Constitutional strength is always accompanied by at least average muscles and endurance; these are a part of the condition, the natural result of superior organism. So I should consider constitutional strength more valuable than either exceptional "display" strength or "Marathon" endurance. First, because of its significance in longevity and dependable health. Secondly, because of its more practicable application to everyday life-as a foundation for general efficiency. Thirdly, by reason of the fact that its possession makes the acquirement of other physical assets an easy matter. A person of fine constitution can hardly fail to develop a maximum of display power or Marathon endurance if he cares to specialize; whereas the possession of muscle does not always presuppose constitutional soundness.

The highest form of physical strength is nervous power, and this being partially mental carries us to the boundaries of this discussion. Constitutional strength is the most valuable of the purely physical assets; but a man may have a perfect constitution yet lack nervous "push." Energy is the connecting link between mind and muscle, and without the nervous organization known as push, ginger, pep, etc., the finest physical machine may lie idle. Many a giant's strength is wholly passive. Most of them, in fact, are decidedly phlegmatic. Since the dynamic element is inseparable from real strength, the degree of nervous stimulus has to be reckoned as a part of strength.

Nervous strength is the sum of all the others plus a psychic element. In its physical aspect it is less conspicuous than any of the other kinds of strength, because it is a blending of them-just as a well proportioned body attracts less comment than one of abnormal proportions. Nervous strength is power in action, harnessed ability. It is the kind most needed in the busy life of to-day. Upon it principally rests the virile power of procreation, the capacity for living a complete life and drawing from our labors more than we put into them.

In a word, the ideal all-purpose physique for to-day is one combining an active temperament with a vigorous but entirely normal body. The muscles should be well developed but not unduly massive, the endurance such as to leave reserve energy when the day's work is done.

BODILY TENSION

By Dr. Lionel Everett

In the mechanical world, machines, boilers, engines, etc., have safety-limits; to push the capacity or power beyond a certain point causes possible injury to the machine.

The human body is a machine, and the builders, Heredity and Mode-of-Life, have in every case attached a gage. But this indicator does not hang outside in an easily seen position, as it does in some power machines. The only way accurately to know our safety limit is by experience, observation of causes and effects.

Machinists, engineers, etc. guard against any waste of power. It saves time, money, and wear in the machine to direct every ounce of power to its purpose. Again we are less fortunate; for in our case the engineer is often careless of waste. Not only is our indicator more difficult to study, but after we have grown familiar with our powers and limitations-knowingly, we waste and abuse our power, squander precious vital energy.

While no one should cultivate laziness, everyone should avoid useless exertion. This does not mean avoidance of pleasure; wholesome pleasure is by no means useless. We start each day with a certain amount of normally available energy; that is, an amount that can be expended without drawing on the "reserve," without making the fatigue pathological instead of physiological. No one should do work that leaves him exhausted at its conclusion; but before pronouncing our work too hard it is well to examine our methods of performing it. Of two persons apparently equal in strength one may do a given work with half the resultant fatigue suffered by the other. The former uses no more energy than is required.

Usually, it is not difficult to find and perfect the "easiest way" to do things, and by watching ourselves we can stop the big drains on our energy, the ones that are perfectly obvious. But the little drains, especially that apparently little one, tension, may be overlooked for years. Many persons who have never thought much about the matter will find, upon observation, that they expend considerable energy in purposeless tension of nerves and muscles.

Have you ever lain quietly at night and listened to some sleeper breathing? Observe the change as he sinks into slumber; the relaxation of the faculties (and of course there are physical reasons) leaves breathing to care for itself, and it becomes audible-sometimes decidedly so! Because of the disagreeable noise some breathers make, sensitive persons often develop the habit of controlling respiration. Here is an example of tension that ultimately becomes unconscious; one that is particularly injurious, since in addition to the waste of nerve energy there is a curtailment of air to the lungs. "Noisy breathing" should be cured but not by any means that reduces the volume of air breathed. Further, some uninformed victims of self-consciousness hold the breath, in an effort to appear calm when they are embarrassed. This immediately sets up high tension in every part of the body.

