NOISE: ITS RELATION TO HEALTH, DISEASE, AND

LONGEVITY.

By J. M. MCWHARF, M. D., Ottawa.

THIS question has never received a fair consideration at the hands

of science nor of the medical profession; we are therefore unable to give as complete status of things as might be hoped for or desired.

The gravity of the question necessarily demands a thorough, scientific investigation of all points pertaining thereto. In our mad rush for wealth, we forget that health, life, in fact, everything, must be sacrificed. Are we to be classed with the "heathen Chinee," the man who has educated himself up to a condition of stolid indifference at the sacrifice of a human life? He looks at his brother as he sinks beneath the wave and never exerts a muscle nor expresses a word of sorrow or regret; the environments do not touch a chord of sympathy, and in all probability are never recalled.

Not many years ago a poor, deluded, foolish fellow conceived the idea that he preferred to live in New York or not to exist at all. The noise of the great city he could not endure, especially the earsplitting noise produced by the bells of a neighboring church; he therefore sought relief by committing suicide. This is an individual case, and yet there are thousands of cases to-day where people are made ill, or are committing slow but sure suicide, as a result of useless noises.

Noise must be classed as a great factor or element as a non-producer of health. This being true, it is of necessity important, from a medical standpoint. Every scientific man, and especially every medical man, should have a word to say and a duty to perform along this line. If we study this question from a physiological standpoint, we are forced to admit that rest is essential to health and longevity. This being true, over or persistent stimulation of an organ or a set of organs must necessarily be pathogenic. The greater the tension of the machinery in action, the less the durability. Herbert Spencer, it is said, used a mechanical contrivance and plugged up the auditory canals, thus securing relief from noise. Such action is not commendable, yet we are forced to admit that the relief would be a happy combination of circumstances.

There may be, stored away in the brain of some aurist of to-day, a healthy and practical method whereby one could, at will, shut out all unwelcome sound; such inventive genius would be a great benefactor to humanity. Should we consider our question sociologically, certain factors confront us. There is an unrecognized duty, as regards noise, that rests upon a physiological and esthetic basis. Perfection in any organization demands delicacy and accuracy of response to a physiological stimulus; whatever retards or prevents this must be antagonistic to the welfare of society and to its progress. This is a brutal, noise-making period, prolific of results. The ceaseless bruising of the mind and destruction of the nervous system tend to produce disease and shorten the natural duration of life. The auditory or nervous mechanism with which it is connected must be blunted in sensitiveness, crushed, and stupefied, or a patholog. ical result will follow.

Imperatively the people are divisible into two classes: First, those whose nervous systems and minds are becoming mechanicalized, anesthetized, and brutalized; second, those who, having failed to kill sense and mentality, have developed diseased reaction.

From this hypothesis we arrive at the following conclusion: That noise may be considered an agency which produces one of two conditions-a a sickly or a savage individual. Civilization today is bearing upon its bosom a self-poison, the result of which will be its own downfall; there will be a loss of refinement and delicacy of the senses, and this will produce a retrograde movement toward barbarism. Should this condition prevail with us, then of a necessity we are becoming neurotic, hysteric, and neuresthenic. Society will then progress toward a crowd of the mentally stupid or the hyperesthetically morbid. Social amusement to-day is but a game of battering and spurring, jaded and blunted senses, or at least ministering to sense diseases.

The medical profession, taken in its narrowest sense, is bound to reduce the amount of noise-making, for noise not only engenders disease, but prevents its cure and hastens to a final termination. Statistics corroborate this statement. It is authentically stated that in the city of Philadelphia there are upward of 4000 needless deaths, and 8000 were made ill each year from purely unnecessary noises. What may be true of Philadelphia is an axiom in regard to other large cities; while it is impossible to secure exact data upon the points in question, there is a degree of certainty in the hypothesis taken. Many of the sick are kept in their homes, while others are cared for in hospitals, that, unfortunately, are too often

located in the most densely populated portions of the city; in either case, noise may be the disturbing factor. The sick must seek seclusion, and quiet should be their environment. Every intelligent physician is cognizant of the fact that quiet is essential in the sick-room. He fully understands that noise has been the baneful influence the destructive factor-many times hindering his efforts to cure.

We are a reckless people in the production of unnecessary noise. Not satisfied with what can be accomplished during the day, this disturbance is kept up long into the night, in many cases during the entire sleeping hours. Night is frequently made hideous with drunken brawls, whistles of locomotive-engines, street-car whistles. or bells, laying of railway -tracks, the paving of streets, etc. In many instances this work is necessary only for the advantage and profit of mercenary corporations, and yet the authorities have no power, and, should they possess it, they will not make an effort to repress the evil. Being a freedom-loving people, we submit to this tyrannical master who knows no race nor condition; the monotonous grinding goes on; one or a comparatively few are benefited, while a thousand are tortured and outraged by this bedlam. It is claimed that ten per cent. of the people go to church; then why annoy the other ninety per cent. with the sound of bells which are rung only for notification? Has the ninety per cent. no rights that should be respected? Have not the sick rights that should be recognized? The milkman, the cartman, the pedler, the hawker, the ragman, and, last but not least, the girl who splits her throat warbling, all bawl and howl with such a degree of hideousness that they can be heard from one to several blocks away. Do you wonder that the nervous system is broken and the individual driven to desperation or self-destruction? We are a fast people, living in a fast age, rushing forward in mad frenzy toward dissolution or a premature old age.

Noises should be classified as necessary, partially necessary, and totally superfluous. If considered upon the plan of exclusion of the latter, we would get rid of at least seventy-five per cent. of all noises. This work is in harmony with an advanced public welfare, and we should have an organization to be known as "The Association for the Public Good," the duty of which is to see that all loafling rowdies, howlers, whistle-blowers, bell-ringers and song-warblers be hushed.

The block, cobblestone and brick pavements are noise producers; also a prolific source for the culture of filth and disease germs;

they should be abandoned and in their stead the asphalt pavement, which can be flushed and kept sanitary, should be used.

The character and civilization of any country are determined by the amount of unnecessary noise it endures. If noise is considered only as a discomfort, and not antagonistic to our physical well-being, we need not expect any action to be taken as a preventive, but just as soon as this nuisance is unmasked by the searchlight of a perfect investigation, prompt action will be taken, and it will cease to be a menace to health, disease, and longevity.