The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-11-08

NE 1lELai4O-N or lAbOh ~ ~ ERNOUS lis
HAsEs.-Professor Cognetti di Martiis, in
showing that each occupation, mechanical
or intellectual, has its peculiar nervous
disease, draws narrowing picture of the
dangers attending modern industrial life
He begins by discussing the peris to the
nerves of open-air workers. Lightning is
one of these. 1t kills twenty-five persons
annually in England and seventy-one in
France, and leaves many of those who es-
cape death with shattered nerves for life
The malarial fevers common to open-air
workers, especially agricultural la borers,
are in many cases followed by severe nerv-
Gus disorders, and there is true rural
paralysis resulting from these fevers. Te-
tanus, the germ of which thrives in
swampy ground, and sunstroke are both
followed by distressing nervous disturb
ances. Strong light produces nervous
affection of the eve known as snow blind
ness, and one form of the disturbance, to
which foundrymen are very subject, makes
the victim practically blind toward sun
set and after nightfall. Miners have
painful nervous affections of the eye, but
from opposite causes. Their troubles are
in great part caused by the rarefaction of
the oxygen in the air in which they work
and are accompanied by strange illusions,
olCi dS VIC apparent sway Ing DICK ana
forth OF objects in the field of vision.
Miners working i'll mountain shafts have
the so-called mountain sickness, accom-
panied by headache writing of the body,
hesltancy of movement, heart affections
nausea and vomiting, sometimes followed
by insensibility, delirium and coma. Aero
nauts have the same trouble Men who
work under high atmospheric pressure are
even in worse plight. The voice becomes
metallic, utterance is difficult and in the
case of some sounds impossible; hear
ing is impaired, muscles are knotted
smell and taste are lost, and the la
borer handles his tools with diff
Guilty. Seasickness is another nervous
affection that has always defied the doc
tors, and no satisfactory remedy has ever
been found for it. Too much schoolwork
causes epilepsy and st. Vitus' dance in
children, besides impaired sight headache
stammerlng, insomnia and heeting hallu-
clnations. Under the intense strain of
modern commercial life the business man
becomes 4 victim to neurasthenia and
loses the power of mental application.
The speed at which railway locomotives
are driven on certain lines utterly break
down the nerves of the drivers in short
time. The intense preoccupation and
great manual exertion of the pianoforte
player often produces paresis. Clarionet
players have spasms of the tongue. Sew
=,
makers. button-makers and Others Who
have to maintain a high speed at
their work are subject to nervous dis
turbances Immediately affecting the part
OF the body especially under strain. but
extending to other parts. Dentists leg is
paralytic affection of parts kept long
under pressure, Hammer paralysis comes
to the man who has one arm constantly
plying q tool OF the striking kind. The
professional bicyclist is subject to shock
ing nervous maladies. He is likely to
suffer especially from excessive WEAKNESS.
loss of the power of attention. of critical
sense, OF judgment, and of all the higher
psychic manifestations. Persons accus.
toned to use the voice a great deal are
subject TO laryngeal spasms; watchmakers
and others who use strong magnifyine
glasses become nearsighted. In fact. every
occupation exacts its penalty, physical or
mental, and the shortening of the hours of
labor seems to be the only remedy in
sight.