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XLVII.
the nervousness of men.
The physiologistst tell us that nervousness is the peculiar attribute of women.
May not this be because it is usually men who write the books of physiology ; so that women might say, like the lions in Aesop's fable, that if the other party had been the painters the case would be different?
It would be worth while to consult the wife of some musical enthusiast, for instance, who has carried his art to such a point that it causes him and everybody else more pain than pleasure — the man who must have every door in the house deadened, every carpet doubled, every visitor seen by some one else before admittance, and the children banished to regions inaccessible and inaudible.
Paganini, the greatest of violinists, is reported to have found existence an absolute burden because it held so many intolerable sounds; and many a woman has found her husband, even where unprofessional, claiming the privilege of
Paganini's sensitiveness without his genius.
Again, consider the extremely nervous condition exhibited by some perfectly healthy men when called upon
