The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1915-11-12
The Value Of Pain

our lives would not endure; for we
should be unable to recognize danger
symptoms and to guard against them.
Pain, says another writer, is not It.
self abnormal, but Is Natures pro-
test against the abnormal. 1T is not
the sufferer from pain who is In evil
case, so much as he who has lost his
ability to feel it, BE-
The pain sense, like the special
senses, is largely u matter Of mental
and racial development The self
mutlatiohs Of primitive peoples are
not IS 'mucha matter of bravery as
OF the presence Of a rudfmentafy pain
sense. The horse with a broken leg
will pfoceedtto Craze In the pasture
with little apparent discomfort.
Veterinary surgeons perform opera
tions upon animals with little thought
of administering anesthetics.' Even
in civilized man the pain sense re-
quires TO be developed; It is not born
with him.
The "facles pathetica" (pathetic
expression) Of the dog, horse aud
some other animals, and the tenden..
cyt to interpret pain in terms Of our
own sensation, are responsible' for
these self-consituted spons0rs'of the
lower animsls-the anti-vlvisection-
lists whose excessive zeal for the dumb
animal makes them quite forget the
welfare of the human offspring.
When a hard object is applied to
the skin with greater pressure than
Is necessary to evoke the sense Of
touch, the sensation becomes one Of
pain, and It's severity is In proportion
to the degree of pressure sxerted.
When pin or needle is pressed
against the skin, the pain increases
until just before the moment.of pen.
tration.
An intestine may be cut or sewed
without causing any sensation, while
strong contraction of the intestinal
muscles will evoke intense gripping
pain. Deep injection OF fluids into
the voluntary muscles occasions but
little discomfort, while cramping of
such muscles gives rise to disagree
able sensations Of great severity.
The feeling of muscle fatigue is on
the borderland Of painful sensation.
Palm Is much more severe II the
attention is directed to 1t. An UNI
expected wound causes comparative
little pain when received, while the
anticipated prick Of the finger, nee
sary to obtain blood for examination,
may cause real agony. Pain is evi.
IDENTIFY increased by the imagination,
and the writer believes that this &C
counts for its greater severity at
night than during the day.
Sensitiveness to pain varies with
individuals; a strong willed person
may suffer intensely without wincfng,
while the prick of pin will greatly
affect another. Some react to pain
stimulus much more readily than
others. AS a general thing, those
OF thin build and neurotic tempera-
ment suffer more than the more TO-
bust. Carlyle once said, with stu
pidity and a sound digestion man
may confront much," but Carlyle
himself belonged to the neurotic type
and doubtless envied the so.called
phlegmatlc with the sound digestion:
Cabot states that those patients
who, describe all their troubles as
terrible" awful" Fearful" and
the like, are apt to have lively knee
jerks, and that those more moderate
in their expressions have usually less
active reflexes, which would point to
a parallelism between reflex senslbil-
ity and sensitiyeness to pain.-Dr. ].
Fl. Dempster in the Medical Record.