UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
*  MB
^ *  »
FOUNDED  1836
WASHINGTON,  D. C
GPO  16—67244-1 
 
 
DISSERTATION



              ON THE



   EFFECTS OF THE PASSIONS UPON THE BODY. 
*w 
AN
              7 N A U G U R A L



DISSERTATION

                   ON THE

   EFFECTS OF THE PASSIONS UPON THE BODY;

      SUBMITTED TO THE EXAMINATION  OF THE


 Rev. John Ewing, S. T.  P.  Provoft,

     THE MEDICAL PROFESSORS AND TRUSTEES

                   OF THE

       UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA,

     FOR THE DEQREE OF DOCTOR OF MEDICINE^

          ON THE 19th DAY OF MAY, 1794.


   By Henry  Rofe,  of Virginia^

 HONORARY MEMBER OF THE PHILADELPHIA MEDICAL AND
     CHEMICAL SOCIETIES, AND MEMBER OF THE
        / AMERICAN MEDICAL SOCIETY.
sa
Know then, whatever cheerful dndferene
Supports the mind, fupports the body too :
Hence the mofl vital movement mortals feel,
Is Hope, the balm and life—blood of the foul, ycAVRR/Pfl*
ft pleafes and it la/Is.  '      Armstrong. *^~r '  •

^r>vJ k>
X.
PHILADELPHIA:       ^%L4 VV5*?
PRINTED BY WILLIAM W. WOODWARD,
       AT franklin's  head,  no. 41,
             CHESNUT- STREET.
1794. 
'Ur

-fZU. /&*sxzz> 
%
"&£ MM SMS MM MM MM MM MM SSO» MM MM MM MM MOO MM MM MM MM MM MM MM MS* MM ^
TO
'WILLTAM   SHIPPEN,  M.D,
PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY, SURGERY, &c. IN THE
        UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
A
       MAN whofe character, as a Profejfor, is defervedly
confidered in many refpetts as unparalleled, and as a Phyftcian
and a Citizen, juflhy /lands in  the highCfl point of efteem.—
Whiljl I am paying this tribute, permit me, Sir, to acknowledge.
tvitfi what ajfiduity, care, and diligence, you have conduced me
through the arcana of Nature to this pofl of honour ; and gra~
titude will not allow me to pafs unnoticed the undifguifed afts
of friendjhip and hofpitality I always experienced  during my
flay -within your walls.
           With the highefl fenfe of Refpefl,
              Dear Sir,
                   I remain your obliged
                       Friend,'and Pupil,
                            The Author,,
*
0009 OMO MM MM 0000 0003 0500 0000 0000 0000 MM COM 0000 MM MM MM MM OOM MM MM MM COM '
Hoo)  %t* 
 
WVVYVVyV^A/VVV\AAAAAAAAAiy
/Tv- v v v v..- v v v v.- v VV V W vVv\AAAAA7R
                         TO


THOMAS JEFFERSON,  Esqjtire,

               OF  VIRGINIA.


    kj) I N C E the Era that a pamphlet  of this nature hat
 been thought a necej/ary exaction from a Student of Medicine,
 fo Cuflom has made it equally necejfary to ijfue  it to the world
 under the protection of fome Character that [hall be highly efj-
 mated in  the field of Literature, and as  I humbly conceive
 your's, Sir, toflandforemojl in this New World; together with
 the many important medical hints I reeeived from your conver*
 fation. lam induced to prefix your name to  this EJfay*
         With thefmcerefl Refp'eCt and Efleem,
             I am, your very obedient
                 And humble Servant,
                         The  Author.
7$s? V V V V VVN# V W* V V v V '«/V W V V V VV« 
 
A   D  I S SE  RT  A'TiONP  &c.
      1 H £ mind anil body although widely  different
in themfelves, yet they are fo formed, and wonderfully uni-
ted in us, that the one may be affected by the other in reel.
jprocal fympathy*

   So intimate is this exiiiing connection, that every fe'nfa1-
tion of  the mind* in a mariner affects the body, the one,
therefore,  will  be  affected by  the  difeafes  of the  other.
Ev^ry perfon mi <t '»e fenftble of the affeftions of the will,
nor was the pride of the Stoics free from this, although they
'denied thele  aifettioris. to  interrupt their divine wifdoni-
Philofophers, the/efere,  feigned to know many tilings con-
cerning the feat  of the will in the body.  Arifto.le and the
Peripatetics, placed it in the heart,  and the  ancients in the
brain.   Plato divided and diftinguiihed all the paffions into
two, the covetous and irafcible, the former he placed in the
heart, the latter in the liver*   There are fome again who
divide the Various paffions farthei-, and give  to each affeclion
of the mind feparate feats. And Anally, Helmontius, and Des
Cartes, place all  the paffions and faculties collectively ; the for-
mer in the carditf or upper orifice of the Aomach, the latter in
                           B 
 JO              A DISSERTATION, &a
 the Pineal gland.   That the brain is the feat of the mind,
 is a point, I believe, admitted on all hands, but  whether
 occupying that particular part, the Pineal gland, will not be
 decided here, eitherpro or con ; but that the mind, will or
 paffions, operate upon the  corporeal part of our fyftem,
 through the medium of the Nerves, whether confidered as
 taking their origin from the Encephalon, or as mere appen-
 dages thereto.  All :his, I fay,  appears probable from the
 effects of ligatures, made upon the nerves, and  of the de-
 struction of their continuity.   It appears that in either, in
 an entire ftate, motions  may  be communicated  from  the
 brain to other parts of the fyftem, and from the latter to the
 former  ; from injuries done the Brain, by either external
 or internal violence, the laws of fenfation are impaired, arid
fometimCs deftroyed ;  and from the fame experiments it
 would appear, that the Brain is the organ of fenfation and
 volition, and of the feveral intellectual operations interven-
ing between thefe ; all which is confirmed by the effects of
 the organic affection of tbe Brain upon the intellectual facul-
 ties.

