III. Rest

CHAPTER III. REST. § 205. Though the ethically-enjoined limitations of life sustaining activities, specified to'wards the close of the last chapter, apparently implies that rest is ethically enjoined, and in a large measure does so, yet this corollary must be definitely stated and enlarged on for several reasons. The first is that there are various activities, not of a life sustaining kind,which may be entered on when the activities devoted to sustentation of life are ended; and hence the con· elusion drawn in the last chapter does not involve insistence upon absolute. rest. Further, we have to observe the several kinds of rest, which, if not complete, are approximately so; and the need for each of these kinds Inust be pointed out. Something has to be said under each of the several heads -rest at intervals during work; nightly rest ; rest of a day after a series of days; and occasional long rest at long inter vals.

§ 206. Rhythm, shown throughout the organic functions as elsewhere, has for its concomitant the alternation of waste and repair. Every contraction of' the heart, every inflation of the lungs, is followed by a momentary relaxa tion of the muscles employed. In the process of alimenta tion, we have the short rhythms constituting the peristaltic motion, compounded with the longer rhythrns implied by 494 THE ETHICS OF INDIVIDU.AI~ LIFE. the periodicity of Ineals. Far deeper, indeed, than at first appears, is the confonnity to this law; for some organic actions which appear continuous are in truth discontinu ous. A muscle ","hich maintains for a tiIne a persistent contraction, and seems in a unifornl state, is made up of Inultitudinous units which are severally alternating be tween action and rest-these relaxing while those are contracting; and so keeping up a constant strain of the whole muscle by the inconstant strains of its competent fibres.

The law thus displayed in each organ and part of an organ, fr0111 InOlnent to moment, is displayed throughout the longer and larger cooperations of parts. COlnbined muscular strains ,vhich tax the poV\'"ers of the systen1. in any considerable degree, cannot with ilnpunity be con tinually repeated without cessation, even during the period devoted to activity. Waste in such cases over-rUllS repair to a considerable extent, and makes needful a cessation during which arrears may be in some measure made up an interval for "taking breath," as the expression is. Long unbroken persistence, even in lnoderate efforts, is injurious; and though such unresting action when occa sional does no permanent harm, if it recurs daily, loss of po·wer is the final result. Scriveners' palsy illustrates a local form of this evil; as do also various atrophies of over· used llluscles. Nor is this true of bodily actions only. It is true of mental actions also. A concentrated attention which is too continuous produces, after a tilne, nervous disturbance and inability. Daily occupation for ll1any hours in even so simple a thing as renloving the small defects in machine ulade lace, not unfrequently brings on chronic brain disorder.

Some single-line railways in the United States, the move ments of trains on which are regulated by telegraph from a central office, furnish a striking instance in the fact that the Inen \vho have thus to conduct the traffic, and cannot 495 for a momerit relax under' penalty of causing ,a.c~idents1 n~:V(jr last for more than a few years ; they become permanently .incapable. These -unduly' .persistentstrains,_-'bodi1$;and,~plen,t.al,..i\pe ahvaysindicated more orJesscleal"ly byth~pain:ful :feelipgs accompanying them. The sensations protest, 3i:ndtheirpro tests· cannot with irnpunity beigp.ored. § '207. Insistence, on the ,need for thatQomplete<r~st ,which we call·.sleep, is. not called. for ;:but.s()me;~hing may fitly be said. concerning .• its .·duration~l1g",.too, ,sIlla)l,J:10W too' great. Current criticisms on the .habits of those around,.imply the erroneous belief that for persons of. the&amese.~>~nd age, the same amount of sleep :is requireq~a p;rofe~~~ belief which . is, "l1evertheless,continuallytraversedqy. re Inarks on thellnlike ;numbers' of. hoursofrepQse which different persons cando with. Thetruth.is thatthe,re quired amount of sleep depends on t~ecpns,~itutipn.

According as the vigour is slnall or great, there may be taken ··nlanyhours to little purpose or ..fewhQllrs. to great 'purpose. To understand what .are the vital. requirements, )ahd, by itnplication, the habits which,. ftomQur pre~ent standpoint, 've regard as having ethic~l.sancti()n, >·.we Illustpause a moment, to look· at the. ·pllysi()logy.of·phe ··matter. ,. "Thedifference between waking -and sleeping '. is;,thl:tt jn the one waste gets ahead of repair, while in the.ot4~r repair gets ahead of waste. Proof. thatrepairis always,goipg on, but that it varies in rate, is. furnished Tbywhat,are known as photogenes. During early life, whiJ{Lt4e .blood is rich and the· circulation good, thedestructipn.pI nerye tissue produced ,by each ..impression;the ..•eye .receive.s,·.·...is made up for instantaneously, so that the eye is. at· ().yce ready to appreciate perfectly a new impression;.but in later life diminished vigour. is shown by the·g~~~ate;rJjple 88 496 THE ETHICS OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE.

required for restoring the sensitiveness of the retinal ele ments; and connected nerves, after each visual impression a time which is quite appreciable when the impression has been strong. The result is that a new imag-e received is-to some extent confused by the persistence of the preceding inlage, presented in its complementary colours. N ow these differences in the rates of repair at different stages in the life of the same individual, are paralleled by differences in the rates of repair in different individuals; and hence the unlike amounts of sleep required. There is a double cause for the unlikeness. In the vigorous person re pair during the waking state is relatively so rapid as not to fall very far in arrear of the ·waste caused by action; the consequence being that at the end of the day less repair is required. And then, from the same cause, it results that during sleep such repair as has to be made is more rapidly made. Conversely, in the individual with low nutrition and slow circulation, action is sooner followed by exhaustion, and the parts wasted by action take a longer rest to ma!te theln fit for action.

