NOISE AND NERVES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 290, 8 December 1931, Page 7

NOISE AND NERVES.

SOME PARISIAN ANTIDOTES. TINTED BATHING AND SILENT TYRES. A MAYOR'S BIG ORDER. (By Our Special Correspondent.) PARIS, October 20. The strain of modern life is too great and civilised people must adopt new measures to combat it. At least, that is the warning issued by the Congress of Psychotherapy and Applied Psychology. Dr. Pierre Vachet goes so far as to tell us that we are overworked and living in a state of danger and exhaustion. . Unless, he says, special steps, are taken, there is bound to be a steady increase in insanity. Among the various measures for protecting the nervous system against overstrain are the colour propositions of Dr. Potheau, of Nice. He has been experimenting for many years with the effect of various coloifrs upon the human mind and concludes that blues and greens are powerfully sedative, while red acts as a tonic. In certain bathing establishments the water is tinted by means'6f coloured lights. Delicate shades of blue are used to calm restless patients and green has also been found to have a tranquillising effect. Patients who need nervous stimulation are advised to bathe in red lights and to choose sur- . roundirigs with a red colour scheme for their decoration. Yellow is for the happy ■ and contented only. If. you enjoy sunny moods, then it is for. you a symbol of sunshine. . . ■'•-•■'

: A Silence Edict.. Paris has been aware for a long time past, of course, that her everyday—and night—noises are becoming too great to be borne and various measures are being taken all the time.to alleviate the strain imposed by this particular aspect of Modernity and Progress. The Mayor of Caambeiy, in the Savoie Department, has just issued an order forbidding any kind of noise between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. His decree states that during this period no musical instruments'may be played, no loud discussions held and no motor horns hooted. Factories and shops which remain open during the night must work in silence while players of musical instruments, wireless and gramophone enthusiasts are forbidden to J allow any strains to escape, from their abodes. Barking dogs and crowing cocks may bring, trouble on their owners and .altogether the magistrates of Chambery appear to be in for a lively time. % .'. Another hope for the nerve-wracked is the success of the rail-omnibus on pneumatic tyres, which has already proved its superiority to the train for rapid short-distance runs. The use of the Micheline, as it is called, will, \va are told, be general on all railways within five years. Speed is increased and the cost of traction reduced, , it is claimed. The rail-omnibus has already beaten the fastest trairi from Paris to Deauville by 32 minutes. Moreover, it weighs under five tons, .carries 24 pas-sengers,'-and the wear"'oh the tyres is one millimetre per 10,000 kilometres.

Dietary Excursions. For the already overwrought, France offers the grape, cure—eat four pounds a day and nothing' much else, say the vineyard owners—rand the mushroom cure. Certain places have organised the grape cure, for the fruits should be eaten fresh, and preferably where they grow. One of these "stations uvales " is Fontaiuebleau, where the famous "treille.du roy" in the gardens of the palace still produces a large annual crop on the ancient tree itself. Avignon, the Papal town on the Rhone, and Lamalou, the little watering place in the Pyrenees, will gladly receive patients and quote terms. Paris has its very own vineyards, too, thwe a Sureenes being of great antiquity- I ney were planted by the monks; of the. AW>ej of StGormain-dee-Pree about; Mn Henry IV. had a high -opinion o> Suresnes wine. .-'.. XAaito dose of mushroom* will restore you to complete health, say the cultivators.