The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1897-03-25
The Bicycle And Its dangers.

With the advance of spring the
bike" will be more and more in
evidence. AS a fashionable fad there
is none to dispute its responsibility
but, after all, does cycling payP Does
it tend to preserve or to restore
health ? Its reign has been too short
to enable the medical man to answer
this question decisively. But DIR.
Shadwell, in the current number of
Tile National Revieao attempts to
answer it. He admits that as form
of exercise it has its value " it is
good for many people" But, he adds,
"my point is that among the enor-
nous numbers who have taken to 1t
within the last two years there are
many others for whom it is not good,
but distinctly hurtful, and that in ways
and for reasons which are not yet
generally recognized"
Regarding those who cannot ride
even a moderate distance without
unpleasant or serious consequences
he says:
They may not be so numerous as /
| suppose but they exist, and there is
nothing on the face of it to distin-
guish them from the rest That is
where the danger lies. One
danger is exophthalmic goitre =" "
another is internal inflammation, of
which the symptoms are much pain
and kind Of chronic dysentery, ex-
tremely obstinate and Of the most
lowering character. The first case
that l noticed was that of lady of
good constitution, active and able to
hold her own at other forms, of ex
ercise. She mastered the machine
with exceptional facility, almost at the
first essay, and was an easy and grace
ful rider. But being rather timid, she
never rode more than a mile or two
at a time, and thst at the most mod
crate pace. Nevertheless, this trouble
developed itself, and did not subside
tor months, to the great detrlment of
| her health, which has not yet recover
ed.
| Another danger of cycling to which
DR.. Shadwell calls attention is appen-
dicitis caused by bicycle riding. The
numerous cases where the result of
cycling is nervous exhaustion, head
ache, insomnia, lassitude, nervous de-
preston and prostration, which are
not induced by overexertion but by
, the effect on the nervous system
y should serve as warning, particular
, ly to wheelwomen, to use this new
means of locomotlon with the ex
tremest caution. 1t is not only the
nerves which are affected in many
cases, but a weakness of the heart'
e action is also symptom, and yer!
serious symptom, of the effects pro
: duced by this fashionable form O
e exercise. DR.. Shadwell says
These effects resemble those O
RI overindulgence in tobacco or alcohol
: and are nearly allied to that effectiol
OF nervous origin which is called sicI
s headache. The theory G
It overexertion is quite inadequate t.
explain the kind of effects here des
l. cribed. The true cause seems to b
t. in the extreme instability of the two
S. wheeled machine, which can never b.
a left to itself for single moment will
e out dismounting. In this respec
r bicycling differs from any other occr
patton whatever. The strain OF a
a tentions to it may not be very grea
lg in itself-sometimes it is, and some
er times it is not-but il never ceases
and this incessant tension is the thin
as which tells on the nerves. How IL
ar cessant it is the demeanor OF mos
,e riders declares with an emphas
which still excites ridicule, familiar
lie the sight has become.
at The bicycle has not been long
k. general use-not sufficiently long,
any rate, to develop all its posslbiltl'
ne for good and for evil-but DIR. Sha'
at wells article is likely to call halt
ed its indiscriminate use. He show
that bicycling is attended with serlol
S. evils, and suggests that in adopting
'e, as a mode Of rapid transit "ve
ne much greater caution is necessa
re than has been generally supposed
I-Ee.