Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-08-03
AMERICAS MALADY.
DR.. MITCHELL SAYS SUCH is DIS
EASE OF THE NERVES.

Shown by the Tables of Mortality-Some
of the Causes-C Climate an Important
Faetor-The Four Hundred All Right.
DR.. S. Weir Mitchell of Philadelphia, a
recognized authority on nervous diseases,
IN recent interview had some very inter
esting things to say with regard to what he
considers 'the characteristic malady of the
American nation" Possibly as specialist
he may be unconsciously disposed to over
state the case, but his observation and ey-
perience are, he claims, REINFORCED by stats
tics that show that nervous disorders are
increasing in an alarming ratio every year
The number of deaths from this cause is
already appalling and is steadily growing
In some of the busy centers, Dr. Mitchell
is reported as saying, the tables of NOR
tally show that the proportion of nerve
death has multiplied more than 20 times in
the last 20 years and that now the nerve
deaths number more than one-fourth of all
the deaths recorded. What is most shock
ing in these returns is that this fearful loss
of life occurs mainly among young people
of both sexes. This mesns that the Amer
leans are fast becoming a short lived peo-
pie, and if they were shut in on themselves
for only few years and without any in
fiux OF vitality by immigration the publ
cation of the census would send a pang of
horror and alarm throughout the land"
DIR. Mitchell is of the opinion that the
first and most potent cause of the preva-
lence of nervous diceases is to be found in
the climate, but why the climate tends to
produce them he does not undertake to ex.
plain, unless it be the frequent and sudden
changes of temperature peculiar to some
of the more thickly settled sections What
is certain he says, is that people coming
largely from the phlegmatic races undergo
change of temperament here and become
excitable, emotional and irritable in a de-
gree that is unknown in any other part of
the world. +" Another effect of the Amer
lean climate, he thinks, is that it makes
the strain of either mental or physical
labor much more severe than it is else
where" people being able to work much
longer and harder with head and hands
without injurious consequences in England
and on the continent than in this country.
The climate in many sections of the
United States is unquestionably very try
ing, and its effect upon the general phys
ical constitution may be manifested very
frequently in impairment of the nervous
system. But it is extremely doubtful if it
can be regarded as 1.-THE most potent cause"
of the national malady. The other causes
to which DR.. Mitchell refers are probably
in the largest measure responsible for the
unfortunate conditions which he notes
namely, the mad rush and perpetual strain
of our business life, which ruins the health
of our men, and the dollhouse system of
education, which wrecks the constitutions
of our girls.
That it is unhealthy physical and mental
conditions rather than the climate which
produce these results is suggested by the
fact cited by DR.. Mitchell that the preva-
lence of the more serious nervous diseases is
in almost exact proportion to the conges-
ton of population. People who live calm,
quiet, wholesome lives in the country are
far less liable to them than the inhabitants
of cities, where the strain on mind and
body is greater and where the physical en-
vironment offers little opportunity for
healing by natural means the evils of arti-
| fetal and unhealthy modes of existence
Over the climate, whether it be good or
bad, we have, as he says, no control but
| for the dollar devil'' and the educational
devil we are responsible, and with regard
to them he utters some strong words of pro-
fessional warning. We pride ourselves on
the early age at which American men reach
positions of responsibility, but they do SO
at the cost of the delicate nervous machin-
cry that is essential to happiness as well as
| health. The male American, after being
tortured by the eXactions of a despotic
school system, enters business far too
young, and he straightway consumes his
| vital energy till nothing is left but dust and
| ashes" The end of it all is "a country of
| young invalids, young wrecks, young drug
victims, young inebriates, young maniacs,
young suicides" The educational devil
does its work quite as effectively in regard
to the girls.
THE flower of American womanhood,"
says DR.. Mitchell, ''is wilted by overcul-
| ture before it comes fully into bloom"
The long hours, the multiplicity of studies.
the ambition of parents and teachers who
stimulate their pupils to exertions fa,. be-
yond their strength and the attendant
evils of hurried meals want of exercise,
| broken sleep and excitement condemn
tens of thousands of American women to
a life of misery and uselessness before they
have ceased to be children" It would be
better, he maintains, that American girls
should not be educated at all until they
are Il, alter which they may study with
less risk, than that they should be over
wrought as they are at present.
The leisurely, pleasure seeking classes,
he points out, are comparatively free from
nervous disease. They toll not, neither
do they spin. They dress warm and COM
| fortably. They eat and drink plentifully
| and of the best. They have constant vari-
ETY. and relaxation, and they do not bother
| themselves about anything in particular.
If the mass of American women led the
| life of the -Four Hundred, specialists in
nervous diseases would find their occupa-
| ton gone. For one woman who breaks
down through fashionable folly score are
destroyed by overstrain in the serious af-
fairs of life"
In short, the national malady is due to
the character of our national life We are
in too much of hurry about everything.
We run our brains and our nervous systems
on the plan of a lightning express and ex-
pect them to work from morning till night
on the principle of rapid transit. In fact,
we are too rapid by half and DR. Mitchell