Year: 1867

| the progress becomes more and more
distinctly marked, until they die of it,
and post mOrtem examination verifes
the opinion given of the case, yet the at.
fections have never been found to have
been impaired; the patient remains as
good, as gentle, as loving and as be-
nevolent as before the change began.


1t remains to prove that the real organ
of these emotions is the stomach.


Here we can confidently appeal to
facts daily seen and acknowledged.
We can also easily show that in very
old times this truth was we'll known and
accepted, so that we are not broaching
an entirely new doctrine, but one
frequently set forth in the oldest litera-
ture. The Old Testament abounds in
proofs that the digestive organs, of
which the stomach is the most i'm
portant, were recognized as those which
influence the affections, and not the
heart. Witness such expressions as
bowels of Mercy bowels of COM
passion Joseph's bowels yearning to-
ward his brother Benjamin. Many
more might he quoted, as such phrases
frequently occur, showing that the truth
was well recognized in the days of the
patriarchs. We do not pretend to be
able to prove when the change of doc
trine took place, or how it was that the
heart came to supersede the original
organ.


When we see lovely and bewitch-
ing woman, is it not common to say
that we could eat her up2 One love
stricken swain was known to have said
this of his intended bride, but some
months after his marriage, on being
reminded of it, he rather regretted he
had not done it. Do not mothers often
say, in fit of ecstatic fondness, that
they could eat a lovely cherub ola child
Benevolent feelings toward all mankind
are notoriously prompted by n good
dinner Numbers Of our charitable in
stitutions depend on this recognized
fact, and the subscription plate is sent
round, never before, but always after
dinner. See the contrast between the
amounts of the collections in church
plate, even after the most eloquent and
touching Of sermons (but before dinner),
and those obtained at public dinners for
the benefit of hospital or school!


Then again, to come to fine details,
notice how happy, serene, and full of
charitable feelings man shows himself
to be when his stomache is comforted,
refreshed, and soothed by a well-dressed
dinner ofall the delicacies of the season
on the other hand, how snarling, how
sulky, how ready to quarrel with the
wife OF his bosom and the children of
his loins is the man whose stomache
has been offended by an ill-dressed, bad,
and indigestible meal.


Then, again, while love and tender
ness exist unchanged in the man whose
heart is seriously diseased or even
actually ossifed, a deranged or dam
aged stomach occasions melancholy,
disgust, envy, hatred, and all uncharit
ableness.


Observe the effects ofa sea voyage on
the stomach as the organ of the affec-
tions. A devoted young husband, on
his wedding tour, crosses the channel
with his beloved bride. Watch him;
all attention, all tender care to cover
her with his cloak, to bring her soft
pillow, before the vessel quits the
harbor; but when the tossing or pitch
ing begins, and his stomach feels the
horrid qualms of sea sickness, he leaves
the fair creature to her fate OF to the
stewardess, and is savage if she i'm
plores him to bring her a basin or to
hold her head This change lasts only
while his stomach is overset. AS soon
as that organ regains it's normal condi-
ton, as sc on as the boat steams into the
har5or, his love, his tenderness returns
apace, and he is again devoted.


There will be a considerable difficulty
in overcoming the long established
prejudice on this point, and we must
await the further enlightenment of the
world, satisfied that in the end the truth |
will prevail. Poets especially will
rebel against the organic change which |
ought to follow when the doctrine is
fully recognized; as it will be anything
but easy for them to get rhyme for
stomach as for heart; and though both |
are equally parts of the frame, there
will be, for time, a sort of repugnance
on their part to bring forward as poet
ical stock, what they will be pleased to
call more animal and less sentiment
tai view of the matter.


One comfort is, that the fact will re
main, and that it does not much matter
what designation may be given to it.
The man who fancies he is claspipg to
his heart the long lost love or the re-
turned child, when in point of fact he
really holds the beloved object to his
stomach, will not have made very
wide mistake, as the map of the two
organs will show that they are situated
within an inch of each other.