, 1888-09-14
FOR CTIOLERIC PEOPLE.
4 CHAPTER ON THE ADVANTAGES
OF SERENITY.

Regarding the matter merely from the
hyglenic standpoint, effort can be expanded
for the obtainment of few more valuable pos
sessions than a calm and even temperament
Such a temperament does not rush to ex.
tremes, it is not swept by whirlwinds OF
feeling; under almost any circumstance it
secures content. Few things can present a
more insurmountable barrier, not only to
mental ills, but even to physical ailments
and infirmities, or yield a better grounded
hope of longevity.
Sir Isaac Newton, for instance, led the
placid and uneventful If toilsome. existence
OF a student and brain worker. The serenity
Of his days seems only to have been
disturbed by the controversy with Lcib-
nitz regarding the invention of the a~uxioual
methods, and the quarrel with Flamsteed
the astronomer royal How great his equa
nimity was-in other words, how thoroughly
reason was the controlling element in his
composition, to the subsection OF the pas
sions-appears In the well known story with
regard to his dog Diamond And what was
the resnltT His health was vigorous and re-
mained unimpaired to within a few years OF
his death he lost but one tooth in all his
life. He never wore glasses. he never grew
bald, and he lived to the ripe old age OF 81
years- John Milton, again, lived in troubled
times, in which he bore his full part He
was given, too. to polemical writing, which
is apt TO excite warm feeling. Ye< in his
personal habits he was austere and grave
holding himself sternly aloof from the prof
hgate rabble around him, and mfexIbly
steadfast amidst domestic infelicity, obIoauy
and misfortune He could scarcely be called
a hot blooded man, and, after a life whose
sole physical affection was the loss of his
eyeslght, he died at the age OF 66
OTHER NOTABLE INSTA NCEa
Contrast with his 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, q
spirit that furnished the arena in quick sue
cession for the most intense and extreme re-
vulsions of feeling allowed its possessor an
earthly existence of but thirty-six short
years Our own calm Emerson, than whom,
probably, MOI mar that ever lived was less
the prey OF gusts OF ling, reached the age
of 10. Edgar Poe 81 - was a sort of emo
tional shuttlecock, was miserable all his life,
and died at 40. Edmund Kean, not only in
his 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 thing to
actually feeling them-buti In his private life
was n man of most erratic and fiery temper
ament- Kean himself was a stage for the
drama of the passions, and the consequence
was he was frequently i'll, and survived but
a 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 a 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
a like manner to awaken the different pas
sions Tho passions founded ON 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 a ruddy
tint, the muscles grow stronger and invite
activity. The whole body is reanimated-in
short, every function responds to the vitaliz-
ing influence Of the happy moral condition.
As Haller says: "Love, hope and joy promote
~perspiration, 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 induc-
ing a more active performance of all the
vital functions, as with all other stimulants,
the p~leasurable feelings become painful If
the bound 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 iniu-
ence the various secretions by increasing,
diminishing or v~itfating them When the
mind is severely and unpleasantly agitated,
dryness of the mouth ~testifies to the suppress
sion of the salivary secretion This is proved
'by the well known test, often resorted to in
India for the discovery of a thief among the
.o~roptc If a FAMILY that IF oopa-zn;--- II
the parties to hold a certain quantity Of rice
in the mouth during a 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
ended with greater Inflammation than one
administered when the system is uninfuenced
by the excited passion Great mental dis
turbance in the mother diminishes or vitiates
the secretion of her milk, and it becomes
hurtful to the nursing child The contrast
between the physiological effects of the
~pleasurable and painful emotions, and their
influence upon health, are obvious to oil 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 respondent testify to inward suffer
ing.
In habitual irritability or fretfulness of
temper, hatred, revenge, envy and jealously,
and, in fact, in all dispositions OF the MINI
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
inflrmities. 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
inlamed by the base passions obstruct it
VUl,r1 @Lo ,,o1o,o1n,t foal,n-, 1T 49,