The record-union., 1897-01-03
INSANITY And The BICYCLE
Patients Cured by Proper Exercise on
the Wheel.
They Are Used in Many of the Lead
ing Asyiums With Excellent
Results.

that the man whose brain has Deel
invaded by the microbe of insanity may
scoroh back to reason and health I'M
stead of gradually sinking into state
of mental decay.
Here are facts names and places
| which demonstrate the utility of the
bicycle as a cure for insanity. All
show that theory has given way to re-
/ ality, and that the wheel, instead of
being the subject for a craze, has be-
come a relief to the cra2ed. 1t is In
the fact that to successfully ride BIZ
cycle requires constant attention and
concentration of thought that the chief
cause for recommendation of the wheel
as a cure for insanity is found. The
ore thing above all others which 1t is
necessary to remember in caring for
insane people is that brooding must
be prevented at all hazards if there is
any hope whatever of effecting a cure.
There is no form of exercise or amuse-
ment better calculated to relieve mental
tension that the bicycle. While it makes
it necessary for the rider to think at all
times Just what he is doing, the STRAIN
on the brain is of d very different ma
ture from that resulting from the or
binary mental process. 1t was this tact
that turned the attention OF the au-
thorities of the different insane asyiums
/ thoughout the country to the cubJect.
f'And the sense of self-p -preservation-tfs
is to prevent taking a headers a
mental stimulant to the lunauc Whlch
is apt to suddenly give him very
lucid interval.
one of the most notable instances of
the efficiency of the bicycle as a remedy
for insanity IS found at the Mlchlgan
ASYLUM for the Insane, in Kalamazoo.
The patients ait this asylum take dally
rides on the wheel, and parties OF from
five to eight lunatics in charge OF two
attendants are likely to be met with on
any of the country roads running out
of the city.
The Kalamazoo doctors say that they
have never heard Of course OF treat
ment which causes self-forgettulness
ir a degree even approaching that pro-
duced bv the use of the bicycle. In
stead of moping in the asylum, or tax
ing forced exercise about the grounds
the lunaltics who are considered mt SUD
iects for instruction ON the wheel are
taken every week from the Kalamazoo
ASYLUM on their wheels to Long Lake,
ten miles distant, or to one of the chaln
Of smaller lakes not so far from the
asvlum. A plentiful lunch. is taken
along. and the occasion becomes YER
liable picnic.
OF course ON trips of this sort some
wheels are bound to be punctured, tine
gearing is sure to get out of order, ana
more or less other mechanical dill
culties encountered. The result OF all
this is that the lunaticl has no time at
all to become melancholy. The exer-
else. the fresh air, the unwonted cause
for forgetfulness on new subjects, all
contribute toward wooing reason back
again.
Naturally the crank pins in the lu-
matte brain will slip out once in Whiie
on these excursions. 1t often happens
| that an unlucky slip or poor balance
causes a rider to take header. Al
most always the victim of the accident
seems to consider the wheel an animate
object. and falls to and gives Ut Sc
we're thrashing, SO that the performance
may not be repeated.
IT is often necessary for the attend
ants who accompany these crazy par
ties" as Kalamazoo wheelmen call
them. to rescue the bicycles from the lu-
natfcs. as the angered riders who have
been thrown are given to hammering
their machines with stones, sometimes
badly breaking them.
The State Asylum for the Insane at
Middletown. y. Y, is another institu-
ton that considers the bicycle means
to help render the lunatic sane. The
wheel has been used at this asylum for
some months with the most gratifying
results. 1t is found that it promotes
docility among the patients who enjoy
the excursions, and invariably induces
a far healthier condition of the mind.
II also acts as an incentive toward
good behavior on the part of others who
have not yet been permitted TO ride.
DR.. Seldom H Talcott, Medical Su
perintendent Of this asylum, says: ut
is. in nv estimation, beyond question
that the bicycle will eventually become
a permanent institution in every insane
asylum. There is no doubt whatever
that the tendency of cycling by insane
persons is toward the restoration of rea
son. OF course, I do not mean to say
that every crazy person should be per-
nitted to ride wheel. As matter of
fact, cycling should only be allowed
among that class Of patients in an asy-
lum known as the convalescent, and
others whose mania is not of a violent
nature I venture to predict that with
in five years there will not be found a
medical man with knowledge of in
sanity and insane people who does not
favor wheeling as curative process" )"
DIR. Graeme NJ. Hammond, the emf
nent insanity expert of New York, said:
II have long been an earnest advocate
of the use of the bicyle in the treatment
Of a certain class of mental disorders
1t is a positive fact that a number OF
the very best known alienists who are
in charge of insane asylums and hospi-
tails containing patients suffering from
nervous diseases which produce in
sanity have utilized the wheel for their
patients. In every instance the result
has been extremely beneficial
THE daily outing. with its change of
scene and feeling of companionship, the
bracing exercise and the necessary con-
ceDtraiion OF thought upon the work in
hand, serves to relieve the mind of the
person suffering from insanity of the
monotony to which it has been accus-
toned. In this way is removed one of
the most stubborn obstacles encoun-
tered in treating the insane Every
person who has had occasion to treat
insane patients knows the difficulty
which is found in interesting them in
anything at all. The wheel solves this
difficult problem in a speedy and de-
lightful manner,
Another benefit derived from the use
Of the wheel by insane persons is that