The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1879-01-31
THE FIFTH PAIR OF NERVES.
How tle Brain Is Stimulated and Thought
Quickened by Merely Habituai Acts

How tlse Brain Is Stimulated ana Thought
Quickened by Merely Habitual Acts.
[Dr. Brunton, in the Contemporary Review
There are two nerves, known as the
fifth pair, which are distributed to the
skin of the head and TO the mucus mem
brane of the eyes, nose and mouth.
These vessels are closely connected with
the heart and vessels, and, by stimulat-
ing their branches, the circulation may
be greatly influenced, as in the case of
fainting. 1t is curious fact that peo-
pie of all nations are accustomed, when
in any difficulty, to stimulate one or an
other branch of the fifth nerve, and
quicken their mental processes. Thus
some persons, when puzzled, scratch
their heads, others rub their foreheads,
others stroke or pull their boards, thus
stimulating the oecipital, frontal or
mental branches of those nerves. Many
Germans, when thinking, have habit
of striking their fingers against their
noses and thus stimulating the nasal
cutaneous branches, while in this coun-
try some people stimulate the branches
distributed to the mucous membrane of
the nose by taking snuff. The late Lord
Derby, when translating Homer" was
accustomed to eat branded cherries.
One man will eat figs while composing
leading article; another will suck
chocolate creams; others will smoke
cigarettes, and others sip brandy and
water. BY these means they stimulate
the lingual and buceal branches of the
nerves, and thus reflexly excite their
brains. Alcohol appears to excite the
circulation through the brain rehexly
from the mouth, and to stimulate the
heart refexly from the stomach, even
Shortly after it has been swallowed,
however, it is absorbed from the stom-
ach, and passed with the blood to the
heart, to the brain, and to other parts of
the nervous system, upon which it then
begins to act directly. Under its in
fuence the heart beats more quickly,
the blood circulates more freely; and
thus the functional power of the vari-
GUS organs in the body is increased, so
that the brain may think more rapidly,
the muscles act more powerfully, and
the stomach digest more easily; but,
with this exception, the effect of alcohol
on the system may be described as one
of progressive paralysis The higher
centers suffer first, and the judgment is
probably the first quality to be i'm
paired. One of the most esteemed nov
elists of the present day informs me
that, although he can take great deal
of wine without its having any apparent
effect on him, yet single glass of sherry
is enough to take the fine edge off his
intellect. He is able to write easily and
fuently in the evening after taking din
ner and drinking wine, but what he
cism next morning, although, curiously
enough, it may seem to him excellent at
the time of writing. AS the effect of
alcohol progresses judgment becomes |
still further impaired, although the 9th
er faculties of the mind may remain not |
only undiminished by the direct action |
of alcohol upon the brain, but greatly |
increased by the general excitement of |
the circulation. The imagination may
thus be more vivid than usual, and the |
emotions more lively, and both, being |
more or less liberated from the control
of the Judgment, manifest themselves in |
SpdIhlinS VIII VI "lIhcIlnS lhNectlNe'
Sheridan is said to have delivered his |
greatest speech under the influence of
two bottles of champagne, which he ha / |
swallowed at single draught; and in
persons of over-cautious temperament
and too-reserved manners the removal
of the restraint under which they ha-
bitually act renders them, for the time,
more sociable and agreeable. By-and-
by, however, the other parts of the nerv-
Gus system are successfully weakened,
the tongue stammers, the vision be-
comes double, the legs fail, and the man
falls insensible. 1t is evident, then,
that only the first stages of alcoholic ac-
ton are at all beneficial, the latter stages
being as clearly injurious.