Indeed coming out of the cold air into a moderately warm room generally produces a lively and continued warmth in the parts that have been exposed.
The second general law is, that when the exciting powers have acted with violence for a considerable time, the excitability becomes exhausted, or less fit to be acted on; and this we shall be able to prove by a similar induction.
Let us first examine the effects of light upon the eye: when it has acted violently for some time on the optic nerve, it diminishes the excitability of that nerve, and renders it incapable of being affected by a quantity of light, that would at other times affect it. When we have been walking out in the snow, if we come into a room, we shall scarcely be able to see any thing for some minutes.
If you look stedfastly at a candle for a minute or two, you will with difficulty discern the letters of a book which you were before reading distinctly. When our eyes have been exposed to the dazzling blaze of phosphorus in oxygen gas, we can scarcely see any thing for some time afterwards, and if we look at the sun, the excitability of the optic nerve is so overpowered by the strong stimulus of his light, that nothing can be seen distinctly for a considerable time. If we look at the setting sun, or any other luminous object of a small size, so as not greatly to fatigue the eye, this part of the retina becomes less sensible to smaller quantities of light; hence when the eyes are turned on other less luminous parts of the sky, a dark spot is seen resembling the shape of the sun, or other luminous object on which our eyes have been fixed.
On this account it is that we are some time before we can distinguish objects in an obscure room, after coming from broad daylight, as I observed before.
We shall next consider the action of heat. Suppose water to be heated to 90 degrees, if one hand be put into it, it will appear warm; but if the other hand be immersed in water heated to 120 degrees, and then put into the water heated to 90 degrees, that water will appear cold, though it will still feel warm to the other hand: for the excitability of the hand has been exhausted, by the greater stimulus of heat, to such a degree as to be insensible of a less stimulus.
Before we go into a warm bath, the temperature of the air may seem very warm and pleasant to the body, even though exposed naked to it; but after we have remained for some time in the warm bath, we feel the air, when we come out, very cool and chilling, though it is of the same temperature as before; for the hot water exhausts the excitability of the vessels of the skin, and renders them less capable of being affected by a smaller degree of heat. Thus we see that the effects of the hot and cold bath are different and opposite; the one debilitates by stimulating, and the other produces stimulant or tonic effects by debilitating. This seeming paradox may, however, be easily explained by the principles we have laid down; and though the hot and cold bath produce such different effects, yet it is only the same fluid, with a small variation in the degree of temperature; but these effects depend on the temperature of our body being such, that a small decrease of it will produce an accumulation of excitability, while a small increase will exhaust it.
I shall next proceed to examine the effects of the substances taken into the stomach; and as the effects of spirituous and vinous liquors are a little more remarkable than those of food, I shall first begin with them.
A person who is not accustomed to take these liquors, will be intoxicated by a quantity that will produce no effect upon one who has been some time accustomed to take them; and when a person has used himself to these stimulants for some time, the ordinary powers which in common support life, will not have their proper effects upon him, because his excitability has been, in some measure, exhausted by these stimulants.
The same holds good with respect to tobacco and opium; a person accustomed to take opium, or smoke tobacco, will not be affected by a quantity that would completely intoxicate one not used to them, because the excitability has been so far exhausted by the use of those stimulants, that it cannot be acted on by a smaller quantity.
That tobacco or opium act in the same manner as wine or spirits, scarce needs any illustration. In Turkey they intoxicate themselves with opium, in the same way that people in this country do with wine and spirits; and those who have been accustomed to take this drug for a considerable time, feel languid and depressed when they are deprived of it for some time; they repair to the opium houses, as our dram drinkers do to the gin shops in the morning, sullen, dejected, and silent; in an hour or two, however, they are all hilarity. This shows the effects of opium to be stimulant. Tobacco intoxicates those who are not accustomed to it, and in those who are, it produces a serene and composed state of mind by its stimulating effects. Like opium and fermented liquors it exhausts the excitability, and leaves the person dejected, and all his senses blunted, when its stimulant effects are over.
