Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 October 1883 — Brain Work and Food. [ARTICLE]

Brain Work and Food.

The notion that those who work only with their brain , need less food than those who labor with their hands has long been proved to be fallacious. Mental labor causes gaeater waste oi tissue than muscular. According to careful estimatgs, three hours of hard study wear out the body more than a whole day of hard physical exertion. “Without phosphorus, no thought,’’ is a German saying; and the consumption of that essential ingredient of the brain increases in proportion to the amount of labor which this organ is required to perform. The wear and tear of the brain are easily measured by careful examination of the salts in the liquid excretions. The importance of the brain as a working organ is shown by the amount of blood it receives, which is proportionately' greater than that of any other part of the body. Onefiftli of the blood goes to tlie brain, though its average weight is only onefortieth of .that of the body. This fact alone would be sufficient to prove that brain-workers require more food, and even better food, than mechanics or farm laborers. —Boston Journal oj Chemistry.