Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1867-07-09
DIR. WINSLOW ON LIGHT AND LIZ
MACY

DIR. Forbes Winslow has published
In London pleasant volume entitled
Light; its influence on Life and
Health wherein, among other learn
ed gossip about the subject discussed,
we have dissertation on "The Alleg.
cd influence of the Moon on the In
sane" which the author does not con
slider entirely baseless. 1t impossi
bic, he says, altogether to reject the
evidence ofsuch men as Pinel, Daauin,
Guislain, and others, and yet the ex-
pcrience OF modern psychological ply
slclans Is TO Il great degree opposed
To the deductions Of these eminent
men. 1t is not probable, he asks.
that there Is some degree OF truth on
both sides OF the question; in other
words, that the alleged changes OBJ
served among the insane at certain
phases Of the moon may arise. no..
from the direct, but the indirect, in.
tluence of this planet? He adds
1T is well known that certain im>
portant and easily recognizable met
corological phenomena result from
the varied positions oflhc moon; that
the rarity of the air, the electric cons
dluons OF the atmosphere, its degrees
OF heat, dryness, moisture, and the
amount Of wind prevailing, are all
more or less modified by the state of
| the moon. In the generality of bod>
lily diseases what obvious changes are
observed to accompany the meteoro.
logical conditions referred to? Sure
ly those suffering from diseases of the
Dram and nervous system, affecting
the mind, cannot, with any show OF
reason, be considered rs exempt from
the operation of agencies that are
universally admitted to seriously af-
feet patients afflicted with other
maladics! That the insane appear
TO a degree unusually agitated at tie
full OF the moon, particularly if its
bright light is permitted uninterrupt.
cdiy to enter the room where they
sleep there cannot be doubt. This
pheomenon may, | think be account.
cd, tor apart altogether from the
hypothesis of there being anything
specific in the composition of the lunar
ray.
In certain forms of insanity, par-
tlclarly those characterized by ilu-
| sions of the senses or Authorizations
OF the mind, how materially affected
the patients are by the kind and do.
gree oflight admitted into their cham
bersl If exposed to great degree
OF natural or even artificial light, the
Authorizations often become painfully
intensified. Sleeplessness often thus
arises, and dormant morbid visual
and aural conditions, previously in a
latent state, become actively develops
ed. Patients afflicted with distress
ing delusions often imagine that cv-
cry thing they see has assumed the
form of n terrible spectral image
The presence Of light emanating from
the moon when at its full, greatly
tends in these cases TO aggravatc the
lunatic's mental sufferings. 1t is oc-
casionally most desirable TO exclude
light altogether from bedrooms oc-
cupied by the insane, in order to
tranquilize them and cause sleep. In
other instances the patients condition
OF mental excitement becomes aggra-
waited by being keptior length oftime
in darkness. 1t is, therefore, often
necessary, with the view of dissipa-
ting false creation which has seized
hold of his disordered Imagination, to
admit light freely into the chamber"