Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1858-02-27
Hunger and Thirst.

Hunger and Thirst.
writcr iii Backwood speaks of Hunger
as one of the cneGcent vet terrible instincts
the very fire of life underlying all impulse
to labOr--moving man to noble activities by
its imperious demands--thc motive power of
tho vast machinery of human action, and in
dispcnsiblc to the growth of civilization.-
What is llungcr--what its causes and ef-
iects? In one sense we may all be said to
have known what Hunger is; innnother sense
no man can cnlightcn us: we have all felt
but Science rs yet has been unable to furnish
any sufficient explanation. Between the gem
tic and agrccblc stimulus known as Appetite
and the agony of Starvation, there arc infin-
ate grndations. Tho carly stages are famil-
liar even to the wealthy but only the very
| poor, or those wh1 nave undergone exception
al calamitics, such as shipwrcck and the ike
know anything of the latter stages. We ail
know what it is to be hungry hut the terri
bile approaches IT the protractcd hunger are
exceptional experiences. From material
furnished by sad experiences, both familiar
and exceptional, | will cndcavor to state the
| capital phenomena and their causes.
In every living organism there is an inccs-
SAINT and reciprocal activity Of waste and re-
pair. The living fabric in the very actions
which constitutes its life, is momently Weld
ing up its particles of destruction, like the
coal which is burned in the furnaces so much
coal to so much heat, so much waste of tissue
to much vital activity. You cannot wink
your eye, move your finger or think Il thought
but some minute particle of W N substance
must be sacrificed in doing so. Unless the
coal which is burning be from time to time
replaced, the fire soon shoulders and finally
goes out; unless the substance of your BODY
which is wasting be from timo to time furn-
iShcd with fresh food, life hickerS. and ut last
becomes extinct. Hunger is the instinct
which teaches us to rcplcnish the empty fur
mace. Bit although the want of food, ncccs-
sary to repair the waste of life, is the primal
ry cause of Hunger it does not. as is often
erroncously stated, in itself constitutes Hun
Ger. The absence Of necessary food causes
! the sensation, but it is not itself sensation.
! Food may be absent without any sensation
such as we express by the word Hunger, be-
ing felt; as in the case of insane people, who
i frequently subject themselves to prolonged
| abstinence from food, without any hungry
cravings and in lesser degree, it is fumil-
| lar to us all how any violent emotion of grief
or JOY will completely destroy not only the
sense of Hunger, but our possibility of even
swallowing the food which an hour before
was cr0vingly desired. Further, it is known
that the feeling of Hunger may be allaycd by
opium, tobacco or even by inorganic sub
stances introduced into the stomach, nltho'
mono of these can supply the deficiency of
| food. Want of food is therefore the primary,
| but not the proXimatc cause of Hunger
Terrible are the aspects of starving men
and it is we'll that we should know these as
| poets, lest we be the dupc Of impostors, or
coniound The truly wretchcd with the prOfeS-
sOnal mcndicant. The first noticeable point
is the excessive thinness Of starving men,
which is not the leanness of lean men, but
manifests itself as unmistakcable omacia-
ton. The face is always lividly pale, the
checks are sunkcn, the ,yes-oh what an
| expression in the eyes never to be forgotten
| by those who have once seen it: all the vi
t0lity of the body seems centercd there, in fc-
verish brightness; the pupil is dilatcd, and
the eye is fixed in q wild stare which is new
cr veicd by the winkiug lids. All move
mcnts ofthc body arc slow and difficult: the
hand trcmblcs; the voice is feeble intcli-
| gencc seems gone; the wretched sufferers,
when asked what they feel, have bus one an
swor, :" We arc hungry"
The sensation Of Hunger is at first rather
agreeable, but it quickly becomes unpleasant
| ifprolongcd. The sense of keen appetite is
delightful, but that sinking in the stomach"
which cnsuos, soon passes from an uneasy
sensation into positive pain. The pain soon
becomes acute, and if food be still withheld,
we feel as if the stomach were being torn 10y
pincers. Il state of general exhaustion, le-
vcrismoss. headache, light-hcadcdnc often
| flaming into madness, follows. The whole
being seems possessed by one desire, before
which even the energetic instinct of materni-
| ty has been known to give way, and mothers
have disposed with their companions for the
| flesh of their dead children.
The effects of Thirst are first drvncss of
the mouth, palate, and throat the secretions
become less cOpious; the mouth is covered
with thick mucus, the tongue clenves to
the palate the voice becomes hoarse. Then
the eyes flash fire. the breathing becomes DIFF
hcut, fcvcrsh excitement often passing
into deliriam, comes ON, sleep is ftful, and
distressed by dreams like those of Tantalus.
The men shipwrccScd in the Medusa dreamt
constantly of shady woods and running
streams. 1t is to be noticed that the sensa-
ton of Thirst is never agreeable, no matter
| how slight it may be, and in this resp It is
unlike Hunger, which, in its incipient state
of Appctitc,i is decidedly agreeable. The bo-
dies of those who have persisted from Thirst
show great dryness of all the tissues, a
thickcning of the humors, a certain degree of
coagnlation of the blood numbcrless indica-
tioms of inflammation, and sometimes gan
grono of the principal viscera. According to
Longet Thirst kills by an inaanmatory fe-
yer, IInnger by q putrid fever.
! Such are Hunger and Thirst, two mighty
impulses. bepefccnt and terrible monitors
ever vigilant, warning US of the need there is
for Food and Drink, sources ofexquisite pleas
ure and ofcxquisite pains, motives to strenu-
Gus endcayor, and servants to our bigher
I aims as,2 ~
MAN.-r-NTan looks upon lifo Just as he does
j upon woman-~-tbore is no living with them,