  The Brain is thus the feriforium or corporeal organ more
 immediately the feat of, or connected with the mind, and fo
far as corporeal organ is employed, all the thoughts arifing
 in confequence of impreflion are the operations of the Brain
 and are modified by its various conditions.

  Without entering into a difcufllon of the laws of fenfati-
 on, either of impreflion or of confcioufnefs it is adequate to
 our purpofe, to premife, that the mind feems to  be excited
 by the force  of iropreffion, from the pleafure or pain arifing
 from it, by the degree  of emotion or paflion produced by
 thefe;   and by tbe emotion being more or lefs related to
 the perfon feeling; and it may not be amifs to add here, that
 the mind is capable of receiving but one impreflion at a time. 
A DISSERTATION, &c.              it
   With this, it remains for us to confider how far  the paf-
fions, as appendages of the  mind are connected with the
body and how far they are conducive to health or difeafe.

   The  paffions  are neceffory and natural parts of our con*
ftitution, and by the order of nature they never were intend-
ed as  a fource  of difeafe either to body or mind j os the
contrary when caufed to roll within their deftined orbits^
they prove reciprocally ferviceable to each other.

   As to the body, tft ey preferve the health of tha£, not only
by exciting us to exercife ; but likewife as an agency and ne-
ceffary  ftimulus to the fupport of life, by immediately and
feparately affecting the circulation of the blood, for in pro-
portion as thefe internal fenfes are abfent, the motion'of the
circulating  mafs is diminiflied and the function of fecretion
impeded.  Neither is this fentient principle of itfelf fuffi-
cient, to preferve a due comppfitiqn and proper aflimilation
of the  fluids, for  the purpofes  of fecretion and nutrition.
For the plaftick power of the fluids is fo great that fhould i£
happen that the neceffary  ftimulus to motion be  with-held
they may' coagulate into a vifcid mafs.  This is notified in  a
deep and protracted fleep;  this fituation In which  the mind
refis,i*enders the circulation flow and the blood ij;felf difco-
vers a difppfition to ftagnate.  Hence if the fleep be ftill
further protracted, the fluids of the body will acquire a te-
nacity that will be difficult to deftroy, and thereby thepur-
pofe for which they were intended by nature will be defeat*.
ed."  Neither ought  thefe injuries to be afcribed alone to
the body'seeing in a ftate of reft, but to an infenfibility or
inactivity of the, paffions.   The fame fpace of time is paffed
by perfons in a ftate  of  watchfulnefs, the paffions then in  a
ftate of imperfect action, without any exercife of the body,
when the fluids are neither rendered vifcid nor the circula-
tion retarded. 
 is              A DISSERTATION, &c.
   It is equally certain that fome of the paffions diminifh the
 circulation of the blood, and produce a temporary fufpenfion,
 c f the fecretions.  If thefe are not truly  immoderate and of
 long continuance they may be quickly removed, by a reluf-
 citation of the more alert paffions of the mind.

   And here it is to be remarked that thefe two kinds of paf?
 fions, which  we  will  call  the impelling or  repelling or in
 other words, thofe that increafe and thofe that diminifh the
 power of the vital and natural functions, which are very
 wifely and curioufly to be oppofed to each other, by  which
 means, the one can be  moderated, and corrected by the other.
 For if the mind is  acted upon always by the more vivid and
 more active fenfes j the fpirits will be exhaufted, and the ex-
 citability will be worn down fo far as to be but little influen-
 ced  by the mpft  powerful ftimuli of any kind.   But the
 rcptlllng or debilitating check this unnatural  and  difeafed
 ftate of excitement, ftrike an equilibrium,  and reduce the
 fyftein to the ftandard of health.

   Such appear to be the refulting convenience of the paffions,
 \\hen  curbed, and kept  within due  bounds.  But as all
 ihings are put in a worfe fituation when changed from a law
 of nature ; fo, the paffions when they exceed either way
their certain order and limits,they become diffolute and ougb t
to be avoided ; not becaufe  they difturb the  tranquility of
the mind alone, but as they injure the temperament of the
body.   They, with a rapid and tumultuous  impetus preci-
pitate the motion  of  the blood  and  fpirits, or diminifh
 their energy  fo  far  as entirely  to fubdue them.   Again,
they viplently contract or immoderately relax the folids.

  ^fhefe few  things beingpremifed, we next proceed to dif7
ilngu'fh each paffion; but previoufly it will not be improper
to oblerye, that it is not my intention in the following pages 
                A DISSERTATION, &c.              13
to defcribe  the more trifling emotions of the mind, or to
run  into  metaphifical  fubtilties,  but  to particularize the
fymptoms of the more important, at the fame time fhall mark
their phenomena and the difeafes of which they are produc.
five.

  AH the motions of the mind although various in their na-
ture and effects, feem to arife from impreflions made upon
our organs of fenfe, which may prove of a pleafant or uiir
pleafant nature, and  accordingly excite emotions agreea-
ble to  the object prefented.   Of  the  firft defcription, are
joy, defire and hope 5  and of the ]aft are grief, hatred and
fear ; thefe being the primitive, and upon which the others
muft depend, and  of which  they are compounded.  And
thefe are faculties of the mind that constitute the elements
of life ; but, when perverted or erring in extremes, become
deftructive to its exiftence.  Thus the extravagance of hope
may be exalted  into enthufiafm bordering upon madnefs,
and exceffive fear may fink into  defpair.

