which attaches to convalescents. And be it remarked, that it is unwonted: they who have borne long, submissively, and patiently with great suffering, become impatient and irritable as soon as they begin to recover; and this, not from a feeling of having exhausted a longtried stock of patience, but from a peculiar state of the brain, which it requires a great mental effort to controul. Every person who has experienced this return from sickness to health, knows this to be the fact: and it is manifest in children, who would not be subjected to these effects if they arose from an exhaustion of the influence of patience and submission, as moral motives; but who do equally experience this irritability, which takes its origin from a purely physical condition, and which observers actually bail as the harbinger of returning health, because, even to the observation of those who reason not upon its causes, this indication has been associated by experience with the setting in of a new train of healthy actions. Nor let the sincere Christian be fearful of avowing his belief in the physical origin of a state which he so much deplores: let him, indeed, be cautious of making this an excuse for peevishness and restlessness; let him beware of crying Peace, where there can be no real peace, that is, if this temper of mind be not combated: and while, on the one hand, he ought not to adopt that harsh and unjust judgment which would produce a doubt of his interest in his Saviour's atonement, because of the existence which he mourns over of feelings thus opposed to the meekness and patience of that Saviour's example; let him, on the other, deplore this state, though a physical condition, as an evidence of that debasing influence of sin which has been exert and head-ache, languor, and an inaptitude for mental exertion, are the consequence. This state continuing a certain length of time, or being frequently repeated, will, in a constitution so predisposed, give rise to hypochondriasis; and in a still more aggravated form of impression, this hypochondriasis may be exchanged for deeper mental aberration: and thus the due functions of the brain will be suspended-perhaps irrecoverably destroyed-by the reflex action of disorder, whose first point of irritation was in the stomach. Again the skin is an important organ; and a simple morbid impression made upon it, will sometimes occasion a degree of cerebral disturbance. Even in common catarrh, the earliest symptoms will very generally be that of unwonted drowsiness and oppression: these will be followed by chills, and a certain wandering of intellectual manifestation, which indicates that the brain is not under the usual controul of the will; and when the subsequent re-action has occurred, it will be accompanied by pain in the head, excited susceptibility of sensorial impression, and general disposition to over-action. When this first impression may have been more intense, particularly if it shall have resulted from the invasion of fever of a specific character, the cerebral disturbance will be more distinctly characterized; and the deviations from correct, congruous, coherent, and consecutive thought, will be more apparent. This is so manifestly the case, that some authors have placed the seat of fever exclusively in the brain, because that organ always suffers more or less; forgetting, that, although it has to bear its own peculiar burdens, it is also called upon to sympathize when any other organ of the body is affected with morbid irritation; thus proving, that it is eminently theed upon the manifestations of mind, organ which is most under the influence of physical disturbance. Again every person may have remarked the unwonted irritability and upon the organ through which they are made. Let him consider this painful struggle as a portion of the trial of his faith and patience, and as perhaps rendered peculiarly necessary at a period when the overwhelming gratitude of recovery renders the mind peculiarly liable to be less watchful than usual, and to those oscillations of feeling which take place rapidly, and often imperceptibly, under the influence of powerful emotion. Let him become guarded in his joy, and remember to"watch unto prayer." Let him recollect that he is called upon to grapple with this physical condition, and by a powerful mental effort, made in dependance upon the assistance of the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier, to keep his heart with all diligence, to preserve it stayed upon his God, to cultivate a devotional spirit, and to shew forth the glory of the Saviour by more closely imitating his example. There is, then, no plea for indolence, no excuse for supineness: the existence of feebleness calls upon him for the display of energy, and invites him to seek for strength where alone it can be found. Again: the effect of some articles of food or medicine will confirm my principal position. A certain mo. derate quantity of wine will render the individual more cheerful, give brilliancy to his ideas, and stimulate the organ of thought to more intense exertion. A larger dose of the same fluid will make one individual outrageously joyous and noisy, while another will become stupid and melancholic, according to his peculiar temperament; and a still larger quantity will abolish consciousness from both alike: and absolute intoxication will destroy all traces of the rational creature. The influence of several medicines will be presently noticed among the morbid trains of cerebral impression: it is here only necessary to state, that they are varied and extensive. Once more: bodily fatigue will induce a degree of cerebral irritability, which, in ordinary cases, will prevent the usual approach of sleep, and give rise to such a susceptibility of the nervous system, that it will be prepared for