The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English Part 12

It is wonderful that nervous matter can be so arranged as not only to connect the various organs of the body, but at the same time to be the agent of sensation, thought, and emotion. It is amazing, that a ray of light, after traversing a distance of 91,000,000 miles, can, by falling upon the retina, and acting as a stimulus, not only produce a contraction of the pupil, but excite thoughts which a.n.a.lyze that ray, instantly spanning the infinitude of trackless s.p.a.ce! The same penetrative faculties, with equal facility, can quickly and surely discern the morbid symptoms of body and mind, become familiar with the indications of disease, and cla.s.sify them scientifically among the phenomena of nature. The symptoms of disease which follow certain conditions as regularly as do the signs of development, and mind itself is no exception to this uniformity of nature. Thoughts result from conditions, and manifest them as evidently as the falling of rain ill.u.s.trates the effect of gravity. The perceptive and highest emotive faculties of man depend upon this simple, but marvelously endowed nervous substance, which blends the higher spiritual with the lower physical functions. The functions of the body are performed by separate organs, distinguished by peculiar characteristics. To elucidate the distinctions between dissimilar, mental faculties, we have a.s.signed their functions, with characteristic names, to different regions of the head. As they unquestionably influence the bodily organs, we are sustained by physical a.n.a.logy, in our cla.s.sification. Our knowledge of the structure and functions of the nervous system is yet elementary, and we are patiently waiting for scientists to develop its facts, and verify them by experimental investigations and such researches as time alone can bring to perfection. While real progress moves with slow and measured foot-steps, the inspirations of consciousness and the inferences of logic prepare the popular mind for cerebral a.n.a.lysis. No true system can contradict the facts of our inner experience; it can only furnish a more complete explanation of their relation to the bodily organs. It should be expected that such careful and pains-taking experiments, as are necessary to establish a science, will be preceded by intuitive judgments and accredited observations, which may be, for a time, the subst.i.tutes of those more abstruse in detail.

We have, in accordance with popular usage, treated the organs of thought as having anatomical relations. The views which we have presented in this chapter may seem speculative, but the facts suggesting the theory demand attention, and we have attempted to gather a few of the scattered fragments and arrange them in some order, rather than leave them to uncertainty and greater mystery. It is by method and cla.s.sification that we are enabled to apply our knowledge to practical purposes. Possibly, to some, especially the non-professional, an allusion to the fact that cerebral physiology contributes to successful results in the practice of medicine, may seem to be an exaggerated pretension. None, however, who are conversant with the facts connected with the author's experience, will so regard this practical reference, for the statement might be greatly amplified without exceeding the bounds of truth. Physicians generally undervalue the nervous functions, and overlook the importance of the brain as an indicator of the conditions of the physical system, because they are not sufficiently familiar with its influence over the bodily functions. Pathological conditions are faithfully represented by the thoughts, and words, when used to describe symptoms, become the symbols of feelings which arise from disease. How few physicians there are who can interpret the thoughts, and glean, from the expressions and sentences of a letter, a correct idea of the morbid conditions which the writer wishes to portray! Each malady, as well as every temperament, has its characteristics, _and both require careful and critical a.n.a.lysis_ before subjecting the patient to the influence of remedial agents.

In a treatise by Dr. J.R. Buchanan, ent.i.tled "Outlines of Lectures on the Neurological System of Anthropology," are presented original ideas pre-eminently useful to the physician. His researches, and those of later writers, together with our own investigations, have greatly increased our professional knowledge. It is by such studies and investigations that we have been prepared to interpret, with greater facility, the indications of disease, and diagnose accurately from symptoms, which have acquired a deeper significance by the light of cerebral physiology. We are enabled to adapt remedies to const.i.tutions and their varying conditions, with a fidelity and scientific precision which has rendered our success in treatment widely known and generally acknowledged. We annually treat thousands of invalids whom we have never beheld, and relieve them of their ailments. This has been accomplished chiefly through correspondence. When patients have failed to delineate their symptoms currently, or have given an obscure account of their ailments, we have been materially a.s.sisted in ascertaining the character of the disease by photographs of the subjects. The cerebral conformation indicates the predisposition of the patient, and enables us to estimate the strength of his recuperative energies. Thus we have a valuable guide in the selection of remedies particularly suited to different const.i.tutions. In the treatment of chronic diseases, the success attending our efforts has been widely appreciated, not only in this, but in other countries where civilization, refinement, luxurious habits, and effeminating customs, prevail. This fact is mentioned, not only as an ill.u.s.tration of the personal benefits actually derived from a thorough knowledge of the nervous system, but to show how generally and extensively these advantages have been shared by others.

