Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1900-11-08
signed to hold the wrist and fore

signed to hold the wrist and fore
arm firm, and tubular contrlyance 10
nJid all but one niger stragnt. 1ne
44oe finger is then hooked IN q small
zap having weight at the other
end. In the experiment the subject is
instructed to crook the finger as long
as nc can The vitality is supposed TO
Le shown by the length OF time the
s4Oject can continue the exercise.
The mental capacity, or capacity for
bang taught, is supposed to be indi
Gated IA the case OF the pupil.
In experimenting it has been found
chat music played during the tests has
produced variations in the results ac-
counted for in no other way. When
LIVELY air was played on a harp the
sdbject regained his vigor and kept
Up the exercise for a considerable time.
When a characteristic tune was played
on the cello the patients arm became
almost powerless, his vitality decreas-
ing rapidly,
These observations have been taken
to mean that the physical well-being
OF a patient can be influenced by the
effect OF musical rhythm. Among psy-
biologists the theory of emotion, set
forth by Professor James of Harvard,
ana Professor Lang of Scotland, has
come to be well accepted. This theory
is that emotions are the result of psy-
Geological changes in the body-that
we feel bad because we cry, and not
that we cry because we are troubled
by a cerain feeling. So If a person
suffers from melancholia, and exactly
The opposite physiological processes are
awakened from those that make lin
melancholic, he is likely to become
cheerful Or, II one is insane through
too much gaiety the rousing of
physiological brain process tending to
produce the emotion of sadness, will
aid the patient.
In nervous Diseases said the ply
stefan referred to, treatment by music
has been recognized for a long time
as really effective, French psycholo-
g.sts, including Louret, who has en-
ployed it in treating the insane, and
Ribot, a professor in the College of
France, have settled the point by spe-
cific experiments, The Greeks were
not ignorant of the effect of music in
stimulating the muscles. At bottom 1t
is the same motive that is supposed to
justify bands of music in armies.
'Afer all. music is only rhythm, air
vibrations, that act upon the muscles
as any other force does. In expert
ments undertaken on the elephants and
other animals in the Jardin des
Plantes the vitality was materially af-
fected by the characer of the rhythm.
Anyone will, upon hearing an unusual
or disagreeable sound, experience
physical sensation. A discord makes
trained and sensitive musician grind
his teeth, and an unexpected cannon
shot lifts the ordinary person off his
feet.
This same physical effect of rhythm
Is recognized among savages, who en-
ploy drums and rattles in their dances.
The snake dance of the Yaquis and the
long-continued sun dance of the North
err Indians illustrate this point
Grethy, one of the extremists in advo-
eating the James-Lang theory, has
gone so far as to declare that the pulse
action is affected by the changing
rhythm of music. The adoption of
this eXpedient in New York state hos
pitfalls for the insane is only a develop
ment or scientific investigation in the
Pathological Institute. New York
Evening Post