The herald., 1897-09-19
"a GOOD CRY"

The lady readers OF The Herald will
be interested in learning that that spe
cial luxury of their sex, "a good cry"
has been pronounced by competent
authority as means of relief for GER
tain maladies, better often than med
ical prescriptions.
Relief in the beneficial effect Of she'd
ding tears has long been current in all
ranks of society, but it remains for DR..
Harry Campbell to give the popular
idea a solid scientific foundation. In
The Hospital august y he contends
that while crying is usually associated
uses. A good cry. it seems, does not
consist merely in shedding tears, but
includes so general an action of the
muscles as to affect the whole body
if this doctor be correct in his diagnos-
tic conclusion, should. as a rule, be
permitted to cry to their hearts content
particularly when the youngsters are
In children he tells us that a great
change takes place during crying in the
manner in which respiration is carried
on. Expirations are prolonged some
are interrupted by short inspirations.
During expiration the glottis is con-
tracted SO that the intra-pulmonar ry
pressure rises considera bly,, and there
can be but little doubt. he says, that
it is the equal distribution Of this In
creased air pressure throughout the
whole Of the chest, leading to the dilata-
tion Of portions Of lung that have be-
come more or less collapsed, that is the
explanation of the great benefit which
often results from crying in cases of
infantile bronchitis and Of the large dis
charging Of bronchial mucus which so
often follows. Children, he continues,
may become very blue during the par
oxysm, but the deep respirations which
succeed quickly restore the circulation
to better condition than before in con-
sequence OF the larger lung space rem
dered available. This should be good
news to mothers who are often unduly
alarmed by the crying paraxysms If
their little ones.
AS to the hygicnic results Of weeping
and as to how such result is produced,
among women, the doctor explains:
In women the beneficial effect of
good cry is proverbial. In them also
this is partly due to the increased depth
of respiration and the improvement in
the often languid circulation thereby
induced. but to larger extent it is the
result of the muscular exercise in
volved, by which the general vascular
tension, and especially the blood pres
sure In the brain. are much reduced.
The profuse flow Of tears no doubt also
acts strongly on the cerebral circula-
ton in still further reducing tension
The sobbing movements. again, have
good influence upon the venous circula-
tion in the abdominal and pelvic vis-
cera, while the exhaustion produced
tends to produce sleep and thus give the
nervous system its best chance of re-
cuperation.
And he gives the following admoni-
ton as a conclusion from the premises:
We should not. then, too hastily in
tervene to stop woman from having
out her cry. If we can remove her
trouble, by all means let US do so; but
If the trouble is to remain, let her cry
herself to sleep. This is far better than
soothing draugfts.
And thus even the luxury Of "a good
cry" ard all the poetic sentiment of
tears, are measured by the scientific
tape-line and brought within the accu-
rate analysis of our matter-of-fact age
But recently philosopher proved, con-
clusively. that the sentiment of love was
but the symptom of physical malady
to be treated therapeutically as any
other disease. With love and tears
eliminated from the code of poetry we
must have brand new school Of novel
lists to meet the situation And they