A careful study of cerebral physiology leads us deeper into the mysteries of the human const.i.tution, and to the philosophical contemplation of the relations of mind and body. Self-culture implies not only a knowledge of the powers of the mind, but also how to direct and use them for its own improvement, and he who has the key to self-knowledge, can unlock the mysteries of human nature and be eminently serviceable to the worlds For centuries the mind has been spreading out its treasury of revelations, to be turned to practical account, in ascertaining the const.i.tution, and determining better methods of treating disease. Since comparative anatomists and physiologists have revealed the structure of animals and the functions of their organs, from the lowest protozoan to the highest vertebrate, the physician may avail himself of this knowledge, and thus gain a deeper insight into the structure and physiology of man. An intimate acquaintance with the physical, is a necessary preparation for the study of the psychical life, for it leads to the understanding of their mutual relations and reactions, both in health and disease.

Consciousness, or the knowledge of sensations and mental operations, has been variously defined. It is employed as a collective term to express all the psychical states, and is the power by which the soul knows its own existence. It is the immediate knowledge of any object whatever, and seems to comprise, in its broadest signification, both matter and mind, for all objects are inseparable from the cognizance of them. Hence, the significance of the terms, subjective-consciousness and objective-consciousness. People are better satisfied with their knowledge of matter than with their conceptions of the nature of mind.

THE NATURE OF MIND.

Since this subject is being discussed by our most distinguished scientists, we will conclude this chapter with an extract from a lecture delivered by Prof. Burt G. Wilder, at the American Inst.i.tute:

"There now remains to be disposed of, in some way, the question as to the nature and reality of mind, which was rather evaded at the commencement of the lecture. The reason was, that I am forced to differ widely from the two great physiologists whom I have so often quoted this evening. Most people, following in part early instruction, in part revelation, in part spiritual manifestations, and in part trusting to their own consciousness, hold that the human mind is a spiritual substance which is a.s.sociated with the body during the life of the latter in this world, and which remains in existence after the death of the body, and forms the spiritual clothing or embodiment of the immortal soul; and that the individual, therefore, lives after death as a spirit in the human form; that of this spiritual man, the soul is the essential being, of which may be predicted a good or evil nature, while the mind, which clothes it as a body, consists of the spiritual substances, affections, and thoughts, which were cherished and formed during the natural life.

Together with the above convictions respecting themselves, most people, when thinking independently of theological sublimations, feel willing to admit that animals have, in common with man, fewer or more natural affections and thoughts which make up their minds, but that the inner and immortal soul, which would retain them as part of an individual after death of the body, is not possessed by the beasts that perish. In short, the vast majority of mankind, when thinking quietly, and especially in seasons of bereavement, feel well a.s.sured of the real and substantial existence of the human mind, independently of its temporary a.s.sociation with the perishable body.

But in antagonism to this simple and comforting faith, stand theological incomprehensibilities on the one hand, and scientific skepticism on the other. The former would have us believe that the soul is a mere vapor, a cloud of something ethereal, of which can be expected nothing more useful than 'loafing around the Throne,' while the latter asks us to recognize the existence of nothing which the eyes cannot see and fingers touch; to cease imagining that there is a soul, and to regard the mind as merely the product of the brain; secreted thereby as the liver secretes bile. Let us hear what the two leading nervous physiologists, of this country, have to say upon this point:

'The brain is not, strictly speaking, the organ of the mind, for this statement would imply that the mind exists as a force, independent of the brain; but the mind is produced by the brain substance; and intellectual force, if we may term the intellect a force, can be produced only by the trans.m.u.tation of a certain amount of matter; there can be no intelligence without brain substance.'--FLINT.

