Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1893-11-07

av-ssi,n o. N~tr,rrhanre Is n Symptom Of
,'suruiip Degeneration.
Avpiss1 .a9lriug from neuralgia saas
tions htr 'an 70 keep boys from making
a noise 10 f4out Of the house, A boy
comcs ly whisiling--a performance 81
which $40 rnv.t recognize q natural.
Who'll ei boylil1o net, whoreuuon
There 0l,3 % short, sharpGght between
The la.r, n lichoncis accidentally cut.
Tho IA hot Is mot important; the origin
Of It is.
Il has long been usual to accord spe
cial privileges 20 invalids in relieving
them against noise. Formerly straw
would be strown in the etreet, and thou.
sands Of persons who were not sick
would be inconvienccd TO ease the pains
Of one who was. In part, this custom
was n Of ostentation. Il 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
vainglory. All the windows in the
house were closed for a term, the dura.
tion OF which was fixed by custom, but
which bore a relation 10 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 of, birds scream, boys shout,
girls clap hands to their cars in sweet
confusion, horses paw, all animate ma
turo responds tothe oxhilaration Of noise.
The sick do not. In every form Of sick.
ness the function is deranged.
AS we have seen above mankind has
shown its appreciation Of this fact by its
customs. Excessive sensibility to noisd
is thus symptom of neurotic degen'
Grafton. It is the mark Of one broad dis
tinction between the state of civilization
and its opposite. II testifes 70 one part
of the price which that state exacts from
man on his physical side.
Within civilization itself indifference
to noise is one of the distinctions of n
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 one il
follows that it is comfortable to a grea;
extent by the will. Much Of the dis.
turbance th9t Is experienced from noise
q be put completely aside by exercise
Of the will A barking dog may keep
one person awake while his healthier or
wrTaaw naTnlaN,r alaarRa kln p1aaY, &c Nhl
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 con-
trast here need not be one of relative
strength Of mind merely; one Of the two
minds is sick.
In such a'case the win power is inn
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 no doubt be gained
through treatment by suggestion. But
in vastly the greater number the patient
is competent to minister TO himself. He
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 hat 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 tn,
mental response made to them.
Finally it ought to be observed tina.
the disease is one that increases by be
ing yielded TO. The noise that is frs
noticed Is an annoyance in some mo
ment of irritation, anxiety or other nerv
Gus disturbance can be nursed into 81
object of horror. Time was when folk
thought s-ensitiveness to noise to be evi
dence Of high strung character. The,
were rather proud Of it and trotted /
forth in public. The world knows bet
ter now. Itorects hospitals for the Mrs
Wittitterlys, whom it rather admire,
in Nicholas Nickleby's time. 1t N
longer holds poor Tom of Bedlam for in
spired, and since it has learned no
much sickness is either a fruit or a phc
Of i%gnorGnc it is getting a little sick
those sick folks, at least of whom it ha
a right to look for something better
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