Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-20

DIR. Thomas w. Salmon is dead. TIC
the average layman. that may not
at once convey special significance,
for Dr. Salmon was a professor of
| medicine in Columbia University
away off in New York City But to
medical circles it means that the lead
ng researcher in psychiatry has ceased
his important work He died mysteri.
ously by falling, unseen, off yacht
| into Long Island Sound, and when
his body was recovered. it was shown
that the direct cause of his death was
tumor on the brain producing a
faint. in which he had fallen over
board. His speciality was the brain.
and no man Of this generation has
brought more hope to men afflicted
with brain trouble than did DR.. Sal
mon. This applies particularly to his
studies Of shell shock" in battle.
X y X
ASK almost any general practitioner.
or even such as specialize in insanity,
what is shell shock, and the probabili-
ties are that the answer will be that
1t is form of insanity which comes
to patients having natural mental
weakness. They will perhaps explain
that even without the excitement of
ally have brought a mental break
insanity Ask others who
make no pretense of medical learning
what is shell shock, and the answer
Will come from many who never
smelled the smoke of battle:
Shell shock? Oh, that is Just an.
other name for 'yellow'w That was
the actual conversation at an Ameri-
can camp of rehabilitation between a
lieutenant and a major who had
brayely held Virginia fort through.
out the World War.
X \ X
DR.. Salmon proved that shell shock
is not insanity. 1t is not malingering
'yelloWness" of a coward. 1t is one
of the most terrible Affections of SOL
diery, but it is far more durable than
most forms Of insanity. The main
treatment consists in occupational
therapy and rest.
1t is the most prevalent of any of
the ailments Of the war. and it is
real. distinctive and grievous to the
patient and his family. But there is
hope for the shell shocked. Only in
America has it come to be the fash
ion to belittle it and say there is no
such thing as shell shock.
Upon our entrance into the war DR..
Salmon was sent to Europe by the
Rockefeller Foundation to make spe-
cial studies of the mental effects of
battle. He became the head of the
Neuropsychiatric Division of the
A. Z. F.
In a book entitled "ShelI Shock"
written by DIR. Norman Fenton,
Phi. D.. associate professor of psychol-
ogy, Ohio University, and during the
war in charge of the chief base hos
pital Q1O for shellshock cases, ap-
pears this:
1.-THE documentary history of the
A. f. +. neuropsychiatric organiza-
ton begins with the report by Salmon
on the methods used by the English
army to combat the serious military
menace of shell shock. In
asmuch as he was from May to July,
1917, and from December, 1917, till
the Spring of 1919 senior consultant
the Army abroad, DIR. Salmon was
able actually to organize and direct
n. p. work of the Army in France
on the basis of the scientific premises,
which his discussions with colleagues
in America and with experts of the
allied armies, his knowledge of litera
ture and his direct study in England
had given him.
Dr. Fenton gives official statistics
which show that in June, 1913, the
number of shell-shock cases admitted
to Hospital III, in proportion to the
number of deaths in battle, was 20
per cent. That was the beginning of
American activities at the front, when
85, 900 Americans were on the fighting
line. In August, when 100000 Amer
leans were fighting. the shell-shock
cases constituted only 10 per cent Of
the number of battle deaths. In Octo-
Der, when we had ! 100000 in battle,
the shell-shock cases were only per
cent of battle deaths. DIR. Fenton
adds:
1T is the opinion of those compe
tent to judge that when the neuro-
psychiatric organization as planned
(by DIR. Salmon) was at work with a
unified American Army the war neu-
roses ceased to be the dangerous mill
tary menace they had been earlier in
the history of the A. E. F. military op-
erations, and that this organization
was of primary Importance in lessen
ing their seriousness. Gen. Pershing
recognized this in a fine tribute to the |
medical officers engaged in the work" !;