Show the terka do you remember of ever having heard ol of that remarkable physical phy dl dis order which accompanied a rell gloub movement which wept swept over the united states just prior to the war of 1812 it was in fact a contagious nervous disease which for or the want of a better name was called the jerks an early new england writer who saw several cases refers to this most remarkable manifestation as follows d the jerks jerke took their name from the tact fact that the whole body was affected and that in a most singular fash fashion long too the arms and legs would be thrown about apparently by a force beyond control of the affected individual sometimes the head would be thrown backward and forward with great violence occasionally the entire body would be affected and in such cases the victim would fall upon the ground and flounce about like a fish out ot of water waler the disorder toon soon became epidemic frequently attacking a whole religious assemblage at one time making no distinction between the impious and the pious the only relief was to grasp something and hold fast until the fit passed off the disease if such it may be called usually left its victim badly prostrated and in more than one instance death ensued during the attack usually from broken necks or violent concussions and during the convulsion the disorder lasted from about 1810 to 1818 and then gra gradually d bally disappeared from the land |