Abnormal Ideas and Nervous Super -Excitability. 37 



of the man, but the absence of a purpose underlies diseases, and 

 more especially those of the nervous system to such an extent 

 as to frequently predispose to madness. An American writer 

 has said " The most pitiable sight one ever sees is a young man 

 doing nothing; the furies early drag him to his doom." 

 Absence of purpose is condemned from a moral point of view. 

 It is also condemned from a hygienic point of view. Watch the 

 symptoms of those who voluntarily shrink from an aim in life. 

 Agitated and restless, they wander here and there, in the vain 

 hope to escape from self. Victims of mental disquiet, they rush 

 into excitement, only to revert to an aggravated form of their 

 malady, and the outcome is felt in hypochondria, distorted 

 ideas, mystical aspirations, which in their turn produce rage, 

 envy, remorse, anxiety, despair. 



A celebrated French physician instances, on this point, a 

 case of hypochondria engendered by luxury and idleness. The 

 patient aimed at getting, by the aid of his riches, the utmost 

 pleasure out of life with the least possible amount of trouble. 

 To avoid the duties of parent, he would not marry ; he invested 

 his money, so that the income might be realised without 

 trouble ; he lived at a restaurant, to be freed from the duties of 

 a home ; he would not travel because of the consequent fatigue ; 

 he never walked when he could ride ; he clothed himself 

 unnecessarily in order to avoid the sensations of cold, and for 

 the same reason he objected to fresh air. That he might not 

 have the trouble of dressing, he never undressed, and he ulti- 

 mately remained in his chair all day that he might not 

 be troubled to walk. This is of course an extreme 

 case, but it shows too plainly how the absence of a serious 

 purpose in life may produce mental disorders. Similar effects 

 follow when the activity of a busy life suddenly ceases, and 

 when melancholia, hypochondria, and death in such cases are 

 too well known to the medical practitioner. Like experiences 

 arise in the history of a nation as well as in that of the indivi- 

 dual. Of this Greece, Rome, the Netherlands and even France 

 afford examples. The lesson, therefore, is^that we must find 



