A Treatise on Physiology and Hygiene Part 20

[Sidenote: 4. The lowest form of sensation? The highest? Sensations, how modified? What further can you state as to habitual impressions?]

4. The lowest form of sensation, that of simple contact, is possessed by the lowest of the animal creation. The highest forms are those by which we are enabled to know the properties of external objects, such as shape, size, sound, and color. A variety of means of communicating with the outer world is the necessary possession of a high intelligence. Sensations are modified by use. They become more acute and powerful by moderate exercise; or, they are dulled by undue excitement. The former is shown by the acute hearing of the Indian, by the sharp sight of the sailor, and by the delicate touch of the blind. The latter is exemplified by the impaired hearing of the boiler-maker, and the depraved taste of him who uses pungent condiments with his food. Again, impressions habitually presented may not be consciously felt; as is the case with the rumbling of carriages in a neighboring {179} street, or the regular ticking of a clock. All sensations become less vivid with the advance of age, especially hearing and vision.

[Sidenote: 5. General sensibility? What have we seen as regards the brain?

Of what other structures is the same true?]

5. GENERAL SENSIBILITY.--There is a property possessed by nearly all parts of the human body which we call general sensibility. We have recently seen that the brain is wholly insensitive, and may be cut or pinched without pain. The same is true of the nails, hair, the scarf-skin or external covering of the body, and a few other structures. In these parts no nerves are found. On the other hand, the sensibility of the true skin, and of mucous membranes, as of the eye and nose, is exquisite, these organs having a large supply of sensory nerve-fibres. The bones and tendons have less of these fibres, and are only moderately sensitive.

[Sidenote: 6. The cause of sensibility? Painful part in a surgical operation? Benumbing the surface? How done by ether?]

6. The sensibility of any part of the body, then, depends upon the number of nerves present; and, as a rule, the nervous supply is proportional to the importance of the part, and to its liability to injury. When, therefore, a surgical operation is performed, the most painful part of it is the incision through the skin; the muscles, cartilage, and bone being comparatively without sensation. Hence, if we could benumb the surface, certain of the lesser operations might be undergone without great inconvenience. This is, in fact, very successfully accomplished by means of the cold produced by throwing a spray of ether, or of some other rapidly evaporating liquid, upon the part to be cut.

[Sidenote: 7. Tickling? Internal sensations? The nerves of general sensibility?]

7. Tickling is a modification of general sensibility. At first, it excites a pleasurable sensation, but this soon pa.s.ses into pain. It is only present in those parts where the sense of touch is feeble. But all impressions are not received from without: there are, also, certain internal {180} sensations, as they are called, which depend upon the condition of the internal organs, such as appet.i.te, hunger, thirst, the sense of satisfaction after taking food, dizziness when looking down from some lofty position, la.s.situde, drowsiness, fatigue, and other feelings of comfort or discomfort. General sensibility, whether of the internal or external organs of the body, chiefly depends upon the sensory fibres of the spinal nerve.

The face, however, is supplied by the sensory cranial nerves. The sympathetic system has a low grade of feeling in health; but disease in the parts served by it arouses an intense degree of pain.

[Sidenote: 8. Connection between pain and sensibility?]

8. THE SENSATION OF PAIN.--What then is _pain_? Is it identical with ordinary sensibility? There seems to be some necessary connection between the two feelings, for they take place through the same channels, and they are alike intense in the same situations. But sensibility habitually contributes to our sources of pleasure, the very opposite of pain; hence, these feelings cannot be identical.

[Sidenote: 9. Explain the difference between pain and sensibility.]

9. Pain must, therefore, be a modification of the general sensibility, which follows an excessive degree of excitement of the nerves; there being a natural limit to the amount of stimulation which they will sustain. So long as this limit is observed, the part excited may be said to be simply sensitive; but when it is exceeded, the impression becomes painful. This difference between sensibility and pain is well shown by the effects of sunlight upon the eye. The indirect illumination of the sun arouses only the former feeling, and is indispensable to our comfort and existence; while the direct ray received into the eye occasions great pain.

[Sidenote: 10. Dread of pain? How may its value be appreciated? Example.]

10. THE USES OF PAIN.--The dread of pain is a valuable monitor to the body.

It puts us on our guard in the presence of danger; teaches moderation in the use of our {181} powers; indicates the approach of disease; and calls attention to it when present. The word disease, in fact, according to its original use, had reference simply to the pain, or want of ease, which commonly attends disordered health. When we observe the serious mishaps which occur when sensibility and pain are absent, we cannot fail to appreciate its value. For example, a paralytic in taking a foot-bath, forgets to test its temperature, and putting his limbs into water while it is too hot, is severely scalded without knowing it.

[Sidenote: 11. The case of the traveller? Grain of sand? The sun and child?]

