IS92 



GLEANlN(;s IN HEE CULTURE. 



573 



To rosuiiip tlitMlosori|)ti(>ii of my own cxpcii- 

 onoo: 



I (MU«'ivtl Yale College in my 17tli year: and 

 i-an ivnit'inbcr that, oven hcforo tliat tiinc I 

 liad timt's wlicn I lost my usual interest in my 

 studies. Twiee. in eoUefrr. tliey wimc entirely 

 snsiii'iuli'd: but neithei' in\ pai'ents nor myself, 

 at that time, had any idea of what was the 

 matter svitli me. 



Whih' tutor of mathenuitics at Vale, from 

 is;i4 to ':w. I was similarly affected; so. also, 

 wluMi pastor of the old .South Congregational 

 Church in Aiidover. Mass. 



I was at last compelled to resigi; my jtastorate. 

 and t)ecam<' princii)al. suci-essivcly of the Ab- 

 bott Fenmie ."seminary, and the Ilighschool for 

 young ladies, at Greentield. Mass.. and after- 

 ward accepted the charge of tiu> Second 

 IJreenlii'ld Congregational Church. During tiie 

 latter part of this charge I made many of my 

 sermons on foot, walking long distances, and 

 trying by severe exercise to get the better of 

 the incipient attacks. Nev^er. however, was I 

 able to elTect this. An attack might be of 

 longer or slu>rt<'r duiatioii Ix^foi'e it pi'osti'ated 

 me: but it ;il\\ays had but on(» issue. Struggle 

 as I would, tight as I could against it. my condi- 

 tion was that of the man lost in the quicksands, 

 so vividly described by Victor Hugo. Walking 

 carelessly over its treacherous surface, he first 

 notices that his freedom of movement is some- 

 what impaired: but he thinks little of this 

 until he finds it more and more difficult to lift 

 his feet. Alarmed at last, he vainly tries to 

 escape to the tii'mer land, only to find that each 

 step that he taki'S sinks him deeper and deeper, 

 until the engulHng sands reach his lips, and his 

 shrieks of agony are stilled. His head disap- 

 pears: only the faint motion of a sinking hand 

 is visible, and soon every trace of him disap- 

 pears forever. 



The first light thrown upon my case was by a 

 German physician who told me that my brain 

 troubles were caused by blind piles: but he 

 failed to cure me. 



I shall never forget the remark of an electric 

 physician, who. in 18.53. while passing his hand 

 over my neck, exclaimed. " How can a man 

 with the flesh over his spine, in such a rigid 

 condition, be otherwise than iniserablel" This 

 was the first time that my attention was called 

 to the abnormal congestion of the flesh over the 

 whole length of my spinal column. "' You will 

 be happy." said he, " as soon as I relieve you of 

 this congestive condition."" He worked upon 

 my si)inal column at intervals for several hours 

 a day. rubbing and kneading it. much as they 

 do in the massage treatment, all the while pass- 

 ing a current of electricity through his own 

 body into mine, till at last he effected what 

 seethed to be a perfect cure. He died before I 

 could avail myself of another treatment. 



.So intimate is the connection between this 

 rigidity and my mental depression, that they 

 are never dissociated: but in vain have I called 

 the attention of able physicians to this feature 

 of my case. When it began to develop they 

 never succeeded in arresting it. 



While a considerable time, often several 

 months, elap.sed from the time I could first per- 

 ceive that another attack was coming on, re- 

 covery from these attacks has almost always 

 been verv rapid. Let me describe my recovery 

 from my last attack, which had lasted over 

 three years. In the winter of 1891 I suffered 

 from grip, complicated with other dangerous 

 symptoms. Our change of residence in Dayton, 

 in April last, seemed to my daughter to give 

 me considerable relief, althougii I was not mv- 

 self assured that I was substantially better. In 

 walking to church on the morning of the 17th I 

 stopped for a moment to notice the bees work- 



ing on the fruit-blossoms. H the worst of the 

 attack had not been over, instead of slopping I 

 should have given the bees a wide circuit to 

 avoid tlie sight of them. The next day I re- 

 tired to my room after breakfast, to get, if pos- 

 sii)le more sleep. In my diseased state my 

 sleep is so poor t hat I often spend at least twice 

 as many hours in bed as wluui wcill.* 



My mind bc^came unusuallv active: my 

 thoughts darted with grinit rapidity from one 

 subject to another, when, almost, instantane- 

 ously, the oppressive burden of gloom seemed to 

 be lifted from me. and I cried out in joyful 

 ecstacy, " O blessed Father! I shall be well 

 again." From long experience I recognized the 

 usual signs of a recovery, which I might hope 

 would last for half a year, a whole year, or pos- 

 sibly a year and a half. When this change 

 comes, an electrical thrill seems to pass through 

 my hands, extending itself to the verv tips of 

 my fingers, just as though something like 

 quicksilver wen; forcing itself through them for 

 an exit. At tifn(!S this sensation is so powerful 

 a< to be quite painful. I never have these symp- 

 toms except when 1 am free, or soon about to be, 

 from the hedd- trouble. 



And now begins a period of mental activity 

 and intense enjoyment. My dear wife used to 

 say, "Although you have been a great sufferer 

 at least half of your life since I first knew you, 

 yet none of my acquaintances seems to have 

 got so much enjoyment out of life as you; for 

 when you are happy you are so intensely 

 happy." To this I once replied. " I could wish 

 that this happiness might, be spread a little 

 thinner, if only it could thus be made to last a 

 great deal longer." My mind now seems to 

 work with almost lightning-like rapidity, and I 

 feel as though I could keep many persons busy, 

 in merely writing out iny thoughts. Every one 

 to whom I try to explain myself, or whom I ask 

 to execute my directions, .seems to catch my 

 thoughts, or to obey me, so slowly that with 

 great difficulty can I repress my impatience; 

 and often I can hardly refrain from seizing hold 

 of them to push them into swifter execution. 

 In the night my brain is disposed to work as it 

 were double tides, until I quite wear myself out. 



We read of intermittent springs which dis- 

 charge no water until they are full enough for a 

 syphon arrangement. Then they gush forth and 

 flow until entirely empty, to remain quiescent 

 until they are full again. After long depression, 

 seldom speaking unless personally addressed, 

 shutting myself up in my room.t I seem to act 

 as though I had been cheated out of my legiti- 

 mate amount of talk, and must make up for 

 lost time by uttering as much in a few days as 

 any reasonable person ought to say in as many 

 tiionths. I am sensible that this exuberance is 

 often so great as to be oppressive to my friends; 

 but I do not despair, although over 81 years of 

 age, of learning to control it better. Sometimes, 

 however, it seems to have its advantages; for 

 after I have given scarcely a willing thought to 

 any thing connected with bees, for a year or 

 more at a time. I have, in a very short time, re- 

 gained my position in the mass of inventors, and 

 often been able to keep step with those who 

 have never been fori-ed to leave tlie ranks. 



Dayton, Ohio, .Inly 4. L. L. Langstroth. 

 To he continued. 



*Had it occurred to any of them to try tlie Moxa 

 cauterizing- of my spine, by wliich Dr. Brown-Se- 

 quard cured Senator Sumner, it might liave suc- 

 ceeded. 



+ Ps. 88:8.— JrtHi Khut up; 1 can not come forth. 



No commentator, so far as I know, seems to me to 

 have apprehended the full meaning of these words. 

 Only profound melancholia can adequately interpret 

 them. 



