The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-10-23
The Advantages OF Pain.

would constantly be 1nnlcteu upon the
tissues; and without the lessons
taught us by pain there is every reason
to believe that most mischievous and
injurious acts would be constantly COM
mitted.
To what injuries, blows, burns, con-
tusions, ETC., would not the frame work
of man and of animals be subjected if
the slow lessons of consequential injury
were left without the sharp repro0f of
pain? The suffering Immediately at
tracts the attention, and consequently
that which would do much damage is
avoided, not from any rational consid-
GRAFTON Of the consequences, but from
the pain directly produced. Without
the advantages which thus spring from
pain, animals and savage men would
/ necessarily be int1ictlng much injury
| upon themselves, and indeed often be
| imperiling their existence. Pain from
this point of view is distinctly preserva-
| tive throughout the whole of animated
creation. The utility of pain is seen in
the membrane which sweeps the sur
| face-of the eve, for instance, in several
animals, whenever any irritant particle
is brought into contact with these deli
/
the foreign body sets uprefiexly mus
cular contraction in this membrane, and
thus it is brought across the eye, sweep
ing the surface, and so the offending
matter is removed. When the foreign
body is too fixed to be so removed, dis
organization of the eye follows, and
amidst a general destruction of the or
gan the irritant matter is got rid of.
| Destruction of the eve in these animals
would be a common occurrence if it
were not for this muscular arrange
ment, and pain is the excitant; it is, as
it were, the finger which pulls the trig-
ger, and so the machinery already pro
yided and prepared is set in action
| thereby. In man the suffering caused
by foreign body in the eye calls the at
tention to the part, and leads to its re
| moyal. If it were not for the
| pain so produced, irrenlediable
mischief would often be permitted
to go on unchecked, because unnoticed
Not only does pain so defend the eye
| from the injurious effects of foreign
bodies; it often serves to protect the
delicate organ from overwork, and
| where pain Is so produced rest is given
|
| Especially is this seen where the eyes
are not an absolute pair, aud long
| perusal of page strains them. Proper
spectacles, making the eyes pair, give
prompt aud permanent relief. The
| grave diseases of the eve are those
which are painless, where incir@ Mt dis
ease is aggravated by persisting action.
all of which would be avoided il pain
were consequence Of the malady.
The advantages which ensue from
| pain are most markedly seen and are
most obvious in the case of injuries.
When a joint is sprained, the pain
caused by movement in it eompels the
rest which is essential to repair If
there were no pain produced by motion.
| the parts would almost certainly be ex-
| ercised to the detriment and to tie delay
| OF the reparatlYe process. So, too, in
| broken bones, the agony caused by mo-
tioH is such that a fixed position is main
| tanned for weeks, with the result that
| the part, being kept at absolute rest, is
| thus permitted to recover as speedily as
/ may be. All who have thought over the
| matter must know well how irasome il
is to maintain one position for any length
| the inclination to change the posture
become at once insupportable and ire
sistille. But if sharp pain be the conse-
! quence of movement, how steadilyis the
position maintained for days, and even
weeks.
In like manner pain is most protective
in certain internal diseases. Thus in in
fammation of the large Serious covering
which invests the abdominal Yiscera and
lines tie walls of this space, pain, the
result of movement, secures res. This
large lubricating service in health per-
/ mits of the contained viscera gliding
| gently upon each other, and on their
| boundary walls; but when it becomes
infamed the friction of the dry surfaces
| produces intense pain. and quietude is
thus enforced. Doubtless this pain is
| often such as to constitute a great
| danger to life; nevertheless, without it
and its consequence more serious mis-
chief would usually be produced.
! When there is an abscess in the liver.
pain is induced by movement of this
viscus, and so we find the muscles of the
abdominal wall over the liver rigid and
hard, thus keeping the organ at rest
| in stu. When Ribs broken the frac-
tured ends rub upon the pleura and ex-
cite inflammation of it. and the pain thus
set up causes the patient to call in
surgeon, who places the thorax in COM
parative quietude by bandage, and
the friction be so minimized, repair is
permitted. Then, in certain conditions
of the stomach. pain is produced by
improper food; and so dyspepsia guides
the sufferer to the choice of suitable
food, which does not set up pain. Such
are some of the best known instances of
the utility of pain in local ailments or
injuries. There are. however. more
general conditions which evoke pain,
and where the pain is the means Of the
condition being relieved, or remedied
by medical art Take neuralgia, for in
stance. 1t may be the outcome of
several conditions, which have to be
Disseminated for its relief. In the
young and in early adultlife it is al
most always the result of imperfect It's
sue nutrition, however caused. Romberg
wrote with equal poetical feeling and
scientific truth, Pain is the prayer of a
/ aov-xyf III I'D