The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-10-07
to recognize II as an agent in the cure
or alleviatipR Of various of the ills that
| flesh Is heir to.

to recognize It as an agent in the cure
or alleviatipR Of various Of the ills that
flesh Is heir to.
NOT. A NOVELTY.
Now, interesting as it is to note all
these developments, the fact remains
that here is nothing very new about
this recognition of the curative powers
of music. That certain physical pains
might be alleviated by the Greeks and
Romans, and the circumstances that
bodily and mental disease may be ef-
fected in more or less degree by music
has been a subject of remark with
scientific writers of all nations from
Aristoenus and Euclid down to Rous-
seau and Button. Look for a moment
at the ancient classics. In the Me-
dea" of Euripides the nurse expresses
her surprise to. the chorus that music
instead of being composed merely for
feasts and banquets, should not equally
have had a medical application to such
maladies as that of her mistress. a
passage, by the way. rendered finely
by the author of The Pleasures VI
Hope" You will find Cicero asserting
the amazing power of music over many
diseases. and Plato supporting him
with the suggestion that harmony ef-
fects the mind just as air effects the
body.
PIutarch tells us that Thelates, the
Cretan, delivered the LacedemonneiS
from the pestilence by the music OF
his Tyre; while Martianus-C -Capella as
sures us that he knew of feVers being
removed by song, and that Esclepiades
cured deafness by the sound of trum-
pet, another rather doubtful eXperf-
ment. Pythagoras and Nenoreates
brought maniacs to their senses by
melodious sounds; according to the old
historian, Suidas. Timotheus the Great
by his flute playing that he suddenly
rose from the table and seized his
weapons whether to deal destruction
on Timotheus or otherwise we are not
informed: Perhaps Alexander had too
much wine. and If the fiutist played
badly he might easily be made furious
The story reminds one of the case of
Henry ". of Denmark, cited by Kraht-
zius. Henry had been told of a certain
musician who boasted that he could
"either VeX or please those who heard
his music and either lay them asleep
or put them into fury He decided
to try the experiment in his own per-
son, and the experiment succeeded so
effectively that the king lin the height
of his fury, KILLED several of his cour-
tiers with his fists" He should cer-
musician. On the other hand, it Is in
teresting to note what Aristotle tells
about the Tyrrhenians, that they never
scourged their slaves without at the
same time giving them a counter
pOise" to the pain by a course of flute
music. The mythology of Greece tells
of Chron who with the help of music
not only cured the sick. but also soft
ened the fits of anger of his charge.
the famous Achilles: while Thales. act
ing on the authority of neighboring
oracle who seems to have had great
weight in the consulting world, cured
a raging plague in Sparta by it. Aulus
Gellius, Atheneus Celius Aurelinus.
Theophrastus. all availed themselves Of
music to calm the sufferings caused
by neuralgia, sciatica and gout. Celius
actually advises recurrence to the
Phrygian mode i'm case of those weigh
ed down by melancholia, while for rag
ing lunatics he would prescribe the
Doric mode. Some OF these ancient
cures are no doubt apocryphal, but
there are others we. need not question,
any more than we question the soften
ing of Saul's anger by the music of
David's harp.
But we are not dependent solely upon
the old classics for facts to show that
music hath charms to sOOthe the savage
and the sickly. Indeed. any one who
looks into the subject with some
minuteness will he surprised at the
amount of writing that exists i'm con-
nection with it. The interchangeable
Burney has dealt with the matter very
fully and has collected the testimonies
of several historians and the opinions
of many physicians. Richard East
colt in his Sketches of the Origin and