HOW TO GET STRONG
have all that they can do? One of the most noted of them, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, of Philadelphia, in his valuable little book, Wear and Tear; or, Hints for the Overworked, page 46, says:
"All classes of men who use the brain severely, and who have also—and this is important—seasons of excessive anxiety and grave responsibility, are subject to the same form of disease; and this is why, I presume, that I, as well as others who are accustomed to encounter nervous disorders, have met with numerous instances of nervous exhaustion among merchants and manufacturers.
"My note-books seem to show that manufacturers and certain classes of railway officials are the most liable to suffer from neural exhaustion. Next to these come merchants in general, brokers, etc.; then, less frequently, clergymen; still less often, lawyers; and, more rarely, doctors; while distressing cases are apt to occur among the over-schooled young of both sexes."
And while the hard-worked business men run into this danger, those who work less do little or nothing to get vigor of body, energy, and health. So they go through life, of far less use than they might have been; and their children pay for it. A boy cannot get from his father more stamina than the latter has, however favored the mother may have been; so, if he has no work which builds him up; his father's defects will likely show in him.
Nor do most mechanics fare much better. Take the heavier kinds of skilled labor. The blacksmith rarely uses one of his hands as much as the other, especially in heavy work; and often has poor legs. Indeed, if he has good legs, he does not get them from his calling. The stone-mason too is one-handed—one hand merely guides a light tool; the other swings a heavy maul. Nearly all machinists are right-handed. And so on, through the long list of the trades where muscles have
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