The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1874-07-16

Would that / had newer quilted Brittany!
! was content, rich and happy. My
father died without ever having found
fault with HE, and left me To do as /
pleased. I grew up, instructed by the
cure, and lived the careless, honest,
and pure life Of . Breton gentleman.
Who could have told me that I should
leave Finistere, and die upon hospital.
bed at the entrance of PERKS? I felt,
when left Brittany, that it was oil over
with me-. Twas at Villiers, at Cham
pigny; Ibid as the others, l fought, but
God did not wish for me! IF you knew
how l suffer! I shall never see again my
chateau, the woods, the flocks, my horse,
my dogs! Nay God shorten my suffer-
ings and. pardon my weakness! Do not
remain here-my last hour approaches,
and ! must prepare for my fate like
good Christian, The poor victim died
ON the 2Sth day of the same month.
= There Is great difference in the prev
alence of nostalgia among different ma
tionalities. 1t finds the greatest number
OF victims among the French, on account
OF their love for their country, and the
reluctance with which they leave it.
The inhabitants of the western depart
ments, especially the Bretons, the south
ern departments and Corsica, are partic-
ularly predisposed to it. The Swiss also
love their country, and leave it with re-
greet. Nostalgia Ia not rare in Italy, es-
pecially since the conscripts are trans
ported from one extremity of the King
dom to the other. The English and Ger
mans emigrate more willingly. The En-
their adventurous spirit, and it may be
said that their country is in every place
where the British flag hoats.
It is also true that the less the degree
Of civilization the greater is the love. for
the native country. Savages, men of the
grOssest civilization and the most desc
late climates, quit their country with
great reluctance. A Laplander carried
to Poland was seized with an insur-
mountable sadness, and only saved his
life by q return to his inclement country.
An Indian girl, Courame, brought up in
the forest, was adopted by wealthy
family. Garry me back" she cried,
:" to the country where Twas born! Oh,
my mother, have you forgotten met"
C0urame languished, wasted away, and
at last escaped with some Indians Of her
tribe.
This singular malady seems to arise
from nervous affection of the organs of
imagination and memory. The differ
'ence between this and other forms of
madness justifies this view of its cause.
Indeed, the nostalgia does not have
senseless and extravagant ideas like the
madman. He is not ruled by fear or ter
rOr of an imaginary evil, like the Typo
chOndriac. Besides, the maniac and the
hypochondriac preserve their health and
flesh, while the profound sadness of the
nostalgia produces fatal, functional dis
turbances. The different conditions of
insanity are hereditary; nostalgia is
never SO. Finally, its characteristic is,
that 1t can be surely healed, when it has
not proceeded too far, by restoring the
nostalgia to his country.
1T such remedy is not possible, every
means should be used to avert the fatal
influence. Soldiers and marines should
be actively occupied, and provided with
all possible amusements. Nostalgia is
less frequent in the marine than in. the
army service, because the marine officers
provide amusement for the sailors and
fortify them against ennui. Nothing is
so gay as ships company. Order loses
nothing ON this account, and obedience
is only the more earnest. -
Among nostalgics whose malady is
caused by the isolation to which the Ian
guage they speak reduces them, the CON-
partnership of those who understand their
language is often an efficacious remedy.
During the siege of Paris there were
patients in the ambulances, chiefly Bre-
tons, who grew thin and lost their
strength daily. The physician questioned
them; they could not reply, for they un-
derstOOd only the E0t0is of their own
country. Some one was found who con.
versed with them in this patois, consoling
and reviving their spirits, and the de-
spairing patients recovered strength and
hope. When all other means have failed,
certain stratagems may ameliorate the
condition of the sufferer. Marceray
cured monk in q military hospital by
reading to him an apocryphal letter, in
which his superior authorized him to re-
turn to his convent as soon rs he. re-
covered.
In nostalgia, as in other nervous dis
eases, the only improvement to be an
ticipated must be looked for in judicious
and skillful moral Intervention of the
physician. 20
The facts here presented are very in.
teresting, and give an exhaustive history
of the disease from q French stand.
point. " ,,.
The prevalence of this affection among
prisoners during our late war would be
an interesting subject for investigation.
e. H. c., in Anpleton's Journal.