The herald., 1893-10-12
THE PHILOSOPHY OF NOISE,
Aversion to Disturbance Is a symptom
Nsurotic Degeneration.

Nsurotic Degeneration.
Awoman suffering from neuralgia sta
tions her son to keep boys from maxim
noise in front of the house. Afboi
comes by whistling--a performance
which we must recognize a natural
wholesome and boyliko act, whereuivS1
there ensues short, sharp fight betweer
the pair, in which oneis accidentally. cut
The upshot is not Important; tho origifI
of it is.
It has long been usual to accord spe
Cial privileges 10 invalids in relieving
them against noise. Formerly straw
would be strewn in the street, and t1ou-|
sands of persons who were not sickI
would be inconvienced to ease the painsI
of one who was. In part, this customI
was one of ostentation. 1t could bel
practiced only by the influential whol
were exalted by making themselves a
nuisance. When death ensued, a hatch
ment was set up in the same spirh or
vainglory. All the windows in the,
house were closed for term, the dura-
tion of which was fixed by custom, but
which bore relation to the estate OF the
deceased and the consequent degree or
exaltation descending upon his heirs.
All healthy animals delight In noise.
The description includes bafbarollS taEk
and children. Dogs bark (curs only
sneak off, birds scream, boys sllout,
girls clap hands to their ears in sweet
confusion, horses paw, all animate na-l
ture responds to the exhilaration of noise. J
bA ~ Ill Ir>, To-, Cf -l,.lr- \
ness the nervous function is deranged.
AS we have seen above mankind thfs
shown its appreciation of this fact bylxs !
customs. Excessive sensibility to noise !
is thus one symptom of neurotic degen-
Grafton 1t is the mark of one broad dis
tinction between tho state Of civilizationa
and its opposite. 1t testifies to one part
of the price which that state exacts from
man on his physical side.
Within civilization itself indifferehceI
to noise is one of the distinctions Of u
system rudely healthful, both i'll hQdy1
and mind. The converse of this propo-I |
sition is equally true. Whenever per-
son displays peculiar sensitiveness to-
noise we may know that the case is ene
of an unwholesome mind in an unwhoy2&
some body. From the fact that the al$
turbance is essentially a neurotio one it :
follows that it is controllable to greatI
extent by tho 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 II
just. Under the pinging of the cable
car bells valetudinarian subsidies into
frenzy while his younger clerk is Tapped
in dreams of the equally unconsci6us
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 d case the will power is i'm
paired. 1t would probably be found that
the complaining person is also irritable
passionate, perhaps consumed by sell
In many cases of this
order relief could no doubt be gains
through treatment by suggestion But
in vastly the greater number the patient
is competent to minister to himself. HeM
is still capable of exerting the WILL and
in this exercise hes complete and per
cure, Furthermore, the cura
does not apply alone to the particular
noise that may have called for 1t will
be found to have influenced the mind
The injurious effects at
tributed to noise do not proceed froIi /
but from within. They do not -
inhere in the aerial vibrations, but in tle(
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 an annoyance in some mo-
ment Of irritation, anxiety or other nerN
ous disturbance can be nursed into an
object of horror. Time was when folks \
thought sensitiveness to noise to be .evg- j
lence of high strung character They
were rather proud of it and trotted it \
forth in public. The world knows bet
ter now. Itcrects hospitals for the Mrs.
whom it rather adnhirekf
in Nicholas Nickleby's time. II no
longer holds poor Tomof Bedlam FOR in
spired. and since it has learned hoye =
much sickness is either fruit or u phase
Of ignorance it is getting little sick of \
those sick folks, at least of whom it has
1 right to look for something better
New York Evening Sun. n