WOMEN IN INDUSTRY 377 



addition to standing, clerks suffer from lack of space behind counters, 

 which increases the strain of lifting and puts a further burden upon 

 the pelvic organs. The secondary effects of long standing, among 

 which are broken arches in the feet and enlarged veins in the legs, is 

 to add to the nerve strain, and indirectly affects other functions. 



Sitting in one position has an action similar to long-continued 

 standing. Lack of exercise reduces the capacity of the lungs, and so 

 they do not eliminate certain poisons from the body. Because the lungs 

 fail to act the kidneys are forced to do extra work, adding to the con- 

 gestion of the abdominal organs. Sitting augments constipation, a 

 minor ailment in itself, but one which breeds more bodily ills than any 

 other single cause that might be mentioned. This condition is very 

 prevalent among working women because of their lack of careful per- 

 sonal attention. In mills and stores the toilets are often too few in 

 number, unsanitary in condition and inconveniently placed. In many 

 cases there is no separation for the sexes. In some stores and factories 

 no employee can leave her work for more than five minutes. When in 

 a many-storied building the toilets are not on the same floor with the 

 worker this rule amounts to a prohibition. In other places girls must 

 ask permission of men foremen or floor walkers to leave their work, a 

 thing which many hesitate to do. "When a store closes at 6 o'clock 

 clerks frequently may not be absent from their posts after 4:30 p.m. 

 Such conditions cause a partial paralysis of the alimentary canal, and 

 abnormalities in the secretions, which puts an undue and constant 

 strain upon the whole body. In women this strain is most apparent in 

 functional abnormalities, hysteria and general anemic conditions. In 

 addition to the restraint of sitting the indirect pressure against the 

 abdominal organs by leaning over a sewing machine or against a desk 

 augments the tendency to chronic inflammatory disease in the pelvis. 

 The total result of long standing, or sitting in one attitude, is either 

 absolute sterility or such organic disturbances as make child-bearing 

 dangerous. 



The second new element in modern industry is the monotony of the 

 work, the unending recurrence of unavailing effort. It is difficult to 

 trace any direct effect of monotony upon the more vital organs of the 

 body. Monotony is a mental rather than a physical phenomenon. 

 Modern factory work demands no feeling, no personal interest, no re- 

 sponsibility, nor inventive genius on the part of the worker. She does 

 one thing endlessly, automatically. "Work which demands nothing of 

 the intelligence costs the intelligence more than work which demands 

 too much. When only one brain center is employed the brain is more 

 fatigued than if all the centers were worked harder. The result is 

 either a stunting of mentality or an inordinate craving for excitement. 

 The intimate association of the nervous system with the other functions 



VOL. LXXXIII. — 26. 



