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

Of masticatng his food All the same,
however, the cat is out Of the bag His
reserve indicates the mood he is in, fo-
when he comes fresh TO the table from the
rest Of a night, it is natural that his cheer
full spirits should find expression in cheer
full converse. Even children learn TO take
this in, and forecast the probabilities in
connection with il. Doubtless most people
have peculiarities Of this kind observed by
those who know them best, but which they
may be ignorant of themselves because Of
the considerateness Of their friends in re.
framing from the mention Of them. Tenn.
permanent determines largely the primary
| manifestations of nervous weakening.
Those naturally active and prompt become
unrsasonably impatient and imperious
while those Of slow habit become hesitating
and doubtful about everything, and unable
TO come TO time in anything.
In a weakening Of the nervous system
irritability may be regarded as one of the
| first evidences, but one perhaps of least
| gravity. To some tempeTaments aud con
stitutions there is an undue susceptibility
10 irritants, and in others such lack of il
that nothing seems TO stir up the individual
10 action. These unimpressionable persons
are hardest of all to get on with. Every
| thing seems TO 90 for nothing with such
|
| be taken into account in determining what
effects or manifestations are natural and
what morbid. From the condition Of irri-
liability alone nothing need be apprehended:
but its significance consists in its constitut-
ing the first departure from health Med
ical treatment is not called for yet but let
this go on 10 inability to sleep which comes
next, and the chances are that course Of
treatment will he involved So let not the
Importance of this be underestmated
A seepless condition is one Of the most
trying that can be experienced when il
seems to be the only trouble one has The
resort TO opiates is the wrong thing, and
sedatives are apt TO be unsatisfactory.
| When this stage Of disorder is reached
both patient and friends begin 10 see that
it ought TO have been prevented and
| though out Of time the course of treatment
that ought TO have been preventive must
now be entered upon as curative. The
cares that have been accumulating, and
the irritatious that have been borne must
somehow be got away from. But howi
| There is often as much indiscretion used in
the remedy as in the cause. What is the
effect of dropping everything that has oc-
cupied the attention, aud constituted the
| life of the individual for weary months
and may be years. | will tell you The
| patients mind concentrates itself morbdly
on self and the bodily sensations are dwet
| upon until a mental invalidism results
| This condition Of all others should be
| guarded against. In nine cases out of ten
a complete surrender Of all ones ngrained
duties and interests is unnecessary. II
the irritable aud sleepless state has come
! about from long continued causes like in
I crease Of household duties and obligations.
never lessening and constantly growing,
the time has come for help in the perform
snce Of those duties aud temporary change
perhaps Of environment: but not TO the ex-
tent Of a full surrender Of ones responsi
bilities, and the consequent abandonment Of
the minds interests TO the concentration
upon self as just now deprecated Keep
the affections and interests ~ the healthy
mark and secure the necessary let up
from nervous tension, with the assurance
that help shall be continued and permanent
10 the extent needful in future, and then
bide the time necessary for restoration of
lost nerve force, not forgetting that as it
has been parted with slowly, so must it he
| slowly restored.
In cases where the strain has been re
cent, less time is required than where it
has been the result Of protracted causes.
Nature has its compensations, too, which
il is well to remember. Take for instance,
the mother, who has been under the double
strain Of broken rest and anxiety in the
care of her sick child. The crisis past, the
strain which has been endured is more
realized than during the period Of danger;
but with convalescence comes in the com
pensation. The JOY over its recovery
makes the prostration less felt, and both
mother and child recover together. The
hardest Of all strains follow sickness and
death Of loved members of a household
The prostration in such cases is over
whelming; but nothing is kinder than ma
ture, seen in physiology. Her efforts
are never put forth in but one direction; TO
heal aud 10 restore is her undertaking en-
deavor to the latest breath.
Causes.
have been speaking of causes operating
through the cerebro spinal system of
nerves; Of those connected with society in
its social relations and with those malades
that result from long and UNMARRIED life la
bors, without the healthful intermssions de-
rived from alienation or change. Let me
now speak of nervous states that come
through the supplementary ganglionic sys-
TEN. These are of two classes:
|. Brain work and excessive voluntary
tension such as the business man subjects
himself to, often may, by the undue con
sumption of nerve power in this line rob
the ganglia Of their supplies, and so bring
about bodily ails, in the way Of weakened
digestion, heart palptations and sluggish
or irregular visceral action Of all kinds
This happens to literary and professional
men quite as often as to business men; and
nervous dyspepsia with all that is embraced
in that term is sufficient 10 disturb the
temper and try the patience of the veriest
saint on earth. In these cases depletion OF
nerve force is all that is the matter. 1t is
of no use to go to Saratoga TO drink the
medicinal waters there; they don't manu-
facture the nerve supply. II benefit is ex-
perienced in that way it is due to the re-
taxation of mental strain rather than IL
the virtues of the waters taken. There
is no objection TO going to Saratoga for il
gives a change; and the one thing that i.
needed is to get out of the worn rut OF
routinism. It is unnecessary, in most cases,
TO do nothing absolutely; but better. far
better, to work enough in some new direc-
ton or environment TO keep within ones
own control the expenditure of what
mental power must be in some way eX
ercised, else it will surely be turned to q
morbid exaltation of the frictions Of the
vital functions, and bring down the whole
mind under the cloud of hypochondria in
which nothing can be seen or felt save the
liver, the stomach, the heart, the lungs
aud all the functions which in health, and
with full nerve power. we are unconscious
Of
>. Now let us see how mental invalid
ism may grow out of bodily ails. instead OF
bodily ails out of mental invalidism. This
comes from abuses of some of the bodily
functions by over stimulating and over
taxing them. The unconscious functions
we have mentioned are long suffering and
long forbearing hut like the slow, patient
camel, when finally aroused display a con
sciOusness undreamed of, and destructive
power that is for time irresistible No
organ is so much abused both willfuly and
incOnsiderately as the human stomach.
From the fact that man is an omnivorous
creature the means of abuse are greatly
increased, The evils of habitual drinking
have become so hackneyed in connection
with the temperance question, that l will
not enlarge upon them here But the mis-
chiefs consequent upon injudicious eating
are at the bottom of no less i'll health and
morbid nervous states than those resulting
from drinking; though in truth we often
have them in combination.
One of the great faults of the American
people is the indulgence in so many kinds
of food at a meal Yankees may not be
worse in this respect than those Of the far
West, but the older civilization affords
more means and greater variety of temp
tations than a new country. have often
wondered how many of us would be able
to eat a mouthful of such a mixture as
might be made by the combination a
modern dinner would afford if the several