HYGIENE OF THE QUIET MIND

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 7, 23 January 1937, Page 4

HYGIENE OF THE QUIET MIND

Noise has increased tremendously pf late years, wliereas the capaeity to absorh it without prejudice to health and happiness has probaWy diminished," said Lord Horder, the eminent physician, ip a speech reported in the Birmingham Ppst. " Thej-e has oome upon us, as the result of inoreased motor traffle, aeroplanos and louder forms of amftsement, a spate of lincontrolled noise ,f'or the suppression of which we must organise. It is as necessary that we be saved from the nerve-racking effectg of npise as that we shall sepure air and light and freedom f^om any infectious diseases. . "The argument that our nerves are resilient and' can a'dapt themselves to all this din is fallacious. Noise does not kill, as foul air and typboid and diphtheria do, but it does wear down the nervous system, which is the master stuff of our bodies, and it does stultify our spirit, yrhich js supposed to be the element that marks us off from the beasfs and .that can alone give ns the mastery of life. There are plenty of other stresses and strains in life that make demands upon us. Why ask our nerve stuff to stand this additional strain; so much of which is the result of thoughtlessness, seifishness and stupidity ? We refuse to have our sleep murdered by those who, ahle to spend their own days in beds, make our nights hideous, It is not 'night starvation' that spoils our sleep, but the laceration of ntrves by car exhausts and loud-speakeTs,,,