Chap. VI. WEEPING. 175 



last habitually, to the contraction of the muscles round 

 the eyes in order to protect them. At the same time the 

 spasmodic pressure on the surface of the eye, and the 

 distension of the vessels within the eye, without neces- 

 sarily entailing any conscious sensation, will have af- 

 fected, through reflex action, the lacrymal glands. 

 Finally, through the three principles of nerve-force read- 

 ily passing along accustomed channels — of association, 

 which is so widely extended in its power — and of cer- 

 tain actions, being more under the control of the will 

 than others — it has come to pass that suffering readily 

 causes the secretion of tears, without being necessarily 

 accompanied by any other action. 



Although in accordance with this view we must look 

 at weeping as an incidental result, as purposeless as the 

 secretion of tears from a blow outside the eye, or as a 

 sneeze from the retina being affected by a bright light, 

 yet this does not present any difficulty in our under- 

 standing how the secretion of tears serves as a relief to 

 suffering. And by as much as the weeping is more vio- 

 lent or hysterical, by so much will the relief be greater, 

 — on the same principle that the writhing of the whole 

 body, the grinding of the teeth, and the uttering of 

 piercing shrieks, all give relief under an agony of pain. 