any morbid im pression. A similar effect will be produced by the excitement of society, or by emotion of any kind of an intense character; thus shewing that the brain, as a material organ, is similarly acted upon both by causes from within, and by those which attach more particularly to exterior nature; by mental exertion, and by physical influence. On the other hand, too much sleep produces an effect of a different kind: the patient rises with a dull obtuse headache; he feels that his percep tions are obscured, that he is stupid, that he wants his usual activity of body and mind, that his spirits are oppressed, and that he misses his customary cheerfulness. Now the difference of these two conditions consists in this: in the former case, there is increased action of the arteries of the brain, and the individual is conscious of the change; in the latter, there is a sluggish congealed state of the veins; thus proving, that, according to these varying physical states, the manifestations of mind are different, and even opposite, and that the organ is a material one-mainly influenced by physical causes. enough has been said for my present purpose: the several forms of cerebral delusion and morbid action will be noticed hereafter, But II. This material organ, thus influenced by physical causes, is the organ of mind, and will characterize-not, indeed, its essence, its real character, but its manifestations, by its operation upon the ideas conveyed to the immaterial spirit from without, as well as upon those produced by its unaided and spontaneous action from within. Man possesses an internal consciousness that the brain is the organ through which he thinks, reasons, remembers, imagines, distinguishes, and performs other mental operations : and this consciousness is as positive as would be that of the hand being the organ of prehension to a blind person, who sought after an acquaintance with the properties of matter through this medium. Indeed, when we recollect that man is a also from presumptuous sins: let them not have dominion over me." If we required a proof at once that the brain is the organ of mind, and that it is at the same time material, it would be found in the common influence of intense thought; as, for instance, in the writer of the present essay when engaged upon a subject requiring his whole attention, the extremities are cold, while the head is proportionally heated: but let him lay aside his pen, or only divert his thoughts to a current of minor importance, and, in less than three minutes, the feet will be glowing with a return of the circulation of blood in the extremities; and this phenomenon happens not one night only, but every night, in the midst of summer as well as in winter. So extraordinary and invariable a circumstance must surely have some mode of rational explanation. It is not sufficient to say, that the attention is deeply engaged, and therefore the circulation of the blood is sluggish. The circulation, as such, has nothing to do with this faculty; we cannot by mere attention increase or diminish one pulsation. Half the errors of mankind arise from their unwillingness to observe, and from their preference of pre-conceived opinions to the investigation of facts. But let us attend for a mo. ment to the process just detailed: what does it prove? First, That intense thought excites brainular action: Secondly, That this increased action requires a larger supply of blood than usual to support it: Thirdly, That by a physical law this supply is sent to the organ which particularly requires it; and, therefore, that the extreme parts of the system, those at a great distance from the centre of the circulation, and from the organ in a state of excitation, as well as those which are inactive, all obtain deficient supplies of blood, and become cold in consequence: Fourthly, That this increased action, being produced by thought, proves the brain to be the organ through which the operations of the immaterial spirit are carried on; and that its active functions can only be supported by a larger supply of blood than is necessary to sustain its mere vitality, or even to maintain the vigour of its bodily agency: and it follows, that since this organ of thought requires the assistance of a material fluid, in order to support this excited action, itself also must be material; a fact which is even more fully shewn by the provision which has been made for granting this increased supply without injury to the organ; but if this be granted, the consequence is inevitable, fifthly, That the brain must be liable to disorder of function from a deficient, redundant, or ill-timed supply of this fluid; or from any imperfection in its vital properties; or from any deleterious change which it may have undergone in its elaboration, or under the influence of disease, or from a thousand other bodily causes; as well as from many intangible mental associations, so finely connected that it may be impossible to trace them, and yet which it would be absurd to deny. Hence it follows, sixthly, That there may be many morbid states of thought, and feeling, and perception, with which we are utterly unacquainted. But if the brain be the organ of mind, and if it be thus physically and morally related, it will happen that the common internal actions of the mind, though necessarily perfect in themselves, may be variously altered in their manifestations by transmis sion through this materialorgan; and that no one can ever hope to arrive at a true philosophy of mind, unless he will submit to consider the action and re-action of spirit upon matter, and of matter upon spirit; nor unless he will allow that their mutual operations may be variously influenced by different corporeal states, and more especially by disease. III. The brain is subjected to a variety of morbid