Wichita eagle., 1888-07-19
FOR CHOLERIC PEOPLE.
A CHAPTER ON THE ADVANTAGES
OF SERENITY.

OF SERENITY.
/ Uncontrolled Passion Opposed to Lon
sevity of Life-Eealth Of Mind and Body
Co-Dependent Facts for the Hot
| FLOODED to Ponder Over.
! Regarding the matter merely from the
hyglenic standpoint effort can be expanded
for the obtainment of few more valuable pos
sessions than q calm and even temperament.
Such temperament does not rush to ex-
tremes, it is not swept by wnlriwlnds OF
feeling, under almost any circumstances it
secures content Few things can present
more insurmountabie barrier, not only to
mental ills, but even 10 physical ailments
and indrnities. or yield q better grounded
hope Of longevity.
Sir Isaac Newton, for instance. led the
placid and unsventful if toilsoLne existence
of student and brain worker The serenity
Of his days seems only to have been
disturbed by the controversy with Leib-
nitZ regarding the invention Of the duxional
methods. and the quarrel with Flarnsteed,
the astronomer royal How great his equa-
niInity was--in other words, how thoroughly
composition. to the Subsection OF the pas
sions-appears In the well known story with
regard TO his dog Diamond And what vas
the resnlts His health was vigorous and re-
manned unimpaired to within a few years of
his deash He lost but tooth in all his
life. He never wore glasses lie never grew
bald, and he lived To the ripe Old age of IS
years John Milton. again, hved in troubled
s-k.I,. hIS Ft,tt
was given, too co polemicai writing, which
Is apt 70 excite warm feeling Yet III his
personal habits he was austere and grave
holding himself sternly aioof from the prof
hgate rabbie around nim and lnfex1bly
steadfast amidst domestic infeliclty obloquy
and misfortune He could scarcely be called
hot bloodod man, and. after life whose
sole physical affection was the loss of his
eyesight, he died at the age of 81.
OTHER NOTABLE INSTANCES
Contrast with bus the brief career Of another
famous English poet Lord Byron Torn as
he was by every passion. and the victim OF
that most wearing emotion, chronic hate, a
spirit that furnished the arena III quIck sue
cesslon for the most intense and extreme re-
WILSON'S of feeling allowed its possessor an
earthly existence OF but thirty six short
years Our own calm Emerson than whom,
probably, no man that lived was less
the prey of gusts Of feeling, reached the age
of 10 Edgar Poe, who was sort OF emo
tiopal shuttiecock, was miserable all his life,
and died at 30 Edmund kean, not only III
bis professional capacity, was an actor-and
an actor is frequently obliged to feign the
most vehement passions, which Is commonly
supposed TO be the next worst tGing to
actually feeling theln-but in his private life
was a man OF most erratic and fiery temper
ament. Kean himself was stage for the
drama of the passions. and the consequence
was he was frequently Ill, and survived but
few years beyond 40
Passion has been not inaptly defined as any
emotion of the soul which affects the body
and is affected by it Such Is the sympathy
existing between the mind and the body the
moral feelings exercise potent influence on
the physical organs while the latter in turn
affect the former The effect of mental
emotions is manifested in the vital functions,
and certain states Of these functions serve in
like manner to awaken the different pas
sions The passions founded pleasure
seem to act as a universal stimulant to all
vital action Circulation is quickened, the
blood distends the vessels Of its SYSTEM the
face urightens, the skin assumes O rudy
tint, the muscles grow stronger and invite
activity The whole body is reanimated-in
short, every function responds to tine vltaliz
ing influence Of the happy moral condition
As Halter says: Love. hope and Joy promote
perspirstion. quicken the pulse, promote cir
culation, increase the appetite and facilitate
the cure of diseases" While JOY and Kindred
emotions thus contribute to health by Undue
ing more active performance Of all the
vital functions as with all other stimulants.
the pleasurable feelings become painful if
the bounds of moderation are exceeded
On the nervous system the effect of the
painful emotions is manifested by depression,
arrangement and, possibly. destruction of
the vital energies The same agencies infu-
ence the various secretions by increasing,
diminishing or vitlating them When the
mind is severely and unpleasantly agitated,
dryness of the mouth testfies 70 the suppress
sion of the salivary secretion This Is proved
"by the well known test, often resorted to in
India for the discovery Of thief among the
servants of a family, that of compelling all
the parties to hold a certain quantity of rice
in the mouth during few minutes the Of.
fender being generally distinguished by the
comparative dryness of his mouthfuL"
PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS.
Under the influence of disturbing passions
certain secretions become corrupted and
even acquire poisonous properties 1t is a
known fact that the bite of an animal goaded
to desperation heals less rapidly and is at
tended with greater Inflammation than one
administered when the system is uninfiuenced
BY the excited passion Great mental dis
t;,rbance in thu mother diminshes or vitiates
the secretion Of her milk, and it becomes
hurtful to the nursing child The contrast
between the physiological effects of the
pieasurable and painful emotions, and their
influence upon health are obvious to all In
the faces Of the happy and confident is seen
the bright glow of natural vigor. while the
drawn, careworn and pallid features of the
sad and despondent testify to inward suffer
ing.
In habitual irritability or fretfulness Of
temper. hatred, revenge. envy and jealousy,
and, in fact. in sill dispositions Of the mind
characterized by bitter feelings toward
others, a measure Of anger Is almost necessa-
rily blended The effect upon the bodily
health of the mind harassed by passions Of
this nature is to propagate arrangements and
intlrmities The appetite lessons, digestion
is impaired, and then follow other functional
disorders The nervous system suffers from
continued metal irritability, and hysteria,
headache, and other painful affections often
owe their origin TO this prejudicial influence.
Physicians well know that when the system
is laboring under disease a temper amIable
and tranquil under the little ills and crosses
of life encourages recovery, while one easily