That what is more properly called food acts in the same way as the substances I have just examined, is evident from the fact which I mentioned some time ago, that persons whose excitability has been accumulated, by their being deprived of food for some days, have been intoxicated by a bason of broth.
These facts, with innumerable others which will easily suggest themselves, prove, beyond doubt, the truth of the second law, namely, that when the exciting powers have acted violently, or for a considerable time, the excitability is exhausted, or less fit to be acted on.
Besides the stimulants which I have mentioned, there are several others which act upon the body, many of which will hereafter be considered: but all act according to this law; when their action has been suspended or diminished, the excitability of the organ on which they act becomes accumulated, or more easily affected by their subsequent action; and, on the contrary, when their action has been violent, or long continued, the excitability becomes exhausted, or less fit to receive their actions.
Among the stimulants acting on the body, we may mention sound, which has an extensive influence on human life. I need not mention here its numerous natural, or artificial sources, as that has been fully done in a preceding lecture. The effect of music, in stimulating and producing a state of mind approaching to intoxication, is universally known. Indeed the influence of certain sounds in stimulating, and thereby increasing, the powers of life, cannot be denied. Fear produces debility, which has a tendency to death. Sound obviates this debility, and restores to the system its natural degree of excitement. The schoolboy and the clown invigorate their trembling limbs, by whistling, or singing, as they pass by a country churchyard, and the soldier feels his departing courage recalled in the onset of a battle, by the "spirit stirring drum."
Intoxication is generally attended with a higher degree of life or excitement than is natural. Now sound will produce this effect with a very moderate portion of fermented liquor; hence we find persons much more easily intoxicated and highly excited at public entertainments, where there is music and loud talking, than in private companies, where no auxiliary stimulus is added to that of wine.
Persons who are destitute of hearing and seeing, possess life in a more languid state than other people; which is, in a great degree, owing to the want of the stimulus of light and noise.
Odours have likewise a very sensible effect in promoting animal life. The effects of these will appear obvious in the sudden revival of life, which they produce, in cases of fainting. The smell of a few drops of hartshorn, or even a burnt feather, has frequently, in a few minutes, restored the system from a state of weakness, bordering upon death, to an equable and regular degree of excitement.
All these different stimuli undoubtedly produce the greatest effects upon their proper organs; thus the effect of light is most powerful on the eye; that of sound on the ear; that of food on the stomach, &c. But their effects are not confined to these organs, but extended over the whole body. The excitability exists, one and indivisible, over the whole system; we may call it sensibility, or feeling, to enable us to understand the subject. Every organ, or indeed the whole body, is endowed with this property in a greater or less degree, so that the effects produced by any stimulus, though they are more powerful on the part where they are applied, affect the whole system: odours afford an instance of this; and the prick of a pin in the finger, produces excitement, or a stimulant effect, over the whole body.
From what has been said, it must be evident that life is the effect of a number of external powers, constantly acting on the body, through the medium of that property which we call excitability; that it cannot exist independent of the action of these stimuli; when they are withdrawn, though the excitability does not instantly vanish, there is no life, no motion, but the semblance of death. Life, therefore, is constantly supported by, and depends constantly on, the action of external powers on the excitability; without excitability these stimulants would produce no effect, and whatever may be the nature of the excitability, or however abundant it may be, still, without the action of external powers, no life is produced.
From what has been said, we may see the reason why life is in a languid state in the morning: It acquires vigour by the gradual and successive application of stimuli in the forenoon: It is in its most perfect state about midday, and remains stationary for some hours: From the diminution or exhaustion of the excitability, it lessens in the evening, and becomes more languid at bed time; when, from defect of excitability, the usual exciting powers will no longer produce their effect, a torpid state ensues, which we call sleep, during which, the exciting powers cannot act upon us; and this diminution of their action allows the excitability to accumulate; and, to use the words of Dr. Armstrong,
"Ere morn the tonic, irritable nerves
Feel the fresh impulse, and awake the soul."
