Vol. 60, 1909 - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

ABSTRACTS.
at this Stage to check the progress of the he is about to assume a new part that his
disease and produce apparent cures. friends dare hardlv speak to him for some
Among the earliest symptoms, the writer days before the first night. Orators are
says that the pains are very important, not subject to the same infirmity. Cicero cononly
the lightning tabetic pains, but even fessed that he could never mount the rostdull
boring pains, and at times trigeminal rum without a feeling that his knees were
and intercostal neuralgias. Slight bladder giving wav under him, In his "Sixty
irritability and inability to start the urinary Years in the Wilderness," W. H. Lucv
flow are significant. relates the fjllowing examples of similar
(Juite frequently, before the Argyll- Rob- nervousness on the part of famous speakers
ertson pupil can l>e found, there is a differ- of our own day; "On a night in June in
ence in the size of the pupils. Sometimes the session of 1877, I observed Bright seatmiosis
or mydriasis are present, but especi- ed on the front opposition bench for an hour,
ally the first. A slight paresis of the ocu- The subject was a proposal to abolish caplar
muscles, especially in relation to the ital punishment and Bright had evidently
abducens nerve, mavoccur many years be- intended to speak, and might, of course,
fore any symptoms develop. have chosen his own time. He missed his
The tendon reflexes are very important, chance, and deferred his rising till after
Often we find an increased knee jerk or a midnight, when the debate was about to
difference between the two sides, long be- collapse. Chancing to meet him at dinner
fore the Weslphal symptom develops. A the next night I made remark about his delos^
of the Ach:'les tendon reflex occurs layed interposition, when he told me there
quite frequently among the earliest mani- had come upon him a species of stage
festations of tabes. The reflexes of the fright that possesses all new members on
upper extremities are of much less signifi- first addressing the House. Even Mr.
cance. The hypotonus of the muscles of Gladstone was subject to this influence.
the extremities should be sought for in all This would be incredible to observers of
cases. his later manner were it not afiirmed by
Sensory manifestations can almost always his own testimony. In the diary of his
be found very early, if careful examination second session he records how, preparatory
is made, such as a decrease of the pain to making a speech, he silently offered
sense in the lower extremities, segmental earnest prayer for Divine assistance."
anesthesia on the trunk, especially near the Lord Beaconsfield, we believe, impassive
breast and back. \'ery characteristic are as he looked, was no stranger to the sensathyperestliesias
in relation to cold objects, ion.
Delicate tests, such as the inability to feel In this country, where platform or postthe
vibration of a tuning fork placed on the prandial oratory is forced by national usage
tibia, often enable the observer to detect or social exigencies on so many reluctant
early sensory disturbances. Any of these victims, speech fright naturallv is common
symptoms, especially with previous syphi- To some, indeed, public speaking is a task
litic history, are very significant. Among beyond their powers. They need not be
the more recent work, cyto-diagnosis show- ashamed of this. Many of the greatest
ing an increased lymphocytosis in the cere- masters of language might say with Albro-spinal
fluid, is a great aid. The Was- phonse Dsudet, when invited to deliver an
serman reaction should also be tried in all address: "jen'ai jamais pu proferer une
suspected cases. The cerebrospinal fluid, parole devaut une audience quelconque."
even in the earliest stages of tabes, shows But except to those who deliberately shun
an increase of albumen and globulin. social gatherings, there comes a time when
they are called on to make a speech.
Speech Fright— livery one knows what Wliat certain persons go through on such
stage fright is, and most of us who have occassions amounts to agony, and their
had to recite speeches at school or ha\e hearers suffer in sympathy or are irritated
taken part in private theatricals have ex- by their struggles. Charles Darwin tells us
perienced the unpleasant and often par- that, when he was a student at Edinburgh
alyzing feeling. It is not the raw novice "one evening a poor young man got up
vvjio sufTere most; it might almost be said and after stammering for a prodigious
that the greater the actor, the more fright- length of time, blushing ^rimson, he at
ened he is, especially at a first performance, last slowly got out the words, Mr. President
One of the most celebrated of living act- I have forgotton what I was going to say."
resses used to suffer so much on first nights The poor fellow looked quite overwhelmed,
that it was difficult to keep her from throw- and all the members were so surprised that
ing up her part, and one of the most distiii- no one could think of a word to say to covguished
of living actors is in such a state er his confusion,"
of nervous trepidation and irritability when We have received a piteous appeal from