Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1892-09-17
THE USE OF TEARS.
A Natural Outlet which Relieves the
Nervous system of Many strains.

A Natural Quite, which Relieves the
Nervous system of Many strains.
This subject is considered in
bright and interesting paper recently
published In the AscIcpaid. Fear,
grief, and joy, to say nothing of pa.
thus and anger, bring tears to the
eyes. They are said to come from
the heart. and this is true, for no one
ever reasoned himself into weeping
without first appeal through the
jmagination to some emotion. Tears
are the natural outlet Of emotional
tension. They are the result Of q
storm in the central nervous system,
giving rise to changes In the vascular
terminals Of the tear sccrcting glands.
These changes induce profusc excre.
JiOn of water. and weeping results
In mild degree some cxcretion Is al.
ways In process to battle the eye and
clear IL Of foreign matters. The con-
trolling center is at distance though
the secretion may be kept up by the
small trace of saline substance that
is present in the tears themselves.
The lachrymal glands lie between the
nervous center and the mucous sur
face Oh the eyeball. Tears afford a
good illustration OF the way In which
nervous tibcrs are capable Of convey.
ing 70 a sccrcting organ exciting i'm
pulse, from both sides OF q gland ly-
ing In their course. AfTcrcnt and
c,fcrcnt communications bring about
a similar result. Internal nervous
vibrations and external cxcitation or
reflex action cause q flow OF tears. In
both instances the exciting Impulse
is Il vibration. Niobc, all tears, and
the unfortunate pedestrian with a
minute particle Of steel from the rail
OF an elevated road In his eye are un.
willing opponents OF q similar pro.
cess They weep the same kind Of
briny fluid, In exactly the same way,
though from widely different causes.
Imagination Is ut times sufficient to
excite the nervous system into the
production Of tears without external
aid or reflex Writers and readers Of
good fiction weep over 1t alike. and
the actor loses himself so entirely In
the cxigencics Of dramatic art that
nc sheds real tears and the audience
shed tears with him. or a truth the
man who never weeps has hard
hcart, and the quality Of his intellect
may also be questioned.
Emotion, then affection, grief. anX.
isty, incite to tears, not pain or dis.
comfort. The pangs OF maternity are
fearless, though the influence Of ether
fslN fstrt
tiOnal dream that results In weeping.
In the earlier days Of surgery patients
might scream and utter such pitifuI
cries as to sickcn the bystanders.
might even faint with pain, vet there
were seldom any tears. These, being
pure waves OF emotion and relief L
the heart, are almost pOwcrless u
mitigate pain. Perhaps one whC
wceps from pain does so from un
conscious though selfish pity--in othc
words, from emotion.
For the fearful, change Of scene
mental diversion and out door III
arc the best remedies The autho
quoted objects to alcohol rs fearful
Injurious. 1t disturbs and unbalancc
the nervous system. keeps up q maud
lin and pitiful sentimcntality an
sustains the evil. AlcohO. Is tn
mother of sorrow. An Opiatc. how
ever. prescribed at night soOthes an,
controls and really disciplines rebel
ious nerve ccnters Sleep cures tears
tAnd so does Time, the restOrcr. Per
sons subjected to many and repeated
gricfs forget how to weep and tn
old as compared to tho young are al
most fearless. Tears have their valu
in the life OF humanity, not as tears
but as signs. They show that gric
'ccntcrs are being relieved of the scnsi
bility. and that the nervous Organiza
ton Is learning how to bear up agains
sorrow. York Medical journal