But while the inlplication is that not unfrequently one who is condemned as a sluggard is taking no more absolute rest than is required by hiln, and is rightly prompted to take it by his sensations, we must not infer that there is no such thing as sleep in excess. There is a very general tendency to take not only more than is needful but more than is beneficial. Passing a certain limit, the state of entire quiescence does not invigorate but prostrates. Lacking their stitnuli the vital organs flag, and when the quiescence is continued after repairs have been effected, a further fall in their activities disables them from carrying on the repairs needed during working life at the ordinary rate: a sense of weariness being the consequence. Probably for those whose systems are so far in a normal state that they sleep soundly, the first cOlnplete ,vaking marks the proper limit to the night's rest. SomeREST. 497 times a, day after sleep thus linlited is a day of unusual vivacity.

Here we have to recognize a seem'ing exception to the general law that for maintenance of bodily welfare the sensations are adequate guides. This lack of adjustment is 1110st likely associated with our transitional state, during which the average life is so uninteresting, and often 80 wearisorne, that the prospective rene,val of it on waking does not serve as a stimulus to get up, but rather theco~ trary; for everyone has found that when the forthcoming day promises an enjoyment, sayan excursion, there is no difficulty in rising earl.y. It may be, therefore, that greater adaptation to the social state and its needful occnpa tions, win render .easy that normal abridgment of sleep which is no"," difficult. But for a long time to come, it will be an implication of relative ethics that guidance by the sensations Inust here be supplemented by judgments based on experie~ce. § 208. Oivilized mankind have fallen into the habit of taking a further periodical rest-a weekly rest; and without accepting their reasons given· for taking it, we may adlnit the propriety of taking it for other reasons.

1vIonotony, no" Inatter of what kind, is unfavourable to life. Not only does there need some discontinuity in the activities carried on during the. waking state, and not only must· the activities be Inade discontinuous by intervals of sleep,but that continuity of activities which consists in repetition of days similarly occupied, also seenlS.to require breaking by days of rest. There is a cumulative weariness which is not lllet by tIle periodical cessations !Vhich -nights bring: there require larger periodical cessations at longer intervals. The persistent strain of daily occupations is in all cases a strain falling on some parts of the system more than on others; and that daily repair 'which suffices to bring the system at large into ,vorking order again, appears not '498 THE ETHICS OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE. to .suffice for bringing into working .. order again parts that have been specially taxed. So that a recurring day 'of rest has, if not' a religious sanction, still an ethical sanction.

We may, too, agree with the Sabbatarians so far as to ad mit that a periodical cessation.'of daily business is requisite as a means to mental. health. Even as it is, most people largely fail to emancipate themselves from those prosaic con ceptions of the world and life ,vhich nlechanical routine tends to produce; .and they would fail utterly were all their days passed in work. There require· intervals .of passivity during which the vast process of things amid which we live may be contemplated, and receptivity of the· appropriate thoughts and feelings fostered. § 209. I need not insist on the physical and mental bene fits gained frow those .longer intermissions of labour which now commonly recur annually. Not to dwell on the posi tive pleasures obtained by them (which, however, Inust be counted as effects to be deliheratelysought), it suffices to re call .. the re-invigoration and increased fitness for work which they usually produce, to show that they are ethically sanctioned, or rather, where circumstances permit, ethically enjoined.

Without .further elaboration .I pass to the altruistic reasons which justify rest, and show the taking of it in due amount to be obligatory. The claims of dependents and the claimeof' fellow-citizens with whom enRagements have been made, alike forbid excess of "'ork: energy must not be so wastefully expended .·asto jeopardize. fu~ filrnent of them. A. sane judg:rnent has to balance between the demand .for .. such. efforts as are required to meet these claims,~nd the demand for such rest aswillpreverit .exhaustion' and incapacity . Duty to others forbids overtax of self.' .But strong as is the i~lterdict hence arising, there' is·:a REST. 499 still stronger interdict-peremptory, if not for all, yet for those ,,,ho are likely to have offspring. As pointed out emphatically in the preliminary chapter, preservation of a sound body, as well as of a sound mind, is a duty to pos terity. Deterioration of physique must result from per sistence in undue activity. To suppose that whether a life which is physically normal ·has been led by a parent, or one' which is physically abnormal, matters not to children, is ab surd. If there has been hahitualdeficiency of rest and con sequent .deficiency of repair, the abnormality ·produced.must, like every other, leave its trace indescendants~not always conspicuously, since. each child, hesidesinl).eriting from two parents, inherits from :many lines o£ancestors; but, never theless,·in du~ degree some:where.