i8yg.] 
American Nervousness . 
609 
Hydro-therapeutics in the form of bags of hot and cold 
water, the Russian and Turkish baths, and alternate applica- 
tions of hot and cold is, in skilful and judicious hands, a 
great remedy for functional nervous diseases. 
It is impossible to speak of the treatment of this class of 
troubles without referring to the bromides of potassium and 
sodium, and lime and lithium. Bromides may now be classed 
among the old remedies. Their great value in epilepsy has 
long been known. They are not, however, so well under- 
stood in other nervous diseases of a functional character. 
The bromides may be used in large doses, frequently 
repeated until the powerful sedative effect is produced, even 
when there is no sleeplessness ; those who use the bromides 
in this way must know where to stop or to reduce the dose. 
There are a few general principles of treatment of which I 
will speak. First of all, the proper use of rest and work in 
the treatment of nervous disease. About a month ago, a 
patient with ataxy came to me from a distant city in the 
West ; I said to him, “ you have left behind you a better 
dodtor than you can find here.” He asked, “ Who ?” I said 
“rest!” I prescribed it for him, and put him to bed. He 
had been accustomed to take excessive exercise — at least, far 
more than was good. The next day another gentleman came, 
also from a distant city of the West, with the history of a 
certain form of cerebrasthenia — brain exhaustion — without 
any myelasthenia, or spinal exhaustion — and of a type that 
would be benefited rather than injured by a degree of 
mental and physical activity. He had felt disheartened 
and thought there was little for him to do in this world. 
He was of about middle life, and I told him that he pro- 
bably was no more than “ half-way home,” and, so far as the 
disease was concerned, he might live and be active for thirty 
or forty years longer. When he returned, I said to him, 
“ you have come a long distance to consult me, but you left 
at home a better physician than you can get here.” He 
asked, “Who?” I said “work; work I prescribe for you. 
Take that in connection with all your medicine and you will 
recover.” These two cases made clear the opposite methods 
of treatment. 
A second and general suggestion is, that of a stopping 
treatment or suspending it at times. Suspending treatment 
has a positive effeCt upon the system. Oftentimes it makes 
a direCt impression, which may be better than continuous 
treatment. A friend of mine, formerly a sea captain, states 
that when sleeping in his cabin at night, if the sentinel walk- 
ing the deck above him stopped, it would always wake 
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