The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-05-07

H CultOT WHO Sulleu, Wullt SOIQ6
His deed approved as best they could;
And now I'm sure that Spring has come.
Henry S. Kiehl, in Judge.
THE MADNESS OF MUSIC.
It's Effect on the Central Molecule,
and Dr.. Selsam's Cure.
, On the evening of the 18th of September,
1866, I made a call upon my old university
friend, the illustrious DR.. .Adrien Selsam,
professor of general pathology, chief of
clinics, family physician to the Grand
Duchess, ETC., etc. I found him alone in his
magnificent apartments OF the Bergstrasse.
His elbow was resting on a small black
marble table, while his eyes were plunged,
SO to speak, into a crystal bowl, which ap-
peared to me to contain perfectly limpid
water. Notwithstanding the purple rays
of twilight which effected an entrance
through the three high windows which
overlooked the palace gardens, the thin
face, sharp nose and peaked chin of my
friend Selsam-as I now saw them reflected
in the glass bowl-assumed a CHASTITY hue.
One might readily nave imagined it a
guillotined head, an illusion which was
heightened by the scarlet lining of the
dressing-gown.
Raising my voice, I asked:
what are you doing there, my friend?
Meditating, l should judge, upon the doc
trine of Sangrado?"
But he met my raillery with such an
ambiguous expression of countenance that
/ was completely surprised.
Theodore" said he, after a pause, "this
Is not a subject for TESTING. I am studying
G -z... 10000 $500
Annah Wunderlich. Her symptoms, as
you described them yesterday, are very
serious; those Civilizations, those ecstasies,
that nervousness, and, above all, the ex-
aggerated expressions of the venerable
lady in alluding to Haydn's creation,
Beethoven-all Indicate q very alarming
disorder"
sand you pretend to have discovered
this in that bow of fresh water?"
"Just SO; it was q most fortunate chance
that brought you here. I was wishing for
you."
Then, pointing to a violin which hung
upon the WALL.
Mozart?o
This request seemed so singular that 1
could not but wonder whether my friend
Selsam, like my poor aunt, wal not becom-
ing a little childish; but he, divining my
thoughts, smiled ironically, saying:
"Reassure yourself, dear Theodore, nv
intellectual faculties are unimpaired. /
am on the eve of a grand, a sublime dis
covery."
"Goodi That's all sufficient
And taking down the violin 1 examined
1t with q covetous eye. 1t was one of
those famous ~Levenhaupt, a dozen of
which bad been made by order of Frederick
II. w~herewith to accompany his fute-per-
feet, irreproachable instruments, which are
deeHed by certain connoisseurs the equal
of the Stradivarius. Be that as it NAV,
scarcely had / run the bow across the
strings, than all that I had heard in its
praise fell short of the reality: The ele-
gance of the work, added to the exquisite
purity of its tones transported me to the
seventh heaven.
SO, great, great masterlo 1 exclaimed.
o, sublimelmusician! Who could be insen-
sible such grace, strength INC inspiration p
My hat fell upon the floor, my eyes
sparkled, my knees trembled, 1 was beside
myself. Selsam, the crystal bowl, and my
aunt's illness no longer existed for me.
Finally, after the lapse of an hour, ]
arose, as from a dream, from DR.. Adrien's
lounge. upon which had been reclining
and asked myself wonderingly, what had
TRANSFERRED. I saw Selsam holding a STRONG
m~agnifying glass before the bowl; the
waters in it were troubled; thousands Of
infusioria crossed one another in every di
rection.
v 6ll oclSdIus| SdIu l., III u lteDle VOICE
fare you satisfied"
Then with a beaming face he. approachet
me, n taking both my hands in his i'm
pressively, he exclaimed:
"Thanks-thanks, my dear and worthy
friend, you have rendered science a val
uabl service"
1 was wonder struck. what! by
playing a piece of music 1 have contribu
ted aught to science-I!"
Eyes, dear Theodore, I will not leaveyo,
in ignorance of the glorious part which
you have taken in the solution of a CRANE
problem. Come, follow me; you shall Sc
all-understand ALL"
He1ighted a candelabrum-night havin,
fallen-then opened a side door, and signed
to me to follow him. 1 experienced tn
most profound emotion while passin,
through several successive apartments, a
though my entire being were about t
undergo some subtitle change, hat l woult
now receive the key to hitherto invisibl
worlds. The candelabrum cast a luri,
light over the sumptuous furniture of tn
elegant establishment: the ornaments, tn
pictures, the carpets faded away in tn
shadows; smiling faces peeped at us fror
out their frames as we passed by. Tn
light crept in and out of the gliding, an
finally conducted us to the top of a hig
staircase, the baluster of which was 9
bronze. We descended into an interio
court, the sound of our furtive ~footstep
echoing in the distance like a mysteriou
whisper. Several doors opened upon thi
court; before one of these Selsam stopped
turning toward me said:
"This is my amphitheatre. 1t is here tha
1 work, that 1 dissect. Do not be alarme
Nature parts with her secrets onl
through the hands of the dead"
Tits useless todeny that l was frightened
1 would have receded, but Adrien havin
could not but follow him. 1 therefor
entered, pale with emotion, and on a lare
oak table saw a corpse-the corpse of
young man-extended, the hands crosse
upon his bosom, his head thrown bacl
his eyes pen-as motionless as a clod
earth. He had q fine face. In his left sic
was a deep wound which penetrated ii
cavity of his chest. But it was not tt
sight OF this wound, nor yet the somb
character of the head, which most in
pressed me, but the immobility-tl
silence.
"This, then, is man !" thought 1; "inerti
eternal repose!"
I was pondering this overwhelmil
thought when SelsaIn, placing the edge
his scalpel on the resistless body, said:
"All of this lives-all of this will soon r
vive! Thousands of beings, enslaved by
like force, will recover their independent
The o.dy thing which absolutely ceas
to be, in this body, is the power to col
mand; the power which indicates a sing
direction to all these individual lives-t
will! That power is there"
He struck the head, which gave back
hollow sound, as though it were made
wood. 1 was shocked, even though S,
sans words treasured me somewhat.
"All, then is not annihilated )" thought
$50 much the better. 1 prefer to live in d
tail rather than not live at ALL"
"Yes," cried SelsaIn, who seemed to re
in my face the thoughts which pass
through my mind; Eyes, man is imnort
in detail; zach of tie molecules of whi
he is composed is imperishable; these Ii
always and forever! But their lives, tn
spfferings are transmitted to the soul wifi
governs them, consults their needs, a
holds hem subject to will. We have soug
the highest type of government we pl
sumo to lave eound it IN a hive of bees,
an ant-hill; the ideal model of gov frnme