Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-07-06
INTRlcAclEs OF TOUCH.

Most OF us have been taught thai
there are five special senses-stgnt
hearing. smell, taste and touch. W0
know now hat there are many others
besides. Among the better recognised OF
these other special senses are b sense
of hunger, Of thirst and the muscle
sense. Among others that are still less
we'll known and still less clearly recog-
nized are the sensations Of equilibrium
and balance from the Internal ear and
gans. .---. SaSEkn
The sense Of touch is by no means a
simple sense. 1t is commonly divided
into temperature, pain and pressure
sense. Each Of these in turn is further
subdivided.
BY cutting the nerve fibers and test
Ing the skin as the fibers regenerate
Psychologists have grouped the fibers
which carried sensation into the spinal
cord-the posterior root-intO three
groups: the skin sensory fibers. the
deep sensory fibers n certain inbound
fibers which do not carry sensations.
h skin sensory or IL fibers.
Howell divides into two groups. One
carries pain sensation and sensations
stimulated by high and by low temper
atures, but not by temperatures in be-
tween. This set of sensations, called
p~rotopathic, are not closely discrimi-
mating. Another set, called epicritic, are
sensitive and critical. These nerves dis
eliminate nicely between delicate
shades of hot and cold. between light
pressures and between the locations Of
OF touch impulses.
The deep sensory fibers carry to tie
brain impulses which are regarded as
pressure pain OF what is known as
muscle sense.
We note that there is a difference be-
tween QUO and pain. Also between
touch and temperature. The sense
which tells us just bow hard to hit and
just when and just what muscles to use
when we hit a golf ball or a baseball is
tied up with what we call muscle sense.
The capacity Of feeling hot or cold IL
not painted smooth over the surface OF
the skin. The skin is notified with hot
and cold spots. In certain spots only hot
can be felt and in others only cold.
Psychologists make use of delicate APP
paratus to locate these hot and cold
spots. For instance, when they have
located the hot and cold spots on the
face and dotted each with red ink the
skin looks as If it were affected by
scarlet fever.
In general there are more cold spots
than warm ones and they react more
promptly to stimulation. A cold spot
can feel nothing but cold. Anything hot
applied to a cold spot gives a sensation
OF cold. If there is no touch or pain In
the spot any normal touch or pain inn
pulse would be registered as cold. AS
has been said above. certain nerves of
touch a feel high temperatures or low
temperatures, but nothing in between.
Others can feel delicate shades in tenn
p%erature.
The pain nerve and nerve endings are
widely distributed throughout the body.
The skin is abundantly supplied with
them. Certain of the internal organs
are fairly we'll supplied also. For in
stance. the stomach cannot feel hot or
cold. a only feel pressure or touch
very imperfectly, but it can feel pain.
The gall bladder and ducts are we'll
supplied with pain nerves. The liver is
but poorly supplied. The intestines
cannot feel much except pain. or at
least not much registers at the brain
except pain. The kidneys are almost
free from pain nerves, but the ureters
are we'll supplied. The lungs are al
most without pain nerves.
The pain nerve endings are dis
trtbuted in the skin in the same pain
point arrangement that prevails with
the temperature point nerves. When q
pain nerve ending is stimulated it
registers pain. The stimulus may be
due to changes in temperature. pres
sure. chemical stimulus, or traumatic.
Whatever the stimulus may be the
nerve registers pain.