FEAR AS A DISEASE-PRODUCER.
The endless chain of cause and ef
fect in which fear and disease are the
alternate links is interestingly dis
cussed in the department of editorial
comment in “American Medicine.”
Fear—“one of the basic instincts of
animal life,”—has been only subordi
nated, not abolished, by civilization.
It is still “a constant detail of life,”
the writer tells us; and fortunately
so, since it drives us to acts of self
protection that saves our lives. Did
not dread keep the burned child from
the fire, we should be a singed race,
like the moths. And most of all do we
owe our lives to our fear of disease,
in which is rooted all our modem
“knowledge of hygiene and prophy
laxis and probably many of our ideas
of treatment.” But not only does the
fear inspired by disease tend to cura
tive acts and thus curb itself, but it
may also produce disease in its turn,
and so end in the chain of evils noted
above. The influence of fear upon
health is not discust in the text-books,
nor is it considered in the manage
ment of the sick, except in the most
cursory manner; but the writer as
serts that few mental states add more
to the burden of the physician, or
make his problems more difficult. He
goes on:
“That fear is a potent factor in pro
ducing abnormal conditions, or at
least in accentuating the baneful ef
fects of disease, is a fact established
beyond controversy; and yet in spite
of its harmful tendencies, fear in
some respects is a beneficent force,
beneficent in that had we not been
possest of fear, self-preservation
would not be the moving impulse it
ever has been and is today in our life;
without fear the human race would
probably have perished. Courage and
fear are antithetical; courage incites
to extinction, fear to self-preserva
tion. We believe courage rarely if
ever exists without fear; such a men
tal condition, alone and unchecked by
the caution naturally engendered by
fear, would have prevented the survi
val of mankind as well as all other
forms of animal life.
“A morbid fear of disease contri
butes largely to an unbalanced men
tality; it disarranges the bodily func
tions, to be later followed by organic
dissolution. ‘The psychopathic be
lieves himself afflicted with some in
curable physical malady, such as car
diac trouble or tubercolosis; the psy
choneurotic, that he is on the verge
of insanity.’ Siris writes that the
main source of psychopathic diseases
is the instinct of fear with its bane
ful manifestations of anxiety, an
guish, and worry. Darwin writes that
‘if we expect to suffer we are anxious.’
James regards ‘anxiety as morbid
fear.’ Bain, the ‘anxious condition of
mind a sort of diffused terror.’ In
other forms, concludes Sidis, ‘anxiety
is nothing else but the working of the
instinct of fear. Religious, social, and
moral lapses and superstitions asso
ciated with apprehension of threaten
ing impending evil, based on the fear
instinct, form the germs of psycho
pathic affections.' ”
Death from fear is very rare, but
the writer narrates an interesting, al
though painful, incident in the exper
ience of a noted New York surgeon—
the late Dr. Robert H. M. Dawbam:
“Some fifteen years since, a patient,
a young and apparently vigorous and
sound man, was referred to me at one
of our city hospitals for operation in
a perfectly simple case of hemorr
hoids. Due preparations for the pro
cedure were made, and he was left in
a private room to wait his turn in the
number of cases detailed for that
morning’s routine work. The case,
however, did not come to operation; in
fact, not even to aenesthesia.
“As the nurses passed the door of
his room during our work on cases
which were scheduled to precede his,
he would call each into his room and
inquire with increasing earnestness
and obvious expression of anxiety
whether in their opinion the approach
ing operation might not endanger his
life. Finally a nurse reported to us
that in spite of their efforts to reas
sure the patient that the operation
was absolutely a safe one, he had
grown almost incoherent with fear or
fright; she thought that I had better
see him. I had been scrubbing up in
an adjacent room, but went to him at
once and found him at that moment
dead. Careful attempts at resuscita
tion were at once instituted and per
sisted in, but without avail.
“It developed that the young man
carried several life-insurance policies.
Because of the anomalous condition as
to the diagnosis of cause of death,
representatives of these companies
were at the autopsy, which was thor
oughly and properly made in our
presence by a careful specialist. Not
a gross lesion was found. The final
diagnosis was ‘death from fear.’—
Literary Digest.
EATING RAW FOOD.
Commenting on the recent “raw
food” school, Dr. Toulouse, a French
physician, points out some of the ad
vantages and drawbacks of the idea
of consuming al food raw. Naturally
in our common practice this is often
done and even in the case of animal
flesh such as oysters, dried beef, and
others, and such substances are well
digested, even better, it is claimed,
than cooked meat. Salads, radishes
and all fruits are eaten raw, and while
they cause more work to the digestive
organs by the character of the cellu
lose under such conditions, on the
other hand they afford ferments
which greatly aid digestion. Compar
ing the two systems, cooked or raw,
the latter is the most essential for
preserving life, for when the system
is deprived of all fresh food, diseases
of the scorbutic type appear, especi
ally in children. The only drawback
with raw food is that it may bring
disease germs, which cooking de
stroys, and tihs consideration above
recommends cooking in numerous
cases. However an important point is
that certain aliments are quite indi
gestible, even though the most nu
tritious, i. e., dried vegetables such as
beans and peas, and even the most
convinced of the new vegetarian
school could not consume these. In
the foregoing the question of taste
was not considered, but in fact, cook
ing develops a flavor which adds in
the secretion of digestive substances,
and hence it is not a simple question
of enjoyment of food. The practice
of eating raw food does not therefore
appear to be justified beyond the
point where it is already the custom
ary practice.—Scientific American.
