New-York tribune., 1907-05-05
MUSIC AS MEDICINE.
Claims of the Ne7o H0r-
homeopathic School Of Doctors.

In ihe most recent development OF medical ana
mental science the discovery or the theFHPeu''N
ro,,.ars of music we have striking demonstration
or the deep underlying unity of the world All
things work together It has been ssld' "he'i'e'
for good or for bad. though. II Is not proper mere
to discuss. But they do work tosether so'''eio"'
as has long been suspected by inspired m'nds'
r-,an uninsured minds too have unwittingly borne
testimony to the medicinal nature of music. just
as a weed a plant whose use has not yet oee"
discovered So too. is poison dVus whose 'hv'
ne,tic worth has not yet been determined LooKeu
at in this light, has not everybody always Co"7'0
cred music medicine? Since the days OF Pan men
have been .doped" in various ways by sounds Tho
number of distinct forms OF intoxcation produc'oie
h,- harmonias real and fictitious exceeds tAat OF
the varietie. OF alcoholic poisoning. NOT ohly 90
the reminiscent jag" the weepy skate ana 'he
driveIlinS drunk" find their counterparts in mu-
sfcal inebrInt!cn. but there many varieties IN
the latter species without parallel in the FORMER
For instance there is usually supposed 10 De only
one kind OF lighting drunk" but music can boast
Of producing half dozen distinct Sorts OF oei-
ligerent intoxication. ranging from the militant
effect of Marching Through Georgia" to the BRICK
throwing frenzy caused by an Italian organ Rtl''-
A similar comparison between music and every
other toxin reveals the superiority OF the FOR
mer No wonder then. that physicians have at
last abandoned crude pills. powders and instru-
1ncnts IN favor OF the parlor grand and the mouth
organ.
Three llncs OF Investigation have already been
pursued with wonderful success. The effects OF
music have been traced by advanced thinkers in
digestion in bacterial diseases and in nervous at-
fectons. Eating promises at an early date to De
come an wholly subservient TO music. AT pres
ont music is only an accessory to a repast II Is
tho thing that gives tone to a dinner and two fig
the bill. But persons respond TO certain
kinds melodies in certain definite ways, thereby
aiding or retarding the masticating and chewing
processes. the medical world already plans to re-
arrange dining halls and menus so ms 10 take ad-
vantage of this fact. Persons eating at four min
uc beaneries viii he aided in their rush by allegro
appassiOnato selections while the lelsurey lobster
eater in midnight rathskelers will put on the
stomach brakes by listening TO Asses Death" and
Handels Largo But science reaches its high
mark in dealing with the Fletchertes
near eaters" whose daily diet consists or not
more than three mouthfuls. and in tightening the
lot Of dyspeptcs. It has been found that, in ad-
diton to aiding digestion. certain melodies reflect
the character ~ various viands precisely that
Fletcherites and dyspeptcs may actually imagine
themselves eating such food when in reality they
are only hearing It's musical representative 1t is
thus possible for Fietcherite to get through a
seven course dinner ON one mouthful merely by
changing the tempo and rhythm OF his jaw action
with every change in the accompaniment
The dyspepuc who dares to swallow nothing al
all may derive ample sustenancr from chewing
on an ink eraser other yielding object while
the band plays
Inc professional musician viii recognize in all
this an interesting development Of programme
music along lines ndrean ed of even by Straus
himself who with all his tone pictures of milk
ing cows, washing socks and eating macaroni. has
never been able to inject into chords and har-
monies the succulence and nutrtiveness of a por-
terhOuse steak. Programme music the merely
artistic manipulation OF sounds, is giving way to
'menu music" vibratory eating Experts are
already at work figuring out the music that en-
bodies the culinary virtues of sardnes. butter
milk. lemon pie. champagne, hash, clam chowder
and on. The melodlc equivalent OF hash, by
the way, is said to be singulary like certain pas
sages in Wagner. One great difficulty students
have encountered is the problem of dinner par
ties, where large number of persons with diff
ferent temperaments must eat together Can one
set of musical selections be found (which will aid
all the diners? The only solution thus far found
is very unsatisfactory: it consists in giving each
man his music through the tubes OF a
private phonograph. This much inter-
ference with table conversation and the elbow
action incidental TO eating that few will be con-
tent with 1t. Another obstacle to is due
to the fact that beverages cannot he chewed. and
hence are less affected by the rhythms OF music
than solid food Is. Nevertheless. real and rapid
progress is being made. progress great enough to
make Partisan walters walk out strike IN
protest against this revolutionary discovery which
threatens to put end TO tipping II 10 true that
when a man eats practically nothing music
the poor waiter will have TO take TO trombone
playing for living. But every great upward stride
of man is made at somebody's cost. 1t will not do
hold back on this account
The English lead in the matter Of applying music
to disease Recent dispatches from London an
nounce that the Higher Thought Centre mot pub
lie sqrare but a club higher than High Holborn
in its asplrations) has demonstrated that melody is
better than massage preudes than pills songs
than scaIpels and anthems than antidotes Rheu-
matism heretofore treated with fair success by
Turkish baths is now cured by Oriental music.
which has all the curative powers OF the hot air
room. the steam room and the Icy plunge with none
OF the disadvantages. st. Vtus's dance healed by
rhythms which reduce the dance to an easy swing
But the great triumph is the cure for nervous
prostration At last know how to keep at work
eiShtssu hours = day Tor an6sdnits uuuosy of