Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-31


From the Genuine Attacks
I'VE often read in the prints of today
facetious and questioning comments on the
assertion that love Is q disease. said one
OF the foremost aiienists Of the capital to
q Star man in discussing the problem Of
mental responsibility and its association
with the tender passion. THE word dis
ease az used In this connection by spe-
cialists is merely one Of language to ex-
press condition Of the mind; 1t Is like tho
word mania to express q condition OF the
brain; insanity Is disease, for instance.
but there are hundreds of manias.
And so love may be developed into
disease. 1t comes and goes. and progresses
from it's initial to its ultimate state. It runs
Its course, has Its spasms, its regurs1ta-
lions and reactions. 1t Is an aiimcnt 70
which the same mind Is susceptible TO z
relapse. It Is recurrent disease, though It's
primary feature Is its single attack-tnis
upon the assumption that the patient ex-
periences true and not simulated AT
tack though to the patient, or we may
has all the symptoms Of the true disease
These preliminary and premonitory symp-
toms are our childhood loves. A simulated
attack would be where the subject supposes
himself or herself In love only to find out
later that the attack was not of the Genu-
Inc kind: but the symptoms In the simu,
lated attack are identical with the reai
thing. It is sometimes difncnlt to distin-
guish the simulated symptoms from the
genuine precisely. as physicians err in their
diagnosis in cases of chtckenpox Tor small
ated by the subject himself or herself. half
OF the martial infelicity in the world would
be avoided.
"A curious symptom of this disease Is
ton that life itself Is worthless without q
concurrence of reciprocation on the part OF
the person upon whom the subject may
have conferred his or her affections. This Is
essentially a mental condition and is ac-
tually an hallucfnatfon: as matter of fact
life itself, coldly speaking Is identical with
out this refrigeration as with It.
''Of course TO the superficially observing
my remarks have no application but the
theory that love Is a disease is combated
by SOME thinkers upon the hypothesis that
1t Is now admitted that all diseases have
specific cause and may be traced to what
shall call the microbe theory. The an
swer to this is that II the microbe of love
has not yet been discovered and isolated
by alienists 1t does not follow that 1t may
not yet be so isolated and established. It IS
only within comparatively recent years that
the cellular theory has been established
into a fact, and 1t wasn't SO very long ago
that the promulgators OF the microbe the
DRY were hooted at as lot Of lunatics and
Missionaries.
'.As in the cellular and microbe instances.
so are those who now assert that love Is a
scientific research And how will the MI
crobe of love be isolated and established?
That no one can answer but time itself.
but I have not the slightest doubt that IN
time there will be an answer. And the
cure? All, that Is another matter. Scien-
tific research has established the positive
existence of many specific germs, but 1t
has not yet found cures-that Is. specific
cures-or. more properly speaking, destroy
ers of these specific germs in all instances.
'If the microbe of love be established
within the next century that much at least
will have been learned 1t may take sew
eral ensuing centuries to produce what for
the sake of words, we will call the cure.
The young people of that generation will be
as far advanced as we are over the past
dark ages of science and medicine, and,
since we cannot deny our own progress,
there Is no sound reason why We should
deny the future advance of progressive
ages.
But 1t does not follow, when this time
comes, that love will be destroyed. as 1t
were At that time the disease, like the
measles of today, viii be a good thing to
have; the afflicted may be enabled to re-
cover from their attack the quicker or 1t
may be possible to differentiate between the
simulated and the genuine attacks. Either
event would be happy one. Life viii be
the smoother and the happier. Content
ment would prevail where now discomfort
stalks an unseen, but much felt, factor IN
daily life. The divorce problem of today.
for instance. will have ceased to be prob
lem, for there won't be any divorces to
speak of. Most of the domestic prob
lens of today will have Strengthened them
selves out through the simple operations of
the new force itself. The simplification of
life will be remarkable. Upon the whole |
1t will be a very delightful age in which |
to live.
"A single illustration of the affairs of to- |
day will suffice. Instances of where sutton |
kills or attempts to kill the object Of his |
affection because she does not reciprocate |
his affection are printed every few days in |
The Stars telegraphic reports. In the age |
when the microbe of love will have been es- |
tablished and its application. known. the |
selfish, bloodthirsty symptom of the disease |
will have been eliminated, and tragedies |
upon this old score will have disappeared |
from daily life The interesting and profit |
able features of love alone will remain"