Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-10-04
THE PHILOSOPHY OF PAIN.

The same Infinite Wisdom which has con.
trlved pain for our protection, has also dis
tributed 10 in a manner which causes il 10 fulfil
ie defensive purposes with the least sufferipos
10 70 It's subjects. The chapters which st. Charles
Bell devoted to this question in his work on the
Hand, are alone, from their originality, and
tne striking evidence they afford of design
worth all the rest Of the Bridgewater Treaties
Ihe skin Is the advance guard through which
every injury to the other parts must make its
way. ihe skin ID, therefore, required to be
Ine scar Of peculiar sensibility both for its
own security and to impel US to finch from the
violence which would hurt the Aesh beneath.
Forming our notions of pain from what we feel
al the surface, We imbibe the idea that the
deeper the wound the more severe would be
tns sunering; but this, says Sir Charles Bell,
Is dslnsive, and contrary to the fact
Ihe surgeon" he adds, who makes use of
tne knife, informs the patient that the worst il
over when the skin is passed, and If. in tbs
progress OF the operation, it is found necessary
10 extend the outer incisiOn, the return TO the
Skin proves TAR more trying than the original
cut, from the contrast which ii presents to the
comparative insensibility of the interior. The
muscle Is protected not by its own tenderness,
snlcn IS oy no means acute, but by the ten
aerness OF Its superficial covering, which af-
lords, says Sir Charles, ga more effectuaI
defence than If our bodies were clothed with
the hide Of a rhinocerOs" To have endowed
t1e delicate internal seizures with an exuuisite
sensioiiity to the cash from a knife, or a blow
irom SUCK, would have been a superhuous
torture The end is efectually attained by
spreading over them a thin LAYER of hiahiy
sensitive skin, which is too intOierant of cuts
or bruises to allow any harm to approach il
winch IL Is In our power to avert. In addition
TO the protectiOn which is thus provided against
occasional dangers, the skin, by its sensibility.
Is sssential 70 our existence under the hourly
Ca Il:
q Thermometer to tell US whether the tempera-
lure Is suited to our organization, and warns us
anke TO shun pernicious extremes of hea I or cold
III Is the skin again which prompts the in
stlnctiVe restlessness that preserves the entire
frame from decay. A paralytic patient must
De supported upon soft pillows, and his position
frequently changed by the nurse or the min
terrupted pressure upon the same surfa,e stons
the how OF the blood, Of which the consequences
Is the speedy destruction of the part, morti6-
cation, aud death. When Sir Charles BeII
called the attention of his audience to this fact
IN lecture delivered before the College OF
Surgeons, be bid them observe how often, as
they listened to him, they had moved upon
their seats that they might shift the weight of
their bodies and relieve the portions which
were beginning to be cramped. Were Won
constrained he said, to retain one position
during the whole hour. you would rise stiff and
lame Even In the Inconsistencies of sIum.
Der the eontriyance continues to act, and were
1t otherwise, sleep, instead of being natures
sweet restorer,' would derange the Circulation
and cripple our frames
Not only has different parts of the system |
sensibilities which differ altogether in kind. so
that while both shall be acutely alive in tbsir
appropriate stimulus, enc or either NAV be /
dead TO the application which rouses and tor |
lures tne other man who had his finger
cut on, so as TO hang by the tendon only, came
TO pupil OF DIR. Hunter L shall now see. said
the surgeon, whether this man has any sensi-
bility IN his tendon He laid cord along
the hnger, and blIndfolding the patient, cut
across the tendon. Tell me, he asked, what
have cut across" Why. you have cut across
the cord, to be sure was the answer. The
TENDON was as insensible as the string itself
Farther experiments have shown that the ten
doms OF the muscle, the Egaments which hold
together the joints the cartilages that act ss a
pad TO the extremities of the bones where they
work upoa one another feel neither cuts nor
burns But there is q very different result if
tney are submitted to stretching, lsceration,
and conclusion. Then they raise the warning
voice OF pain, and obtuse TO what might seem
a more agonising species of injury, they are
Indifferent Of the less
The reason is obvious. The skin is the fence
70 tne inner membranes from the first class of
eshs, put the SKIN Is to have play and power
OF adaptation which is essential to its functions
It's very suppleness would prove to be too great
cheek upon the movements which affect the
cartiiages, the ligaments, and the tendons
These, consequently, are made impatient of
eoneussion, OF tearing and Of stretching, that
We might not leap from heights run with vio-
ience, or twist our joints with force inconsiyt-
ent with the strength of the human fabric. The
pain OF sprained ancle shows how sufficient is
the punishment to put a check upon any ex-
cess OF the kind. Exchange the sensibilities
confer upon the membrasss which are inter-
spersed between the joints, or which tie them
together, the same feelings both in kind and |
degree, which belong to the skin, and the COM
mon movements of the body or even the weight |
oil one foot upon another, wruld have been at
tended, says Sir Charles Bell, with as much |
suffering as We experience when we walk upon |
an indamed limb.-LOndoM Quar- Rer.ety.