Waterbury Democrat., 1903-01-31
NOTIONS OF THE SICK
Strange Superstitions That Are En-
 tertained by Patients.
Persons in Critical Condition Are RoIatered Up OF Down by Cer- tain Singular Be
 1i@fas

| | The nurse who can control the su~ perstitions of her patient has fought { half the battle for the physician in charge of the case. Here are some ] eases ill point:
 A woman in Washington who is a firm believer in palmistry, was op- ! erated on for appendicitis. When the incision had been made the surgeons discovered that it was a case of peri tonitis instead of appendicitis.
 The woman was in a critical condi- | ton, and when she recovered from l the influence of the anaesthetic, the physician in charge of the case { deemed it best that she should be in- formed of the true state Of affairs. This was discreetly done by nurse and doctor, and it was suggested that she send for her mother and her clergyman, says the New York Sun. Now. it happened that the patient had neither, but she had somet thing else-an immense amount of grit and an unshakable belief in the lines Of her hand. With an effort that showed in her tightening lips, she turned her right hand and held it where the doc- tor might see it distinctly Then she remarked, in & weak, but determined voice:
 Doctor, do you see the life line in that hand? It says l will live until I am 45. Those lines never lie. You can't kill me with a trifie like peri tonitis. am only 30. Give me some water and I'll go to sleep"
 She fought her fight and is about again to-day.
 Just the reverse of this situation was shown in a Philadelphia hospital where one of the nurses underwent a serious operation from which she was rallying apparently without diff hculty.
 The superintendent of nurses and congratulated her on her evil dent progress. The girl turned ques- tioning eyes to her chief and said:
 "Yes, it seems all right, but pray Heaven that peacock won't call! You know what that means"
 The superintendent spoke reassur- ingly, but when she had left the ward the words of the nurse worried her.
 A wealthy woman living next door to the hospital owned magnificent peacock, which ordinarily was ex- ceedingly quiet, but superstition existed in the hospital that when ever the bird cried, death stalked in one of the wards.
 At two in the morning the superin- tendent found herself sitting straight up in bed and seized with sudden horror. The peacock was uttcring a Inournfu1 vail.
 Pulling on her wrapper and slip- pers she hurried to the ward where lay her assistant. It was as she feared. The reaction from the ops eration had set in, preceded by vio- lent nervous chill.
 The house physician had been sum- moned, but the patient seemed like one in the clutch of supernatural power. Her temperature went down with plunge, her pulse followed, she seemed unable to respond to any of the emergency remedies, and in less than an hour was dead, as her chief said, the victim of her own fear.
 For one whole year a New York man suffered from hallucination which he could not throw off, and at the end of the time he was practical ly a victim of nervous prostration, be- cause he could not get away from himself.
 An astrologer had foretold that he would die when he was 35. At the time of the prophecy the man laughed heartily, but as the year ap- preached he found shadow walking ever at his side. He tried to think that it was due to overwork and worry about his business, and he de- termined to go abroad for rest.
 Then something stayed the pur- chase of tickets for the journey, and he realized that it was fear--fear that the steamship might go down. He became afraid even to go on a railroad journey and doubled his life insurance.
 Finally he took several friends in- to his confidence, and seldom travelled the streets at night without one of them in his company. He dodeed trolley cars and trucks like one who thought all methods of traffic were in league against his personal safety. His friends ceased to jest with him on the subject, and seriously aided in what to him seemed fight for life.
 When at last old Father Time land ed him safe across his thirty-sixth birthday this perfectly sane and thoroughly healthy man collapsed from pure reaction and took the trip abroad which he had feared for 12 long months.