338 ZOOLOGICAL PHILOSOPHY 



The inner feeling acquires its various emotions through one or other 

 of two very different routes, viz. : that of thought and that of physical 

 feeUng or sensations. The emotions of the inner feeUng may therefore 

 be divided : 



1. Into moral emotions, such as those raised by certain thoughts ; 



2. Into physical emotions, such as those derived from certain 

 sensations. 



Since, however, the results of the first kind of emotion belong to 

 the sphere of moral sensibility, while those of the second kind depend 

 on physical sensibility, it is enough to abide by the first distinction 

 that we established. 



Nevertheless, I shall take this opportunity of making a few remarks 

 which seem to me not without interest. 



A moral emotion when very powerful may temporarily extinguish 

 physical feeling, disturb the ideas and thoughts, and cause some 

 enfeeblement in the functions of several of the most essential organs. 



It is known that distressing news, when unexpected, as also news 

 which causes extreme joy, produces emotions whose consequences 

 may be of this kind. 



It is also known that among the minor effects of these emotions 

 are digestive troubles or pains ; and that, in the case of elderly people, 

 when the emotions are at all strong, they may be dangerous and even 

 fatal. 



Lastly, the power of the moral emotions is so great as often to 

 dominate physical feeling. Fanatics, for instance, are people whose 

 moral feeling is so exalted as to overcome the impressions of the 

 tortures, which they are forced to undergo. 



Although as a general rule the moral emotions are more powerful 

 than the physical emotions, yet the latter when very strong may also 

 disturb the intellectual faculties ; they may even cause delirium and 

 throw the organic functions out of order. 



I shall conclude these remarks with a reflection that I believe to be 

 well-founded, viz. : that the moral feeUng exercises in course of time 

 a greater influence on the organisation than the physical feeling is 

 capable of working. 



Indeed, almost any disturbance may be produced in the organic 

 functions, especially in the abdominal viscera, by deep and prolonged 

 sorrow. 



Cabanis held that individuals, who are always sad and melancholy, 

 often without any real cause, are victims of a sort of degeneration in 

 the abdominal viscera ; whence he concluded that the melancholy of 

 these individuals must be attributed to this kind of degeneration , 

 and therefore that these viscera contribute to the formation of thought. 