11. A traveller, overcome by cold and fatigue, lies down and falls asleep near a large fire, and when he is aroused in the morning, it is discovered that one of his feet has been insensibly destroyed. A grain of sand, lodging in an insensitive eye, may cause inflammation and even the loss of sight. If intense light were not painful to the eye, many a child would innocently gaze upon the glories of the sun to the ruin of his sight.

[Sidenote: 12. Mission of pain? Painful impressions compared with those of pleasure?]

12. Pain is, indeed, a present evil, but its relations with the future prove its mission merciful. Painful impressions cannot be recollected from past experience; and they cannot be called into existence by the fancy.

Considered in the light of results, pain has a use above that of pleasure; for while the immoderate pursuit of the latter leads to harm, the tendency of pain is to restrict the hurtful courses of life, and in this manner to protect the body.

[Sidenote: 13. What does Magendie say of the relation of pain to pleasure?]

13. The relations of pain to pleasure are thus described by the eminent physiologist, Magendie:--"By these sensations Nature induces us to concur in the order which she has established among organized beings. Though it may appear like sophistry to say that pain is the shadow of pleasure, yet it is certain that those who have exhausted the ordinary sources of pleasure have recourse to the {182} causes of pain, and gratify themselves by their effects. Do we not see in all large cities, that men who are debauched and depraved find agreeable sensations, where others experience only intolerable pain?"

[Sidenote: 14. The law of Nature as regards painful sensations among animals?]

14. As to painful sensation among the inferior animals, the plan of Nature seems to be, that the higher the intelligence of the creature, and the more complete its power of defence, the more acute is its sensibility. We infer, therefore, that animals low in the scale of existence, and helpless, are not very liable to suffer pain.

[Sidenote: 15. The sensation of contact and pain? Special sensations of man? How regarded?]

15. SPECIAL SENSATION.--The sensations of simple contact and pain are felt by nearly all parts of the system, whether external or internal, and are the necessary consequence of the general sensibility; but, so far as the objects which surround us are concerned, these impressions are vague and pa.s.sive in character, and inform the mind of none of the properties or powers of these objects. Besides these feelings, therefore, man is endowed with certain special sensations, which are positive and distinct in character, and which he can call into exercise at will, and employ in the pursuit of knowledge. For reasons relating to the original const.i.tution of the body, these sensations are to be regarded as modifications of the general sensibility already alluded to, constructed with special reference to the different forces of Nature, of which we have any knowledge, such as heat, motion, gravity, sunlight, and the like.

[Sidenote: 16. What are the special senses? Special organs for them?]

16. These distinct and active faculties are termed the special senses, and are five in number, viz., Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Hearing. For the exercise of these senses, special organs are furnished, such as the hand, the tongue, the nose, the eye, and the ear. The manner in which the nerves of special sense terminate, varies in the {183} case of each organ, so that each is adapted to one set of sensations alone, and is incapable of perceiving any other. Thus the nerve of hearing is excited by the undulations of sound, and not by those of light, while the reverse is true of the nerve of sight; and the nerve of smell can appreciate neither of them, being capable only of taking cognizance of the odorous properties of bodies.

[Sidenote: 17. What is said in relation to one more than the five senses?]

17. By some writers six senses are accorded to man; the additional one being either the sense of temperature, for as we shall presently see this is not the same as touch; or according to others, the muscular sense by which we are enabled to estimate the weights of bodies. The latter also differs in some respects from the sense of touch.

[Sidenote: 18. The sense of touch, how prevalent? What is said of the hand?]

18. ORGANS OF TOUCH.--The sense of touch is possessed by nearly all portions of the general surface of the body, but it finds its highest development in the hands. The human hand is properly regarded as the model organ of touch. The minute structure of the skin fits it admirably for this form of sensation: the cuticle, or scarf-skin, is fine and flexible, while the cutis, or true skin, contains mult.i.tudes of nerve-filaments, arranged in rows of _papillae_, or cone-like projections, about one-hundredth of an inch in length. It is estimated that there are 20,000 of these papillae in a square inch of the palmar surface of the hand. Now, although the nerves of the cutis are the instruments by which impressions are received and transmitted to the brain, yet the cuticle is essential to the sensation of touch. This is shown by the fact that whenever the true skin is laid bare, as by a burn or blister, the only feeling that it experiences from contact is one of pain, not that of touch.

[Sidenote: 19. Office of the cuticle? Tips of the fingers? The fingers with thumb?]

19. The office of the cuticle is thus made evident: it is to s.h.i.+eld the nerve filaments from direct contact with {184} external objects. At the tips of the fingers, where touch is most delicate, the skin rests upon a cus.h.i.+on of elastic material, and receives firmness and permanence of shape by means of the nail placed upon the less sensitive side. Besides these favorable conditions, the form of the arm is such, and its motions are so easy and varied, that we are able to apply the test of touch in a great number of directions. The slender, tapering fingers, with their pliant joints, together with the strong opposable thumb, enable the hand to mold itself upon and grasp a great variety of objects; so that great as are the delicacy and grace of the hand, it is not wanting in the elements of power.