LECTURE X. THE LAWS OF ANIMAL LIFE, CONTINUED
In the last lecture I began to investigate the laws by which living bodies are governed, and the effects produced by the different exciting powers, which support life, upon the excitability, or vital principle. The facts which we examined led us to two conclusions, which, when properly applied, we shall find will explain most of the phenomena of life, both in health, and in disease. The conclusions alluded to, are these: when the exciting powers have acted more feebly, or weakly, than usual, for some time; or when their action is withdrawn, the excitability accumulates, and becomes more powerfully affected by their subsequent action. And, on the contrary, when the action of these powers has been exerted with violence, or for a considerable time, the excitability becomes exhausted, and less fit to receive their actions.
A number of facts were mentioned in proof of these conclusions, and a great number more might have been brought forwards, could it have served any other purpose than to have taken up our time, which I hope may be better employed.
This exhaustion of the excitability, by stimulants, may either be final, or temporary. We see animals, while the exciting powers continue to act, at first appear in their greatest vigour, then gradually decay, and at last come into that state, in which, from the long continued action of the exciting powers, the excitability is entirely exhausted, and death takes place.
We likewise see vegetables in the spring, while the exciting powers have acted on them moderately, and for a short time, arrayed in their verdant robes, and adorned with flowers of many mingling hues; but as the exciting powers, which support their life, continue to be applied, and some of them, for instance heat, as the summer advances, become increased, they first lose their verdure, then grow brown, and at the end of summer cease to live: because their excitability is exhausted by the long continued action of the exciting powers: and this does not happen merely in consequence of the heat of the summer decreasing, for they grow brown, and die, even in a greater degree of heat than that which in spring made them grow luxuriantly. In some of the finest days of autumn, in which the sun acts with more power than in the spring, the vegetable tribe droop, in consequence of this exhausted state of their excitability, which renders them nearly insensible of the action, even of a powerful stimulus.
These are examples of the final or irreparable exhaustion of the excitability; but we find also that it may be exhausted for a time, and accumulated again. Though the eye has been so dazzled by the splendour of light, that it cannot see an object moderately illuminated, yet if it be shut for some time, the excitability of the optic nerve will accumulate again, and we shall again be capable of seeing with an ordinary light.
We find also that we are not always equally capable of performing the functions of life. When we have been engaged in any exertion, either mental or corporeal, for some hours only, we find ourselves languid and fatigued, and unfit to pursue our labours much longer.
If in this state several of the exciting powers are withdrawn, particularly light and noise, and if we are laid in a posture which does not require much muscular exertion, we soon fall into that state which nature intended for the accumulation of the excitability, and which we call sleep. In this state many of the exciting powers cannot act upon us, unless applied with some violence, for we are insensible to their moderate action. A moderate degree of light, or a moderate noise, does not affect us, and the power of thinking, which very much exhausts the excitability, is in a great measure suspended. When the action of these powers has been suspended for six or eight hours, the excitability is again capable of being acted on, and we rise fresh and vigorous, and fit to engage in our occupations.
Sleep then is the method which nature has provided to repair the exhausted constitution, and restore the vital energy. Without its refreshing aid, our worn out habits would scarcely be able to drag on a few days, or at most, a few weeks, before the vital spring would be quite run down: how properly therefore has our great poet called sleep "the chief nourisher in life's feast!"
From the internal sensations, often excited, it is natural to conclude, that the nerves of sense are not torpid during sleep, but that they are only precluded from the perception of external objects, by the external organs being in some way or other rendered unfit to transmit to them the impulses of bodies during the suspension of the power of volition; thus the eyelids are closed, in sleep, to prevent the impulse of light from acting on the optic nerve; and it is very probable that the drum of the ear is not stretched; it seems likewise reasonable to conclude, that something similar happens to the external apparatus of all our organs of sense, which may make them unfit for their office of perception during sleep.
