Page:Athletics and Manly Sport (1890).djvu/134

Rh power after exertion. It is sometimes called "fainting;" but there is no loss of sense, and it is quickly relieved by liquid food. It is no uncommon thing to see a man in the ring or on the track come to a dead stop, though full of muscular power.

This is sometimes caused by loss of "wind" (to be explained hereafter); but much oftener it is the result of the complete overlooking of the nervous strength by a trainer who thinks of no force except that which he can handle and measure. "The power which is to drive the muscles as the power of steam drives an engine, is produced by the nerves—a fact much overlooked."

The effects of over-training and ignorant training are strikingly shown in the following remarks by a leading English medical journal, "The Lancet," on the condition of John C. Heenan, the American boxer, when he fought King for the championship of England, in December, 1863:

"The immense development of the muscles about the shoulders and chest was very remarkable. They stood out prominently, and as little encumbered with fat as if they had been cleaned with a scalpel. In firmness they resembled cartilage. But, with all this splendid development, it was evident that Heenan had received a shock from which his system was only slowly recovering; though whether this loss of power was due to punishment received in fight, or to the hard training which he had previously undergone, may be a disputed point. As physiologists, it seemed to us highly probable that his training had been too prolonged and too severe. When Heenan went into