[Sidenote: 20. What special importance is attributed to the hand?]

20. Its beauty and adaptation to the wants of man have made the hand an attractive theme for philosophers. They do not, however, always agree in their conclusions. One has the opinion that man has acquired his intelligence and achieved his place as "lord of creation," because he has this organ. Buffon, in effect, declares that with fingers twice as numerous and twice as long, we would become proportionally wiser; but Galen long ago took a more reasonable view, when he taught that "man is the wisest of animals, not because he possesses the hand; but because he is the wisest and understands its use, the hand has been given to him; for his mind, not his hand has taught him the arts." Another has well said, that "no one can study carefully the human hand and fail to be convinced of the existence of the Deity."

[Sidenote: 21. The simplicity of touch? What does it teach us?]

21. THE SENSE OF TOUCH.--Touch is the simplest of the senses. It is that which the child first calls into exercise in solving the early problems of existence; and it is that which is in the most constant use throughout life. We are brought by the touch into the most intimate relations with external objects, and by it we learn the greater number, if not the most important, of the properties of {185} these objects; such as size, figure, solidity, motion, and smoothness or roughness of surface.

[Sidenote: 22. Importance of the sense of touch to the development of the other senses?]

22. The sense of touch a.s.sists the other senses, especially that of sight, giving foundation and reality to their perceptions. Without it, the impressions received by the eye would be as vague and unreal as the figures that float through our dreams. A boy who had been blind from birth, at the age of twelve years received sight by means of a surgical operation: at first, he was unable to distinguish between a globe and a circular card, of the same color, before he had touched them. After that, he at once recognized the difference in their form. He knew the peculiarities of a dog and a cat by feeling, but not by sight, until one day, happening to take up the cat, he recognized the connection of the two sorts of impressions, those of touch and sight; and then, putting the cat down, he said: "So, puss, I shall know you next time."

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 45.]

[Sidenote: 23. Liability of touch to err? Describe the ill.u.s.tration.]

23. Touch is considered the least liable to error of all the senses; yet, if that part of the skin by which the sense is exercised is removed from its customary position, a false impression may be created in the mind. This is well ill.u.s.trated by an experiment, which dates from the time of Aristotle. If we cross the middle finger behind the {186} forefinger, and then roll a marble, or some small object, upon the tips of the fingers (see Fig. 45), the impression will be that two marbles are felt. If the fingers, thus transposed, be applied to the end of the tongue, two tongues will be felt. When the nose is accidentally destroyed, the surgeon sometimes performs an operation for the purpose of forming a new one, by transplanting a partially removed piece of the skin of the forehead upon the injured part: then, if the new nose be touched or pinched, the feeling is referred to the forehead. This fact ill.u.s.trates one important truth, that the nerves will re-unite after they have been cut, and feeling will be restored: if it were otherwise, a succession of slight cuts upon the fingers would seriously impair their tactile sensibility.

[Sidenote: 24. The delicacy of touch? Experiments with a pair of compa.s.ses?]

24. THE DELICACY OF TOUCH.--Although the hand is the proper organ of this sense, yet it is exercised by various parts of the body, their degree of sensibility being proportional to the number of papillae they contain. The varying degrees of tactile delicacy of the different parts of the surface have been measured, in an ingenious manner, by means of a pair of compa.s.ses, tipped with small pieces of cork. The two points of the compa.s.ses are touched at the same moment to the skin, the eyes being closed, and it is found that, in sensitive parts, the distance between the points may be quite slight, and yet each be plainly felt; while, in less sensitive parts, the points of the compa.s.ses are felt as a single point, although they are separated one or two inches.

[Sidenote: 25. Further experiments and results?]

25. At the tips of the fingers, the distance between the points being one-twentieth of an inch, a double impression is felt. The distance must be twice as great, for the palm; four times as great, for the lips; and, on the forehead, it must be twenty times greater. At the middle of the back, where the touch is least acute, the points must be {187} separated more than two inches before they can be separately felt. Therefore, the sense of touch in the fingers is said to be fifty times more delicate than upon the posterior surface of the body.

[Sidenote: 26. Exquisite delicacy of touch? The same among the blind?]

26. Exquisite delicacy of touch is attained by practice. This is shown in many of the lighter and more graceful employments of daily life. Without it, the skill of the painter, sculptor, and musician would be rude indeed.

By training, also, the physician acquires the _tactus eruditus_, or discriminating touch; but among the blind, delicacy of touch is most remarkable, and it here finds its highest value; for its possession, in a measure, compensates the loss of sight by enabling them to read, by means of raised letters, to work with certain tools, and even to play upon musical instruments. A person born without sight, and without hearing or voice, may, by the education of the touch, be rescued from apparent imbecility, and be taught not only to read and write, but even to perform household and other useful labors.

[Sidenote: 27. Rival candidates for the sixth sense? Give the two reasons on the subject.]