  When j°y feizes thebreaft, the heart fuddenjy leaps, the
eyesfhine with fplendour, the cheeks partake of a beautiful
rednefs and an ornamenting light beamson the countenance;
The body is agreeably relaxed,  and a proportion of blood,
exciting the moftpleafing fenfations, is thrilled to the moft.
remote part of  the fyftem.   But, although,  the impetus
of the blood be increafed, it muft be obferved, that this af-
fection has not  that influence upon the arterial fyftem  that
difpofes it to febrile action, but fuch a warmth is induced
only,  as  proves grateful.  A tone of  the folids confiftent
with health,  moft generally  attends at  the fame  time the
circulation becomes equable, and in a ftate proportionate to
the ftate of  the  folids.  It frequently produces a flow  of
tears,  which generally ferves  to relieve nature,  and are
moflly  accompanied with high mental gratification.  Super-
fluous joy being moderated by the general mode of evacu- 
 14              A DISSERTATION, &c.
 ation renders the body more  agile and  lively, and  very
 much aflifts the whole aflimilating faculty.  But when im-
 moderate, produces effects equally as diftreffing and alarm-
 ing as a moderate proportion proves beneficial.  It quickly
 like  other powerful ftimuli wears down the excitability, in-
 direct debility is induced and frequently death.  Hence th6
 neceflity of imparting good news gradually and accommo-
 dating ftimulus  to excitability,   The celebrated Boerhaave
 affords us an inftance of the  effects of immoderate joy in
 a girl, and hiftory gives us many cafes  of the fame fort.
 The ftory of the Roman mother is 'yyell known, who was
bewailing the death of her fon, he fuddenly and unexpec-
tedly appeared, the mother dropped down dead the inftant
he entered the apartment.  Here the excitability was accu-
mulated, whilft the woman was labouring under the debili-
tating paffion of grief, indirect debility yvas induced, and in-
ftant death followed?  Our Profeffor of the inftitutes makes
 mention of a cafe, the man was a door-keeper  to Congrefs,
he expired fuddenly uppn  the receipt of news, that would
have been a balm to his foul, viz. the capture of LordCorn-
 wallis.  Therefore the greateft deference ought to be paid
 to the obfervation of Seneca; res fevera eft verum gaudi-
 um.

   Defire being a pafllon  compounded of hope and fear, its
 effects muft at times be very  much  varied.  When united
 with hope, it quickens the circulation of the blood and  occa-
 fions a great flow of fpirits;  but when with fear, it  dimi-
 nilhesthe laft defcribed power; at the fame time the moving
 fibre is reduced  to a ftate of atony, and febrile difeafes not un-
 frequently enfue.  It alfo varies agreeable  to the nature of
 the thingitcraves. To defcribe  all the fpecies of this paflion
 would be endlefs ; therefore I will make  choice of the moft 
                A DISSERTATION, Set..             if
principal one, namely, the paflion of love, or a defire of foirie
grateful form.

   When accidentally the form of a Venus h*a$ been pre*
fented to our view, love feems to arife within us, gradually,
all warmth is caufed  to vanifh from the mind, the flow and1
tumult of the paffions,  fubfide,  and the affected languifh
into all pleafantnefs and foftnefs  ; and harmony, with lier:
filver train, ornaments all his walks*   Solitude,  fhades and'
evening walks are fought for, objects of pity are cherifhed,
and  all the effufionsof fentiment are tender, fedate andfym*
pathetic, and frightful dreams infeft the tedious night*  Nor
is there wanting a confentaneou5 emotion of the body, a
gentle fenfation creeps through all the nervous fyftem, the
circulation becomes equable, and the folids  are  reduced to
an agreeable degree  of relaxation.  Such are the effects or
Love  in its primitive and incipient ftages, before it has
made  impreflions of a  permanent arid fixed nature.   But
when it becomes deeper feated,  it difturbs  the  ferenity of
the mind, and the general economy of the body—the coun-
tenance then becomes hung  over with  languor, the eyes
indicate fome  remarkable defire  ; the breaft rifes and fall*
like the disturbed waters of the  ocean, with deep and Ian-
guifhing fighs.   The body becomes effeminated, and it un-
locks every manly power of the foul.  The afRitted perfon
is particularly agitated when in  prefence of the  beloved
object.  The heart leaps, and  its Syftole and Dyaftole is
repeated with increafed rapidity; the  pulfe'performs an
inordinate action; the countenance at firft is fuffufed with
rednefs and then fuddenly becomes pale.  In proportion to
the vehemence of the paflion, thefe fymptoms are  increaft
ed, and when violently excited,  fever attended with great
heat, palpitation of the heart,  and*  a fenfe of burning

  * Haller's Phyfiology Vol. v. Page 582. 
 M              A DISSERTATION,  &c.
through the whole circulatory fyftem,  has  been the confer
quence.  Sometimes the breathing is laborious, the eyes
are veiled wkh a cloud of mift, and the  body is covered
with a cold fweat.  No  paflion  fo imperceptibly under-
mines the conftitution as the one now  under confideration ;
debility, the predifpofing cauie and mother of almoft every
difeafe, to which the human fpecies is liable, inevitably  fol-
lows :  that pleafant langour, which at firft was fo welcome
to t'le body, at length proves to be  its deftroyer.   From
the beginning the induced debility and effeminacy, the va-
rious perturbations, which   immediately follow,  cannot be
fuftained without the greateft agitation of both body  and
mind.  But the irregular and defultory flow- of the fpirits,
the inequable flow of the blood, and  the difordered fecre-
tions which invariably take place, fo  far  derange  and ex-
hauft  the whole fyftem,  that frequently this ftate ends in
an incurable Tabes : Thus,  the emperor Antiochus, fecret-
ly pined  away, the  caufe of his difeafe being kept a fecret
from his Phyficians.   When this paflion exceeds the bounds
 afcribed  to it by nature, and the object  of his wifhes can-
 not be obtained,  it fometimes  induces  melancholia,  and
 fometimes mania ; varying agreeable  to the temperament
 of the body, and alfo  according to the degree  of excite-
 ment,  when this difappointment is made.

