The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-10-07 00:00:00

THE STOtTRBRIDGE OBSERVER

DR. BLANDFORD ON NERVOUS
DISEASES.
In London, on Monday (being the commencement
of the Medical Session), inaugural addresses were, as
usual, delivered in the schools attached to several of
the metropolitan hospitals. At St. George's Hos-
pital the introductory address was delivered by Dr.
Blandford. After welcoming the students the lecturer
said that inasmuch as his connexion with the hospital
was due to a special subject, it seemed right to say
something with regard to this, and to call their atten-
tion to the great group of nervous disorders which
must more and more engage attention as the nervous
system, is more and more specialized and developed.
According to the lad report of the Commis.
stoners in Lunacy there were under restraint in
the asylums and workhouses in England and Wales
on the let of January last 64,916 patients; and as
4,909 were discharged recovered, and 4,592 died, there
must have been during the year upwards of 74,000
Insane persons under treatment. This number repre-
sents the last result and outcome of the various ner-
vous diseases—of nerve degeneration. A vast number
are incurable before admission. It is for the medical
men of the future to arrest and prevent this degenera-
tion. The causes of it are some of them beyond our
reach as medical men, though in our social capacity we
may aid in reducing them. Such are bad and insuffi-
cient food, bad air, unwholesome habitations, inju-
rious occupation, or the total want of occupation and
education. Much depends on the health of the mother
previous to the birth of the child. A great demand
made upon the nervous energy of a woman at this
time must affect the offspring. Idiocy is popularly,
and rightly, of ten ascribed to fright, and not only
a sudden shock or fright, but a long-continued
strain may harm a child. Women who com-
bine the bearing of children with the anxieties and
responsibilities of callings which, as a rule, are under-
taken by men are likely to see the effects in the
progeny. Another fertile cause of nerve degeneration is
intemperance, chiefly, though not exclusively, alcoholic.
Although it is not now the fashion to drink to excess
in public, as our grandfathers did, it is a fact that
there is a large amount of secret drinking, not only
among men, but also among ladies; while the habits
of drinking among the lower classes have probably
increased, owing to the higher rate of wages. It is
sometimes said that the medical profession encourage
and promote habits of drinking by the adminis-
tration of stimulants. This charge is of ten made
rashly; but it behoves us to be careful how we
order stimulants to nervous, hysterical, or hypo-
chondriacal persons. And we should discourage in
every way the habit of resorting to drains and "pick-
me-ups." or such stimulants as opium and chloral.
The great source, however, of nerve degeneration is
inherited taint. Not merely idiocy and insanity, but
epilepsy, neuralgia, chorea, and hysteria may be the
result of transmited nervedisorder. There are s3me
sources of this disorder which are unavoidable and
accidental, but men and women can help marrying
when they have had attacks of insanity. It is for the
medical men to oppose the marriage of such people; at
any rate, not to sanction it. Where he may
not consider himself justified in absolutely forbidding
the marriage of a nervous person he may advise
that such a one should not marry another like
himself. Above all, that he should not marry a
relation. There is a popular notion that matrimony
is good for nervous people, especially girls ; this is
erroneous, the supposed good being counterbalanced
by much evil. The longer we study mankind the
more we shall appreciate the influence of an inherited
organization, whether for good or evil, and we ought
to do all we can to arrest the spread of unhealthy
organisms. Looking at the outcome of all this nerve.
degeneration, we see it in idiots of all degrees ; in
the precocity of the weak minded, and in the
insanity of boys and girls who come insane at an early
age without apparent cause. We see it in many people
who, without becoming actually insane, are peculiar
and eccentric, and imitate at a distance the various
forms of insanity, some being sanguine and speculative,
others gloomy and desponding, others suspicious and
irritable. Then there are the hysterical and those
who Buffer from what Sir J. Paget calls neuromimesis,
or nervous mimicry, imitating both medical and surgi-
cal ailments. Another class are the hypochondriacs,
the prey of quacks. Their disorder is only a form of
melancholia. Neuralgia is also a variety of nerve
degeneration, and is due to defect of nerve power.
Another form is epilepsy. Last of all is insanity.
The study of this is now not a metaphysical investiga-
tion into the nature of the mind, but a study of brain
disorder, one which opens a wide field for the student,
whether' he elects to take up the chymistry, the ana-
tomy, or the physiology of the organ.

the thief would be to be deteCted by some of the many
persons in the employ of the company, there is no
reason to suppose that this percentage would be greater
than in many orchards and market-gardens. Fruit and
vegetables are not always grown under the eye of the
owner, yet no one is deterred from planting trees or
sowing seed by the knowledge that some of them may
be stolen ; and we do not see why land by the side of a
railway should present greater temptations to thieving
than any ordinary field. At all events, as the land
now produces nothing, the experiment would be worth
trying.—Pall Mall Gazette.