HAROLD C. ERNST 149 



EXPLANATORY OF PAIN 



The exact definition of pain is as follows : Pain, 

 uneasiness or distress of body or mind ; bodily or mental 

 suffering. (a) That property of sensations or states of 

 consciousness which induces in the sentient being an effort 

 or a desire to suppress or be rid of them : the opposite of 

 pleasure. Pain may have any degree of intensity, from 

 the least perceivable to a maximum at, or about, which 

 consciousness is destroyed. It may be local or general, 

 physical or mental, or both together. In many sensations, 

 as in those produced by burns, the prick of a pin, or a 

 colic, the element of pain is so predominant that such sen- 

 sations are distinctively called pains. (Century Dictionary.) 



With such a definition, who is to decide what is or is not 

 pain? For a clearer idea of the differences of pain in man 

 and the lower animals, the following may be of interest : 



WHAT IS PAIN? 



(Physiological Cruelty ; or, Fact v. Fancy. An 

 Inquiry into the Vivisection Question. By Philan- 

 thropes. London : Tinsley Bros., 8, Catherine Street, 

 Strand, 1883.) 



(page 4.) " All that we know about Pain is derived 

 from human experience. This seems very obvious, 

 but not the less it is often forgotten. As a matter of 

 fact, we KNOW nothing about any pain except what 

 we have ourselves suffered. We cannot feel with an- 

 other person's nerves ; and when he describes his 

 feelings, we cannot be sure that the words he uses 

 bear the same meaning to him as they do to us ; but 

 we take for granted a general analogy between him 

 and ourselves, based on our common nature ; and 

 from time to time we correct this assumption, as we 

 discover minor differences between us, and conclude, 



