Wichita eagle., 1888-02-02
THE HYPOCHONDRIAC.
EXPERIENCE OF A MAN AS HE DRAWS
NIGH TO MIDDLE AGE.

4 Case Of Consumption Changes to Cam
cer-Rbeumatism and Heart Disease.
Haunted by Every Form of Physical
Disaster-Ihe Whole List.
A man reaches the age of 40 or thereabouts
without having experienced any serious N
terruption in the current of his life. Some
night he is sleepless; the next day he is tired.
He has overworked, or overdrank, or over
smoked, or overworried There is an extra
weight attached to his forehead, his legs arc
weak and he is possessed by lassitude. He
recalls at once the death of a man who fell
suddenly in the street. smitten by apopleyy.
The weakness in his legs, is not that sympto-
matte of paralysis
He has passed his prime, and does not
know it. He is ignorant of the fact that he
cannot labor as hard, drink much and
employ his energies as before. Nature be-
gins to siacken in her efforts at recuperation.
Night, with its rest and slumber, does not
bring him morning with all its old time
buoyancy and exhilarstion. Noticing these
things, he commences to examine his condi-
ton The moment he begins this process Of
self inspection he enters on the condition Of
the hypochondriac.
He catches little cold and has a cough
1t Is consumption. The advertising pages of
the newspapers catch his eve, and be sees
Consumption Cured" He reads it with
avidity. Symptoms are described and with
pang he feels that each one of them applies
exactly to his case. He hunts over the rec
ord of his ancestors to find if there be weak
lungs in the descent. Alas, yesl His grand
mother, he recalls, with painful shrinking
Of the heart, died of consumption at the age
Of 93l And there were two second cousins,
both OF whom, while quite young, fell a vic
tim to this frightful malady. He is doomed.
A CANCER, SURE!
The cough disappears. There is sore on
his tongue, and almost instantly there comes
into the horrible vision cancerl He reads up
the encyclopedia on cancer; he takes furtive
glances into the books Of medical friends, and
everywhere he finds confederation Of his be-
lief. 1t is cancer, sure! His broken slumbsr
is filled with images Of the hideous tumor,
and be listens with intense and painful inter-
est TO the variations Of those whose expert
ence includes the ulcer, the treatment Of the
patient by the knife Of the surgeon, and the
fearful death at last of the unfortunate vic
tin Finally be goes to the physician who,
if he be honest, assures him that bis fears are
groundisss, and then for q brief season be is
at ease.
There comes q pain in his ankle or knees
rheumatism. And now it moves 10 another
point. Migratory, is III All, il is moving
toward his heart! 1t may leap there to-
night, tomorrow, any morosnt; and again
be suffers the agony Of dissolution, IS ne an
t.cipates each moment feeling the pang Of
the thrust Of the deadly dart.
He rushes hastily up a stairway, and be
feels an increased action in his heart At
once the dread vision Of heart disease flashes
into his line of vision For months ne brocds
over the csiar1ity which Gas overtaken him
he moves about carefully: be avoids every
thing which viii produce excitement. be Is
as careful OF MS heart as If it were . new
born babe
He has STIFFNESS in his nose or throat,
and IF once he has catsrrn, combined with
bronchitis. There are prickling neuraIgic
pains in liz muscles and he q, Once reads up
or the matter and finds that they are pre-
mcnitory symptoms Of paralysis
This self Inflicted invalid reads the news-
papers. Every case 81 death from par.sts
asrisnts him He learns With fr-a scce-sons
u InyfH .. 1s4u-yEcSLt All P1A SpfS8bA. a44A
is csrtaia tia. be u rneoaoed with oae Of
taess forms Of disaster The age 81 every
man whose death il repcrted ercites in him a
painful i1tsrest X tie dsceased b younger
saan himself be experiences . p'osSnAn; pang;
II older, then he has faia. hops tina; his own
end 10 not ye: imminent
CHOLERA sYMYroMA
BE reads tha: there Is cholera IN Vice o.
Sicily, or IN the interior Of Spain Instant
~, IL his mind, be sees tbs horrible pessi-
isace creeping across the continent, over the
channel and Great Britain. thence in infect
I'd vessels 70 the American shores On emf
grant xaias II cra~is along The railway lines
and appears in Chicago He ~iu be one Of
tie very first victims Already be feels the
symptoms Of The disease He anticipates th~
wort q already feels IN is2azlaas&o1 thS