Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-01-11

4
of eorly treatment. Mans commercial
value in the State calls for the earlies
restoration to useful citizenship. Bu
| life has its values not to e-counted in
money. The moral forces, the socia
| ties, the family affection, the relation O.
the soul to citizenship here and hereaf.
ter-all these give to human life sa-
credness which makes it's salvation
| from disabling disease the peclliatn1 o1
social duty and privilege. '''s'
The earliest deviations in thought,
| feeling and action, when combined
with protracted wakefulpess, merit and
should receive prompt medical atten-
ton, for they are the indices of djsor-
dered brainal structures. Dalliance
here is fraught with the greatest evil
because the organ morbidly implicated
is the most important one in the human
economy. The complexity, delicacy,
and refinement of its textures not only
dispose to rapid metamorphosis, but
render reparation more tedious and un-
certain when morbid changes have Oc-
Cured. Hence, timely and proper
medication may save the brain from
serious structural changes, just as the
prompt closing of gaping wound may
prevent the occurrence of lifelong
and disfiguring cicatrix. doubt not.
if incipient morbid mentality was as
readily detected, and as promptly treat,
ed as are the arrangements of the gross.
er bodily structures, many cases of in
sanity would benipped in the bud. I'm
fortunately, however, medical advice Is
generally neither sought nor received
until the effective, ideational, and mo-
torial forces haye become so palpably
aberrant that he who runs may recogs
nize the brainal trouble isf ,HpfAHi
For the relief of so-called bodily all
ments medical advice is as a rule prompt
ly invoked, while the manifestations OF
incipient morbid mentality are usually
disregarded, or let severely alone.
Promptitude of action in the former and
passiyity In the latter disorders certainly
cannot be ascribed to higher value
placed upon bodily than upon mental
soundness. The explanation, 1 am dis
posed to believe, is to be found in the
bodily disorder the one being generally
and Justly ascribed to an alteration or
modification of part or parts of the
organism, while the other is held falla-
ciOus]y to be perversion of an imma.
terial entity. The one belief incites a
confidence in, and prompt appeal to,
remedial agents; the other leads to
therdpeatt5cdL 9,ils3Lis7l. as the mind dis
eased is regarded by the laity as disco
ciated from all bodily structures, and as
beyond the reach of so. called drugs or
material agents.
I have neither the time nor the dispO-
sition to enter upon metaphysical dis
cussion, and the end so desirable of at
tainment must be my excuse for at
tempting to popularize some of the facts
and conclusions of modern mental sci
ence Physiological research positively
affirms that there IS and can be no IN
telLigesace aUithOatt brain substance" J; that
a sound mind is conditioned upon a
sound and duly nourished brain, in
which the recondite forces of nutrition,
as evidenced by waste and repair, are ex
quisitely balanced !; that every thought,
emotion and display of will are the cor
relatives of the vital changes occurring
in the brain, and exemplify in the
highest sphere of biology the grand
law of the conservation and correlation
of the forces of nature. Accepting
these conclusions, attained by physio-
logical and pathological research, it be-
tllesaverage mind that
mentality, whether normal or abnor-
NAL, has material substratum just as
certainly as the forces once styled inn
ponderabless..are known to be condi-
toned upon the motions of matter; that
a diseased mind is the synonym of a
diseased brain. and is as demonstrably
within the domain OF therapeutics as
any of the arrangements of the lungs,
heart, liver, or kidneys. Indeed, hos
pital experience establishes the fact that
insanity is not less amenable to remedial
treatment than are the disorders of the
so called bodily organs.
An earnest appeal is made to the prac-
titioners of medicine throughout the
commonwealth to become coadjutors in
! the effort to impress upon the public
iaind the vital Importance to the in,
sane Of early and judicious treatment.
Let it not be derisively said that though
| knowledge comes, yet wisdom lingers.'
but spread widely the facts and truths
of psychological experience, in order
patiently acquired may become a ?or0c-
ticdl poaOer, when its faithful teachings
are enforced by the friends and guar
dams of the insane. Disruption of the
| associations wherein the morbid feel
ings and thoughts nave arisen is an
important inistory step in the treat
ment. An Asylum is unquestionably
the best place for tLe treatment of vio-
tlent mania and of melancholia with
| tendencies to suicide or starvation. Fol
| 1t may be safely affirmed that asylums,
as at present conducted, possess comforts
Iof which few homes can boast, while
taffording facilities for the treatment
| of patients nowhere else to be found
where, under experienced clinicians,
the physical and moral agencies best
adapted to the individual case may be
firmly employed, unobstructed by the
Interference of timid friends or unfaith-
full nurses. -
THE VALUE OF HEN MANURE.-I1