Evening Star Newspaper, October 18, 1931, Page 91

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., OCTOBER 18, 1931. 9 1 Jealousy, Most Deadly Foe of Mankind Remarkable Researches of the Renowned French Biologist, Georges Lakhovsky, in Quest of Longevity Secrets, L.cad Him to Conclusion That Covetousness and Hatred Breed Most Destructive of All Germs and Microbes That Shorten Human Life. Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which does mocik The meat it feeds on. —From Shakespeare’s “Othello.” FRENCH Dbiologist, "Georges Lak=- hovsky, has been making a remari:= able series of researches at the Pas= teur Institute for many years past in an effort to discover how human life and, indeed, all living things, can be prolonged. His work covered a vast range of investigi- tion—the meaning of life itself, the activity of germs and microbes, the causes of disease, the value of vaccnes and medicines and notadly the harmjul and beneficent effect of certa:n electrical influences. In some recent sensu- tional reports to the Academy of Sciences, con= firmed by government agricultural schools, he reveals that he has been able to make mary grains and vegetables, including wheat and po=- tatoes, germinate mcere completely, grow more rapidly and develop to far larger size by elec- trical currents. He has forced a young gern= nium to a he.ght of 6 feet by the same means, and it is extremely sturdy and lururiant. These exrperiments were only incidental, however; his principal objective is to promote longevity. To follow up all the threads of this humaz ridd!e and to weigh the imponderable factcrs as well, M. Lakhovsky has also been carrying on a paraliel series of studies to determine the role played by mental causation in human ill- 2ss, discord and death, utilizing the records, personal erperience and erperimentation of outstand.ng French medical men. He person ally investigated thousands of cases of illness in an effort to trace the trouble in every individ- ual cace back to its origin. This biologist, who is @ member of the Legion of Honor and has been awarded many scientific honors, now makes the startling announcement in his now book on longevity that he has been driven to the conclusion, age-old, perhaps, but “always new, that the “most virulent microbe™ and the “most deadly parasite that affi.cts mankind” is JEALOUSY! BY R. S. FENDRICK. PARIS. suppose you will be astonished that a l/ biologist should arrive at such a judg- ment.” M. Lakhovsky said earnestly. “It sounds strange, but after 30 years spent in investigating the factors thas carry off the humam race prematurely, T am absolutely forced to conclude that jeal- ousy. with its twin brother hatred, is a greater curse to our happiness, longevity and well- being than all the other evils let loose on the planet. If it could be abolished the millen- nitm would be almost at hand. There is no material poison that kills so surely. “Jealousy causes many of the fatal and so- called mysterious diseases in the individual, ravages families, sets entire peoples at each other's throats, causes wars and destroys nations. “Let a great scientist announce some dis- covery that promises to release the race from a portion of its misery. A naive person might imagine that his fellows would honor and encourage him. It is just the contrary. These pathfinders in science, medicine, art or any other branch of knowledge meet with the most intense jealousy and hatred. Take the case of Pasteur. When he commenced in 1860 to overturn the universal dogma of spontaneous generation of disease the great Frencth medical pontiffs became his mortal enemies. He was violently attacked month after month at the Academy of Medicine and the Academy of Sciences as an impertinent intruder. One of the most dramatic days in French history was March 27, 1883, when Pasteur was attacked with incredible violence at the Academy of Medicine, and Prof. Peter shouted out: ‘What's this chemist doing here, trying to teach us medicine?’ 3 " ll DON'T pretend to teach you medicine,” Pasteur replied quietly, ‘but only to teach you some truths that medicine ignores.’ “This campaign of jealousy and hatred lasted from 1860 to 1885. It was enough to break an ordinary man, but Pasteur was invincible because he had the truth for him, and he made himself an eternal glory, while all his detractors have long since been forgotten. When he died, leaving a considerable fortune, the envious started to vilify him again, de- claring that he had done his work only for filthy lucre.” As another example, the biologist mentioned the case of Glozel, a hamlet near Vichy, where some pieces of crockery were found in a field. One group of savants decided that this pottery belonged to an extremely ancient period, but another group thereupon announced it was a fake. A venomous quarrel developed and has been going on for five years, involving thou- sands of persons. The scientists are choking with fury, although these relics amount to nothing one way or another, and in all prob- ability the feud will go on until they all die. “I'll give you an example of how jealousy poisons a family. It is & case that I perso- nally investigated during my studies. There ‘ gt e ke [ I ) were four daughters. all happy, comfortable and contented until their parents passed away and left each one a fortune of $40,000, which makes a very tidy dowry. The eldest daughter married a mechanical engineer, a very sound, stable, successful man, who gradually built ‘up a fortune. acquired several homes and motor- cars and became an important figure. 