'The mind may be regarded as a force, the result of nervous action, and characterized by the ability to perceive sensations, to be conscious, to understand, to experience emotions, and to will in accordance therewith.

Of these qualities, consciousness resides exclusively in the brain, but the others, as is clearly shown by observation and experiment, cannot be restricted to that organ, but are developed with more or less intensity, in other parts of the nervous system.'--HAMMOND.

Thus do the two extremes of theology and science meet upon a common ground of dreamy emptiness, and we who confess our comparative ignorance are comforted by the thought that some other things have been 'hid from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes.' Yet, while feeling thus, it must be admitted that the existence of spirit and of a Creator do not yet seem capable of logical demonstration. The denial of their existence is not incompatible with a profound acquaintance with material forms and their operations; and, on the other hand, the belief in their existence and substantial nature, and in their powers as first causes, have never interfered with the recognition of the so-called material forces, and of the organisms through which they are manifested. At present, at least, these are purely matters of faith; but although the Spiritualist (using the term in its broadest sense as indicating a belief in spirits), may feel that his faith discloses a beauty and perfection in the union, otherwise imperceptible by him, there is no reason why this difference in faith should make him despise or quarrel with his materialist co-worker, for the latter may do as good service to science, may be as true a man, and live as holy a life, although from other motives.

The differences between religious sects are mainly of faith, not of works, and the wise of all denominations are gradually coming to the conviction that they will all do G.o.d more service by toleration and co-operation than by animosity and disunion. And so I hold that, until the spiritualist feels himself able to demonstrate to the unbeliever the existence of spirit and of G.o.d, as convincingly as a mathematical proposition, there should be no hard words or feelings upon these points. For the present they are immaterial in every sense of the word; and so long as he bows to the facts and the laws of Nature, and deals with his fellow men as he would be done by, so long will I work with him, side by side, knowing, even though I cannot tell him so, that whether or not he joins me in this world, we shall meet in the other world to come, where his eyes will be opened, and where his lips will at least acquit me of bigotry and intolerance."

CHAPTER XV.

THE HUMAN TEMPERAMENTS.

Organization implies vital energy, since there can be no organization without it. The sperm cell, as we have previously seen, exists before the initiation of the life of every individual organism. The early history of this fertilizing cell, which is composed of infinitesimal molecules which contain the embryo powers of life, is only partially written. It is a fact, authenticated by Faraday, that one drop of water contains, and may be made to evolve, as much electricity as, under a different mode of display, would suffice to produce a lightning-flash.

Chemical force is of a higher order than physical, and vital force is of a still higher order. Within the microscopic compa.s.s of the sperm cell are a great number of forces acting simultaneously, which require the answering conditions of a germ cell, and are so blended as to occupy a minimum of s.p.a.ce. The union of these subtle elements through the agency of their physical, chemical, and vital forces, const.i.tutes the initiation of life. Elementary matter is transformed into chemical and organic compounds, by natural forces, upon the cessation of which, it is liberated by nature's great destroyer, and re-appears in the world of elements. Thus, man is formed out of the very dust by means of energies which reconstruct the crude, inert matter, and to dust he returns when those energies cease.

When we enter upon the consideration of the temperaments, we should bear in mind one peculiarity of life: that it combines, in a small s.p.a.ce, many complex powers. In the process of reproduction, there is a complex combination of organic elements. Structures differ as greatly as their functions. So likewise do animals vary in their nature and organization, and individuals of the same species are, in some respects, dissimilar.

Yet the characteristics which have distinguished the races of mankind, are fundamental and faithfully maintained. Time does not obliterate them. Within race-limits are found enduring peculiarities, and, although each individual is weaving out some definite pattern of organization, it follows the type of the race, as well as the more immediate, antecedent condition.

What then is a _Temperament_ but a _mixing together_ of these determining forces, a certain blending manifested in the const.i.tution by signs, or traits, which we denominate _character_. The different races of mankind must have their several standards of temperament, for the peculiarities of one are not fully descriptive of, and applicable to the other.

The term temperament is defined by Dunglison, as being "a name given to the remarkable differences that exist between individuals, in consequence of the variety of relations and proportions between the const.i.tuent parts of the body.

