Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-09-30
cuRINe A NERVOUS cRANk.
Treatment Employed In Restoring A We'll
 Man Who Imagined He Was HI.

Treatment Employed In Restoring We'll
 Man Who Imagined He Was HI.
 On the east side lives physician whose success in the treatment of nervous dis orders has brought to him, rather against his own wishes, considerable practice among a class whom he describes as nervous cranks" One of these pa- tients, man of large means, had caused no end of trouble to the doctor, who, seeing that the case was purely one of mental idiosyncrasy, was unwilling to prescribe q course of dragging or other injurious treatment. The man insisted that his nervous system was completely unstrung and that the physician should take his case in hand.
 "There you can see how nervous l am," said the patient one day, in the doc tors office, as he picked up an incandes- cent electric light bulb from an adjoin- ing table. Look at that. See how that carbon coil inside of the bulb vibrates and trembles from my nervousnessr
 "Very well, replied the physician, de- termined now to deal with the case in another way, you are moro nervous than supposed, but think l can fetch you out all right in five or six weeks"
 An assortment of bogus pills and po- tions was given to the patient, and he was placed under rigid rule for sleep, diet, baths and exercise. His physical health, which had been excellent to be- gin with, improved steadily; but his nerv- ous condition, as indicated by the tiuc- tuations of the incandescent bulb, which he found conveniently at hand every time he visited the doctors office showed little or no trace of mendinG.
 One day, however, near the end of the fourth week, the patient, upon taking the bulb from its accustomed place and holding it up to the light. was surprised to find that the vibrations of the carbon were almost nothing. Beaming with new hopefulness, he called the physi- cian's attention to the fact. The latter was surprised and delighted. The pa tient tested himself with the bulb in his right hand, then changed it to his left and then repeated the operation, always with the same gratifying result. The treatment had done its work. He felt like n well man.. He was satisfied from the first that those pills would fix him.
 He sailed for Europe the other day. remarked the physician, ''and as he is to | 1 there is no danger of his learning how cured him, He was so taken with the idea of testing the condition of his nerv- ous system by tue vibrations of the car bon in that electric light bulb that 1 hu- mored his fancy. After three or foul weeks of careful living, and when he had put himself intoifirst class physical con dition, simply changed the bulbs fol him. For the ordinary bulb containing a carbon coil substituted one that had made with d fine coil of oxidizet silver wire closely resembling the other and which was SD stiff that it was capa ble of almost no vibration when the bull was held in the patients hand. He tool it, saw that the vibrations had ceased and concluded that he was cured.
 "In some way, perhaps by accident ol when in condition of mental excitement he had noticed the trembling of the car bon in bulb when held in the hand and had instantly made up his mind tha he was suffering from nervous disorder He insisted upon using the same mean i'll testing his progress toward recover, that had first persuaded him that he wa i'll. and w.iS compelled to acquiesC and treat him from that basis. He ha' evidently had little experience with thes bulbs. Ordinary tests and observation would have shown him that no man however sound, can hold an iucandesCen bulb in his unsupported hand so steadil that the carUuu inside of it will not vi te."-New York Herald.