   Hope  exhilerates  the mind  to  a grateful anticipation,
 from whence appears in the body the more placid effects of
 a lenient joy.   It is this fweet and ineftimable  comfort  that
 principally leads us on to reflected old age,  and it is  this
 averts the fadnefs and  horrible defpair,  that  are too often
 cherifhed, viz. the  evils and misfortunes that await man-
 kind through life.  Without this  faculty^,  the  functions of
 the animal economy, muft foonbe eclipfed, neither has  man
  any refource, from whence rn€ vital,  and natural powers,
 as far  as a mental agent is neceffary, can be fo well fupport-
 ed. 
                 A DISSERTATION, &c              17
   That unwelcome gueft, grief, makes its appearance, with
tears,  weeping  and fobbing*  Infpiration and  expiration
become deep and difficult,  the eyes  lofe their animating
brilliancy and become  fixed, and the  unfortunate,  fiai-d
with an  immovable  countenance ;  the relaxed  cheeks  af-
fume a livid palenefs, and nothing but  gloom is painted n
the imagination.   Whdft this hoftile emotion occup.es the
bread, health, joy and felicity knguifh and  dii'appear,  the '
mufcular fyftem is brought to a ftate  of relaxation,  the
nervous to a ftate of diminished fenfibility,  and the vital
and voluntary  motions are retarded  and opprefled.   No
paflion fo far,impairs the healthy functions of the ftomach,
 the appetite is deftroyed and indigeftion induced ;  the mte-
ftines  are  debilitated  and diftended with wind ;  the  fecre-
 tions- and  excretions are  irregular.    Hyfteria", hypocon-
 driafis, dropsy,  tabes, and fatal marafmus are too  often the
 ferious confequences.    It impedes the tra.nfit of the  blood
 through the Lungs, difficult and deep refpiration enfue, the
 efforts of nature to quicken  the  deficient  motion of the
 blood ;  by occupying  the whole attention,  and fufpending
 the ftimulus  of a more  exhilirating  paflion, it renders all_
. the fences dull and imperfect, but particularly vifion. When
 it is lefs oppr-eflive, and protracted,  the whole body imper-
 ceptibly is led  into  a ftate of emaciation.   But grief in
 excefs has imitated the violent efforts of anger, and termi-
 nated in phrenitis, apoplexy, mania and filicide.

   Hatred, when fud Jen and vehement, is called anger,—
 which next offers itfelf  for  conlideration.   When  this
 paflion has reached its fummit, the eyes are forced forward,
 and made protuberant, they burn with envy, the mufcles
 of  the forehead,  fupercilia, and of all the face are thrown
 into violent and contorted pofitions, the blood burfts into
 the face,  the lips take on  ^tremulous motion, the voice £L
 is thick and Hammering.    Snger excites and contracts all
                             D 
**              A DISSERTATION, &c.
the  moving fibres, the mufcular ftrength  at  one time is
doubly  encreafed, and at  another its power is \'ery  much
diminiflied, different in different perfons, according to their
feveral conftitutions ; it accelerates the motion and increafes
the impetus of tbe blood.   All thefe caufcs confpiring,  the
\'effels are thrown into febrile action.    In  this apparently
univerfal conftriction,  the  Rima  Glottidis  is fpafmodicaily
affected, and tbe voice becomes rough  and violent; during
this fituation  of  the Glottis the falivary glands difcharge
topioully,  with a frothing at the mouth, which fymptom"s
often accompany this furor.  Hence alfo the proportion of
r.lr neceffary to the inflation of the Lungs, being withheld,
the return  of the blood by the Jugular veins and defcend*
ing Cava,  of courfe muft  be confiderably impeded, the
countenance becomes riufhed, and fometimes of a livid hue,
to the fame power of contraction as mentioned above,  the
corrugation and con^orfion of the.mufcles  muft be owing.
Anger much increafes perfpiration and all the  different
iecretions of the body, an  increafed fecretion and difcharge
of bile  very  frequently follow,  with contortions of  the
Abdominal Vifcera.   By  thisftrong action  and reaction of
the  veffels  and their contents, recent and fometimes long
confirmed Cicatrices are torn afunder. Again, it is frequently
attended, or rather there is consequent to it  apoplexy,
-pleurify, haemorrhages, phrenites, violent fever, and  in
females, a  fuppreflion  of milk, and cancerous affections of
the Mammae ; but to thefe odious and  difagreeable  hofts,
both to body and mind, there fometimes follow great debi-
lity, langour and depreffioa; as the turbulent ocean finketh
into a calm*

   When the paflion of fear has occupied the mind of mrtn,
the lively  rouge of the cheeks is feen to vanifh,  the hairs
of the head to tremble, and emit their ends to the heavens*,

