There are two answers possible to the question as to whether a change of occupations is a rest. If fatigue is due to the local exhaustion of energy-producing material or is due to the local accumulation of fatigue poisons, then fatigue itself can be considered a local condition, and a change of occupation requiring the use of other mechanisms than those affected by the previous activity, would constitute a rest. If, on the other hand, activity causes a general reduction in the supply of material by drawing from the blood stream the necessary constituents, and general poisoning by throwing into the blood stream the poisonous by-products of activity, which are then circulated through the body, change from one occupation to another requiring equal activity would not constitute a rest. Practically every case of activity of a limited sort produces both a local and a less pronounced general transferred fatigue. The supply of material does not immediately follow the demand, hence other parts than those which have been acting may be relatively fresher. But the total amount of fatigue is not reduced by the shift of activity.

When the second task is easier than the first, that is, requires the consumption of less energy, then it will give rest or relief when compared with the effects of a continuation of the original work. It would be better to say that there is in such a case a relative reduction in the amount of energy consumed. Usually the changes of occupation which we make when tired are toward the easier and more pleasurable tasks. One's own inclination seems to take care of that, so that the common impression is likely to be that changes of occupation are a distinct rest.1

Most natural occupations cause a general reduction in the energy-producing product, and, therefore, a change of occupations does not produce complete rest. This situation calls into account another factor that enters vitally into the problem of avocational opportunity.

THE SOCIOLOGICAL BASIS OF AVOCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

The problem of avocational activities then must be considered in the light of the nature, period, and conditions. of vocational employment. The extent of overstrain 1 Applied Psychology, p. 148 (1917).

and the number of hours of continuous employment enter vitally into a consideration of this subject. Obviously a body in which every muscle and organ is completely tired out would require a longer time and more complete inactivity to restore its total energycontent than one in which local and limited exhaustion of the energy is experienced. Long hours and generalized work produce the former effect; shorter hours and specialized employment yield the latter results.

Overstrain is usually produced from highly specialized and complex industrial occupations. Those activities that involve speed and complexity, minute processes, piecework, and monotony are fatiguing, although only few muscles and organs are usually involved. Where any of these conditions are accompanied by noisy machinery and mechanical rhythms, nervous fatigue may accompany local exhaustion of particular organs and muscles.

The reduction in the number of hours of the working day is a significant factor in this problem. The demand for a shorter working day on the part of organized labor has been one of the most interesting aspects of the labor problem. There has been a gradual reduction in the number of hours of labor per day under the insistent demands of labor influence. In the beginning of the nineteenth century the working day may be conservatively estimated to have averaged approximately twelve hours, and in many occupations fourteen to sixteen hours was the prevailing period. Fourteen hours was required in some industries even until 1880.1 The Bureau of Labor in an investigation of the hours of labor of 4,000 manufacturing plants in the United States found that the average number of working hours per week had been

1 Carleton, History and Problems of Organized Labor, p. 137

decreased in the ratio of 100.7 to 95.0 between 1890 and 1907.1

An eight-hour day has been the aim of organized labor. The pressure was first felt in the case of unhealthful and hazardous occupations and in the case of unusually influential unions, but many things, including inventions, steam, and electrical power, have contributed to this movement. Recent federal legislation with reference to railroad employment which was initiated by President Wilson seems to have made the eight-hour day a certainty in American industrial life.

The effects of this reduction of the working day are destined to produce a profound influence on the habits, the standards of living, and the influence exerted by the industrial classes affected by this change. This movement is gradually creating leisure for a large number of men and women who previously, owing to long hours, were engaged in vocational activities to the limit of their physical endurance and capacities. It is not to be presumed that the release of human energies of thousands of people will be immediately directed toward useful ends. In many cases the temporary and immediate effects have been decidedly harmful. Some thought must be given to a means of redirecting these released energies into social and useful channels. Two problems appear at once: (1) In the first place, it will be necessary gradually to enlarge the program of healthful recreational activities. (2) In the second place, plans must be devised that will direct a part of the available free time into educational opportunities. The first problem will greatly enlarge the scope of social service. The second problem will enlarge the scope of the curricula of schools and colleges and other less formal educational agencies. Educational

1 Bulletin No. 77, July, 1908.

facilities must be provided and methods devised to prepare the millions of workers and prospective workers who are gradually acquiring from two to four hours of leisure that were formerly given to toil for enlarged opportunities to live completely by contributing to the welfare of society.

THE NEED FOR AVOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Is special training necessary for those whose social efforts will be incidental to some formal economic vocation? It has been presumed in the past that little, if any, previous preparation was required. It has been assumed that the same standards of efficiency are not necessary for both vocational and avocational activity, but in recent times new ideals have been established with reference to these social activities. The complexity of the problems, and in many cases the scientific aspects of them, have resulted in the transforming of avocational activities into vocational employment. Social service in its application to particular problems has created this demand. There are now in process of transformation many incidental social tasks that will soon become established technical vocations. The colleges and universities of the land have recognized this situation, and many courses have been provided to meet the needs of persons training for expert social work. But if it is recognized that technical training is necessary to secure efficiency on the part of those who devote a normal day's work each day in the week to some of these social tasks, does not the same logic suggest that it is equally important to supplement vocational training with training for social service for those who would seriously undertake to do some of this work at times when they are not engaged in regular employment?

The identical considerations that have secured vocational training for our school systems will apply to avocational education. In the first place, we are confronted with the same facts with reference to the necessity for special training for this service that existed a generation ago with reference to industrial training. The same difficulties also exist for the one as for the other. Skill in a trade is acquired by application of the principles to that special work. The same is true of constructive social effort. The advocates of vocational education were confronted with the particular problem of providing additional equipment for the multiplicity of trades. The advocates of avocational education are confronted with the problem of providing additional courses that will function with reference to the variety of social activity. To prevent the misdirection of educational effort in vocational training, it has been necessary to give attention to vocational guidance. Avocational guidance will create a social problem that must accompany education for social service. The recognition of the need of vocational education created the problem of finding a place in the curriculum for it. This problem will accompany the recognition of the need for avocational education. The fact that we recognize these problems and have practically solved them with reference to vocational education will guide and help us in supplying a place for this new type of education. Avocational education will surely find a secure place in our educational system.

This prophecy is supported by two facts: (1) The leisure class has gradually increased numerically until it comprehends most of mankind. This leisure does not come to all men to the same extent, but relatively all classes and conditions of men possess it. (2) The complexity of social life calls for intelligent efforts based upon