, 1880-11-07
Lecture Before the Philosophical so
ciatx Iax nr. Baard. Of NeW York.

not hare the nervous condition originally which
is 80 common In the present day. For the pro-
duction Of the ALCOHOLISM Of to-day, not only tho
overindulgence in stimu1ants YVES necessary, but
also the nervous sensitiveuess was necessary.
The lecturer drew the attention Of his audi
euce to q tree of nervous diseases which ho had
drawn upon blackboard, as sprtngtng from tho
foundation OF nervous sersitlvencss. They were
nervous dinthesis, siok-haadache, hay-feyer.
nervous diseases, neurasthanfa, aud insanity.
Though it was not generally considered SO,
hay-feyer was nervous disease. and though 1t
much m ~ moro common IL America than else
where, more cases Of this disease occurring III
the State OF Illinois aooe than n the rest Of the
ed, An army OF 50,0N hay-fever patients nrise
in the United States annually, giving ample
proof Of the extremely nervous nature OF its
people.
Tie personal beauty OF American women was
a very instructive topic to be considered III CON
result Of two factore,-of climate and the pc
c9iiar social Position Of american xoen
which is essential to the production Of great
beauty. Activity OF the mental and intellectual
nature was early developed in American won-
en-, who. in their grlhood, were burdened with
RESPONSIBILITIES OF ENTERTA1S1NG,
and allowed in greater measure than the girls
OF other countries freedom Of thought and ac-
ton: They lived easier lives, too. as rule, than
classes labor keeps down the standard Ut beauty.
One cause Of tho almost universal homelincss
Of the women who were tho subjects OF Euro
'pean works Of art wills tbnt the artists had prob
ably never seen rea lly handsome woman.
A great cause of this nervousness was mod.
ern civilization. Civilization alone would not
cause nervousness The Greeks were civilized,
and yet they did not possess 1t, but modern civ
zaon WITH It's steaM pewe7 teleSsaph
activity Of woman, did SO In q large degree.
Alpcrican civilization differed from that OF
States one man bore tho responsibility Of Gov
erntncnt; here every one did,. The strain OF
frequent elections wus constantly present. pro-
ductng dlsappontments to about one-half OF
Professionalism, with its various scots, also
helped to increase the Nations nervousness
No Catholic country was nervous. For them
the Church carried the burden of religion.
Here 1t was different, aud the chickering's in and
between the sects was not carried on without
nervous accompaniments.
the American people: Who shall be our next
| and Where shall we go to when We die?
AS cxclnplfying the extraordinary strain OF
wheh tsd II politics Willingly
| keeper. whom he had attended ns a sufferer
| from nervous disorders. This man hud been
to point where he was able to attend to his
duties anfely. He had been provided with n
small margin Of nerve force by the use OF WHICH
was, however, always on tho edge Of a recur-
| renee of his nervous troubles. During the late
! political excitement he entered heartily into
| election work, and when reconstructed with by
tho lecturer, he insisted that Hancock's election
| was necessary for the salvation Of the Nation,
| emergency The dny before the election
| he called upon the lecturer and informed him
| that his old trouble had occurred: He could not
sustain 4 five minutes conversation On political
| topics without becoming physically and NELL:
| tally prostrated. The lecturer provoked gem
craf laugh by closing the narration Of this cpl
sc1n wi fho dry rHnart. %t have mt the
| gentleman since the election"
THIS WAS ONLY ONE CASE
| out Of thousands which could be traced to the
sFsng from tue poffal d cq nm
| quent these are and how earnestly they are
Conducted 1t was not to be wondered at that the
Americans were q nervous people.
| The lecturer held that hysteria was mental
and not physical disease. and CITED the Jump
| ing Frenchmen who I'VE near r. Moosehend Lake.
dition had nothing to do with modern nervous
ness. and So to-day In Parts in some purts of
nss!a 10 Africa and oven IN "A Asn fa the snme
| Among the climatic causes of American nerv-
business was the drynesa Of the climate. This
ways. EmIgrnnts from European countries
| found, on arriving here, that their clothes hung
| out to dry lost their moisture quicker than be-
/ fore; their hair grew stiff, mud needed oiaiD9;
bread grew stale Very rapidly. matches lit 1nure
t readily, etc. In this dry atmosphere the pulse
and II S Tfy dry t5ef
| a spark could be brought from it.
| For all this there was no fear OF the American
people being e1nascuated and destroyed by rca-
| son ct their nervousness, as its. iucrcase wls
overcome By unprccedcntcdly rapid growth
OF the peoples strength. Americans weighed
| more than their fathers of 100 years
ago. and during the same time the
European had been growing thinner and lighter
The tact was that Europe Is being Americanized
| and America Germanized. and tie phicgmatic
| nature Of the Teuton immigrants was an ad-
| yantagcous factor in building up the American
| people.
| PROT Broomel, who urged that there WAS too
| strong a tendency already to credit people who
| had committed crimes with lack ct RESPONSE
| bility for them, and he feared TINT the prosnul-
| rution of the lecturers views would not
| amcIiorate this condition of AFFAIR."
| Mrs. DIT. Smith thought that the lecturer had
| heen TOO vague upon many OF his points, though
| she agreed with him TINT the Germaniztng ot
the American people was likely to be followed
! with beneficial results