   * Fear has been known tp turn the hair white in tbe coorfe of
 a very fevf minutea. 
                 A  DISSERTATION, &c.               10
 the eyes roll with uncertain hope, the aftonifhed heart leaps,
 the  joints tremble and withdraw from  their deftined duty,
 a cold clammy fweat is difcharged from every pore of the
 body.  Fear is feen to repel' and debilitate the powers of
 life,  fometimes its influence has quite a deferent effect; but
 generally univerfal debility, chills, trepidation, and relax-
 ation of the different fphincters of the body.   The periftai-
 tic motion of the inteftines is increafed, diarrhea*, 'Icterus,
 and  fchirrus  gangrene have been  noticed as the  effects of
 fear.  It weakens the power of digeftion, andcaufes flatuf
 lencies,  eructations, acidity and other concomitants of ciyf-
 pepfia.  By this depreflion of fpirits,  a neceffary ft'mulus to
 life  and more particularly of health is fufpended  ; by this
 means alfo the power  of the Heart and Arteries to propel
 the blood to their extremities is diminifhed, the blood con-
 sequently is accumulated about the Heart andLungs, a fmall
 quick pulfe indicant of this oppreffion generally attends.
 This ftatf remaining irntjll it is aflifted by the intervention
 of fome potent ftimulus, fufficient to enable her to  propel
 the blood to the fuperficies; to this follows an increafed de-
 gree of heat, followed by perforation,  analogous to the ef-
 forts of nature in an intermittent fever.   When,  as yet its
 violence remains, and terror is  pronounced,  it does not fup-'
 prefs the power of the fpirits, but on the contrary inftigates
 them to ftrong and powerful endeavours, it excites the la-
 tent energy of  the fyftem into vigorous action, and whilft
thefe tumultuous and irregular exertions are kept up, it ap-
pears as if all oppolition would  be compelled to yield,   Nm
 Vultus non color unus.  It has a remarkable effect in render-
ing thofe, under its influence, more liable tp the infection
of contagious difeafes.  Clarkef in his obfervation on the
predifpofing caufes of the remittent fever of the Eaft Indies,
takes notice of the  debilitating paffions,  fuch as grief  and

  * Falconer,  page 3f.
  ■J- Page 164. 
 33              A DISSERTATION, t:c.
 fear, and marks  them as the  moft powerful caufes.   And
 afferts that  it is owing to this circumftance that fevers and
 alvine fluxes are fo fatal  to young adventurers, who annu-
 ally emigrate in expectation of acquiring relies, and upon
 their arrival, finding all their dclufive hope fuddenly difli-
 p..ted, they become low fpirited,  and are carried off in a
 veiy few hours.   Whilft others as little inured to the cli-
 mate and expofed to the fame remote taufts, but who have
 better projects,  either cfcape the epidemic or have it in a
 k'fsmal.gnantform, when attacked.

   When the impreflion has been very ftrong, tremors,  me-
 lancholy, palfey,  apoplexy blindnefs, abortions, disjunctions
 of the futures of the cranium and death itfelf have been the
 melancholy  confequences.   Sometimes however its effects
 have been inftrumental to the cure of many of the ferious af-
 flictions of our frail machine ; Pains of the body and maniacal
 diforders have frequently been removed by infpiring ideas
 of fear  and appreheufion of danger—By this  however it
 cannot be denied  but that this paflion, when highly excited
 will prove a moft powerful Itimulant.  Violent exertions of
 ftrength have been fhewn, fpeech has been reftored to the
 dumb, and ftrength to the parylytic patient.  Gout, fciati-
 ca, intermittent fevers, diarrhea, and epilepfey have in turn
 been cured, and perfons on the brink of eternity have been
 reftored by it.

  Fear and grief combined with anger,  when frequent and
 long continued, debilitate the  whole  body, fupprefs per-
 fpiration and diminifh the vital heat, hence  there  follows
 dropfey, palfey,  and many cronic difeafes,  that render the
perfon a burthen to himfelf and friends the remainder of his
miferable exiftence.

  The effects of grief are more equable, than the irregular
 and difultory operations of  fear. 
A DISSERTATION, &c
21
  The paffions as yet undefcribed, although they partake
of one or the other that has already been noticed, or a com-
petition of many ; each has its proper character,  which may
be expofed in a few words, and I will give a fhort fketch of
pride.

  In  this, the eye-brows and forehead, are elevated,  the
eyes behold every object  with the utmoft  difdain and con-
tempt, the breaft and face become tumid, the deportment
of body firm  and elevates itfelf as it were  on high ;  which
we  poffefs either as  the  gift  of  nature or of fortune;  a-
greeable to its origin it  renders  them more  or lefs  chear-
ful, expands and  fills the heart with warm  blood,  but as
there is always  joined to this fome  nifus  of the  mind, to
fupport its fuppofed  dignity, fo  it  increafes the impetus
of the blood, gives an increafed tone to the mufcular fyftem
but more particularly to the mufcles of the face and upper
extremities;  pride refifts the effects  of the  more relaxing
paffions, but it  may be too  much  indulged,  and thereby
give too much ragidity to the different fibres of the fyftem,
and hence by the  frequent renewal of it,  that  ftate which
verges  upon anger being kept up, the high degree of ex-
citement exiftingat the fame time in the veffels of the brain,
either terminates in the melancholy difeafes produced by an-
ger itfelf or in an obflinate collapfe ; or in other words in-
direct debility is induced in the brain as in other parts of
our complicated machine ; and may it not be owing to thefe
two ftates that  the consequent difeafes are of fo oppofite a
nature, fometimes melancholy and at others mania, either
of a tonic or atonic defcription i

