Dr. Maggiora's next question was as to whether massage would help tired neurons as promptly as it helped those that were not tired. He therefore made other experiments.

One day, after walking ten miles, he tested the middle finger of each hand and found that it could do only about one quarter as much work as before he started on his walk. He then had his hands and arms massaged for about ten minutes and was delighted to see that he could now give the normal pull again.

This was especially surprising, for, as he says, it Iwould have taken two hours of solid rest to make it possible for him to do such pulling as that after such a walk. Facts of this sort explain why athletic trainers have so much to say to their men about massage. They know that after vigorous exercise massaged legs are far more ready for another struggle than unmassaged legs.

At another time Dr. Maggiora made ergograph tests after a sleepless night. A small, feeble pull was all he could manage when morning came. But ten minutes of massage made everything normal. So, too, after hard examinations. Twenty medical students kept him busy one day for five hours. He was then so exhausted in mind and body that his pull was only about one fifth of what it was when he was rested. Half an hour later, after ten minutes of massage, he could do full work again on the ergograph.

At this point comes in an important side light. Dr. Maggiora wished to learn whether or not blood itself has anything to do with these remarkable cases of transformation. Accordingly he had the large artery of his

THE FEEBLE PULL AFTER A TEN-MILE WALK; THE STRONG PULL
AFTER TEN MINUTES OF MASSAGE

arm firmly pressed for five minutes. This kept the blood from flowing into his fingers. Even while the blood was held back in this way, he used the ergograph and found that it behaved as if the finger were very tired. He now had that finger massaged, still keeping the blood out of it, and tried the ergograph again, but there was no improvement whatever.

This completed the case. Dr. Maggiora now understood three reasons why massage helps the neurons:

1. It makes the blood move faster.

2. Swift-moving, fresh blood carries the toxin of fatigue along with it, and it is destroyed on the way round.

3. When the toxin is out of the way the neuron can compel the muscles to do better work.

With all these facts before us, we are not surprised to hear that massage, when it is correctly given, rests tired brains and tired muscles even more promptly than sleep itself.

Those who use either brain or muscle hardest and those who wish to get the most help from their neurons ought to know that the nuclei themselves have no direct way of letting us know when they are getting too much shriveled for our best good. Fortunately, however, the toxin of fatigue makes us feel so exhausted that we are led to stop work before the uncomplaining nuclei are utterly worn out.

Rest, then, would seem to be a matter of getting rid of the toxin of fatigue, and also of giving the nuclei a chance to regain their vigor.

CHAPTER XVII

NEURONS THAT REST WHILE WE SLEEP

There are times when a quiet rest in bed may be even better than massage.

A friend of mine knows this. She has a small son who studies and plays and works with such tremendous energy that, every now and then, he is worn out and shows it. At such times he is cross and irritable, losing his temper at a moment's notice.

When that state of affairs arrives and continues for several hours his sensible mother says to him very quietly, "Your nerves are tired, my boy, you must go off and give them an hour's rest." She does no scolding, and the boy understands that the rest is simply a matter of tonic for the neurons, not a punishment. He very much objects to going to bed by daylight, but there's no escape; so he goes to his room, covers himself up in bed, and stays there for the required length of time. Sometimes he sleeps, sometimes he lies out straight, wide-awake, but always when he appears again he is happy and rested and thoroughly good-natured. The quiet has restored him.