The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1899-07-01

y II 49,
The Edinburgh health lecture was
delivered by DR.. George R. Wilson,
medical superintendent of Mavis-
bank asylum, on "The Gymnastics
of Rest. ("
He said it was the unfoptunate
habit of our times to measure the
welfare of the people only by their
material prosperity and to ignore
their mental distress. The waste of
human material was greater than
ever, the tear and wear of mems
minds increased, and now, in spite
of all our inventions-nay, because
of all of our inventions-th world
was more than ever in need of rest.
The nervous system was contrived
so as to thrive in an atmosphere of
mild impressions, not in one of con-
stant shocks and jars. True, we
could become accommodated to
shocks, to noise and din, but we be-
come accommodated to them only
by using up energy. 1t would repay
us to get away from noise and din
even for short time. just as noise
was to the ear, dinginess and the
dull gray atmosphere of cities were
to the eye; our eyes and our brains
were adapted for richer colors than
the life of cities afforded There
was perhaps a greater evil which
city life brought upon the eye. The
eye itself, and its nerves and mus
cles, was SO contrived that in the
natural state-in the state of rest
we looked at distance, but by con-
stantly looking at objects close at
hand we never gave the eye rest.
1t was not easy for older people to
learn new ways, but children should
be taught, whenever a glimpse of
distance could be had, to let loose
their eyes upon it, to turn to the
horizon and rest One of the first
steps to mental rest was the ability
to perform the feat-as to the re-
quirement of which the lecturer
gave some interesting hints-of
looking at a distance when there
was no distance to look at and rest
ing the eye on an imaginary picture
Of the horizon. A second step to-
ward rest was the relaxation of that
tension in the muscles round the
eye, and especially in the muscles
of the forehead, which characterized
men of the city and busy men every
where when they were attending in
tently to something which they con-
sidered important. A third step was
the teaching of the muscles round
the mouth to stand at ease" rather
than "at attention. This threefold
process he called Expansion of the
attention" 1t was a mistake to sup
pose that this whole subject was
stupid. Nothing was more evident
n this bustling age than that most |
men and women had not the most
'emote notion of keeping their
minds at rest. In play and at work
like we were pressing" TO use an
oppression from the language of |
golf nearly all the time, anxious
minded and strained. Passing on to
he subject of hurry" the lecturer
loted that there was world of diff
erence between promptness or
thickness and hurry. The differ
nee was that when we hurried we
vere anxious minded-we were
pressing g"-and the excessive ten
ion disordered our activities. Next,
peaking of panic, the lecturer offer
q various hints for ''squandering
he attention" by way of minimiz-
lg the effect of shocks.
Closely allied to panic, but more
sting, more chronic, was the vice
the mind which we called worry.
'orry was an inability to withdraw
le attention from unpleasantness.
was vice which was rampant
nong us--a most reprehensible
ice, because so unnecessary and SO
lsily evaded. If we practiced what
, had called the gymnastics of rest,
Q would never worry. We would
el pain and distress often enough,
it our minds would not dwell on