  Shame  fuffufes the countenance and breafts with a red-
nefs and  glowing heat,  the -lips tremble,  the knees fhake,
the eyes are dejected, and the voice clings to the jaws.   The
influenced perfon can neither  think or fpeak rightly or na-
turally.   Shame partakes a little of grief and is oppofed to 
 3A             A DISSERTATION, &c.
 pride, fbr it arifes from the  bad, abject opinion we have
 farmed  of ourfelves.   Whereas pr;de  gives temporary
 ftrength to our whole fyftem, and particularly to the head
 neck, and  fuperior  extremities, on the contrary when thefe
 parts are under the influence of fhame, they are in a ftate of
 relaxation, as mu(t be confpicuoufly  evident, from the pofi-
 tion of the mufcles of  the  face and  upper  extremities as
 above defcribed.  Hence  a larger proportion of blood- is
 tranfmitted to the head,  and the face is rendered more red
 than natural. And may it not be from  the fame caufe that this
 degree of perturbation'of the brain and moft of the feifes
 a« well externa] as internal, arifes*?  This mode of account-
 i&gfbr the fymptoms of fhame, appear to be fomewhat ve-
 Jxh"ed> from its appearing more frequently in  the younger
 part of the human fpecies, in whom  the fuperior parts are
 more relaxed, and in a more irritable ftate.  This affection)
 fometimes, in Plethoric perfons, terminate in apoplexy.

  There is-a fpecies of joy arifing from the prefentation of
 an object to the eye or to the imagination, the incoherency
 and abfurdity of which produces laughter.  The Lungs ex-
 ercife their whole ftrength, in this convulfive motion, from
 hence it contributes to increale and agitate the  whole circu-
 lating mafs, and alfo from its having the power of  exciting
 into action  the more vivid exertions of the mind as well as
 body  : laughter aids in the removal of melancholia and leu-
 copbtegmatia.   But how  far a long continuance of  it fhall

  * In the fudden flow  of blood to the face, when un-
 der the influence of lhame,  may not the mind have a power
 of ftimulating the arteries, of  a particular part and increafe
their  ofciHatory motion, in the fame manner that the motion
 of tbe heart i& increafed by any violent affection of the mmd,
 or in  the fame manner that any named mufcle of the body
 is brought into action by the will,  and very frequently this
 motion takes place without the prefence of  the will,  which
 occasionally may be the cafe with the arteries in time of
 blufhing i 
               A DISSERTATION, &e.                 *3
 prove detrimental,  and be productive of the  canFeeltfenceS
 incidental to a  fthenic diathefis fuddenly induced, muft bt
 fufficiently evident.   Apoplexy  and Peripneumony  have
 fucceeded this paflion.  ThusZeuxis is faid to  have died
 fuddenly from the laughter  excited by a comic work, the
 production of his own imagination.

   Pity is that fenfation of the mind, through which we are
 affected,  by tbe  evils and misfortunes of one or more per-
 fons; it feems  to be formed by the union of joy and grief;
 the one being called forth by afflictions, the other from a
 tacit approbation of that paflion ; the influence of this up.
 on the different functions of the animal economy is fb very
 moderate as to  afford little or no interruption.  For  al-
 though  there  is  a  proportion  of grief prefent,  yet
 the mind confcious of its own rectitude,  refifts this impend-
 ing oppreffion and keeps up an healthy degree of excitement.
 Its effects arefeldom very powerful, but it has been obferved
 to have greater influence on the Lachrimal gland,than even
 ibrrow itfelf.

   Envy diftorts  the mouth,  eyes and mufcles of the face,
 and the whole countenance.  It is compofed of defire, an-
 ger and grief:  The defire of a certain gratification, grief
 at the abfenee of that; and anger, pointed at him who pof-
 feffes that  gratification.  Thefe  diforderly  emotions much
 derange the  ferenity of  the  mind, and make appear a re-
 pugnance through every function of the body.   A propor-
 tion of fadnefs conftituting a proportional part  of this paf-
 lion  depreffes and debilitates the power of both body and
 mind.   Whilft  anger and defire act their part, the "fyftem
 takes on a  fthenic diathefis ; fhould it fo happen, that they
 were alternated,  a balance might  be (truck, and the iffue
 would be favorable : but it moft generally happens that the
one orthe other mounts the carr and drives on toaftate  of
diforder.   It is faid to caufe palenefs of  the countenance 
24              A DISSERTATION, Sec.
and, to excite the  biliary difcharge*.  Its other effects re-
ferable thofe of the pallions of which it is compofed, as above
remarked.

  As yet there remains one  paflion more to be  menti oned
which is  nearly allied to envy, but  more  vehement and
complicated, namely,  Jealoufy.   This  occafionally fhews
love, fear,  grief, pride, defire and anger.  In the  midft of
fo much  contention,  how far  the fyftem muft be injured,
and how far this ought to be held upas the cauf'es of  many
difeafes muft be evident, and I hope fufficiently fo, from the
influence of thefe feveral paffions when taken in  a feparate
poipt of vie w.

  Thofe moving in a high or public fphere of life, who are
infefted with  honours and  perfecuted  with  folicitations
who are obliged  to  diffemble their feeling  as given  them
by nature,  and live as it were at variance with themfelves,
alfo experience in their health the bad effects  of ambition,
andfuch disappointments and unwifhed for viciflitudes as are
infeparable from human affairs.