EMMETT J. SCOTT
ON JEANES’ BOARD.
Emmett J. Scott, secretary of Tus
kegee Institute, has been elected to
succeed the late Dr. Booker T. Wash
ngton as a member of the Negro
Rural School Fund, Anna T. James’
Foundation.
THE SMART SET COMPANY.
The Smart Set company has come
and gone. The impression left has
caused much discussion among our
people. The Monitor, having heard
so many opinions as to the merits of
the show, pro and con, has asked me
to write my impressions, so as to try
to reach a happy medium.
Nothing ever created by man has
ever been pronounced perfect. But
many sayings and things done by man
have gone far towards making this
old world a better place to live in.
Many persons say a show is bad be
cause the comedian wasn’t funny, or
that the chorus couldn’t sing, or that
the costumes were cheap, etc. From
my point of view, if an entertainment
is morally clean, it deserves much
credit for being so. I don’t think any
one could deny that credit to the
Smart Set company. The next is the
individual and ensemble work of the
cast and chorus. (We won’t mention
the plot because musical comedies do 1
not have plots.)
What of the individuals? Mr.
Salem Tutt Whitney is all a comedian
should be. He is funny, has good de
livery and knows how to put the
punch in his jokes. His Negro char
acter does not belittle the race. His
is the old time Negro that was bom
with lots of mother wit and never had
a chance of getting an education.
He is always entertaining without
being boisterous.
Miss Hattie Akers (as Bullions
Ward) more than made good. She
was bom an actress. She had two
scene’s, one pathetic and the other
patriotic. Both were done with feel
ing and ability. Watch her she will be
heard from. '
Miss Blanche Thompson is the only
woman (of our race) that I have seen
that is fit to take up the mantle, laid
down by the late Mrs. Walker. She
can sing the part, dance the part, talk
the part or act the part. What more
can one ask?
Mr. Luke Scott displayed much
ability in character parts, and he is
also the possessor of a fine baritone
voice, in time he will become a credit
to his race.
Mr. J. Homer Tutt is graceful, de
livers his lines well, and looks dandy
in his clothes. Beau Brummels are
not born everyday.
Mr. James Vaughn’s music is of a
very high order. It’s a master’s task
to set music to action and scenes, both
of which he accomplished with marked
ability. His big numbers sung by the
chorus were meritorious and tune
ful. Vaughn was with Williams and
Walker when they played for King
Edward in England.
Now for the ensemble work. The
chorus was well drilled and sang
with that peculiar blend that only our
people possess
The drill by the guards was agile
and peppery, it was in perfect keep
ing with the scene. The dancing was
great. “The Moonlight Pace” dance
in the second act, was original and
graceful. “The Dance of Death” by
the Rajah and Queen, was beautiful in
its fiendishness.
Taking it as a whole and comparing
it with other colored shows, I believe
it was as good as any and second to
none that has visited our city.
May they prosper and keep up the
good work.
DAN DESDUNES.
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FURNISHED ROOM8 FOR RENT.
Clean, modem furnished rooms on
Dodge and Twenty-fourth street car
lines. Mrs. Annie Banks,, Douglas
4379.
Nicely furnished front room. Mod
em except heat. 1630 North Twenty
second street.
Furnished rooms, close in. Douglas
7518.
Nicely furnished rooms, new and
comfortable, Mrs. Anna Williams,
2321 South Sixteenth street. Tyler
1748.
Room for rent with heat; hot and
cold water. Mrs. M. C. Sands, 2709
Corby street. Webster 5017.
Comfortable furnished rooms, 2409
Blondo street. Mrs. W. B. Smith.
Webster 6376.
Mrs. L. M. Bentley-Webster, first
class modern furnished rooms, 1702 N.
26th St. Phone Webster 4769.
For Rent—Neat furnished rooms,
822 N. 23rd St., comer Cuming.
Jesse Sibley. Douglas 5561.
Nicely furnished front room. Mod
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Seward street. Webster 4490.
Neatly furnished room. Modem.
Will rent to man and wife. 2722 Bur
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Modern furnished rooms, 1819 Izard
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Nicely furnished rooms with hot
and cold water, $1.50 and up per
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1326 North 23rd street. W. 5639.
HOUSES—FOR RENT
For rent—Modern seven room
house, 4303 Erskine street. Call
Webster 7811.
Reduced to Rent at Once—$11.00;
2007 Paul. Five dandy rooms.
FOR SALE—REAL ESTATE
FOR SALE—An eight-room house,
strictly modern, 2722 North 30th St.
Terms. Webster 3602.
If you have anything to dispose of,
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For Sale—Pool hall, 2022 North
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Call Harney 6385.