The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-11-10
NERVES AND MOODS.
How to Secure Good Health, Mental, Spir-
ituaI and Bodily.

ituaI and Bodily.
A nerve is wonderful, wonderful
thing. A little white filament, some-
times so delicate and so fine as hardly
to be visible when exposed from the
tissue in which it has lived. Exquis-
1tely sensitive and strangely responsive
to the sentiments of pleasure or pain
which are conveyed through it, this
wonderful thing does its duty ana bears
its burdens and stands the racket i'm
posed upon it, with degree of patience
and fortitude almost impossible to real
lZe. Nothing in nature is more marvel
Gus than the network ofnerves cOnstitu-
ting what we somewhat carclessly call
our nervous system. Each nerve is u
Geographic cord in itself. Each is a
part of the whole complex and inimita-
Bile system of telegraphy by which
messages from the headquarters in the
brain are sent to the minute stations in
the eXtremities. If this Geographic
system of nerves were erected on di-
minutiye poles outside of our bodies, it
would be most peculiar exhibit. Hap
PLY for us, our nervous systems are, as
it were, harmonious arrangement of
underground wires, carefully buried
within us, and deity concealed from out
side observation. We can not see them,
nor know whether they are too slack or
too tightly strained. We can tell when
they are disturbed, for neuralgia agony
shoots along their course from station
to station. When We are glum, and
dismal, and low-spirited, the telegraph
ic apparatus is out of order and the
nerve forces are demoralized When
nerves work wrong, it is as when tele-
graphic poles are shaIy or wires tan
gled or crossed, or currents irregular,
or batteries confused.
According to the irregularity of our
nerves, so are our irregular moods. If
all is right, we are happy and CHEEKY
and sunshiny. But let the batteries
blunder, or currents cross, or the wires
become entangled, and we are irrita-
Bile, sulky, ill-tempered or angry, as
the case may be. In some of our dis
tressful moods we pOut, and sulk, and
misinterpret and misunderstood. We
take Offense where no Olfense is in
tended, and we impute to others mo-
tives which are never conceived by
them. At times when the moods are
out of sort. we think the whole world
is prosecuting US, and we, the afflicted
objects OF persecution, are above all
other human creatures singled out for
martyrdom. That this gives US hate
full and unpleasant feelings toward our
fellow-men is not to be denied How
can we help it?
If it were necessary for us cOntinu-
ally to abide in such state of sin and
misery as this, our lot would be hard
indeed. But for the most of US it is as
unnecessary as it is for home to be
perpetually distracted by a lot of howl
ing and ill-mannered children. Some
families allow their little boys and
girls to be in a constant wrangle; to
tell tales on each other, and to whine
for what they want. Others give the
youngsters to understand that they
must behave themselves decently, or
else go without what they would like
to have. SO with the nerves. There
is no more use in letting our nerves
get the better of us so that we
have to tell people we are
moody, and odd, and queer and
cranky, any more than there is OF let
ting our children turn home into a
bowling desOlation. There are cir
cumstances under which most of us
can without insuperable difficulty, rise
from the moOdiness which is brought
about by letting the nerves have their
own way. Mental and physical diet
has much to do with it. Brooding over
real sorrows and imaginary miseries
will make the best OF us moody and
wretched. Nursing grief and alfronts,
and telling the sad story of our woes,
has as depressing an effect as mar
cotic drugs. Sleeping in unventil-
ated rooms often produces chronic
WretChedness, eTen if these rooms be
furnished with the appliances of wealth
and refinement. Association with grim
persons is depressing and dispiriting.
Eating greasy or indigestibe food at
table surrounded with grumblers is
enough to upset our whole nerve-sys-
tenn and throw us into dark blue hor-
rors.
Good health" mental, spiritual and
bodily, is worth working for. 1t casts
out the malaria of moodincss and lifts
US into the sunlight Of joy. Good health
is more easily attained than most folks
suppose. Cor. Christian at Work.
Too Doocid Vulgah.