  All thefe fudden  and accidental emotions  of the mind
affect the corporeal functions openly and at repeated parox-
ifms.   Indeed there are three appetites of an inferior order,
namely,  luft, hunger and  thirft; but as  they do not take
their origin from the mind,and it is only fecondurily affected,
and that they have their influence by the intervention of a
certain  predifpofition  of the body,   I  fhall therefore omit
the confideration of them here  as  not appertaining to our
fubject.
* Falconer Page 44. 
A DISSERTATION, &o              &$
    The fymptoms of the paffions being fo far laid down, and
 I hope with fufficient  accuracy and  perfpicuity  to  prevent
 their being confounded with each other, I will in the next
 place endeavour to fhew in what manner they may be oppoftd
 to  each other with advantage fo as to keep up  or obtain
 an  equilibrium, being the  principal preventative againft
 their influence as difpofing to derangement and diforder.

   When truly each paflion leperately fhall be in an immo.
 derate degree, they interrupt the functions of the fyftem,
 fo each has his opponent, and rejects or prefides over him in
 turn.  Thus joy is oppofed to grief; for  what  the  latter
 fhall retard  the former will accelerate, for as grief re-
 laxes and diminilhes the mobility  of the Hypocondriac re-
 gion, and the contained Vifcera, fo, laughter, partaking of
 joy, (hakes and agitates thefe parts with a degree of  brifk-
 nefs, removes theprefent immobility, gives new tone to their
 diathefis, and raifes the diminifhed excitement.   In a fimi-
 lar manner, love foftens the harlh  features brought forth
 by anger,  and fear fuppreffes what hope excites.

   Such is the wife coiinfei of nature  teaching Us moderations
 and the mode of preferving and procuring an equable tem-
 per.   But unlefs we (hould form thefe  into  an infeparable
 chaos, we deftroy that variety fo ufeful in itfelf.   That va-
 riety  which  proves fo effential  to  mankind, in inducing
 them to turn  their attention  to  the different objects and
 purfuits that prefent themfelves,  upon this great  theatre
 of the univerfe.   Befides all this,  fome one of the paffions
muft prevail, and govern the mind; and every being has his
peculiar attachment  and  inclination to adhere to fome of
 thefe affections.  With thefe affections, there are generally
attending fome peculiar temperament and habit of body—
But as the mind in this particular, is like the body, which 
26              A DISSERTATION, kc.
has become accuftomed to the performance of fome duty of
bufinefs, which it  returns to at particular periods, without
being difordcred, it bears this ftimulus  without being fen*
fible  of its impreflion.   Here, the  mind,  in the ordinary
purfuits of bufinefs is habituated to the action of fomeftimu-
lus afforded by itfelf ; but this being withdrawn or fuper-
feJed by one of a different kind, derangement anddifordef
are produced, both in body and mind, or in each feperately,
according  to its power*

  In the next place, I will endeavour to (hew, how far the
paffions  differ from each other in different  temperaments j
and in the firft place, it appears, that in a fanguine tempe-
rament  of the  body, the paffions are  more violent, yet
quick, and in fucceffion more various, the ipind is prone to
joy,  hope  and pleafure.   In the  choleric they are excited
with more difficulty, but when brought into action,  they
are found to be more permanent and violent than in the fan-
guine.  In thefe various emotions of the mind,  when  oncjB
we allow them to make  a deep impreflion, their vifits be-
tome too often repeated ;  anger and pride principally come
tinder this defcription.  In melancholy,  the^emotions of the
mind are riever violent, but flow and conftant,  and always'
fad,  apprehending fome impending evil.  The  Phlegmatic
are feldom, i f ever, troubled with exceffes of the paffions of
either kind, and feldomer indulge the moft inoffenfive.

  There is fo intimate a connection of every, difpofition of
the mind,  with the peculiar temperament of the body,  that
when ever a fpecial difpofition of the body is contracted, by
the indulgence of fome  one of  the paffions, we neceflarilf
induce a consentaneous temperament of the body ; and vice
verfa, when a particular habit of the body is formed, a pej
culiar difpofition of mind follows* 
              A DISSERTATION; &c                37
  From this mutual connection exifting between the difpo.
fition of the mind and the temperament and  habit of body,
and from the dependence of the one upon the other, for their
refpective functions,  when either is difeafed,  a  remedy for
the one will be equally  ferviceable to the other.  To ex-
plain this, I will recite a few examples.

  In thofe habits of the body that difpofe to melancholy and
grief, the  mind fhould be ftrorigly acted upon  in  the  firft
fituation,  nor  ought it to be allowed to dwell long upon any
one  fubject.   Grief, fear, and a too depreffed  opinion of
ourfelves, always attend this difpofition of the body.   So it
requires a confiderable proportion of hope and pride, to re*
fift the depreflioii induced by the former.  At the fame time
it will not be  thought improper to direct fuch medicines as
will dilute, and increafe the volume and impetus of the gc
neral  circulating mafs ; and to adminifter  fuch as  will di-
minifh the immobility of the nervous power.  The choleric'
who for the moft part are daring, proud and cruel ought to
be reduced to  a ftate of more lenity, by love and pity, and
to be depreffed by fhame;  in this cafe much good'may be
done by dilution and the  exhibition  of fuch medicines a§
will take off the exifting rigidity and lower  the  general ex-
citement,   To thofe whofe habits are warm and fanguine,
whofe minds are moft eafily operated upon, and are affected
in the moft violent manner by the exhilirating paffions,  it
not only muft  prove ferviceable in this cafe, to diminifh the
ftorm, by oppofing it with thejefs inebriating emotions of
the mind, fuch as grief and fear, but to leflen the ftrength
of the moving fibre,  and the tone of the arterial fyftem, by
confining the patient to a refrigerating and  low  diet.   I he
Phlegmatic, whofe minds are under the influence of toq
great a degree of torpor;  may be roufed into action by an-
ger and elevated by  joy; at the fame time  we fhould at,
tempt to  excite  a  diathefis,  verging upon  the  fthenic, by
the methods belt known to effectuate that purpofc, 
    28              A DISSERTATION, &c.
       This, I hope, wit fuffice to have been faid upon the diffe-
    rent temperaments.  A proper regulation of the paffions
    muft avail much in acute and chronic difeafes, and appears
    to be acircumftance of the utmoft and  laft  importance in
    their prevention as well as the cure.

