depression). These terms still harmonize with 

 Verworn's contrast between excitation and depression. Nor do the 

 terms fail in the case of a stimulus belonging to the intermediate 

 group of initial excitation and final depression, such as the anesthetics 

 and certain narcotics. To the extent to which they produce exci- 

 tation, they cause fatigue of excitation, for in the strict sense fatigue 

 begins with work as well as progressing pari passu with it. 



The Relatively Greater Importance of the Effect of Excitation 

 as Compared with that of Depression. 



Any argument on this point would indeed seem needless were it 

 not that the importance of waste product fatigue has been unduly 

 emphasized. Or, as it may be that the discrimination is more appa- 

 rent than real, at least there has been the emphasis of one-sided 

 investigation and discussion. Outside of the workers in the one 

 field, there is evident a noticeable hesitation in accepting the con- 

 clusions of those who would leave the inherent function of the nerve 

 cell out of account in the genesis of fatigue, a natural hesitation, as 

 this view falls so woefully short in breadth of adequate explanation. 

 What it actually amounts to in blunt terms is the conception of 

 the nerve cell as the butt of function rather than the worker of 

 function. Thus Adami (1910), after giving due space to these views, 

 questions: "Can we accept unreservedly Joteyko's observations that 

 stimuli may pass through a nerve cell without leading to its ex- 

 haustion, to indicate that there is no such thing as nervous fatigue?" 

 „Personal experience tells us that the mental activities are capable 



of being over-worked; even in the domain of pure reason the 



philosopher is apt to exhaust himself; there must be exhaustion 



of the cell and nuclear matter, which, beyond a certain point, makes 

 itself felt." 



As a cell, the nerve cell has a fixed work of elaboration and 

 storing of energy on the anabolic, to use Adami's term, the bioplastic 

 side, and of transformation and conduction of this stored energy on 



