Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1893-08-10
CURING A NERVOUS CRANK.
Treatment Employed In Restoring a wen
Man Who Imagined He Was III.

Treatment Employed In Restoring wen
Man Who Imagined He Was III
On the east side lives a physician whose
success in the treatment OF nervous uls-
orders has brought to him, rather against
mis- own wishes, considerable practice
amsng a class whom he describes as
s.neryous cranks.~ One of these pa
tients. a 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 10
prescribe a course of drugging 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
am," said the patient one day, IN the doc
tors Office, as he picked up an incandes-
cent electric light bulb from an adJoln-
ing table. Look at that. See how that
carbon coil inside of the bulb vlbrates
and trembles from my nervousness!
seVery well, !" replied the physician, de-
termined now to deal with the case IN
another way, ''you are more nervous
than I supposed, but think can fetcn
YOU out all right in five or six weeks"
An assortment of bogus pills and po-
tons was given to the patient, and he
was placed under rigid rule for sleep,
diet, baths and exercise. his physlcai
health. which had been excellent to be-
gin with, improved steadily; but his nerv-
Gus condition, as indicated by the fiuc-
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 tine
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 physl-
clans 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 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
remain abroad for five years l guess
there is no danger of his learning how
cured him. He was so taken with the
idea of testing the condition of his nerv-
GUS system by the vibrations of the car
bon in that electric light bulb that hu-
mored his fancy. After three or four
weeks of careful living, and when he had
put himself into first class physical con-
dition, l simply changed the bulbs for
him. For the ordinary bulb containing
a carbon coil l substituted one that l
had made with fine coil of oxidized
silver wire closely resembling the other
and which was SO stiff that it was eapa-
BILE of almost no vibration when the bulb
! was held in the patients hand. He took
it, saw that the vibrations had ceased
and concluded that he was cured.
Sin some way, perhaps by accident OF
when in condition of mental excitement,
he had noticed the trembling of the car
bon in a bulb when held in the hand,
and had instantly made up his mind that
he was suffering from nervous disorder.
He insisted upon using the same means
in testing his progress toward recovery
: that had first persuaded him that he was
5 Ill, and 1 was compelled to acquiesce
. and treat him from that basis. He had
evidently had little experience with these
bulbs Ordinary tests and observation
, would have shown him that no man
however sound, can hold an incandescent
bulb in his unsupported hand so steadily
S that the carbon inside of it will not VI
f brate. New York Herald.