       How far a pL;i,I and equable temper of mind contributes
     to the removal of  every fever of an acute  kind,  muft be
     evident to every accurate obferver of  nature.

       Inflow and, nervous fevers it is  no left, beneficial  to  re-
     lieve the mind by infpiring hope and adding new vigour to
     the fyftem by the welcome news of joy.  In all obftructions,
     and more particularly the humoral Afthma,  it would feem
     to be a matter of confiderable importance to excite laughter.
     For the repeated contractions  and convulfions of the  dia-
£-A  phragm maybe expedient in removing the infartio.n of  the
     Lungs.  In the fuppurative ftage of tubercles of the Lungs,
     may not this  action prove equally  ferviceable .? Thofe  who
     h-ivc obferved the medicinal virtues of terror, remark that
     it fometimes is followed by good effects.  But fince the pre-
     sence of this paflion has produced  very melancholy confe-
     quences, we ought to have  recourfe to an expedient of fq
     formidable a  nature, with the utmoft caution, and then, but
     upon the moft urgent and defperate occafions, as we do in
     the adminiftration of every powerful remedy.   The ufe
     made of it in removing Hiccough, is commonly known, and
     its powerful influence was luthciently known to the immortal
     Boerhaavc.

       Befides all this, the  mind demands no lefs attention in
     the healing of wounds.  For  the  ftimulating or impelling
     emotions contribute much totheincreafe of inflammation and
     fjppuration ; and on the other hand, the  debilitating or
     resiling may and will have  a contrary operation.   And
      among tbe various and many effecb of the paffions upon the 
                A DISSERTATION, Sec,              fy

conftitution, we muft not omit to mention of what immenfe
application they have been in the prevention of an exacer*
bation of the intermittent fever, and alfo in aiding the fyfV
tern to contend with the contagion of infectious difeafes.

  There are worthy of notice, fome functions of the mind
which cannot with the  ftrict rules of  order be reduced to
the clafs of paffions, yet of much confequence to the Phy-
ftcian, and as an operation of the mind upon the body, may
be fubjoined to what has beerv mentioned in the foregoing
pages-   The firft of thefe is a high degree of faith  and con-
fidence in the  efficacy of remedies.  Whether this operates
by engroffing  the mind and attention, and thereby rendering:
it inacceffible to other impreffions, or by imparting fuch a de-
 gree of tone or ftrength as enables the fyftem to refift their
 attacks, is difficult to determine ; but I am rather inclined to
 believe that both are concerned,  and that  they reciprocally
 affift each other.   This power is found moft efficacious in fuch
 diforders as recur at intervals. It however, is obfervablc that
 unlets.the prepoffeffion is very great, it is apt to fail in pro-
 ducing a cure.  Another mental affection which has pro.
 duced wonderful effects, is a, determined refolution to refift
 the  accefs of  the  complaint.   However extraordinary this
 may feem,  yet that it has been practifed with great fuccefs,
 is a matter beyond doubt.  It appears to have  its influence
 in a manner  fimihr to the power laft fpoken of, and to have
 been ferviceable in nervous and periodical complaints.  This
 appears  to be not only  a ftimulus to the nervous fyftem,
 but alfo a general and powerful tonic  And muft it not be
 by the agency of this power of the mind, and its influence
 upon the body that the fuppofed poffeffors of animal mag-
  netifm effect fuch wonderful cures.'

    From the  view here taken, of the influence of the paffions
 upon the corporeal and vital fyftems, we may generally in-
  fer, that in  cafes where the powers of life are  brought be- 
 •»              A DISSERTATION, &e.
 low the ftandard of health,  endeavours mould be  made to
 excite into action fuch paffions as will  aid In counteracting
 the leading fyn.ptoms of the difeafe  And when the difeafe
 jtfdf confifts in,  or is agravated by too high a degree of ex-
 citement of the vital functions, recourfe may be had to the
 debilitating ones.

   In doing this many difficulties remain yet to be got over,
 relative to the application of thefe potent and precarious in-
 ftrutnents; fince they cannot be brought to Chemical  any-
 lifis : that we may afcertain  their real and poffeffed virtues j
 neither can we form any judgment of their extent Or qua-
 lity, by their effects.   For what may have a moderate ope*
 ration in one economy, may in  another be fufficient, to Car-
 ry the fyftem above the wifhed for point, and be fucceeded
 by indirect debility ; and fince we are  left fo much in the
 dark, upon the manner of applying thefe agents,  to the re-
 moval  of difeafes, and the difficulty of exciting them, when
 wanting, Ifear it will be an infurmountable barrier to their
 ufe; though we may look  forward  with pleafure, to the
time, when future ages will furmount  this obftacle,  and
 teach us how we are to accommodate thefe remedies to ths
 excitability of the fyftem.
THE.END. 
 
 

<-i 
Sfi**-!
m

H
■
■■w

««s,*

1
■
M
.%»