Journal of Social Science Volume 22

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: PAPERS OF THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT. I. THE NERVOUSNESS OF AMERICANS. BY GRACE PECKHAM, M. D., OF NEW YORK. (Read Wednesday, September 8.) Nervousness is more and more regarded as an undesirable characteristic of our nation. The idea that we are a peculiarly nervous people is becoming widespread. This has been fostered by articles written on the subject, so that in the last ten years nervous has become almost a household word. It is well, therefore, for us to consider what is meant by nervousness; the general causes which would produce it; whether Americans are more nervous than other nations of the same grade of civilization; and, if so, what are the means of overcoming such a condition. One would scarcely believe how difficult it is to find a definition of a word so universally used. Webster defines nervousness as a state or quality of being nervous, vigor, strength, forcible- ness. Referring to nervous, we find that it means: 1. Possessing nerve, sinewy, strong. 2. Vigor of mind. 3. Pertaining to the nerves, seated in the nerves, as, nervous excitement. 4. Having the nerves weak or diseased; subject to or suffering from undue excitement of nerves; easily agitated; weakly. Worcester's definitions are much the same. The earlier medical dictionaries ignore the word, and its definition is not to be found in works on diseases of the nervous system, ancient or modern. In Dunglison's Medical Dictionary nervousness is said to mean unusual impressibility of the nervous system. (formerly it signified strength and vigor). In Quain's Medical Dictionary we read that nervousness (or nervous, ) is a term used mainly in reference to persons, to temperaments, or to morbid conditions. A person is said to be nervous, or of a nervous temperament, w...