Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-02-12
SANE OR INSANE?
Queer Decisions of Those Con
Sidered Mentally Sound
Are Related.
IMPURE FOOD ONE CAUSE
DR.. Quackenbos BARNES Too Fast Life,
Aso-SuGgestion as One
Cure.

specialist on ue treatment OF nervous
diseases, recently told the Entertain
ment club of New York at the Wal
dorf- Astoria hotel how easy it is for
perfectly sane people to get insane at
times and how wheels in the head may
be removed by mental suggestion, says |
the New York Sun.
Delusions of the sane are matter |
Of nerves and twentieth century siren |
uoSity, said the doctor. If You play |
bridge or poker too much, play the |
races. speed an AUTOMOBILES. dabble in |
Wall street, work or play too much |
by electric light, live in fiat, eat adult |
| teratcd food or breathe bad air YOU are |
| liable to imagine that micr0heS are
| playing tag oil Your coat sleeve or II
you happen to keep bees i'll your eel
| lar you may be afraid to 20 into that
cellar for fear of eating bee. These
| are merely mild FRANKS of the dclusion-
| nj hug. but If YOU have Il bad case You
may he scared to death of lemons.
Among my PATIENTS said the doe
| tor. have been persons who dared not
| cross the threshold of their homes and
|
| months. who could not force themselves
on a car or wash and dress themselves
| or shake hands or sleep under bed
| quilt Some have diseases that no one
ever had before. Wheels 20 around in
| their ears. they see birds and the tlut-
tering of wings. footsteps follow them,
strange things crawl through the key
hole. faces stand out on the wall. and
flies whisper secrets to them. Many
have a baSeless fear of insanity, and
one lady sought Il position in an asy-
lum so as to he on hand when the day
Of alteration should arrive. Lots Of
people come to me saying they are be-
witched. an exceedingly common Gclu-
sion today. \ we'll known authorcss
believes she is under the hypnotic pow
er of Il doctor who comes into her room
disguised as a cloud and flaps his as
trail wings underneath her bodice
| DR.. QuakenhoS told stories about a
woman who could not sit in Il theatcr
for wanting 10 fire a pistol at the per
son in front of her. of Il woman who
saw a coarse word Scribbled on 4
fence and couldn't help saving it her
self and Of 4 man who developed n
mania for going TO law and in one in
stance pursued an executor with per-
. siStent malignity during five years of
controversy only TO be defeated in
> court twenty times in succession.
Horror of Dust.
\ common dcluSion of the sane, said
Dr. Quackcnhos. i i morbid horror Of
, dust and disorder (myspphrhial. one
patient feared that If The cups and sau-
GERS were displaced they could never be
put back and spent The greater part Of
+ night keeping them on the shelves.
, The sight OF goblet upside down
/ threw him into Il frenzy. Cases like
, these are promptly cured Ivy suggcs-
t ton. said the doctor What has been
: wrongly called the insanity of indie
$ ciSion manifests itself in dciuSiOnS of
s.; doubt The subject Will go back soy
I cral times to soc if the gas has been
turned off properly or the stock ccrtiti-
Gates returned to the safe. \ n@uraS-
THEME Yale graduate of my acquaint-
L ance | have known 10 stand on the
II | frNnt Slips liHGcClGpl as - WnrtiVi a
- mail Il letter in the lamp post box on
n Fifth avenue or the next corner In
?. Madison avenue until the mental con
. fict precipitated an attack Of hystericai
q / weeping.
There is humorous as we'll as pa
thctic side to some of these ahnorma
thought forms \ physician recently
under my care imagined that his cloth
ing was covered with microbes. lie
was constantly brushing them off. II,
soiled fifty napkins a day in desperate
efforts to brush them off the tableware
His wife was unable to keep seTvan
in her employ, and his practice wen
~ by the board
u "A gentleman brought his wife e
Il me n few years ago suffering from /;
Of postgrippal dclusion that her skin wa
0r covered with worms. The wrinkles il
Z. her dress We're worms Her finger tip
T. were worn sore from looking for worm
40 in her clothing. At the third treatmen
n | made bold to declare that had cap
n tured the last worm when my sleepin!
patient retorted, There is one left. doc
, tor | cluiched the last imaginary of
fender and said in Il firm voice: L hav
80 got it. You will be troubled no more
ne She was completely cured.
y Even hard headed business men he
ne come the victims of ludicrouS obse>
Il sions. \ young man applied To me las
ey autumn for the cure Of an irreSisthl
ok impulse to throw himself into the arm
of every corpulent woman he saw an
. be hushed to sleep by her.
Il once prepared Il young lady to +,
ceive proposal. Her lover was du
that very night from Boston. and
consented to do the best could fc
her. She must not be too eager All
so convey the impression that she wa
an easy conquest. She must not be to
frigd and repel the advances of n
lection. | worked one hour over til:
sleeping beauty impressing my view
and when | walked her | felt that 81
was well equipped to go through til
trying ordeal. Do you know that ma