Demonstrations of unconscious tension are often seen at entertainments. At a play, susceptible persons will key themselves almost to the breaking point, and sometimes weep at the sad scenes. The instinctive desire for relaxation is seen when these people grasp the first opportunity to laugh heartily—perhaps at something that under different conditions would not provoke a smile. We might say, it is the cry of the nerves to be "let down."

Another common cause of tension, often unsuspected, is our method of dress. A person wearing tight shoes and trying to hide the discomfort will so tense all his nerves and muscles as to become

very tired, just as tho he had walked a long distance. Sometimes the face shows the nervous tension, becoming drawn and haggard. Any article of apparel may affect us similarly, it "gets on our nerves" because of real or imagined discomfort. A young lady of my acquaintance induced a severe nervous headache by dispensing with the chain usually worn with her glasses. She thought she looked better without it, but the fear that the grip would slip and let the glasses fall worried her sick. She carried her head with unnatural stiffness and was afraid to move quickly. An observant person could plainly see the tensed cords in her neck.

Eye-strain causes nervous tension, but comparatively few realize how serious this may become. Dr. Bowers tells of a case of cataleptic fits in a young woman, a teacher, caused by a strained condition of the muscles of accommodation in one eye.

I have mentioned only a few causes of tension, there are hosts of them. The tendency to waste bodily energy grows on one, and severe cases of general nervousness have developed from some particular nervous waste long continued. Every one should watch for any signs of tension in himself, and "nip the habit in the bud." Useless movements when sitting, tapping the floor with the feet, drumming with the fingers on a table, fidgeting, etc., can be cured by watching ourselves for a few weeks. True, these are comparatively little things, physiological peccadilloes, but they indicate more or less tautness of the nerves, and are "little leaks" of energy. A person of calm, quiet bearing gives the impression of exceptional power, inspires confidence in his judgment and ability, whereas we instinctively doubt the nervous and flighty.

The cure for the "tension habit" depends mostly on negative measures, that is, on what you do not do rather than on doing certain things. You must quit "keying up." Get it into your head firmly that such a state cannot possibly help you in anything; then "let' down, go loose," and stick steadily to this determination. It will take a little time and perserverance, but the sooner you begin the sooner, and easier, will come self-mastery.

Any unhealthful habits encourage the tension habit, by making you generally nervous. Excessive tea or coffee-drinking, the use of tobacco in any form, loss of sleep, etc., weaken the nervous system, and you will not acquire perfect placidity until you are right in these respects.

Muscular tension, tho not SO detrimental to the general health as nervous tension (in most cases they are more or less blended), is a waste of strength. That it often defeats its own purpose, when a voluntary action, has been shown to me many times. A beginning athlete will sometimes tense the muscles, throw them into high contraction against each other, as a preparation for a strength feat. Experience teaches him his error, for this in itself rapidly times the muscles. To try to do an arm lift of any kind with the upper arm rigidly tensed actually detracts very materially from the possible amount lifted.

Shot-putters, as they pose momentarily before the cast, frequently make this mistake of tensing the muscles against each other. In this feat, to illustrate, the triceps is the muscle of the arm most used; to contract the biceps, the muscle that works directly against the action of the triceps, is bound to detract from the latter's power -much as would additional weight in the shot used. All athletes should seek to keep their muscles soft (when in repose), loose and relaxed before their efforts; far more power can be thrown into their performance, and their endurance will be greater. Some athletes recommend the bath as a help to relaxation, but when the aim is immediate condition for a test I am sure gentle dry massage of the muscles by a careful attendant is better.