11 THE second daughter married a lawyer, who never managed to get any cases; the third a doctor, who seemed to be unlucky, and the fourth a business man, who boasted a great deal, but never accomplished anything. I hardly need to add that the dowry of the eldest daughter, well invested by her husband, increased norma. while those of the other three were quickly dissipated. One can imagine the jealousy and hatred that developed in the other three sisters, and the insults and in- sinuations that went flying about.. ‘Nouveau riche!" ‘You must have swindled your stock- holders!” ‘Crook!’ “I lost sight of these sisters for 10 years, until recently I met the engineer. He ap- peared more successful and prosperous than ever. I asked for news of his sister-in-law. “‘I divorced, not my wife, but her family a long time ago,’ he told me. *“I returned home one day and found my wife in tears. She told me that the sister married to the lawyer, the most bitter of all, had telephoned her to say that I was a swindler and that that wes why I became rich. When I heard this I decided to break with the family forever, and I forbade them ever to come to my house again. I have never seen nor heard from them since.” “‘And the other two sisters?’ I asked. “‘Oh, the poor girls,’ he replied. ‘They both died from diseases brought on by jealousy, one at 26 and the other at 28. “+*And the three brothers-in-law?’ I asked. ““The business man, who was always mixed up in shady affairs, finished up with three Georges Lakhovsky, French biologist, declares jealousy is the initial cause of many fatal diseases. years in prison and ‘then went to South America to try to make his fortune. I hardly have to tell you that he has never paid back $60,000 that I once lent him. I don't know what's become of the others. “These family feuds caused by jealousy are s0 common and so deadly that the scientific investigator, following purely material lines to find means of prolonging human life, realizes that he is only studying effects and not causes.” LAKHOVSKY finds that jealousy is so * stupid because it is based on the assump- tion that some one else is more happy or successful, but this belief is often inexact. Appearances are deceptive, and one is generally mistaken in believing that some one else is more contented than himself. “I have discovered that farmers, shop- keepers and men in all kinds of industry are far less influenced by this terrible malady than some other classes, probable because they owe their success only to themselves, to their own intelligence and laborious efforts. On the other hand, this microbe is éspecially developed among actors, artists, scientists, intellectuals and all those who depend on the state for their situations and their honors. One explanation of this is that if a savant makes an important discovery in a country where there is a national institute of scientists or an academy of medicine with a limited numbe;r' o( qlgct;s, he 't.hlercpy gsins s chair Jealousy frequently hides behind a mask of pleasantness, coming to the surface in an un- guarded moment. Warren Hymer, movie ~star, herewith depicts a jealous expression. DESTROYED BY YOUR OWN EVIL PASSIONS. Jealousy causes many of the fatal and so-called mysterious diseases in the individual; it ravages families, sets entire peoples at each other’'s throats, causes wars and destroys nations. . It is a consuming, devouring mental state that affects every organ in the human body. It breaks down health and medicine fails to give relief. Farmers, shopkeepers and men in industry are less influenced by the ter- rible malady than other classes. As for a cure, there is none, except for the victim to free himself from the : wrong kind of thinking. . Among actors, artists, scientists, intellectuals and those who depend upon the state for their positions and honors the microbe is especially developed. for himself and so diminishes the chances of all the others sceking these chairs and the honors and situations that go with them. “How often I have witnessed the agitation and nervousness of these savants and intel- lectuals in making visits, pulling strings and carrying on intrigues when they learned that some academician had fallen gravely ill and that there might be a vacant chair to be filled. The state of mind of these perpetual candi- dates, the fever, the insomnia, the uncertainty, is certainly not conducive to making new dis- coveries and advancing science. “I have so much sympathy for the academi- eians who have to contemplate at every meet- ing the benches full of ‘sharks.’ This is the word given at the Academy of Sciences and other scientific bodies to the candidates who come and monopolize the seats reserved for the public, siTply to study the appearance of the members in the charmed circle and calcu- late how long they can live yet. The academi- cians understand perfectly why their less, for- tunate confreres are gazing so intently at them. This state of affairs, due to jealousy. is also disturbing to concentration of thoughki on pure science. “It is the same with the artists and actors. They believe that there are a limitcd number of places in the gallery of public acclaim, a view that is very open to question, and so when one gets in the others feel that they are shut out. “I wonder why it doesn't occur to them, and to authors, too, that if they learn to do their job supremely well and not trouble about what others are doing they will find plenty of places to occupy.” LAKHOVSKY insists that jealousy is a consuming, devouring mental state that affects every organ in the body. He found in innumerable cases that it broke down health and that medicine failed to give the least relief. The patients frequently concealed this con- dition from their doctors, so that the latter were in the dark as to the real cause. As for a cure, he knows of none except for the victim to free himself from the wrong kind of think- ing. He has witnessed some remarkable cures when patients did manage to change their thought. From a political viewpoint, Karl Marx dis- covered this microbe. It was jealousy with which he infected the world when he preached class struggle and urged the masses to destroy the more efficient individuals. We see the fruit of this sowing of the tares today in Russia and Spain, where the masses believe they will be- come richer if they destroy all wealth. The passion that all the political demagogues in the world today are playing on is jealousy and nothing else—blind, stupid jealousy and hatred —regardless of the pretty dress in which they put their words. Getting down to funda- mentals, that is the scourge that is ravaging the Old World today. lll'LL tell you an old legend that illustrates very well the secret of happiness, M. Lakhovsky related. “An Oriental sovereign, ill and neurasthenic, had been treated without success by all of the best doctors of his kingdom. The grand vizier finally sent for a wise old philosopher and asked his advice. Realizing that the sovereign was suffering only from lack of unfulfilled de- sires, for everything he wished he immediately had, the sage declared: “‘Sire, the only way you can be healed is to wear the shirt of the happiest man among your subjects.’ “‘“That’s easy,” the sovereign replied, and dis- patched his grand vizier to the richest and most highly hor.ored man of the city. *‘Me happy?’ this rich man exclaimed. ‘Why, | I am the most unfortunate of all men,” and recounted an endless list of worries and anxieties, adding that he daily pleaded with heaven to be taken from this vale of tears. “The grand vizier went to other men who appeared to be rich, prosperous and happy, but they all had a long tale of woe. But one pretty day he was driving through the country on his way to another city when he noticed a young shepherd gayly playing a flute as he watched his flock. ‘Are you happy, my friend?’ he inquired. “‘Oh, indeed, I am happy,’ the shepherd re- plied joyously, ‘and why shouldn’'t I be? Look at my magnificent cattle and my big flock of sheep. It is such a beautiful Springtime and I feel good to be alive.’ “‘Ha, ha!' the grand vizier cried. ‘You are the man I am looking for. Give me your shirt.’ And the grand vizier's men reached to grab him. “‘It's no use to look!" exclaimed the shep- herd, opening his sheepskin. ‘I don't have a shirt.”” (Copyright, 1931.) ' Holly Faces Extermination HE holly tree, the shining green leaves and bright red berries of which have been such an attractive feature of Christmas decorations, is almost world-wide in its distributions. The red-berried type is the one most sought after for the Yuletide, but because of the carelcss and indiscriminate gathering of the branches faces extermination. Among the 175 varieties. of the holly there are types which bear yellow and black berries, which, like the red berries, last over until the following Spring. The Ilex opaca, or American holly, often attains a height of 50 feet, while the Ilex aquifolium, popular in England, is a small shrub seidom attaining more than a few feet in height. Meat Inspectors Busy THE Federal meat inspection service, which was established 25 years ago, has been one of the most active of the Federal bureaus. Dur- ing that time 1,600,000,000 carcasses or living food animals have been inspected and graded. This sum represents between 42,000,000 and 79,000,000 a year. Only animals or carcasses” shipped in interstate traffic are examined, of " course, and of those shipped only about twoe"