The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1874-06-26

DIR. Allen, OF Lowell. delivered the an
nual address before the Massachusetts
Medical Society, at Boston. on the 81 inst.
DIR. Aliens remarks upon the change
which l. coming over the organization OF
the people OF New England are especially
worthy OF attention. Touching, as they
do, with great frankness and vigor upon
the debated question of the alleged dete-
rioration OF physical type which attends
the reproduction OF European races on
this continent, they possess an interest
much beyond the limited circle to which
they are Immediately addressed The data
for solving the problem are much more
abundant In New England than elsewhere.
and the conclusions which skilled observ-
ers draw from them are consequently of
great value.
In the fist place. DIR. Allen finds. and
he appeals to the medical profession OF
Massachusetts, To bear out his statements,
that the type and character of disease are
changing. Instead of the acute disorders,
violent attacks. and highly inllammatory
manifestations of disease with which the
last generation or two was familiar. the
physicians of to-day have mainly TO deal
with chronic complaints arising from gem
eral debility, Indigestion and morbid con-
ditions OF the blood or nervous system.
DR.. Allen leads us To infer that the vene-
section, powerful medicines, and other
heroic remedies y of the old school have
given place TO the tonic and soothing treat
ment of contemporary practice, quite rs
much in consequence of the altered type of
disease as of any advanced medical knowl-
edge. He states that the change in tine
bodily disorders of the present generation
Indicate the existence of less muscle
more nerve-less physical vitality--more
nervous energy-less power Of endurance,
but more mental activity" He finds this
conclusion borne out by the changes
To which anatomy and physiology bear
witness. The framework of the body
is not so large, so compact, nor so well
proportional as it used TO be. The physi-
cal texture is more delicate and refined.
the countenance paler, and the features
more pointed than heretofore. Facial ex-
preston has gained in intelligence. but lost
in hea,thfulness the brain is becoming
developed at the expense of the rest Of the
body; the nervous temperament Is assum-
ing an unhealthy predOminance. Hence
the greater frequency of disorders of the
nervous system. of sudden deaths from
apoplexy. paralysis. and heart disease.
The average duration of human life has
been heightened by the greater attention
paid by communities To hygienic laws. by
diminished exposure To the elements con-
sequent upon the altered conditions of
modern society. and by the advance in the
curative appliances OF medicine; but the
average vitality or stamina of the race is
being lowered from a variety of other
causes which receive too little attention.
DIR. Allen thinks that the operation of
these causes can be traced for two or three
generations back Among them he emu
M H. nf in
ments. and the neglect to counteract the
effect of these by muscular recreation the
increased strife and competition of bust
ness: more artificial modes of living. and
less healthy styles of dress: the high tenn
perature maintained in dwellings. and the
Overstimulated action of the brain from
the school-room upward into most of the
employments of life. Such of these causes
a. act upon the female constitution have
directly impaired the vitality of the off
spring. besides impairing the maternal
power of sustcnance. While the strain OF
modern life continues To increase. each
successive generation sends men and
women into the world less fitted 10 bear
that strain.
For evils so complex ii is hard to define
any comprehensive remedy or series of
remedies. DR.. Allen takes up safe and
sensible ground in demanding that reform
should begin i'm the school-room. Mental
culture must be pursued with constant
reference 10 physiological laws, otherwise
the system of sacrificing the training of the
body to that of the mind will end in arrest
ing the development of both. The radical
defect of our educational methods consists
in treating all children a. though their or
CARNATIONS were precisely alike. The uni
versal blunder of the teachers of youth is
10 be found in examining the memory
without developing the powers of observa-
ton. in Offering books "a the substitute
for. instead of the aids TO, oral exposition.
in producing a species of mental indiges-
ton by dumping into the mind an indis-
criminate mass of facts and principles
without due re.,ard 10 their proper as
sanitation. DR.. Allen sides with those au-
thoritics who have recently taken excep-
ton to the neglect of the limitations which
the physiological law of sex imposes upon
education. But he recognizes I'm the very
general i'll health of American women n
problem which must be- met by reform
in dress and social habits. as well as in the
forcing system of mertal development.
which Is impairing what ought To be the
higher types Of the female organism. We
can at present do little more than indicate
the general scope of the most interesting
portion of tins highly-suggestive paper.
The wide attention which IL l. likely To
receive will have mt least the beneficial ef-
feet of keeping alive controversy whose
merits cannot be too generally known and
liScuSSe1 " y TyusS