impressions, which will produce corresponding alterations upon the mental manifesta tions; a proposition which will be subsequently developed, in treating of the efforts arising from various morbid causes, acting upon the nervous system. IV. The important corollary from the foregoing propositions is, That the morbid impressions upon the organ of mind will be characterized by the particular bodily or mental source whence they were originally derived, and will thus admit of many variations. A friend, whose testimony may be relied upon, and whose cool judgment enables him to watch the agency of disease, has often told me, that when suffering from determination of blood to the head, he always feels a tendency to undue elation; and, on the contrary, to depression whenever the digestive functions are disordered. The sanguine expectations of consumptive patients, and the degree in which hope is fondly cherished by them, even when the last remnant of vitality is well nigh exhausted, are proverbial, and form a perfect contrast with the depression and hypochondriacal feelings of those who suffer from disordered digestive functions. Indeed the very term hypochondriasis, like other corresponding Greek and Latin words, such as melancholy and atrabiliarian, shew how completely the ancients referred this brainular state to the influence of those distant organs. But Again, affections of the heart are characterized by a great degree of anxiety and solicitude, but are not usually accompanied by depressed spirits. All these facts are generally admitted. The evil consists in this, -that they have been received as true, without reasoning upon them, or inquiring into their cause. do they not prove that the organ of mind is variously affected by the morbid sympathies of distant functions,--and that too according to a rule, which, though not understood, experience and observation have enabled us to predict? And if this is undeniably the case with regard to a few forms of morbid impression with which we are acquainted, is it not fair to infer that a similar influence may be exerted, though probably in a somewhat different mode of expression, by the unnumbered forms of morbid association which we cannot trace,-not only with regard to the important organs already specified, but to several others, with whose particular agency we may be unacquainted? But if so, may not a variety of morbid cerebral impressions be referred to some one of these different causes;—and may not its hallucinations be satisfactorily accounted for upon this principle? V. We come next to examine the influence of several morbid states of the brain, in order to prove and illustrate these positions. 1. Simple excitement, whether excessive in degree, or only moderate but long continued, will produce a slight deviation from health, which in some cases will be remedied by repose; and, in others, will occasion more or less of permanent disorder. But in both instances the brain will ultimately suffer; and the functions of body, and the manifestations of mind, will be impaired, enfeebled, or even altered. For too great activity of the brain expends rapidly the stock of nutrition; and every attentive observer of himself must have noticed the fatigue induced by mental occupation,—the muscular feebleness, the weariness which come over him. And again, under other circumstances, he will have remarked how much bodily exertion he could encounter, so long as his mind was at peace, or cheered by hope, and animated by joyful expectation; and how soon he be came exhausted, if the spirit had been ruffled by any teazing occur. rences; if the germ of displeasure rankled in his bosom; if he had been vexed by disappointment, or harassed by the dissipation of fancy's airy and glowing visions; or if from any other cause, depression had brooded over the future, and enveloped his prospects with her sable mantle of fear and uncertainty. Further, this state of the brain disturbs the digestive process; and therefore, not only exhausts the present stock, but diminishes the future supply of nutrition. For, in order to the completeness of this process, it is necessary that an increased quantity of blood be determined to the stomach, in order that the nervous energy may be accumulated upon that organ; so that rest of body, and freedom from disquieting or even joyful emotion, or much thought, should be observed. If, on the contrary, the brain be intently engaged by intellectual occupation, it calls for that supply of blood, which ought to be sent to the stomach, to perfect its secretions; and the same fluid cannot be found at the same time in two places; nervous energy is rapidly strained off from its source, and therefore cannot be spared for a distant organ: the individual possesses an intellectual and spiritual existence, but forgets the necessities of his compound nature; the animal functions, in consequence, suffer deeply; the stomach becomes enfeebled; it digests imperfectly; assimilation of the undigested mass is impossible, and the functions of nutrition can be only half performed. As proofs of this position, I need only mention the effect produced upon the stomach by any sudden mental impression: as, for instance, when it is empty, and the desire for food is urgent, appetite will be instantly destroyed by such an occurrence; and appetite, in a healthy state of the organs and their secretions, is the expression of the power of digesting food; and, on the other hand, when replenished, although this power shall have precedingly existed, indigestion, with all its train of consequences, will be the result. The effect of hard reading upon the studious, is notorious. A gradual wasting of the body, enfeebled muscular power, and neral debility, proclaim the exhausting influence which brainular excitement has exerted upon the ge |
