Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-07-22
IRONTON. MO, THURSDAY. JULY %, 1886.
Physiology Boiled Down.

from the use OF AlcbOl, Stlmulants al
Narcotics generally on the HUNS
system, we are compelled to deal wit
"the threefold one."
So long as we handle either ment
or physical poblems separately tt
work is comparatively easy, but whe
the point is reached where an atteml
to discuss the mental and physic
problems separately would only di
play sublime Ignorance of the who
subject, then on the very threshold ,
investigation the inquirer after Trut
must fight battle of the Wilderness
! A host of questions spring up fc
3solution. Investigation can not evad
the question of precedence Of action i
body or mind, or in regard to the re
jsponsibilty for an act. Does it res
Exclusively on the mind or the body, o
| is it divided and if so in what proper
tionse::
Does the mental alteration preced
the use of these agents, and is it onl,
modified and intensified by their use
,, or does their use produce mental obi
guilty:
The generally received theory ha
heretofore been that whilst all phases
of mental alteration are psychical il
their nature. their causes are purely
physical.
Winslow, in his admirable treatise
son obscure diseases of the brain anG
disorders of the mind" whilst he care.
fully abstains from enunciating con,
clusions, evidently favors that theory
and arrapges his evidence so as tO
bring his readers TO the same conclu.
sion. DR.. Benjamin Rush century
ago held the same idea, for speaking OF
the mental effects of ardent spirits he
says: Like the demonie'' mentioned
in the New Testament, their name is
legion, for they convey into the soul a
host of vices and crimes"
DR.. VIM. B. Carpenter in his last
and greatest work on Mental Physiol-
ogy, assumes the same theory as as
suredly as if it were true that he that
doubteth is damned Ard yet the
spirit of this age is spirit of profound
investigation into the foundations of
beliefs in the presence of which the
gods of our fathers are driftwood. The
writer admits spirit of iconoclasm,
and wishing to stand fully abreast Of
his age before the infirmities of life in
the shape of crippled powers of expert
ence and observation shall relegate
him to the eddies in the river of Time,
dares to doubt. And like the black
bird which nested end reared its fami-
ly in the old hat of scarecrow he will
build his doubt on dicta of DR.. NJ. B.
Carpenter.
In combating "Human Automa-
tism" he lays down the dicta that
Matter is only the vehicle of Force, and
that our bodies are ours but not us, and
that our physical organization is only
the machinery by which the Mind or
Force holds its fellowship with and
executes its purposes upon surround
ing objects.
Hereunto the Bible agrees. for the
body is the earthly house of this taber-
nacle, which we must put off, and
sees corruption when the Force
which gave it life and power dwells
with God. It has been said that "the
andevout astronomer is mad" and it
may be said with equal truth that the
lndevout pathologist is equally mad.
And it matters not whether we adopt
The humoral theory of pathology, fol-
owing DR.. Wood, or Solidism, follow
ng DR.. Watson, neither one can help
is. Stripped of the fog, the situation
8 this: we find y certain state Of things |
and the real question is, who |
S responsible for it? The Materialist |
ellis Us that stimulants and narcotics |
to all kinds of bodily dis
eases, and that after the death of one
;nat had used them the microscope
md scalpel reveal that the fibers of the
and bowels are contracted,
hat assesses, gangrene and schirri
re found in the viscera, that the bron-
hial vessels are contracted, that the
,lood vessels and tendons in many
,arts of the body are ossified, and that
ven the hair becomes brittle; and that
ecause these things are true Insanity
J the result.
One thing is clear. Whoever studies
HISTOLOGY, separate from Psychology,
ill soon find that he has only half a
.ience.
The world has not yet recovered
ON the long-standing rivalry and
onsequent alienation between physic-
and mental science, and no true
rogress can be made in investigating
ne threefold one, until that breach is ,
ealed, and the only way to adjust it !
to locate the responsibility for hui ,
ian action, and thereby settle the :
rder of cause and effect. |;
There is danger that the whole ,
lea of moral responsibility may be :
luffied back ward and forward be- !,
xeen the body and mind until all idea ,
any responsibility is lost. We find ,
fearful condition of things for which !,
,me one is answerable. The ad vocate
physical science says that the use
intoxicants and narcotics perverts
1.-THE secretions of the body and pois-
as the blood. and therefore the man
ncomas insane Rut IL Ia rop1io.3 that |