The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1914-07-05
HAS CLAIMS
AS CURE FOR NERVES
Metropolis Was Prescribed as
Health Resort by Horace
WaIp0Ie.

Were I a physician. I could prescribe
nothing but Recipe: ccclxv dracs. Lon
din. per annum," 1855 doses Of London
year,. Thus wrote noted Londoner.
Horace walpole. IF a few days in Lon
don does your neurasthenic patient no
good, his case may well be helpless and
hopeless" These. the words of DR.. Clip
ingdale, addressing the balneologic AMI
climatologic section Of the Royal So
ciety of Medicine a few weeks ago on
Lond.r as a health resort and as sani-
tary city. Those who are accustomed
to go to the mountains, the fashionable
spa, the seashore or the health resort"
may ask whether this is merely subtle
humor or ill-concealed sarcasm at the ex-
pense of what has been called the
healthiest, and with the exception OF
Madrid, the ugiiest city in the world"
Or are physicians unduly obvious Of the
suitability Of a large city for certain
maladies, chiefly of psychopathic CT
homeopathic nature? asks the Journal OF
the American Medical Association.
There are not a few persons VINO have
a dreao of open spaces, for example, the
country. 1t j. TO such that a very large
city, on account Of its size and the
almost infinite number Of diversions 1t
dppcdic Iloot thc
LONDON life is to such persons the ma
terial On which they live. There are
persons who prefer looking on men and
artificial things. The lonliness Of the
woods and green fields appals them.
Many a patient sent to the monotony
of tine seashore to recuperate finds his
first real joy and comfort in the return
t. the motley throng Of some great
city. In this spirit Charles Lamb once
wrote: Il am naturally inclined to hy-
Irfo E htrt f,a VA nj
as do other ills. The man must have
rare receipt for melancholy who can feel
dull in Fleet street"
City Good For NERVES"
Despite the numerous epithets Of an
tipathy which have been recorded
against the great English metropolis,
despite the alleged lack of esthetic at
tributes. Cgppingdale stoutly defends its
suitability for persons suffering from
certain nervous disorders: cases OF
simple depression from the normal;
cases of hypochonalia, melancholia. in
somnia and neuralgia Of nonorganic
origin, the drug and alcoholic habits and
morbid introspection; cases. in fact, re-
quiring the very opposite of rest
cure" He insists that many means for
rational psychotherapy are provided by
the diversions of great city. Its his
toric. artistic and literary associations
writes Clippingdale. Its many picture
galleries and museums. its numerous
places of amusement the business ac-
tivity. the Attic regions OF Relgravia
and the Alsatian retreats OF the East
End all combine to produce a stage OF
exhilaration not met with elsewhere
IN fact, 1t has been loosely remarked
that If Londoners themselves fell into
a state of lethargy nothing would
arouse them from 1t unless 1t were two
l.
together with an earthquake in the
Strand" There is, of course. an I'M
derlylng germ Of truth in all Of this.
Not every man can be rescued from
depression by the soothing environ
ment of a sanitarium or the Joys of
the outdoor life. The heart OF the city
is like balm to a persistent minority.
Is Healthy City.
As for London itself, the annual exc
dus therefrom is Comparatively mod
ern invention" Speaking from stat
istical comparison OIL the general NOR
tally, 1t is a healthy city. Its natural
advantages are enhanced by the large
number of open spaces in its midst.
II the climate is nothing TO Toast of,
1t must be remembered that fog IS not
an atmosphere OF poisonous microbes"
After all, the question of ltYableness
in any environment Is. as rule, one
of the temperament and Adaptability
of the individual. Americans have
braved the dreaded tropics with COM
oaratIve comfort and remained in per-
feet health Manila and Panama have
lost the terrors of climate, while the
far north has become the field Of pleas
ure-seekers The healthfulness of an
environment, urban or suburban. in
land or coastwise, has become almost
entirely a question of personal hygiene
and mental satisfaction coupled with
the indispensable accomplishments OF