Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-01-18

Iheie IS no portion OF the human body
comes in for so much daily abuse as ths
Nerves. Not only are the nerves made &C
countablc for their own peculiar foibles, but
to them are attributed all the short conings
Of the corporal system. What is called
the fractions, vacillaring, aimless man, is.
in reality the man without nerve. Such .
person, for instance, as DR.. Holmes hiss
happily sketched in one Of his humorous
lyrics. This person is driven to the verge
OF distraction by those common sights and
sounds which have no power to rufle well
conducted, gentlcmaniy nerves. Life be-
comes . burden to him, because Of
| "Children with drum
Strapped rouad them by tie fond ps,ernal as.
| Peripaetic With blade of grass
| Between their thumbs"
or course he accuses his nerves. Every
other man in tho civilized world is doing
the same Injustice 20 those long uifer.ng
aud iDalienable friends. Matthew Browne
did nm act Of philanthropy, . year or two
since, when he wrote IAN apology for tho
Nerves 1t should be called a defence,
rather Than an apology. The nerves on
that occasion had no hulniiating onfessions
to make, but calm, logical evidence to show.
touching their right to deeper respect and
a more elevated place in society. If, he
says. there is without Nerve no Thought
(and 50 scientific men assure us), we can
hardly have too much OF the Nerves, unless
Thought itself is objected to. The writer
then proceeds in lawverlike manner
to state the claims of his clients. He
observes that the nerves are the objects
OF systematic enmity and dsprecia-
ton among mankind at large
he exposes the ignorance and wan
tonness Of this. The fat man, he Justly
complains, is tolerated. loved, or, at the
worst. only laughed at; but the nervous
man, the man with nerve, is not only laugh
ed IT, but disliked and derided Yet the
English nation, according TO Mr.. Browne,
would not trust its income with On obese
man. Thus it 10 with nervous men No trust
our money, they are in fact the men for our
money, and it is from them we expect all
that makes money worth having. In short,
Il 10 the nervous man who thinks, invsnts,
and builds, writes books, 6shts battles. and,
b. the free exercise Of his powers, creates
thoss comforts ard blessings which are
gsumbling'y enjoyed BY the man without
nerve.
And yet these admirable nerves which do
everything worth doing ere held RESPONSE.
bic for half the unpleasautnsss oflifs. Our
ability 10 considered in the light Of ! dis
eese, and lamented and docsorsd, Literally
doctored.
That the majority Of people regard their
nerves a. things to be tanned and held in
control. is made manifest BY An entertain
ing circular Of DR.. Turner, in which are
found several letters from gentlemen we'll
known in the medical, legal and other pro-
LESSONS, acknowledging that they have
successfully combatted With their nerves.
and speaking Of DR.. Turner's UEiversal
Neuralgia Pill with the same svdor that 1
military man would discuss . newly in
vented conicAl teel shot, or peculiarly
edicscious mimic ball, Perhaps. indeed.
these gentlemen tcerc over-burdened with
nerves for j; is possible to have TOO much
OF good thing. Too much thought. strict
~ speaking. too much nerve, has. before
now, led to the sadlest results Dr.. TIM.
er's essay furnishes us with some notable
examples: "Swift lying In moody mama.
''Sir Isaac Newt II with intellect temporar-
lily shattered = johnson oppressed nv
thick coming fancics" But then these ar.
exceptional cases. and there is no saving
what the result might have been. cou,d
they have availed themselves Of the recent
discoveries in pharmacolcgy. Inthcmesa-
while. no reasonable person sill look uncn
VI. Brownies apology for the Nerves, a.
either unt,mely or injudicious.
n Quesaioa Of Starvation.
The kngliah journals are engaged in sr
active discussion Of the moral conduct nj .
man named Pritchsrd. who deliberately
starved himself his wife AID three children
rather than apply To the parish for relief
| When found he was lead. but the rest If
the family survived. Tie whole fam ~
seem TO have been Of respectable :nte,i;.
gence and manners, and very fond Of each
other. The question whether such . pride
"a that which led prischard to sacrifice him.
self and his family to avoid y hat be deemed
she degradation Of pauperism, is commeud-
able OF lot, erlists the vigorous pens Of the
leading weeklies. Il might be 4. we'll 20
take that point for granted either way;
and then take adequate measures to prevent
the recurrence Of 20 sad An affair.