The more violently the exciting powers have acted, the sooner is sleep brought on, because the excitability is sooner exhausted, and therefore sooner requires the means of renewing it: and, on the contrary, the more weakly these powers have acted, the less are we inclined to sleep. Instances of the first are, excess of exercise, strong liquors, or study; and of the latter, an under or deficient proportion of these.
A person who has been daily accustomed to much exercise, whether mental or corporeal, if he omit it, will find little or no inclination to sleep; this state may however be induced by taking some diffusible stimulus, as a little spirits and water, or opium, which seem to act entirely by exhausting the excitability, to that degree which is compatible with sleep, and, when the stimulant effect of these substances are over, the person soon falls into that state.
But though the excitability may have been sufficiently exhausted, and the action of external powers considerably moderated, yet there are some things within ourselves, which often stimulate violently, and prevent sleep, such as pain, thirst, and strong passions and emotions of the mind. These all tend to drive away sleep, by their vehement stimulating effect, which still has power to rouse the excitability to action, though it has been considerably exhausted. The best method of inducing sleep, in these cases, is to endeavour to withdraw the mind from these impressions, particularly from uneasy emotions, by employing it on something that makes a less impression, and which does not require much exertion, or produce too much commotion; such as counting to a thousand, or counting drops of water which fall slowly; by listening to the humming of bees, or the murmuring of a rivulet. Virgil describes a situation fitted to induce sleep, most beautifully, in the following words.
"Fortunate senex, hic inter flumina nota,
Et fontes sacros, frigus captabis opacum.
Hinc tibi, quae semper vicino ab limite sepes
Hyblaeis apibus florem depasta salicti,
Seape levi somnum suadebit inire susurro."
In infancy much sleep is required; the excitability, being then extremely abundant, is soon exhausted by external stimulants, and therefore soon requires renewing or accumulating; on this account, during the first five or six months of their life, children require this mode of renewing their exhausted excitability several times in the day; as they advance in years, and as this excess of excitability is exhausted by the application of stimulants, less sleep is required: in the prime of life least of all is necessary. There is great difference however, in this respect, in different constitutions. Some persons are sufficiently refreshed by three or four hours sleep, while others require eight or ten hours. More however depends, in my opinion, on the mode of living. Those who indulge in the use of spirituous or fermented liquors, which exhaust the excitability to a great degree, require much more sleep than those who are content with the crystal stream. The latter never feel themselves stupid or heavy after dinner, but are immediately fit to engage in study or business. As age advances, more sleep is again required; and the excitability at last becomes so far exhausted, and the system so torpid, that the greatest portion of gradually expiring life is spent in sleep.
Temperance and exercise are the most conducive to sound healthy sleep, hence the peasant is rewarded, for his toil and frugal mode of life, with a blessing, which is seldom enjoyed by those whom wealth renders indolent and luxurious. The poor in the country enjoy sound and sweet sleep: forced by necessity to labour, their excitability becomes exhausted in a proper and natural manner, and they retire to rest early in the evening. Their sleep is generally sound, and early in the morning they find themselves recruited, and in a state fit to resume their daily labour. The blooming complexion, strength, and activity, of these hardy children of labour, who recruit their wearied limbs on pallets of straw, form a striking contrast with the pallid and sickly visage, and debilitated constitution of the luxurious and wealthy, who convert night into day, and court repose in vain on beds of down. Nature undoubtedly intended that we should be awake, and follow our occupations, whether of pleasure or business, during the cheering light of day, and take repose when the sun withdraws his rays. All other animals, and even vegetables, obey the command of nature: man alone is refractory; but nature's laws are never violated with impunity. Dr. Mackenzie very properly observes, that those who sleep long in the morning, and sit up all the night, injure the constitution without gaining time: and those who do this merely in compliance with fashion, ought not to repine at a fashionable state of bad health.
