The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1869-11-19
MISCELLANEOUS.
Homesickness.


sickness" as transitory sentiment, that
fades away among novel scenes and fresh
acquaintance and such it is with most.
To those who have been educated among
the associations of large communities,
whose minds are under the constant in
f1uence of changing scenes and faces, the
love OF home does not appeal with the
force that it exercises upon individuals
brought closely into contact with Nature
and less with man. The citizen soldier,
sent on long campaigns, never sickens
with nostalgia. The country conscript or
recruit is almost invariably subject to it,
and in degree according to individual
temperament. Soldiers and sailors as
classes are more generally observed to suf-
fer under malignant forms of this complaint
than any others and this is owing, In a
great measure, to the monotony of their
daily lives, to the unpalatable restraint
under which they are held, and to the
character of their probable future, which
is unfavorable to speedy return to the
associations and scenes whose absence
they regret Among these classes of men
the deplorable effects of nostalgia are, un-
fortunately, not confined to individual cases.
Frequently it takes an epidemic form, and,
spreading with the rapidity and virulence
of cholera, or the plague, q whole com
pany or q crew viii become demoralized,
sink into utter inaction and depression, or
become insubordinate and mutinous To
guard against such melancholy results it
has been found necessary, in the
French army at least, TO give orders,
issuing from the highest authority, that
any conscript suffering under marked
and serious attack of maladSe du
pays shall be returned TO his
home for cure. There have been cases
known, among the slaves in the West In
dia Islands, Of this disease assuming an
epidemic form, and numbers of the unfor-
tunate victims have hung themselves in
community of despair, to the branches of
trees surrounding the plantation And,
after all, why should it seem surprising
that these things should bei There Is
certainly no more powerful influence ex-
ercised over the thoughts and actions of
mankind than habit-and what habit %
potent as the constant presence of the
scenes and surroundings Of homer Even
the lower animals are subservient to this
great law. The deer, pursued BY the
hunter, circles round hls accustomed 10
cy, though with uncertain and ALTERING
6eCYo1 W Vic Ia NkAC RACd,r1OC VI tk1C oCC4Cc
with which he is familiar. The tiger,
wounded at distance from his lair, will
drag his bleeding body while life lasts, that
he may yield it finally in his native Jungle.
The domestic cat will toll over weary
miles of dusty road to seek the home to
which 1t Is accustomed. Throw a crab
upon the sandy beach, and instinct
teaches it the way to the sea. Thoughtful
consideration may find similitude he
tween these phenomena and the impulse
that leads the murderer 10 the scene Of his
crime. Indeed, they are all to be re-
ferred TO the influence of impressions
upon the brain. The stronger and
more fixed the impression, the more
determined the habit or impulse, and the
more marked and injurious the result oi
its arrangement. Thus the change from
grand and conspicuous aspects Of Nature
TO the monotony Of scenes less varied il
their features cannot but have an imme
diate and depressing influence upon the
mind.
A young man from Basic, far from hi.
native land, fell into profound melan
choly, accompanied with sleeplessness
loss of appetite, and general iassitude
which soon deranged his health, and h
became in dangerous condition. LET
alone with servants, they imagined that h
was moribund, and proceeded to read ovel
him the prayers for the dying. As he still
lived, however, they sent for q physician
for forms sake, who, recognizing tn,
symtoms of nostalgia, proposed at oncs
the removalof the young man to his home
The mere suggestion had q areviving effect
and the patient did not cease from thu
moment TO grow stronger, until he wa.
able to depart for his native land, wher,
his cure was effectually completed
pl<ons Journal.