Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-03-28

A F1atser-OfaEact Solution of Senti-
mental K'rOhseinA.


~ healthy man or woman does not die OF
broken heart, q weil-kuoWn physician said. A
healthy heart is only big muscle, and nobody
can have grief enough to break it. When. there
fore. a blooming young widow shows apparent
~ inconceivable grief at the death of her hus-
band, and in a short time RECEIVERS her eQuanim-
ity, she ought not to be accused Of hypocrisy.
Neither may it be concluded that another widow
who soon pines aud dies has had more affection
for her husband than the first The first widow
may have had even more affection than the
other, but have been sustained by physical
health.
1T Is erroneous to suppose that death by
heart disease is always sudden. 1t is very com
monty protracted for years. and exists unde-
tected by most skillful physicians only to be
developed by some sudden occurrence There
was an eminent physician Of BROOKLYN in active
practice who died within an hour of a time
when lie was about to lecture. He was SO we'll
that. after examination by skilled phys cians of
a fIst-claSs insurance company he was declared
TO be perfectly sound. and a policy for $4,000
insurance on his life reached his home before his
body was cold. The cause OF his death was a
mystery until the post norton examination. hy
DR. John &. Johnson of Brooklyn showed that a
little piece of chalky deposit In the heart had
become loosened and formed an embolism. The
man had simply taken some specimens out of
his desk. and he died in his chair without any
excitement or undue effort. Any little excite
ment might have done il. The pXertOn of
grief might have done it, and then his death
would have been cited rs that from broken
heart.
''SO-called deaths from broken hearts NAV be
frequently traced in this way. One eXertiOn as
WeH as another may Furnish the requisite culmi-
nation. Medical books are filed with instances
OF death by heart disease during the perform
ance OF pleasurabe natural functions When a
man Is nearly dead 1t is easy to put on him the
nhshih@ stroke. nut It is inaccurate to give the
finishing stroke all the blame of his death
When woman loses her husband, or q girl
loses her lover, and by nervous exhaustion loss
OF sleep. lack of nourisiiment and grief weakens
the action OF her heart. she is said to die of a
broken heart but she las in fact died of q very
ordinary disease.
The case OF Bill Poole. living for days with
ball in his heart, il often spoken of as remark
able; but DR.. Flint records case where a man
had & bali In his heart twenty years, and finally
died OF pneumonia. Both these men had healthy
hearts, and could not have had them broker
by grief. Yet in fact, more men than women
die of heart disease. Out OF siXty-one observed
cases thirty -seVcn We're males Another record
showed seventeen males out of twenty -four
eases. Another record showed that in siXty-twO
eases OF rupture of the heart there was fatty
degeneration existing: One observer recorded
seventeen cases out OF tWenty-fOur where the
heart was ruptured. and where fatty degenera-
ton existed. hi other words. when fat is sub
If any OF these diseased people had been SUBJ
tected to sudden 9ref they might have furnished
Illustrations OF heart breaking. One medical
observer records one hundred cases of rupture
OF the heart where there was no grief to account
Tor it, In fact, grief is very rare cause of heart
| breaking.
| disease Is the real cause of heart breaking
/ and the various kinds of disease which lead to
! 1t are SO many that volumes would be neces-
/ sary to describe them. The causes of these
| diseases are manifold. and are very much under
the control Of the individual There are, of
course. hereditary tendencies to heart disease:
| but. aside from traumatic causes. these ten
denotes may exist for years without fatal re-
suit.
| at Is a curious fact that the least dangerous
heart disease often creates the most apprehen-
| sion. Frequently patients who have only a
| functional or durable disorder will not be per-
suaded that calamity does not impend al
though there may be no real danger. On the
| other hand. organic disease may exist unsus-
| pected. There are sympathetic relations be-
tween the mind and the heart, and disorders of
the heart are frequently traceable to mental
excitement either pleasurable or painful.
| Quick beating OF the heart is no certain symp-
! tom Of danger. 1t has been demonstrated that
the pulse may safely range from 100 to 40 per
minute for many years"