The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1858-05-07
The Philosophy Of Pain.

Sir Humphrey pavy, when n boy, with
the defiant constancy Of youth which had
as yet suffered nothing. held the opinion
that pain WAS no evil. He was rciutcd hv
Il crab who bit his toe when he was bathing,
and made him roar loud enough to he heard
half n mile of. If he had mantaine.l, in.
stead, that pain was good, his doctrine
would bave been uninpeachable. Unfesa
the whole constitution of the world were
altered, our very existence depends upon
our scnsibility to suffering. An anec,lotc,
which is quoted Ivy Dr.. Carpenter in his
"Prineiplcs Of Human Physiology" from
the journal Of Il Naturalist" shows the ia.
tai effects Of a temporary suspension Of this
law Of our nature.
A drover went to sleep on winters
evening upon the platform Of y lime-kiIn.
with one leg resting upon the stones which
had been piled up to burn through the
night. That which was gentle warmth
when he lay down, heramc IA consuming
| fire before he rose up. His foot WAS burnt
oil above the ancle, and when, rouse1 in
the morning by the man who superintendent
the lime-kln, he put his stump, unconscious
OF his misfortune 10 the ground, the cxtre,ni-
ty crumbIrd into fragments. Whether lie
had been lullcd into lorpor by the carbonc
"cld driven of from the limestone, or what
ever else may have been the cause of his
inscnsibility, he felt no pain, and through
his very exemption form this lot of humani
ty, expired fortnight afterwards in Bristol
hospital.
Without the warning voice Of pain, life
would be series Of similar disasters The
crab, 10 the lasting detrimcn, of chemistry.
might have eaten of the future Sir Hum
phrcy's foot while he was swimming, with
out his entertaining the slightest suspicion
Of the ravages which were going on. Had
he survived the injuries from The crab, he
would yet have been cut of in the morning
OF his famous career, if when experimenting
upon the gasses, the terrible oppression at
his chest had not warned him to cease in
haling the carburetted hydrogen, nor, after
n long struggle for life, would lie have re-
covered to say to his alarmed assistant, II
do not think shall die"
Without physical pain, infancy would be
manned or perish. before expernce could in
form it Of it's dangers Lord Kaimes nd,
vised parents to cut the fingers Of their
children "cunningy' with knife, that the
little innocents might associate suffering
with the glit,erng blade before they could
d" Themselves worse injury but if no smart
accompanied the wound, they would cut up
their own fingers with the same gee that
they cut stick, and burn them in cam
die will, The same delight that they burn a
piece Of paper in the fire. Without pain,
we could not proportion our actions TO the
strength Of our frame, or our cxertions to it's
powers of endurance.
In the impe,uosiy Of youth We should
strike blows that would crush our hands,
and break our arms; we should take leaps
that would dis!ocate our limbs and no
longer taught by fatigue that the muscles
needed repose, We should continue our
sports and our walking tours till we had
worn out the living tissue with the same
uncoHsciousness that we now wear out our
coats and our shoes. The very nutriment
which is the support Of life would freoucut-
'y.prove our death. Mirabeau said Of n man
who was as idle as he was corpulent, that
his only use was to show how far the skin
would stretch without bursting. Without
palHsthis limit would be constantly exceeded
and epicures, experiencing no uneasy sensa.
tions, would continue their festivities until
they met with the fate Of the frog in the
fable who was ambitious Of emulaliug tho
size of the OK.
Sir Charles Bell mentions the case of q
| patient who bad lost the sense of heat in
his right hand and who unconscious that
the cover ofn pan which, had fallen ir.o The
fire was burning hot took it out and d.liber.
ately returned it to its proper place to the
destruction Of the skin OF the palm and fin.
gers. This Of itself would be an accident Of
incessant occurrence. if the monitor were
wanting which makes us drop such maa
terials more hastily than we pick them up.
Pain is the grand prescrver Of existence, the
sieeplsss sentinel that watches over our safe,
ty, and makes US both start awav from the
injury that is present, and guard against It
carefully 10 the time to come.
london Quarterly Repisw.