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Show 80 TilE Pnt:NcfPLE OF TilE DlrtECT duAP. tlL hearing this rmnark, I have occasionally recognized its fnll truth. Several other states of 1nind appear to be at first exciting, but soon bec01ne depressing to an extre~ne degree. When a mother sudd~nly loses her ch1ld, son1etimes she is frantic with gnef, and must be considered to be in an excited state; she walks wildly about tears her hair or clothes, and wrings her hands. rrhis latter action is perhaps due to the principle of antithesis, betraying an inward sense of helplessness ancl that nothino- can be done. The other wild and violent move1nents may be in part explained by the relief experienced through muscular exertion, and in part by the undirected o,·erflow of nerve-force fron1 the excjted sensorium. But under the sudden loss of a beloved per.son, one of the first and com1nonest thoughts which occurs is that something 1nore might have been ' ?. done to save the lost one. An excellent observer, L in describino- the behaviour of a girl at the sudden 0 death of her father, says she " went about the house " wrinO'ino- her hands like a creature de1nented, saying " 'It w0 as 0 her fault;' 'I should never have 1e f t h1. n1; ' " 'If I had only sat up with hiin.'" &~. With such itlcas vividly present before the mind, there would arise, through the principle of associated habit, the strongest tendency to energetic action of some kind. As soon as the sufferer is fully conscious that nothing can be done, despair or deep sorrow ta.lres the place of frantic grief. The sufferer sits motionless, or gently rocks to and fl'o; the circulation becomes languid ; respiration is ahnost forgotten, and deep sighs are drawn. All this reacts on the brain, and prostration soon follows with collapsed muscles and dulled eyes. As u l\f1·s. Oliplmnt, in her novel of' Miss 1\'Iajot•ibanks,' lJ· 3G2. CraP. III. ACTION OF TilE NERVOUS SYSTEM:. 81 ass?ciated . habit no longer prompts the suf£ rer to action, he IS ~rged by his friends to voluntary exertiou, a:1d n~t to g1 ve way to silent, motionless grief. Ex rtion stunulates the heart, and this reacts on the brain and a.ids .the mind to bear its heavy load. ' Pa1n, .If severe: soon induces extreme depression or pl·ostration; but It is at firRt a stimulant and excites to action, as we see when we whip a horse, and as is shown by the horrid tortures inflicted in foreign lands on exhausted dray·bullocks, to rouse them to renewed exertion. Fear again is the n1ost depressing of all the emotions · and it soon induces utter, helpless prostration, as if ]~ consequence of, or in association with, the most violent and prolonged attempts to escape from the danger, though no such attempts have actually been made. Nevertheless, even extreme fear often acts at first as a powerful stimulant. A man or animal driven through terror to desperation, is endowed with wonderful strength, and is notoriously dangerous in the highest degree. On the whole we may conclude that the principle of the direct action of the sensorium on the body, due to t.h e constitution of the nervous svstem and from the first "' ' 1ndependent of the will, has been highly influential in determining many expressions. Good instances aro a-fforded by the trembling of the n1uscles, the sweating of the skin, the modified secretions of the alimentary canal and glands, under various emotions and sensation". But actions of this kind are often combined with others, wh~ch follow from our first principle, namely, that actions winch have often been of direct or indirect service, under certain states of the mind, in order to gratify or relieve certain sensations, desires, &c., are still performed under analogous circumstances throug·h mere habit althouo·h ' b G |