Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-03-19
The Minds Influence on the Body.

The Minds influence on the Body.
1t was remark of John Hunter that
itheTc IS hota natural action of the body,
whether voluntary or involuntary, that
may not be influenced by the peculiar
state OF the mind at the time" but the
idea was by no means original with him.
The influence of the mind over the body,
for good or evil, had been recognized
long before his day. An old English
physician, several centuries earlier, had
laid it down as a rule i'll therapeutics that
if the sick man is to be cured "he must
be OF good cheer, and have sure hope that
his physician can help him" And much
further back in the history of medicine
Galen had taught that confidence and
hope do more good than physic;" and
wonderful stories of the healing power of
faith were also told by Greek writer's
hundreds of years before Galen was born.
It is related of one Axiochus, for in
stance, that when he had been given up
by the doctors and was at the very gates
of the grave he was restored to health by
the mere sight Of Hippocrates. Paracel-
sus, indeed, insisted that it was the sight
Of medicine effected all his cures. Ply
5iCians in all ages have recognized this
principle, and it has been generally ac-
spires MOST confidence will, other things
being equal, be the most successful. The
nlodtcatri5 matXr@, which is often the bebt
Of physicians, finds hope most powerful
ally, while, on the other hand, its worst
enemies are fear and depression of spirit.
Dir. luke, in his ILLUSTRATION of the
Influence of the Mind upon the
Body in Health and Disease" gives many
striking instances of this mental agency
in all It's varied manifestations. Books
have been written on the subject before,
and a vast amount of matter bearing upon
1t is scattered through physiological and
medical literature; but he has culled from
Jt all whatever was most curious and in
feresting, and given to the heterogeneous
mass of facts an orderly and philosophi-
cal arrangement.
One of the points that he has discussed
is the influence of mental labor on length
of life. He shows that study seldom in
duces paralysis, while passion is a fire.
quent cause of it, and also of sudden
death in disease of the heart Natural
philosophers, as a class, attain to the
greatest Ion gevity. Poets are at the other
end of the scale; those who, like Words
worth, were of q cOntemplative turn Of
mind living longer than those who, like
Byron and Burns, were occupied with
themes that excited intense feeling.
How the imagination may cheat the
senses has been often illustrated. Every
one has heard of the old lady who was
very sensitive to stOve-heated air, and was
made sick by the sight of stove in
church, though there was no fire in it.
Soon after the discovery of potassium,
Davy was showing the new metal to Dr.
Pearson, who, taking a piece in his fin
gers, exclaimed, GLOW heavy" and was
only undeceived when he saw it float on
water. The reader can doubtless recall
instances in which his own fancy has
thus made fool of him.
In like manner the muscular system is
affected by the imagination. A bread
pill will often cause vomiting or purging
as effectively as the drug the patient sup
poses he has swallowed. Indeed, there
seems to be almost no limit to the in
fluence of the mind over the body in this
way. Disease may be developed or cured,
and the quack and charlatan know how
10 make the imagination of their dupes
work in either direction, as may suit their
purpose.
Even hydrophobia may be brought on
by fear. ChOmel reports the case of a
French physician who assisted in the dis
section of several hydrophObiC patients
been inoculated with the virus. He lost
his appetite, was sleepless, and when he
attempted Ia drink was seized with spasm
of the pharnyx In this condition he
wandered three days about the streets in
a state of despair At length, however,
his friends convinced him that his
malady had its seat in his imagination.
But other cases have not terminated so
favOrably. The Memoirs OF the Royal
Society of Montpelier record the history
of two brothers bitten by mad dog, one
Of whom went to Holland and did not re-
turn for ten years. On his arrival, learn
ing that his brother had died of hydro
phobia, he was attacked with all the
symptoms Of that disease and died.
We began this article with quotation
from John Hunter. That eminent man
himself afforded, in his sudden death
from heart disease, an illustration of the
truth of his own words. DR.. luke gives
some interesting particulars of his case
as related by himself. He was subject to
spasms of his vital parts when anxious
about any event, or excited by anger. " AT
my country-box," he says, F" have bees,
which | am very fond of; and | was
anxious about their swarming, lest II
should happen before | sat Oft for town
This brought it on. The cats leased me
very much by destroying my tame pleas
ants, cartridges, etc, and roofing up my
plants. / saw large cat sitting at the
root of tree and was going into the
house for gun, when | became anxious
lest she should get away before my re
turn. This likewise brought on a spasm
Other states, when my mind is much
more affected, will not bring it en-" He
could tell an affecting story without ex
citing any spasm, but it acted upon his
power of articulation. He had to STOP
often during lis relation. The irregular
action of his heart was especially liable
to occur under the excitement of anger
and he was in the habit of remarking tc
his friends that his life was g at the mercy
of any scoundrel who chooses to put me
in passion" Yet, forewarned as he was
of the danger in which he lived from hi:
cardiac trouble, he had not sufficient self
control to avert it. He was one day
thrown into a fit of anger by some unex
necred contradiction and expired on The