, 1888-09-07
FOR CHOLERIC PEOPLE.
A CHAPTER ON THE ADVANTAGES
OF SERENITY.

Eevity of Life-HeaIth of Mind and Body
Co-Dependent Facts for the Hot
FLOODED to Ponder Over.
Regarding the matter merely from the
hygienic standpoint, effort can be expanded
for the obtainment of few more valuable pos
sessions than u calm and even temperament
Such a temperament does not rush to ex.
tremes; it is not swept by whirlwinds OF
feeling; under almost any circumstances 1t
secures content Few things can present a
more in~surmountable barrier, not only to
mental ills, but even to physical ailments
and infrmities, or yield q 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 Leib-
nitz regarding the invention of the huxionaI
methods, and the quarrel with Flamsteed,
the astronomer royal How great his eoua
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 resuItf His health was vigorous and re-
manned 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 IS
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. Yet in his
personal habits he was austere and grave,
holding himself sternly aloof from the prof
hgate rabble around him, and inhexibly
steadfast amidst domestic infelicity, obloquy
and misfortune. He could scarcely be called
a hot blooded man, and, after a life whose
sole physical affection was the loss of his
eyesight, he died at the age of &C.
OTHER
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, a
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 man that ever lived was less
the prey Of gusts of feeling, reached the age
of 10. Edgar Poe, who 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
SAO AS0b UO1oU lulIR IO
actually feeling them-buti in his private life
was a man of most erratio 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 define as any
emotion of the soul which affects the BODY
and is affected by it. Such is the sympathy
existing between the min and the body, the
moral feelings exercise a potent influence on
the physical rgans, 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 Halter says: "Love, hope and joy promote
perspiration, quicken the pulse, promote cir
c%ulation, 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 pleasurable feelings become painful II
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 iniu-
ence the various secretions by increasing,
diminishing or vittating them When the
mind is severely and unpleasantly agitated.
dryness of the mouth ~testiies 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
servants Of a family, that of compelling all
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
tended 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 tho
pleasurable 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 Respondent testify to inward suffer
ing.
In habitual irritability or fretfulness of
temper, hatred, revenge, = ? and iealously.
and, in fact, in IONS of the mind
characterized feelings toward
others, a me su VI IN. Vt is almost necessa-
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