, 1880-09-13
American Nervousness.

ca than else where, owing to various
causes, climatic and otherwise. Long
neglected nervous exhaustion generally
ends in sleeplessness. When this dis
\ tressing phenomenon is referrible to
neurasthenia it can and should be cured
without recourse to any powerful an
odynes or narcotics. Other familiar
sequences of the same nervous malady
are mental depression and the form of
insanity known as melancholia. A still
more frequent outcome Of nervous ex-
haustion is tendency to inebriety.
The neurasthenic state excited by ex
posure to heat, or developed, as it so
often is, by the shock of bereavement
or the rack of financial anxieties, may
engender al irresistible desire for in
diligence in alcoholic liquors or opium.
A curious sequel of nervous exhaustion
is hay fever, which, philosophicaily
analysed, is simply, we are assured, q
nervous idiosyncrasy, sensitive to some
one or many external irritants, of which
pollen, sunlight, heat, dust, foul air
and smoke are the most familiar. For
exhaustion OF the brain, vigorous out
door exercise is Indispensable; as re-
CARDS food, abstinence from strach and
sugars, and in their place the freest use
permitted by the digestive organs of
fats and oils, is pronounced potent
adjunct to the medicinal treatment Of
nervous disorders Indeed, one of the
great wants of the day is an inrrease of
fat in our nourishment. Our fathers
could eat pork and digest it, but since
it has been, for the most part, banished
from the table, we are suffering in all
directions for want of fat. Arsenic,
cannabis indica, and citrate of caffeine,
ergot, are all useful medicines in the
treatment of nervousness.
BROKEN HEARTS. Many women die
because they have no incentive to live;
hope and courage fails, and disease
takes possession of the eufeebled body
and mind. Men are very guilty in this
regard. They take a young girl from
the warm atmosphere OF loving,
cheerful home, and after few weeks
of devotion leave her to battle single
handed with new cares and new
duties, and to bear sickness
with what courage she may, and go
their ways into the tangled paths
of life without thought of the re-
sponsibilities they are Sinking or the
solemn vows they have really broken.
No wonder SO many happy brides
ripeu into dissatisfied matrons, who
seem to have lost all real delight in
living.
HEALTHY PROPERTY OF ONIONs.-
The healthy properties of onions have
lever been fully understood. Lung
and liver complaints are certainly ben
Gifted, often cured. by free consump-
ton OF onions, either cooked or raw.
Colds yield to them like magic. Don't
be afraid of them. Taken at night, all
offense will be gone by morning, and
the good effects will amply compensate
for the trifing annoyance. Taken reg
ularly, they promote the health of the
lungs and the digestive organs. An
extract made by boiling down the juice
of onions to a syrup, and taken as
medicine, answers the purpose very
we'll, but fried. roasted or boiled onions
are better. Onions are very cheap
medicine, within everybody's reach,
and they are not by any means as bad
to take " as the costly nostrums neg
lect of their use may necessitate.
A WORD FOR SoFF- BEDs.-Why
should soft beds be considered un-
wholesome? Certainly they afford
more comfort than hard ones. Hard
beds should never be given to little
children, and parents who suppose that
such beds contribute to health by hard
ening and developing the constitution,
are surely in error. Eminent physi-
cians-both here aud in gland-con-
cur in this opinion, and state that hard
beds have often proved injurious to the
shape OF infants. Birds and animals
cover their offspring with the softest
material they can obtain, and also
make soft beds for them; why not do
the same with our own young?
RELIEF FOR WAKEFULNEss.- Mrs.
Thompson, in the Erangelist, says the
best remedy for sleeplessness is to wet
half towel, apply it to the back of the
neck, pressing it up toward the base of
the brain, and fasten the dry half of
the towel over so as to prevent too rapid
circulation. The effect is prompt and
pleasant, cooling the brain and bring
ing on sweet slumber. Warm water
is better than cold. To all suffering
from overwork, excitement or anxiety,
this remedy must prove blessing.
CARPERTED FLooRs.-When a carpet
is taken up to be cleansed, the floor be-
meath is generally much covered with
dust. This dust is very fine and dry
and poisonous to the lungs. Before re-
moving it sprinkle the floor with di-
luted carbolic acid, to kill any poison
GUS germs that may be present and to
thoroughly disinfect the -four and
render it sweet.
SPIcED APPLEs.-E Eight pounds of
apples, pared and quartered; four