St. Mary's beacon., 1858-07-29

AY ii NC. july
menus AkI8 III tragedies Judas i a.
sNaNzisAz< f<'Fs & long IS the earth re-
vslAsss ~ x5a|s bFgotten. IL, therefore,
kllezs 3 lNs. |ne ~ case, he is en-
titled VI <lse ii that doubt y
Wonae Haman system.
everything We e Ahtl drink is made to glide
sin its road I'd tie gaAIet, over the entrance nf
the wind pipe without falling into it. A little
movable I'D, the epigottis, which is lifted up
sEhen we breathe, is pressed down Upon the
chink of the air passage by the Weight of the
food and the action q the muscles in swallow
ing ID Noithtr sclit nor liduidsy in short,
can pass without shifting down The trapdoor
rs they proceci. Bus this Is only part of
the safeguard. The Slit at The top Of the
wind-pire, which neyer closes entirely while
we breathe, Is endudi with an acute sensibili-
ty Co. the slightest article of matter. The
least thing which toJches the margin Of the
aperture causes its sides to come firmly togeih-
er, and the intruding body is stopped at the
inlet. 1t is stopped, but, unless removed, must
drop at She next inspirati"n into the lungs.
To effect its expulsinh the sensibity of the rim
at the top of the wia-pipe actually puts into
vehemeut action whole class Of muscles placed
lower than its bottora, ard which, COMPRISING
the chest over which they are distributed
drives ous the air wkh force that sweeps the
offending substance before it, The convulsive
coughing which arisss when we are choked is
the energetic effort of nature for our relief
when anything chances to have cvaded the
protective epiglottis. Yet this property, to
which we are constantly owing our lives, is
confined 10 \ Singlespot in Ale throat. 1t does
not, as sir Charles Bell affirms, belong to the
rest of the wind-ppe, but is limited to the
orifce, where alone it is nee,led. Admirable.
too, it Is to observe, that while thus scnsi-
tive to the most insignificant atom, it bears
without resentment the atmospheric currents
which are necessarily passing 10 and fro over
its irritable lips at rejects" SAYS Palcy, "the
touch of crnmb of bread, or drop of water,
with spasm which convulses the whole frame;
yet. left TO itself and its proper Office, the in
-tronlssion of mir alone nothing can be so quiet
u
not known that he has trachea. This capa-
city of pefceiving with such acutcness, this
impatience Of offence, yet perfect rest and ease
who8 let aione, are psoperties, one would have
llzz lileis - reside ,s slse same sab
ject. lt 10 10 fne JUNCTION, however, of these
almost inconsistent qualities, in this, as well as
in some other delicate parts Of the body, that
we owe our safety and our cOmfort-our safe
ty to their sensibility, our comfort to their re-
pose.
Another Of the examples adduced by Bell is
that Of the heart. The famous Dr. Harvey
examined, at the request of Charles L., n no.
bleman of the Montgomery family, who, in
consequence fan abscess, had n tisttilous open
ing into the chest. through which the heart
could be seen and handled. The great physio-
loglst was astOnished to find it inScnsible. 81
then brought him." he says. "to the King, that
he might behold and touch so extraordinary a
thing, and that he might perceive, as | did,
that unless when we touched the outer skim
or when he saw our fingers in the cavity, this
young nobleman knew not that we touched
the heart" Yet il is to the heart that we re-
fer our joys, our sorTows aud our affections:
we speak Of a good-hearted, haFdiheafted, a
true hearted. and a heartless man. Shielded
from physical violence by an outwork IF bones,
it Is not invested with sensations which could
have contributed nothing to its preservation,
but while it can be grasped with the fingers,
and give no irtimation Of the fact to its pos
SCISSOR, it unmistakably responds to the varied
emotions of the mind. aud by the general con-
sent OF mankind Is pronounced ftIe scat of our
pleasures, gifts, sYnpathies, hatreds aud love-
Persons have frequently dropped down dead
from the vehemcnce with VIII ich ii contracts or
expands upon the sudden announcement OF
good or bad news--its muscular walls being
strained too far in the upward or downward
direction TO enable them to return-aiid one Of
the purposes which this property Of the heart
is probably designed to sabserve is to put a
check upbn the passions through the alarming
physical sensations they excite.
The brain, again, is enclosed in bony case.
All OuI bodily ssnsasions arc dependent upon
the nerves, brt even the nerves do not give
rise. N feeling, nniess they are in connection
with the brain. Thr nervnns chord which, IL,
familiar Language, Is called the spinal marrow,
is the channel by which this communication is
kept up as % the major part of them, aud
when the section 81 what may be termed the
great tgunkfcad for the conveyancc of our SEN
sations IS diseased, and by the breach IN its
continuity the nerves below the Gisordered
part can TO longer send its accustomed intcli-
gence 10 the brain, the portion of the BODY
which thus become isolateti may. be burned or
hacked, and no more pain will result than il
it belonged TO a dead carcass instead Of to q
living man. The brain, therefore, in suborii-
nation 10 the mind, is the physical centre Of all
sensation. Yet, strange to say, il is itself in
sensible 10 the wounds which are torture to the
skin, and which wounds the brain alone ena-
bles rs to feel. s-ft is as insensibIe," SAYS Sir