The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1893-11-22
THE PHILOSOPHY OF NOISE.
version to Disturbance Is a symptom OF

! Aversion to Disturbance Is a Symptom OF
Neurotic Degeneration.
woman suffering from neuralgia sta
tons her son to keep boys from making
a noise in front Of the house. A boy
, comes by whistling-a performance IN
which we must recognize a natural,
wholesome and boylike act, w~hereupon
there ensues a short, sharp fight between
the pair, in which oneis accidentally cut.
The upshot is not important; the origin
Of it Is.
1t has long been usual to accord spe-
cial privileges to invallds in relieving
them against noise. Formerly straw
would be strewn in the street, and thou
sands Of persons who were not SICK
would be inconvienced to ease the pains
of one who was. In part, this custom
was one of ostentation. It could be
practiced only by the influential who
were exalted by making themselves a
nuisance. When death ensued, a hatch
ment was set up in the same spirit OF
v~ainglory. All the windows in the
house were closed for a term, the dura-
ton of which was fixed by custom, but
which bore a relation to the estate OF the
deceased and the consequent degree OF
exaltation descending upon his heirs.
All healthy animals delight IN noise.
The description includes barbarous folk
and children. Dogs bark (curs only
sneak off }, birds scream, boys shout,
girls clap hands to their ears in sweet
confusion, horses paw, all animate ma
ture responds to the exhilaration of noise.
The sick do not. In every form OF sick
ness the nervous function is deranged.
AS we have seen above mankind has
shown its appreciation Of this fact by its
customs. Excessive s~ensibility to noise
is thus one symptom Of neurotic degen-
Grafton. It is the mark of one broad dis
tinction between the state of civilization
and its opposite. 1t t~estifes to part
of the price which that state e1acts from
man on his physical side.
Within civilization itself Indifference
to noise is one of the distinctions Of a
system rudely healthful, both in body
and mind. The converse of this prOpo-
sition is equally true. Whenever a per-
son displays peculiar constituencies to
noise we may know that the case is one
of an unwhOlesOme mind in an unwhole-
some body. From the fact that the dis
turbance is essentially a neurOtic n it
follows that it is comfortable to a great
extent by the will. Much Of the dis
turbance that is experienced from noise
can be put completely aside by exercise
Of the will. A barking dog may keep
one person awake while his healthier or
wiser neighbor sleeps the sleep of the
just. Under the pinging Of the cable
car bells a valetudinarian subsidies into
frenzy while his younger clerk is Tapped
in dreams Of the equally unconscious
typewriter on the next floor. The O n
trast here need not be one Of relative
strength of mind merely; n of the two
minds is sick.
In such a case the will power is i'm
paired. 1t would probably be found that
the complaining person is also irritable,
passionate, perhaps consumed by self
contemplation. In many cases of this
order relief could nc doubt be gain ,
through treatment by suggestion. Bnt
in vastly the greater number the patient
is competent to minister to himself. lie
is still capable of exerting the will, and
In this exercise lies complete and per-
manent cure. Furthermore, the cure
does not apply alone to the particular
noise that may have called for it. 1t will
be found to have influenced the mind
permanently. The injurious effects at
tributed to noise do not proceed from
without, but from within. They do not
inhere in the aerial vibrations, but in the
mental response made to them.
Finally it ought to be observed that
the disease is one that increases by be-
ing yielded to. The noise that is first
noticed as IN annoyance in some mo-
ment Of irritation, anxiety or other merry
Gus disturbance can be nursed into an
object of horror. Time was when folk
thought serSitiveness to noise to be evi-
dence of high strung character. They
were rather proud of it and trotted it
forth III public. The world knows bet
ter now. Iterects hospitals for the Mrs.
Wittitterlys, whom it rather admired
in Nicholas Nickleby's time. 1t nc
longer holds poor Tom OF Bedlam for l.
spired, and since it has learned how
much sickness is either a fruit or a pha c
of ignorance it is getting a little sick OF
those sick folks, at least of whom it has
a right to LOOK for something BETTER
New York Evening Sun.
Fruit Good at Any Time.
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