For its simplicity and scope, we prefer the following definition, suggested by our friend, Orin Davis, M.D.: A TEMPERAMENT IS A COMBINATION OF ORGANIC ELEMENTS SO ARRANGED AS TO CHARACTERIZE THE CONSt.i.tUTION.

This leads us to consider some of the elements, conditions and forces which give character to the organization. External circ.u.mstances supply necessary conditions to inward activity, for without air, food, or sunlight all living animals would perish. Everywhere, life is dependent upon conditions and circ.u.mstances; it is _not_ self-generating. But the conditions of reproduction are very complex. External forces are transformed, and, in turn, become vital or formative powers. Development is a trans.m.u.tation of physical and chemical forces into vital energy.

Although unable to compute the ultimate factors of life, yet we may ill.u.s.trate their reproductive possibilities and results by comparing them with those of a lower order.

Animal structures are mainly composed of four elements: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon. Other const.i.tuents, such as phosphorus, sulphur, pota.s.sium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and iron, enter into their composition, but are found in much smaller quant.i.ties. From these elements is fabricated an organism which manifests peculiar properties and marvelous functions. If the proportion of these chemical elements be varied, the organic compound will be changed, or, the proportions remaining the same, if the _grouping_ of the elements be altered, different compounds will be produced, showing that the properties of organized substances depend upon the _molecular_ const.i.tution of matter.

Rising in the scale of organization, we observe that every variation of the physical and chemical processes implies a corresponding modification of the vital. This is verified by the peculiarities of the several races of mankind. Individual differences are likewise modifications of these processes. Dynamical or vital differentiation depends upon these modifications for the display of vital energy, and is always a.s.sociated with molecular changes. But it should be borne in mind that an effect may not resemble its cause in _properties_, and the _qualities_ of a chemical compound may be quite different from those of its individual const.i.tuents. Organic matter, although more complex, may exhibit properties, both like and unlike its const.i.tuent elements. Within certain boundaries, the elements seek to satisfy their affinities. We discover that there are limits between the genera of animals, as well as the races of mankind. Not less really, though perhaps not as absolutely, are there individual precincts within the sphere of the human temperaments, which cannot be pa.s.sed.

If we cannot satisfactorily explain, we can at least discover a reason for temperamental limitation. It is not designed to circ.u.mscribe healthful reproduction, but to serve as an effectual hindrance to abnormal deviations. We may state our belief in more positive terms: that the temperamental variations are essential to _genesis_ and _fertility_, and indispensable to _health_ and _normal development_.

Every individual is susceptible to impressions which dispose to action.

Impressions which excite or increase this disposition, are called _stimuli_. Vital change implies the existence of _stimuli_ and _susceptibility_ to stimulation. The stimulus may not be furnished because the conditions on which it depends are wanting; again, susceptibility may exist at one time and not at another. Stimuli and susceptibility may be present in different degrees, but for the purpose of healthful reproduction they must not be impaired. No single cla.s.s of foods, alb.u.minous, starchy, saccharine, or mineral, is sufficient for the nutrition of the body, but the food must contain substances belonging to each of the different cla.s.ses. If an animal be fed exclusively upon alb.u.men, though this substance const.i.tutes the largest part of the bodily ma.s.s, exhaustion will rapidly follow, since the food does not contain all the essential, nutritive elements. Again, when the solids of the body have been wasted, they lose their susceptibility to stimuli, and the food does no good. Thus patients become emaciated during acute attacks of disease, upon the cessation of which they are too feeble to recover, simply because they have lost the power to digest and a.s.similate their food.

In inanimate bodies, as in crystals, forces come to rest, but the very idea of life implies action and continual change. Hence diversity of const.i.tutions and different temperaments are essential in order that marriage may result in the reproduction of vigorous beings.

VITAL AND NON-VITAL TEMPERAMENTS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 78.]

