Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-08-26
IoNEsICKNEss AS A DISEASE.
Gases Among Soldiers Are Not n ne
cent Development.

Among the many sad stories OF disease
and death that have come from the seat
NJ war few have appealed so strongly 10
the svmpathies Of those at home as TWO
fatal results of homesickness which oc-
Cured in a New England command. a
discussion Of this subject Of ''nostalgia
among soldiers is given in the Phiadei-
phia Medical Journal, Wmcn says. 49,.
1.-TWO deaths from nostalgia VI lpilie
sickness, IN the AmeticSS4h v a Gnnyerai Shaf-
fer Ia the War Department Both OF thvs1
cases. remarkable TO say, occurred IN the
same regiment, the Second Massdchussett u
Volunteers. We presume that the 9lds-
nosis IN these cases was carefully ana ac-
curatelv made by the military surgeons,
Vet we should like more lght on TINS IN
ieresting and important subject. -
"Tne daily reports show that the troops
at Santiago are suffering much from Ine
Climate and various infections, especially
| tvnhoid- malarial-, and yellow-feVers, and
| this fact should remind us that the pro
| found nsychoses are not infrequently as
| ISOLATED with or caused by some form OIL
| infection. Typhoid and malarlal polsohs
| esneciaIly have been noted In TINS role
| ana so true is this that in order TO arrive
| at q strictly scientific diagnosis III would
| be well 20 be sure whether any apscur'
| form of either of these diseases is present
in such cases. .,,,,ruod j., ,te
| same regiment points possibly also 10 the
| influence of imitation or suggestion In al
| the psychoses, especially hysteria and the
! mild forms of insanity, this FACTOR Is no"
| we'll known TO be somewhat active, pul
| the fact however, that the TWO cases II
| the army at Santiago were so rapidly IA
| tai can probably only be explained on th'
| theory that the patients were possibly
| much reduced physically by exposure aho
| infection. The mere separation IRON
| n -
| military expedition hardly seems sufncien
| i'm itself TO have caused such untoward re
! sults The case is different with the pool
| emigrant who feels that all the nome
| ties are hopelessly severed.
! "Nostal gia or inconsistencies, is merely
q form of melancholia. AS in all lnsani
ties more than one factor usually acts a:
| a cause-hence the necessity FOR knowing
| the heredity and antecedents OF the pa
tient. The enforced absence from hons
may simply act as an exciting cause
| there may be far deeper-seated causes
such as grave constitutional defects, thai
act as the real basis for the disease. Thi
Is especially true in cases In which tn,
| reason is permanently lost or life itsel'
sacrificed. Some races, or peoples. ar
| supposed to be especially liable 10 thi
| disease; the inhabitants of mountainou:
| countries for instance, are said TO suffsl
unduly. Hence. the Swiss are said TO fur
nish many examples. So also, rustics arr
more prone TO suffer than the inhabitant.
"The observation OF nostalgia among
| soldiers is by no means new or recent
| Baron Larrey, the eminent military sur
| geon of the Napoleonic wars wrote OF
| 9his subject in his surgical memoirs IL
| onr own country observations were made
| in the late civil war. Calhoun wrote Of
| nostalgia as a disease OF field service, an,
| peters noted this affection as among tn
| wills of Youthful enistments."