From what has been said, it is evident that, in order to enjoy sound sleep, our chambers should be free from noise, dark, and moderately cold; because the stimulant effects of noise, light, and heat, prevent the accumulation of excitability: and as we shall afterwards see that this accumulation depends on free respiration, and the introduction of oxygen by that means into the system, our bed rooms ought to be large and airy, and, in general, the beds should not be surrounded by curtains. We may from this likewise see the reason why it is so desirable to sleep in the country, even though we are obliged to spend the day in town.
These observations on sleep have however led me a little from the direct road; but I thought they could not be better introduced than here. I shall now return to the subject of our more immediate inquiry.
By induction we have discovered two of the principal laws by which living bodies are governed: the first is, that when the ordinary powers which support life have been suspended, or their action has been lessened for a time, the excitability, or vital principle, accumulates, or becomes more fit to receive their actions; and secondly, when these powers have acted violently, or for a considerable time, the excitability is exhausted, or becomes less fit to receive their actions. There are therefore three states in which living bodies exist. First, a state of accumulated excitability. Secondly, a state of exhausted excitability. Thirdly, when the excitability is in such a state as to produce the strongest and most healthy actions, when acted upon by the external powers.
From what has been said, it must be evident that life depends continually on the action of external powers on the excitability, and that by their continued action, if they be properly regulated, the excitability will be gradually, and insensibly exhausted, and life will be resigned into the hands of him who gave it, without a struggle, and without a groan.
We see then that nature operates in supporting the living part of the creation, by laws as simple and beautiful as those by which the animated world is governed. In the latter we see the order and harmony which is observed by the planets, and their satellites, in their revolution round the great source of heat and light;
" – all combin'd And ruled unerring, by that Single Power, Which draws the stone projected, to the ground.
In the animated part of the creation, we observe those beautiful phenomena which are exhibited by an almost infinite variety of individuals; all depending upon, and produced by one simple law; the acting of external powers upon their excitability.
I cannot express my admiration of the wisdom of the Creator better than in the words of Thomson.
"O unprofuse magnificence divine!
O wisdom truly perfect! thus to call
From a few causes such a scheme of life;
Effects so various, beautiful, and great."
Life then, or those functions which we call living, are the effects of certain exciting powers acting on the excitability, or property distinguishing living from dead matter. When these effects, viz. the functions, flow easily, pleasantly, and completely, from the action of these powers, they indicate that state which we call health.
We may therefore, as we before hinted, distinguish three states of the irritable fibre, or three different degrees of excitability, of which the living body is susceptible.
1. The state of health which is peculiar to each individual, and which has been called by Haller, and other physiologists, the tone of the fibre. This is produced by a middle degree of stimulus acting upon a middle degree of excitability: and the effect produced by this action, we call excitement.
2. The state of accumulation, produced by the absence or diminished action of the accustomed stimuli.
3. The state of exhaustion, produced by the too powerful action of stimuli; and this may be produced either by the too powerful, or long continued action of the common stimulants which support life, such as food, air, heat, and exercise; or it may be caused by an application of stimulants, which act more powerfully on the excitability, and which exhaust it more quickly, such as wine, spirits, and opium, musk, camphor, and various other articles used in medicines.
The state of health, or tone, if we use that term, consists therefore in a certain quantity or energy of excitability necessary to its preservation. To maintain this state, the action of the stimuli should be strong enough to carry off from the body the surplus of this irritable principle. To obtain this end, a certain equilibrium is necessary between the excitability and the stimuli applied, or the sum of all the stimuli acting upon it must be always nearly equal, and sufficient to prevent an excess of excitability, but not so strong as to carry off more than this excess. It is in this equilibrium between the acting stimuli and the excitability, that the health, or tone of the living body consists.
When the sum of the stimuli, acting on the body, is so small, as not to carry off the excess of excitability, it accumulates, and diseases of irritability are produced. Of this nature are those diseases to which the poor are often subject, and which will be particularly considered hereafter.
