The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-12
NATURES RESTORER, NUSlC
a CURE FOR MANY HUMAN Ills.
THIS DOCTOR THINKS.
AdItssS . DaiIy Desc OF Q Musical Hest
Thinks Il WIZ PrOIOng Lite aud Pre-.
vent DiseRse-Noeded Especially in
View or Modern High Tension Living.


according to a New York physician. prolcng
life. still a young man with Az exoa.'4
tionally we'll ordered body. this doctor
makes no pretence OF having put his theory
to tho personal test. What he has done Is
to figure It ont on out on scientific limos.
/ From deductions he has made he asserts
that a imam who devotes half an honr Of each
four and twenty to musical rest win add
from 10 to 20 per cent. to the years OF his
life. In bis Investigations the doctor found
that music brings about a perfect ADJUST
ment OF the different parts of the body; In
short, a poise which IL sven more reposeful
than sleep. IL was when he was looking
for some meanB TO meet the. exhRusting
demands of modern living that he tested
the efficacy Of music and established this
TO his own satisfaction :
Being called upon to treat patients suffer
ing from diseases comparatively new to the
medical profession and developed by the
constantly accelerated pace OF modern
living. the doctor found himself at q loss
for remedies. There was nothing which
more than briefly relieved the heart trouble
resulting from the extreme demand made
on that organ by what might be called high
tension disorders.
Overpressure In the blood vessels which
Is brought about by the demands OF intense
living, and is very common, causes them TO
present to the heart an unyielding wall
instead Of the flexible surfaoe which nature
provided. This makes each heart beat
much more dinicult than 1t should be and
the work 1t does h at best imperfect under
such conditions.
How to correct this particular, trouble.
even temporarily, was the question the
doctor was trying to solve when he decided
to make the investigations which convinced
him that music. taken as q would take
any other remedy. will prolong life. More
than this, he finds that II will add to efficiency
as we'll as to longevity.
As has been recently demonstrated. n
plant stopped in It's growth and completely
rested by being etheriyed will mature much
quicker than one left TO grow in the usual
way. The doctor reasons that the same IL
true Of human, beings, though the means
employed to secure the rest must be differ
emit. .
After listening to music for ha'f an hour.
provided it 10 Of the kind which interests
him to the extent that he gives II his undi-
vided attention, he finds that he can do
as much work in two hours as he could ac-
complain in three without h musical
rest. This Is not alone true Of the days
work, be it long or short, but Of the entire
lifetime.
Estimating from such data as he has COL
lected, 1t is his conclusion that. provided
a person lives q sane life In other ways, he
can keep himself young and retain his
power Of enjoyment TO the end Of his days IL
he devotes half an hour each day to listening
to such music as enlists his interest.
This would, Of oourRe. apply only to
those who normally enjoy work. an It is
not asserted that musical rest will develop
q love for labor or perform any other
miracle. In fact his. contention 10 very
modest compared with those who advocate
music az q panaoea.
These last have nothing new to Offer, n
the assertion that music IL q potent remedy
il as old, certainly. a. the Hebrew Scrip
lures. and they but revive assertions set
down In the old books. When put to the
test most advocates Of musical ~therapeu-
tics nave nothing definite to Offer az to
how to administer music for the relief Of
various ailments. nor are they able to say
that 1t can be adjusted to the needs Of the
individual.
Convinced by certain well authenticated
cures that there is something In it, they 20
stumbling about in q slough Of suggestion
as to how to begin and how to proceed.
First there In talk about getting the pa
TENTS keynote. just what 10 lone with Il
when il IL obtained 10 not always made
plain.
When IL comes to the kind Of music to be
used there is opportunity for endless as
sertions. There is quick music for slow
diseases and slow music for quick diseases;
a certain composer offers q remedy for one
class Of ailments. while the work OF others
will aid those suffer ing from other disa-
bilities. Some say that the composer
must At not alone the disease, but the person
who is suffering from It.. When all this
and more-a gleat deal more-haS been de-
termined, then, with the patients consent,
The experimenting begins.
Again there are musical practitioners
who advocate, when the intricate matter Of
the prescription lie once settled. that the
music shall be administered with a strinRed
instrument, which can be laid on or near
the affected part Of the body. These be-
long TO the branch OF the musical th~erapeu-
tic people who believe that harmonious vi
brations, in accord with the universal vi
brations which carry messages through
the air, heal by restoring such vibrations
as are normal and putting one in tune with
nature.
Others, equally enthusiastic as TO the
curative power Of music, hold that this is
altogether too material and Is quite wrong,
as it is an ethical matter only: that Il 10 to
mind and not to matter that the musical
appeal Is TO be made. These assume that
when the mind lie put in perfect harmony
that Is in equilibrium, the body, which
from the soul its form doth take must Of
necessity be perfectly adjusted and become
healthy.
While the people Of high thought. and
those Of thought not 80 high, are out for
key notes OF their patients, for composers.
compositions and what not In the musical
line which Is to cure all the diseases flesh
is heir to-there Is a recently established
school near New York where how TO de-
termine all this IL TO be taught-the ply
stefan already cited has, as he believes,
found the simple principle which underlies
il all.
Finding that when music fully engaged
the attention Of his patient. Zach muscle,
nerve and even fibre relaxed in a way which
enabled nature perfectly TO adjust itself,
the doctor began q series OF observations.
'rha rap,,lt wa that he found that a dosa