Perhaps it is unnecessary to say that over-indulgence in sexual intercourse brings weakness of nerves and muscles, tho for adults, normal sexual activity is not harmful but beneficial. In this connection, I quote a paragraph from Dr. C. S. Carr: "Sexual contact (for some persons) produces a shock that requires days of recuperation before the damage done is repaired. With a healthy person the same sexual contact would give strength, would simply provoke more energy and recuperate the body."

MISCELLANY

A REMARKABLE CASE OF APPARENT DEATH Rautenberg reports the case of a nurse, aged 23, who, October 27th, 1919, took in one dose 26 grains of morphine and 75 grains of veronal. When found in the park next day, life was almost extinct. She was thought to have died in the ambulance. The indications of death were: rigidity; intense pallor; absence of reflexes, pulse, respiration and heart beat. Hot sealing wax gave no skin reaction. After fourteen hours in the morgue, an official desiring to identify the body, the coffin was opened. The cheeks had a purplish tinge, and the larynx moved slightly. There were no respiratory movements nor pulse beat, but muffled heart sounds were audible. At 10 A. M. the patient was taken to the hospital. Camphor and caffein were given subcutaneously and stomach lavage was done. A hot bath was given and a flesh brush was applied vigorously, with artificial respiration and oxygen inhalation. At 11 A. M. the pulse could be felt, and short, jerky inspiration was noted. Rigidity of the limbs abated. At 12 the pulse was above 50. October 30, the patient regained consciousness and made a few statements. There were no signs of pneumonia, but persistent leukopenia was present.

How is it possible for a human being to live more than twenty-four hours without respiration and blood circulation? Rautenberg explains the strange condition as due to the

effect of the narcotic and the cold which, acting together, brought about a paralysis of the vasomotor nerves and thus reduced the needs of the body to a minimum, the narcotic paralyzing the central nervous system, and the cold effecting the rigid paralysis of the organs. He thinks the cold may have prevented rapid resorption of the alkaloid. The condition was similar to that of hibernation of animals, and this fact tided the organism past the danger of pneumonia. (J. A. M. A., March 20th.)

THE THYROID-THE RELATION TO THE FEMALE SEXUAL SPHERE

Dr. J. Bear (Virginia Med. Monthly, Aug., 1919) draws attention to the generally accepted theory that the thyroid is influenced, to a marked degree by menstruation, pregnancy, and lactation. Men of trustworthy note, such as Aetius, Spraine, Hunter, Pettit, Waller, and Lange hold that there exists a close relation between the thyroid gland and the organs of reproduction.

The Romans used to appoint a committee of matrons to measure the neck of the bride on the night of the wedding with a silk thread and re-examine it again the following morning, and if there was a slight increase, it showed that coitus had taken place; on the other hand, if there was no enlargement, coitus had taken place before marriage.

Gaskell says: "Perhaps the most striking result of the researches is the discovery that the thyroid gland is derived from the uterus of the palestracan ancestor. The relationship which has been known from time immemorial to exist between the sex organs and the thyroid in man and other animals, and has still been a mystery without any explanation, may possibly be the last recollection of a time when the thyroid glands were the uterine glands of the paleostracan ancestor.'

Tho these were once upon a time intimately united and are now widely separated, a strange coincidence continues to exist between the thyroid gland and the generative organs even up to the highest vertebrates.

The greater frequency of goiter during sexual life, both in male and female, indicates a close physiologic relation.

The greater frequency of goiter in the female and the greater susceptibility of this sex to experimental hyperthyroidism, the enlargements of the thyroid at puberty, at the menstrual period, at marriage, during courtship, during a period of excessive coitus, attending nymphomania, during pregnancy, during the puerperium, at the climacteric period and in uterine or ovarian congestions, indicates that there is an inter-relation more active in the female than in the male.

CONVULSIONS OF PSYCHIC ORIGIN

Dr. H. W. Frink (J. Nerv. and Ment. Dis.) reports the case of a girl, 23 years old, with attacks of convulsions occurring