On the increase of diseases of the nervous system and of insanity / by William W.Ireland.

  • Ireland, William W. (William Wotherspoon), 1832-1909.
Date:
[1900]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: On the increase of diseases of the nervous system and of insanity / by William W.Ireland. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    4/24 (page 386)
    struggles of aspiring persons amongst the poorer classes to rise in the world, the discontent and bitter wars of labour, entailing incessant disputes and frequent strikes and breaches of con- tract, the spread of the co-operative movement which is render- ing the position of the private shopkeeper more difficult to hold, and the formation of big companies which crush out small businesses; all these, and some social antagonisms on which we have no time to dwell, go to make it a harder and less agreeable world to many. At the same time the new conditions of our to-day life are not without their compensations. If we move about more, we obtain more frequent amusement and change of air ; if letters and telegrams too often claim our attention and disturb our repose, they often banish uncertainty and anxiety. Sounder views on dietetics have become known, and drunkenness has become less prevalent; the decrease in intemperance in liquor amongst the middle and upper classes during the last half century has been very marked, and there is reason to believe that this decrease is extending to the lower classes. In general we lead more secure lives than our fathers did, live under better laws, and have less to fear from injustice and oppression. There can be no doubt that during the last half century the condition of the working classes has greatly improved, their wages are doubled, while the purchasing power of money has increased for most articles, and they live under much better sanitary conditions. The result has been a notable diminution of the death-rate both in England and in Scotland during the last quarter of the century. Nevertheless it appears to me that the strain upon the nervous system is getting greater, at least for the middle and upper classes, and that therefore we may expect more nervous derangement and break- downs. But to make a general opinion like this evident by exact inquiries is, on the face of it, very difficult. There are some statistics to answer the questions : Is insanity increasing ? Is idiocy increasing ? And is the number of suicides increasing ? But the inquiry whether other forms of diseases of the nervous system have become more frequent can scarcely be approached in that way, as many such disorders do not affect the mortality returns or appear as results in statistical tables of any kind. Anxious to obtain the opinions