REMEDIES FOR SEASICKNESS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 13 July 1912, Page 9

REMEDIES FOR SEASICKNESS.

A novel cure for sea-sickness is suggested by Mr A. C. Benson, who recalls an experiment made by the late Mr Henry Sidgwick. Poetry, he says, may be made to serve the purpose' of preventing the dreadful malady that afflicts so many travellers by sea. Mr Sidgwick's idea was that if he recited poetry continuously during a Channel crossing his mind would be too busy to be disturbed by the movements of the ship, and his first venture was successful. But on a second occasion he was interrupted by one of the officers with a message from the captain begging him to desist, as he was frightening the lady passengers. They were under the impression that he was mentally deranged. Mr Sidgwick courteously complied with the request, and, deprived of its intellectual prophylactic, his brain succumbed to physical sensations. The late Mr W. L. Winana, the famous American sportsman, devoted a considerable part of his time during the last twenty-seven years of his life to seeking a cure for seasickness. He happened to be in Britain when his doctors warned him that an attack of the complaint would probably be fatal to him, and he sought the assistance, r engineers and draughtsmen in designing a vessel that would neither roll nor pitch, in order that he might cross the Atlantic in safety: But his attempts were all in vain, and he died on British soil. Efforts have been made to cope with seasickness by means of peculiarly designed vessels. The Castalia, which was built in the early seventies, had a swinging saloon to counteract the motion of the waves, but in practice this device was a complete failure. A more successful vessel was the twin ship Calais Douvres, constructed on the principle of the South Sea islanders' double canoe. It carried the mails across the Channel for many years, and was a great favorite'with timorous voyagers, but it was such a costly boat to run, and so difficult to steer, that when it was worn out no successor was built. Perhaps the aeroplane is going to solve the age-old problem of how to cross the ocean in comfort.