In the preceding chapter, we attempted to ill.u.s.trate the unique blending of mind and body by means of the nervous system, and we now propose to exemplify the physical conditions of the organism by certain correspondences, observed in the development and conditions of that system. If nature answer to mind in physical correspondences, she will observe the same regularity in physical development. The simplest cla.s.sification of the temperaments is represented in Fig. 78. Not only is mental activity dependent upon a vital activity in the brain, but the development of the cerebrum is dependent upon the supply of blood. The growth of the intellect requires the same conditions that aided in the development of Vulcan's right arm: waste and supply; disintegration and reparation of tissue. Our modern iron forges produce many an artisan whose great right arm proclaims him to be a son of power as well as of fire. Thus the fervid intellect, while forging out its thoughts, increases in size and strength. The difference between the development of the two is this; that the exercise of the blacksmith's right arm quickens the activities of all the bodily functions, whereas the employment of the intellect does not offer any healthy equivalent.

Physical exercise is a hygienic demand, but intellectual employment exerts no salutary influence on the body, while it is constantly expending the nutritive energies of the blood. The emotions, likewise, make exhaustive draughts upon nutrition to supply the waste of brain substance, just as certainly as physical labor causes muscular change, and demands reparation. One expends cerebral, the other, muscular substance. The one is healthful in its general tendencies, the other, comparatively wasteful and destructive.

/ DISINTEGRATING, The intellectual faculties are { EXPENDING, DERIVING.

/ ENGROSSING, The emotive faculties are { EXHAUSTING, DEVITALIZING.

These nervous forces are transformed into spiritual products.

The base of the anterior lobes of the brain belong to the atonic region--the source of those languid, deranging influences which coincide with morbidity and disease. A disturbance of the corporeal organs, which especially influence this portion of the brain, naturally tends to the development of insanity or imbecility. Morel has traced, through four generations, the family history of a youth who was admitted to the asylum at Rouen while in a state of stupidity and semi-idiocy. The following summary of his investigations ill.u.s.trates the natural course of degeneracy as it extends through successive generations: immorality, depravity, alcoholic excess, and moral degradation, in the great-grandfather, who was killed in a tavern brawl; hereditary drunkenness, maniacal attacks, ending in general paralysis, in the grandfather; sobriety, but hypochondriacal tendencies, delusions of persecutions, and homicidal tendencies in the father; defective intelligence in the son. His first attack of mania occurred at sixteen, and was followed by stupidity, and finally ended in complete idiocy.

Furthermore, there was probably an extinction of the family, for the son's reproductive organs were as little developed as those of a child of twelve years of age. He had two sisters who were both defective physically and morally, and were cla.s.sed as imbeciles. To complete the proof of heredity in this case, Morel adds that the mother had a child while the father was confined in the asylum, and that this child exhibited no signs of degeneracy. Statistics show that mult.i.tudes of human beings are born with a destiny against which they have neither the will nor the power to contend; they groan under the worst of all tyrannies, the tyranny of a bad organization, which is theirs by inheritance. We may represent the tendencies of the anterior portion of the brain by Fig. 79. The functional exercise of the anterior and superior portions of the cerebrum is _disintegrating_ and _devitalizing_, while the anterior and inferior portions coincide with mental and physical derangement, unless counteracted by opposing forces.

It is therefore evident that in any organization, upon which is entailed a perverted or excessive action of this portion of the cerebrum, the tendencies are NON-VITAL, _i.e._, unfavorable to fertility and physical health.

If the antagonizing regions are well developed, the tendencies are favorable to life.

/ SANITY, The volitive organs promote { TEMPERANCE, HARDIHOOD.

/ NUTRITION, The animal organs tend to { RESTORATION, CONSERVATION.

/ SECRETION, The basilar faculties instigate { CIRCULATION, VITALITY.

/ ENERGY, The combined action of these { HEALTH, faculties express REPRODUCTION.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 79]

If this portion of the brain indicates a full development, we say of such a temperament that it is VITAL, because the functions of its nerve-centers are favorable to evolution. As degeneration observes conditions, so endurance and development conform to certain laws, and it is the duty of all truthful inquirers, who believe not only in the progress of human intelligence, but in physical improvement from generation to generation, to ascertain and comply with these essential conditions. When the anterior and middle lobes of the brain are fully developed at their inferior surfaces, it is regarded as an insane temperament, _i.e._ containing the germs of mental and bodily derangement.