Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-06-14
CITY A
HEALTH RESORT

People Have Different Idea But
Parts Of London Cure Nerv,
business.
Were a physician. could pres.
cribe nothing but-'Recipe:. ccclxv
drah. LOnd:n. per annum'" 1865 doses
of London a year,, Thus wrote q
noted LondOner, Horace Walpole. III
a few days In London does your neur.
asthenic patient no good, his case
may well Ds$ helpless and hopeless.
These, the awords Of DR.. Clippingdale
addressing the ,~balneologic and china.
.tolog'c section Of the Royal Society
of medicine a few weeks ago on Lon
don as a health resort and as a sani-
tary city. Those who. are accustOm-
ed to go to the mountains, the fashion.
aDle spa, the seashore or the "health
resort may ask whether this, is mere.
" subtle humor or ill.concealed sar.
casm at the expense of what has been
allied the %healthiest, and with the e x
ception of Madrid, the ugliest city in
the world" Or are physicians I'M
duly oblivious of the suitability of a
large city for certain maladies, chief.
ly of a psychopathic or homeopathic
nature.
Some Dread Open Spaces.
There are not a few persons who
have a dread of open spaces, for ex-
ample, the country. 1t is to such that
q very large city, on account Of its
size and the almost Infinite number
of diversions it permits, appeals most
remarkably. Tho London life is to
such persons the material on which
they live. There are persons who
prefer looking on men and artificial
things. The loneliness of the woods
and green fields appal,s them. Many
a patent sent to the monotony of the
sea.shore to recuperate finds his first
real Joy and comfort in the return to
the motley thrOng of some great city.
In this spirit Charles Lamb once
wrote: II am naturally inclined to n.y.
pochondria; but in London it vanish
es. as do other ills. The man must
have a rare receipt for melancholy
who can feel dull in Feet Street."
London Cures Nervous Troubles.
Despite the numerous epithets of
antipathy which have been recorded
aginst the great English metropolis,
despite the alleged lack of esthetic at
tributes, Clippingdale stoutly defends
its suitability for persons suffering
from certain nervous disorders; cases
of simple depression from the normal;
cases of hypochondria, me!ancholia,
insomnia AID neuralgia Of nonorganic
origin, the drug and alcoholic habits
and morbid introspection; cases, in
fact, requiring the very opposite of a
"rest-cure.' He insists that many
means for rational psychotherapy are
provided by the diversions of a great
city. Its historic, artistic and liter
airy associations, writes Clippingdale,
Its many picture galleries and mu-
seu1ns, It's numerous places of amuse-
ment, the business activity. the Attic
regions of Eelgravia and the Alsatian
retreats of the East End all combine
to produce a state OF ex%hilaratiOn not
met with elsewhere In fact, 1t has
been loosely remarked that il Lon
dOners themselves fell into a state of
lethargy nothing would arouse them
from it unless it were two Parliamen.
tary elections il one year, together
with an earthquake in the Strand
There is, of course, an underlying
germ of truth in all of this. Not !!
every man ear be- rescued from de-
preston by the soothing environment
of a sanatorium or the joys of the
outdoor life. The heart of the city is
like balm to a persistent minority.
Exodus Comparatively Modern.
AS for London itself, the annual OK
odus therefrom is 2 Comparatively
modern invention" Speaking from
statistical comparison of the general
mortality, it is ? healthy city. It's
natural advantages are enhanced by
the large number of open spaces in
its midst. If the climate is nothing
to boast of, it must be remembered
that "fog is not an atmosphere of
poisonous microbes" After all, the
question of liveableness in any envir-
Onment Is, as a rule. one of the tenn
permanent and adaptability of the in
dividual. Americans have braved the
dreaded tropics with comparative
comfort and remained in perfect
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 c0astWise, has become almost
entirely a question of persona; n.y.
giene and mental satisfaction coupled
with the Indispensable accomplish
ments of public sanitation.