Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-01-07
Nervous women.

The little demon for which nervous
ness stands is among the worst enemies
that afflict women. 1t is intangible,
mysterious, not TO be described or un-
derstood by any but the poor victim her
self, and imperfectly by Der. 1t has as
many hues as the chameleon, as many
forms as Proteus, and without a local
habitation it is still an ever-present
misery.
Nervousness is thing nobody pities,
because pity is vulgar; and asks for
pallor of countenance and weakness OF
frame before it shows itself Nervous
women are the least understood and
commiserated of all classes of invalids;
and vet, where there is one woman ailing
from any other cause, there are twenty
ailing from nervousness. A thing so
complex must necessarily have COM
plex origin.
1t comes from too much work and too
little work; from too much brain stimu-
lus and from too little brain stimulus;
from lonely life with cravings of the
soul that are never answered; from an
excess of dissipation and unhealthy
habits both mental and physical.
Undoubtedly the person who could
find a panacea for this modern misery
of which, in old times, even the name
was unknown, would be the greatest pos.
sible benefactor of his kind. 1t would
require subtle insightinto the complex
relations of body and soul, of which nc
physician has yet given evidence; and
perhaps, we must look in vain for true
doctor, or true remedy for diseased
nerves, which are the spirit telegraph
lines extending all over the body out Of
repair, until we know better how to live
move, and have our outward, as well as
our mental being, more in accordance
with natures laws.
Nervousness is one OF the terrible pun
ishments wreaked upon the sins Of ouI
civilization. 1t is det erioration so fine
so searching, that no miscroscope can
follow its trail; no added powers which
science gives to the visual organs can
discover its abiding place. Women suf
fer more from these naIueless pangs and
horrors than men, because of finer or
ganizations and susce ptibilities. 1t is
easier to untwist tangle of rope than Q
tangle of silk thread. Unhealthy minds
among women come often-times, not be
cause life is too full, but because it il
not full enough. Household drudge'
and mothers, worn down with the con
slant wearing care of children, are nerv
GUS because the chords of life are fretteC
thin in one place. Those women need
contact with the fresh and invigorating
influences of nature; contact with peo
pie, amusements, diversion, change
which they never get until they break
down. lt.,e..
Modern women in education are i'm
mensely ahead of their grandmothers
but the grandmothe RS had sound nerves.
and so the balance is made even. No
tongue can tell, or pen portray, the an
guish many women endure who have
their mental powers developed, and then
find nothing in life upon which to use
them. When the employments of wo-
men are more complex, varied and social
than they now are, nervousness will lose
some of its most repulsive features.
When the principle of selection is intro.
dueed into woman's work, the gnawing,
unrest disconte Mt will be quieted. When
the bodies of women are strengthened by
a free out-ofdoor life, more bracing,
active exercise, the nerves of women
will grow vigorous in tone and action.
When the interests of women expand
to take in more of this broad, overhowing
universe than the sentiment of love,
whichis now immensely overgrown, it will
cease to harm, and viii become woman S
crown of beauty, instead of playing
strains, tangled, out oftune and harsh, p"
upon morbid and diseased nervous sys-
TEN. The Rer0Lutfon.