Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-02-28

It is not the object of this paper to indi-
cate what medical treatment may be re-.
quired, because the ever shifting symptoms
must be met intelligently as they arise |
do not tell you that time alone is necessary,
although that is an element that cannot be
ignored. do not tell YOU TO avoid doctors,
because | know it would be idle to do So
Many things can be done and ought to be
done in the way Of mitigating the distresses
incident TO unstrung nerves. Continual
hopeful assurance on the part Of the med
cal attendant is one of the greatest depend
encies aud comforts, together with such iu
dicious hygienc advice as may be rendered.
and helps more than ANYTHING else to
bridge over the period of restoration which
under all circumstances is tediousy pro
tracted
We hear of faith cures and Christian
science cures Exactly what is meant by
the believers in either am not qualified to
say, but both illustrate the influence Of
mind upon mind. Christian science and
faith cure are not new things A few
/ years ago mesmerism and magnetism were
the means by which similar cures were
/ wrought. Under such banners there are
always to be found standard bearers and
/ followers. Whatever there is Of potency
IN that force or power embraced in any of
these names has existed to a greater or less
degree in all mankind and always. Mes
merism or animal magnetism was by genu-
Inc scientific investigation reduced to the
| principle Of induction the transmission of
the will power Of one person into the acts
Of another. The nervous system is the
medium through which this influence from
one person TO another is transmitted and it
ha H.
ceptible to it. There are persons pos.
sessed of strong will, and others of weak
aud yielding volition. In the main it is
demonstration of stronger over a weaker
mind. 1t is these qualities in the main
that must be present. Learning is unnec-
essary TO its exercise Intellectual and |
philosophical minds may be said to be in
imical to it. 1t nourishes best among the |
illiterate and creduloHsly inclined Be. |
tween leader and followers the essential |
element is magnetic force and receptivity |
1t is thus that this force incorporated with |
a strong conception or faith iDfuses itself |
into receptive natures, inducing a convic- |
/ tion strong enough to override and even de. |
lude the subject into belief supplanting |
or Disgusting the real facts and state of the |
case, or making the subjects forget the |
reality in their blind fanaticism
| 70 bring the whole to nutshell capacity, |
all these miraculous results are due to the |
supplanting Of old notions by the substitu
tion of new emotions. Real diseases, those |
| of an organic nature. however bid defiance |
| to the theory that aches and pains are ilu- |
| sorry. 1t is the nervous ails that are dssi |
pated by moral aud spiritual influences, and |
every successful physician knows that the |
| strongest armament he eau bear with him |
and bring 10 bear upon such cases is hope
NHaN 1 y
strong personality is sufficient in some
cases even Of long standing, helpless aud
bedrdden with paralyzed wills, to bring
them to normal activity again, in a man
ner as marvellous as that recorded Of our
| great Master, Of the sick Of the palsy, who
| upon his command, Rise, take up thy bed
and walk, did 80. When | say that it is
the trivial ailments that give rise to the
most complications and the most distract
ing anxietes, you may understand that it
is among these that the marvellous cures
are recorded aud just to the extent that
practitioner is able to command the faith Of
the patient is he able to effect such cures
but ignorance or credulity in the patient,
and unlimited personal conceit or unscru
pulousness of motive in the healer are also
not infrequently the conditions seen to ex-
ist and cooperate with success
Hygienic suggeatiOns.
In ncludng desire to say that it has
been my object, in this paper, to discuss so
far as | could in this hour, a phase OF the
every day life Of our time, which has prob
ably been developed more largely than ever
before in our day by the increased ambi-
tions and wide opportunities afforded by
the unexampled civilization of this great
country.
4 Il. "a & IL.
important desiderata that every person
should cultivate and carry along with his
daily life in addition to his life work, some
ameliorations. It is too much the prevail
ing idea that the business of life should be
pushed to success and then period of leis-
ure be secured There could be no greater
mistake What is the object of life Why
should such headlong haste be made to Sc
cure fortune at middle life Who wants
to commence life of dleness in the very
prime of his years Who can We are
so constituted that we cannot abruptly
change the habits of twenty years of me
thodical life. Let the business man indulge
in something as he goes along that will re
juvenate himself and his family, if it be but
bit of land, an abandoned farm" away
back in the country, to develop and work
at for a month or two in the summer of
each year, that shall afford something pleas
ing in anticipation, in retrospecton and in
the actual enjoyment of.
Let the professional man carry along
with his profession some pet study or sci
ence that shall open out into fairer fields
and along more restful paths, than he is
every day obliged to tread No class of
persons are so unhappy as those who cult
vate no resources within themselves. There
are those who are interested in nothing
that does not connect itself with everyday
life work and gossip, store or barroom
associations after the days work is done.
Never book scarcely any abiding inter
est in the newspaper dependent entirely
on the evenings talk with boon compan-
ions. These cut off, all is gone ennui and
despondencY follow. | regard nothing so
necessary, as a safeguard against mental
break down, as the cultivation of varied
personal resources. No young person
should be allowed to grow up dependent on
miscellaneous public association that de
moralIzes rather than develops character.
1t is the duty of the public to provide read
ing rooms accessible to those whose homes
do not afford these opportunities. ! can
not but think the teachers of the present
day fall short of their duty in not especial
ly leading their pupils, according to the
bent observable, INTO the pursuance of read
ing in certain lines so that this may be-
come the unending resource and profit of
the boy, the youth and the man. One who
can find in our day no pleasure, interest or
profit in books, is more to be pitied, and
more in danger of going TO the bad, than
one laboring under constitutional ntirmi-
ties, but who is capable Of understanding
them and guarding against them OF all
evils, those of introspection are the great
est. If it is important to keep outside ones
self to keep healthy, it is equally necessary
70 get outside of self for treatment knock
about in the open air whether you feel like
it or not. There is nothing for tired nerves
so freshenng as the open air
| cannot close this subject without espe-
cially emphasizing what was known to the
early fathers in medicine as the ris Htedicd
tric HaturP-the recuperative power of
nature. My faith in this inherent princi-
pie of our physical nature, this innate law
of our being, has grown with the years of
my professional life. Nature is a silent
but a constant worker. The silent proc
esses going on independently of wills and
consciousness, tell in time and so we come
to say, Time NAV do something for you,
when other means have all been tried"
Now it is not the element of time that
does il, but this Unborn restorative power
that never forgets or misapplies its task,
This is the one thing | would especially
impress upon the minds of those who hear
me 1t is the rock of the ages in our ply
sical trials and extremities. The doctors
may virtually give you up. They may have
tried every thing and the system may have
failed to respond, still while nourishment
can be taken and assmilated to the extent
of holding together the feeble frame, aban-
don not hope There is much in the oft
quoted saw "While there is life there is