Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1909-01-14

| ter, rector OIL the EmHdHuei SnuiCH,
Boston, founder of the Emmanuel
Movement" deliver his lecture on
1.-The Moral Cure Of Nervous Disor-
, ders'' in St. Georges Church, says the
! New York Evening Post.
DR.. Worcester said that before he
began his discussion of functional
! nervous disorders, he wished to talk
for a few minutes on the growth OF
nervousness in the United States. He
continued:
when Beard wrote his memorable
book upon American nervousness
! about thirty-five years ago, he re-
marked the extraordinary progress
which the disease had made in the
, country within a comparatively short
| time. Forty years before the publ
cation of this book he said, 'ner-
vousness was not known here There
| is no doubt that the increase to be
noted at the present time has pro-
gressed by stages even more rapid
than in the past.
Nervousness is a disease growing
! out of sedentary occupation, climate.
social conditions-the causes are
manifold. 1t Is one of the marked
conditions of society Of to-day. There
Is no doubt that this disorder can be
and Is transmitted from parent to
child, and from generation to gener-
alton. When we remember how fluid
and changeable and adaptable ner-
vousness is, we should not marvel at
It's wonderful powers of transmission.
, When we see family afflicted with
epilepsy, melancholia, or alcoholism,
we can be assured that the general
cause Is a bad family history. Every
thing that weakens our system can
be transmitted"
Modern Life's Strcnuousncss.
"The nervous system of the human
body is wonderfully organized. 1t
responds to enormous demands and
stimul-yet it has its limits. Siren
uous demands have an unfavorable
effect upon the nerves, especially in
this city. The danger and difficulty
Ill StiVtlc, wv SS''~'N' ~r
roar, the confusion causes an eXpen-
diture OF energy, we have no idea
how much, and that modern complex
tiles are going to decrease as time
goes on is inconceivable.
"To return to the simple things of
the past is impossible to most OF us,
for the better part of the year, at
least, and it all comes to a question
of meeting the situation inwardly.
You cannot control your outer life;
YOU can control the inner. If it is
peaceful, placid, single. not double
in its self-dealings, then the inroads
of the outer life can be resisted.
1.-The main object is the learning
10 draw upon inward powers of peace
fulness and calm, and conserving this
store by as frequent trips to nature
as our time and means will allow.
A great part of DR.. Peterson's sue
cess with epilepsy consisted OF get
ting people back to the ground, max
ing them till the soil, sit on the
earth, walk on it. The recuperative
effects Of the open spaces, the woods,
are inestimable; we return from them
carrying with us an inward peace that
nothing can take away.
at is difficult to say where ner-
vousness as a disease begins. We are
all nervous at some time or other.
/ suppose that when this feeling Is
not relieved by ordinary rest, we may
be said to be diseased, Irritable
weakness may be said to be character
istic of all forms Of nervousness. In
neurasthenia. which really means
nervous weakness, we are easily ia
tigued, inclined to be depressed. ir-
ritable; we tire easily. and suffer
pains In the head and back. There
is no question that most neurasthen-
ic persons need rest. DR.. s. Weir
Mitchell has proved by his success in
nervous disorders the remarkable
curative value of rest.
Some Arc "Born Tired"
'But there are some persons who
cannot be rested. They were born
tired The trouble with them is
that they all their lives have been
confined to narrow circle of
thought, and in this restricted men
tai circle they go round and round,
like horses in ,readmill. Their
minds are sick of their thoughts
that is all. The thing to be done is
to give them a new point of view.
In most functional disturbances the
mind, not the body, is sick. The cure
constitutes a moral problem.
Most of us spend more nervous
energy than necessary. Some men
are at high tension all the time. You
can see them clutching the sides of
their chairs as they talk, arguing
with themselves, running when they
might as well be walking, and so on.
Now this Is just as foolish as for
a man of moderate means to start
suddenly out in wild extravaganza.
If they could but learn the lesson of
relaxation, of letting themselves down
for a while, of looking at themselves
in the glass and observing their
dropping features, their frowning
brows, their strained eyes, and so
framing the mind as to produce
pleasanter expression, what WON
derful decrease in nervous disorders
we should see!
Then there are forms of weakness
in which morbid ideas and emotions
of fear dominate. No one knows to
what extent fears dominate the indi-
vidual. Stanley Hall, in his 'Thera-
peutics of Human Fear, says that he
discovered seven thousand kinds Of
fear in six thousand persons. Such