Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1903-02-13
THE LAUGHTER CURE
LAUGH AND GROW FAT. AND GET
WELL At THE SAME TIME,

Italian Physician Says Laughter Is Sovereign
Remedy in Many Cases - Has Cured Bron.
! chitis - Discretion to Be Used in Applying
the Remedy to Women-it Will Not, How.
ever, Cure all Diseases.
Chicago Tribune.
| The latest is the daughter cure"
which has the merit ef being rational
if nothing else, for from time imme-
mortal the effect of a good hearty
laugh has been regarded as healthy
tonic for the melancholic and a re.
storative for the depressed.
Like other cures, the daughter
cure" is not by any means new, but
that fact does not deteriorate its ther-
apeutic value, for, after all, what is?
Two thousand years ago Hippocrates,
the wise old father of medicine, in one
of his works, stated his belief in the
value of laughter in counteracting dis
ease. He also tells us that he was
firm believer in the beneficial effect OF
merriment at meal time, as an aid to
digestion.
Another ancient physician recon-
mended a good laugh as powerful
means of "desopilating the Spleen"
whatever that may mean; while
third writes OF laughter as " a mighty
stimulant to the liver and lifter-up
OF the heart" Coming to more recent
times, Foussagrives believed mirth to
be the most powerful lever of health,
While Tissot claims to have cured
scrofulous children by tickling them
and making them laugh.
Every one knows the value and ne
cessity of keeping the sick in good
spirits and cheerful frame of mind.
Who has not heard OF the man suffer
ing from quinsy and the antics of the
doctor with batter pudding, which
caused the patient such infinite amuse-
ment that he was cured on the spot?
A similar story is vouched for by De
Monteux, who relates the strange case
of gentleman who got rid OF an inter-
mittent fever after witnessing q per.
formance OF "Le Marriage de Figaro"
at which he had fairly roared with
laughter. The old proverb, "Laugh
and grow fat" had doubtless some
foundation in fact"
The latest advocate OF the daughter
cure" is o we'll known italian physi-
clan, who short time ago brought
the subject before the Medico- Chirur-
gical society OF Bologna, and related
his experiences of the remedy. The
doctor stated that he had used the
laughter treatment in FIVE cases OF
bronchitis and other affections in
which there was " . morbid product in
! the bronchial tubes"
He based his experiments on the
fact that laughter is manifested chief
ly in certain convulsive and partly in.
voluntary actions Of the muscles of
respiration. by means of which the air
being expelled from the chest in a
series OF jerks produces succession Of
short abrupt sounds. He therefore
contended that . good laugh helped
the expulsion OF the secretion OF the
bronchial tubes and produced a state
of physical and moral we'll being.
He admitted that there might be
sometimes . difficulty in applying the
treatment, as susceptibility to cachin-
nation varied according to age, tenn
permanent, education, and social posi-
ton. The practitioner must therefore
always bear in mind these varied con-
ditions in selecting the kind of joke
suited to the patient he is about to
treat. For instance, the story likely
to tickle the aristocratic ear OF socie-
ty dame would scarcely be calculated
to induce mirth in q lady holding ad.
vanced views.
The question of sex also needs due
consideration. Women are said (by
men) to be generally deficient in the
sense of humor, though curiously
enough they do not know it. There.
fore. the method of applying the rem
edy to the fair sex also requires judi.
cious and profound thought.
Care must also be taken lest the
remedy be too severe, as in a case re-
lated by Rankin, in which q young
lady was once induced to laugh i'm
moderately and continued laughing
for four months. In the end she was
cured by hypnotic suggestion, which
one would think must have proved a
relief to her friends.
The question of race is another fac
tor to take into account, for it is we'll
known that some races-notably the
Latin-require something more highly
seasoned in the way OF jokes to cause
mirth than the more stolid and phleg-
matte Anglo-Saxon. In the case of
the Scots, who, judging by their ca
pacity for absorbing jokish matter, &C.
cording to tradition are credited with
an abnormal development of the cram
ium, the services of q surgeon may be
necessary in conjunction with the Or
dinary practitioner when the laughter
cure is applied, as this race is stated
to be immune against the jape or jest
without the formers aid.
Again, the choice of fit and suit.