When the sum of the stimuli acting on the body, is too great, it is deprived not only of the excess of excitability, but also of some portion of the irritable principle necessary for the tone of the body: or, to speak more distinctly, the body loses more excitability than it receives, and of course must, in a short time, be in a state of exhaustion. This gives rise to diseases which afflict drinkers, or those who indulge in any kind of intemperance, or persons born in climates where the temperature is moderate, but who emigrate to those which are much warmer.
Thus we have endeavoured, after the example of Dr. Brown, to ascertain the cause of the healthy state, before the causes of diseases were investigated; and though this is contrary to the general practice, yet it must be evident to every one, that unless we are acquainted with the causes of good health, it will be impossible for us to form any estimate of those variations from that state, called diseases: hence it is that a number of diseases, which have been brought on merely by the undue action of the exciting powers, such as gout, rheumatism, and the numerous trains of nervous complaints, which were by no means understood, may be easily and satisfactorily explained, and as easily cured, by restoring the proper action of these powers, and bringing the excitability to its proper state. As this theory, therefore, is so important, not only in respect to the preservation of health, which nearly concerns every individual, but to the cure of diseases, which is the province of the physician, I have endeavoured to explain it as fully and minutely as possible; to make it still plainer we may perhaps make use of the following illustration.
Suppose a fire to be made in a grate or furnace, filled with a kind of fuel not very combustible, and which could only be kept burning by means of a machine, containing several tubes placed before it, and constantly pouring streams of air into it. Suppose also a pipe to be fixed in the back of the chimney, through which a constant supply of fresh fuel is gradually let down into the grate, to repair the waste occasioned by the combustion kept up by the air machine.
The grate will represent the human body; the fuel in it the life or excitability, and the tube behind, supplying fresh fuel, will denote the power of all living systems, constantly to regenerate or produce excitability; the air machine, consisting of several tubes, may denote the various stimuli applied to the excitability of the body; the flame produced in consequence of that application, represents life; the product of the exciting powers acting upon the excitability.
Here we see, that flame, like life, is drawn forth from fuel by the constant application of streams of air, poured into it from the different tubes of the machine. When the quantity of air poured in through these different tubes is sufficient to consume the fuel as it is supplied, a constant and regular flame will be produced: but if we suppose that some of them are stopped, or that they do not supply a sufficient quantity of air, then the fuel will accumulate, and the flame will be languid and smothered, but liable to break out with violence, when the usual quantity of air is supplied.
On the contrary, if we suppose a greater quantity of air to rush through the tubes, then the fuel will be consumed or exhausted faster than it is supplied; and in order therefore to reduce the combustion to the proper degree, the quantity of air supplied must be diminished, and the quantity of fuel increased.
If we suppose one of the tubes, instead of common air, to supply oxygen gas, it will represent the action of wine, spirits, ether, opium, and other powerful stimulants upon the body: a bright and vivid flame will be produced, which however will only be of short duration, for the fuel will be consumed faster than it is supplied, and a state of exhaustion will take place.
We may carry this illustration still further, and suppose that the air tubes exhaust the fuel every day faster than it can be supplied, then it will be necessary at night to stop up some of the tubes, so that the expense of fuel may be less than its supply, in order to make up for the deficiency. When this is made up, the tubes may in the morning be opened, and the combustion carried on during the day as usual. This will illustrate the nature of sleep. In speaking of this subject, it was observed, that the more violently the exciting powers have acted, the sooner is sleep brought on; because the excitability is sooner exhausted. In the same way the more the air rushes through the tubes, the sooner will the fuel be consumed, and want replenishing. When the exciting powers have acted feebly, a person feels no inclination to sleep, because the excitability is not exhausted to the proper degree, and therefore does not want accumulating. But any diffusible stimulus, as spirits, or opium, will soon exhaust it to the proper degree.