The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1915-04-29
Spring Fever.

Among the signs of spring to be seen
even in the city streets none 10 more m
fallible than the annual display, In the
windows of the apothecary, OF sulphur,
sulphur and cream of tartar ana Hochelie
salt. or of those presumably more potent
because more mysterious mixtures sup,
plied in shapely. beautifully colored, and
elegantly clothed containers, the blood
purifiers'' and ''nerve tonics" which are
..good for spring fever"
And what is spring fever? Why. when
all other animate things are actually
snrinping into new life and expressing
themselves with appropriate JOY, should
man lapguish and lament the caresses OF
the climbing sun? Why, when all other
life revels in the out-of-doors, should
man seek out the poison-laden ar ana
darkened confines of the house OF drugs,
and carry thence with him package OF
ssspripg medicine?" Spring seems the
finest of tonics, and even of stimulants,
to other life; why should man need to
counteract it's influence with nauseous
concoctions?
AS defined by one who has become i'm
mortalized by having his name blown
in the bottle of one of these remedies,
snring fever is ''real ailment, incident
annually in the life of every person. Its
svmptoms are loss of appetite, impure
blood, nervousness, and general llstless-
ness" Coming from one whose prepar-
alton has ''proved unfailingly reliable for
thirty years." this must be authoritative.
The makers of medical mixtures are
forced these days to be less esoterlc than
formerly, and we learn from the LABEL
that among the ingredients OF this par
ticular connection are "dog-grass for the
kidneys, hops for general tone, sarsapa-
rilla to clear the blood' without it no
such mixture would be quite complete),
-'ginger to stir up the stomach, and SIENNA
and cascara for the bowels"
But sulphur and cream Of tartar are
less complex and more impersonal. and
have been vastly longer on the market
than proprietary preparations, ana Wnen
Intercepted they tell simpler story as
to the nature of spring fever. So far as
cold science can make cut by all sorts OF
investigation, the Only effects OF these
substances when taken internally is 10
hasten the movement of the food through
the alimentary canal, and to prevent Its
too long residence in the reservoir of
waste matter, the large intestine. In
other words, they are, like the SIENNA and
cascara of the more complicated cure,
mild laxatives. They do not directly
affect the nerves or the appetite, but
thew do affect them both indirectly by
Riding the body of accumulations of
putrefying material in the large lntes-
tine, from which poisons that depress the
nervous system are sure to be absorbed
into the blood.
The effects of the time-tested, as we'll
as of the more modern, spring remedies
are those of a mild laxative, which incl
dentally help to keep the blood pure and
the nervous system free from depressing
poisons. Reasoning backward from this
fact, the condition present In spring
fever is an overlooking of the digestive
tract, the cause apparently being the in
creasing warmth of the season. But
what connection IS there here between
cause and effect?
To explain this, one must go back six
months, to the time when the sun begins
to travel southwark; when wooden things
become agreeable companions. and the
bodily fires carried on in the continuous
tonic contraction of the voluntary mus
Giles, are quickened. We then turn to
hog and hominy, fried cakes and fritters,
or similarly heavy foods, with zest I'M
possible in July and August. With the
rising mercury Of April and May, con-
ditions are reversed. The fires in the
muscles are checked, and there is con-
sequently less use Tor fuel in them. This
means a diminished hunger, as the i'm
mortal inventor of the spring remedy
has truthfully told US. All this fortu-
nately goes on beyond the control of our
wills, but we are fools enough through
our fondness for feeding to believe, just
as the spring remedy maker teaches,
that this loss of appitite is bad thing.
We persuade ourselves that nature has
made mistake in taking our hunger.
We are sure that she meant We should
enjoy ourselves all the year round as we
have during the winter months, and
that we should continue to load up with
the same quantities of heavy foods.
Therefore, we follow our it-tastes-so-
good appetite. Meanwhile the digestive
organs have more innate gumption than
to digest the unneeded food forced upon
them. The undigested stuff accumu-
lates, the poisons from it promptly reach
the nervous system, and we have all the
familiar symptoms of spring fever, as
described on the handsome wrapper Of
the spring drug.
Of course SIENNA and cascara, sulphur
and cream of tartar, rid US temporarily
of these conditions, make us feel better
for the moment, and help US along until
we learn to diminish our intake of food
and to change our diet to make It suit
able for the season. If, at the same
time, we cautiously rid ourselves OF
superfuous clothing, the =" fever" is
cured, and we are fairly adjusted to the
heated term.
Spring remedies are, then, the out
come of mans love OF eating and of his
mistaken ideas of the meaning of appe-
tite. He has no more need of them than
has any other animal, provided he OBJ
serves his instructive leadings in the mat
ter of feeding and clothing himself.
Aside from the slight relaxation of tone
of the voluntary muscles, he ought, II
he has not abused himself. to feel re-
freshed and invigorated after the sue
cessfuI six months campaign against
cold. from which he issues again tri-
umphant, into the abundance of pure air