The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-11-23
PHYSIOLOGY OF TEARS.
Different Emotions Cause the Briny
Drops to Flow,

Fear. grief and joy, to say nothing Of
pathos and anger, bring tears TO the eyes.
They are said to come from the heart, and
this is true. for no one ever reasoned him.
self into weeping without a first appeal
through the indignation to some emotion.
Tears, according 10 the Asclepiad, are the
natural outlet of emotional tension.
They are the result of a storm in the GEN.
trail nervous system. giving rise to changes
In the vascular terminals of the tear
secretiDg glands. These changes induce
profuse excretion OF water and weeping re-
suits. In a mild degree some excretion is
always IN process to bathe the eye and clear
IL OF foreign matter. The controlling center
Is at a distance, though lhe secretion may
be kept up by the small trace of saline
substance That is present ia The tears them
selves.
The laehrymal glands lie between the
nervous center and the mucous surface of
the eyebali. Tears afford a good iliustra-
lion OF the way In which nervous fibers are
capable OF conveying TO a secreting organ
exciting impulses from both sides Of a
gland lying in their course. Afferenr and
eneren1 communications bring about SIM
ilarresut Internal nervous vibrations and
external excltaiion or reflex action cause a
flow of tears.
In both instances the exciting impulse is
a vibration. Niobe. "ali tears" and the
a
tiele OF steel from the rail of an elevated
road In his eye are unwilling opponents Of a
similar process. They weep the same kind
OF brlny fluid. in exactly the same way,
though from widely different causes. In
agnatlon is at times sufficient TO excite
the nervous system into the production OF
tears without external aid or reflex
writers ana readers of good fiction weep
over il alike, and the actor loses himself So
entirely in the exigeneies of dramatic art
ia Oh nd
sheds tears with him. OF truth, the man
VINO never weeps has a hard heart, and the
quality OF his intellect may also be Ques-
toned.
Emotion. then. affection. grief. anxiety,
lnclte TO tears; not pain or discomfort
The pangs OF maternity are fearless though
the influence OF ether or chlorofOrm may
cause some emotional dream that results In
weeping. In the earlier DAYS OF surgery
patients might scream and utter such pitiful
cries as TO sicken the bystanders. might even
faint with pain, yet there were seldom any
tears.
These. being pure waves of emotion and
relief TO the heart, are almost pGwerless
to mitigate pain. Perhaps one who weeps
from pain does so from unconscious though
selfish pity-ln other words. from emoti n.
For the fearful. change Of scene, mental di-
version and outdoor life are the best reme-
dies. The author quoted objects to alcohol
as feartnlly Injurious. 1t disturbs and I'M
Val"hSco tno nervous system, keeps up
maudlln and pitiful sentimeniality aud sus-
tsin5 the evil. Alcohol is the mother of
sorrow.
An opiate. however. prescribed at night,
soothes and controls and really diScplines
rebellious nerve centeTs. Sleep cures tears.
And so does time, the Testorrr. Persons
subject To many and repeated griefs forget
now 10 weep, and the old as compared to
the young are almost fearless. Tears have
their value in the life If humanity not as
tears, but as signs. They show that grief
centers are being relieved Of their sensi-
Oillty, and that the nervous organization is
learning how TO bear up against sorrow.