Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1859-10-21
The Philosophy of Pain.

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Sir Humphrey Davy when boy, with
the defiant consistency of youth which
had as yet suffered nothing, held the
opinion that pain was no evil. q
He was refuted by crab, which bit
his toe while he was bathing. and made
him roar with pain. If he had maintain.
ed, instead, that pain was good, his
doctrine would have been nuimpeachable;
for unless the whole constitution of the
world were altered, our very existence
depends upon our sensibility TO suffering.
DIR. Carpenter, in his Principles of
Human Physiology" quotes an anecdote
strikingly illustrative Of the fatal effects
of temporary suspension Of this laws of
our nature. cry - ts1assesg
A droyer went to sleep on winters
evening upon the platform of hmekiln,
with one leg resting on the stones which
had been piled up to burn through the
night. That which was gentle warmth
when he laid down became consuming
FIRE before he rose up. His foot burntoff
above the ankle, and when, lroused in
the morning by the man who superintend
the limekiln, be put his stump, uncon.
scious Of his misfortune. to the ground,
the extremity crumbled into fragments.
Whether he had been lulled into torpor
by the carbonic acid driven off from the
limestone in process of 'sburning, or
whatever else may be the cause of his
insensibility. he felt no pain and through
this very exemption from this commonlot
of humanity, expired a fortnight after
ward in Bristol Hospital.
Without the warning voice of pain fife
would be series of similar disasters
The crab, to the lasting detriment of
chemistry, might have eaten off the future
| Sir Humphrey Davy's foot while swim
ming, without his entertaining the slight
est suspicion of what was going on. Had
he survived the injuries from the crab,
he would have been cut off In the morn
ing of his career, If, when experimenting
upon the gases, the terrible oppression Of
bis chest had not warned him to cease
inhaIing the carbureted hydrogen; nor
after a long struggle for life would he
have recovered to say to his alarmed as.
sstant, g. do not think shall die.p-
Without physical pain, infancy wonldsbe
manned or destroyed many times over if
possible, before experience could inform
it Of its dangers. -----
Lord Kames advised parents to cut the
fingers of their children cunningly"
with a knife, that the little innocents
might associate suffering with the glitter.
ing knife blade, before they could do
themselves a worse injury 5 but if mo
smart accompanied the wound, they
would cut up their fingers with the same
amusement and glee that they cut stick
and burn them in the candle with the
same delight that they would burn q
piece of paper or wood in the Gre.
Without pain, we could not proportion
our action to the strength of our frame
our exertions to its power of endurance.
In the impetuosity of youth. we should
strike blows that would crush our hands
and break our arms we should take
leaps that would dislocate our limbs; and
no longer taught by fatigue that muscles
and brain needed repose, we should con.
tinue our sports, study, walking tours,
till we had worn out the living tissue,
with the same Inconsistencies that we
now wear out our coats and shoes. The
very nutriment which is designed to sup.
port life, would frequently prove our
death. Thus we see it would be quite
as reasonable to desire q suspension Of
grayitatiou as chat of pain. lzi8 aasa
Prof. Conant of New York, surgeon
70 Demilt Dispensary, mentions a case
which is directly in point. A. man had
severed the ulnar nerve, which supplies
the little and one tide Of the ring finger
with sensation. He foolishly placed his
| finger in gas or camphene light to test
F" whether it had feeling" and burnt it,
or roasted it, rather. to the bone, and
the flesh all sloughed off. It is now dis.
torted and out of shape. ffs41 rs
Sir Charles Bell mentions the case of
patient who had lost the sense of heat
in his right hand, and who, unconscious
that pan cover which had fallensinto
the fire was burning hot, took it out and
deliberately returne lit to its place, burn.
ing the entire hand, palm, and fingers to
crisp. This alone would be an accident
of incessant occurrence, if the faithful
monitor were wanting which makes us
drop such materials more hastily than we
pick them up. Instances of the above
kind might be multiplied ad Ebittns, but
enough have been cited to show that pain
originates in the benevelences of the De.
ity, and that it is the grand preseryer Of
animal existence--the sleepless sentinel
that watches over our safety, and makes
US both start away from the injury which
is present, and guard against it carefully
in the tine to come zsgszg 90