254 NUTRITIONAL PHYSIOLOGY 



correction. Doubtless, when one rises to his feet in the 

 morning one is saved from falling in a faint by the prompt- 

 ness with which the arterial tone in the lower extremities 

 is raised by the nervous system to fight back the threat- 

 ened excess of blood. It is easy to see what would happen 

 in a lifeless model under similar conditions. 



While our vasomotor reactions are usually executed 

 without our conscious attention, it has always to be 

 borne in mind that close ties exist between the higher and 

 the lower regions of the nervous fabric. Emotions register 

 themselves in changes of blood-flow. The obedience of 

 the vasomotor center to hypnotic suggestion is almost 

 unlimited. It would appear that this division of the ner- 

 vous system is the chief mediator in the correction of the 

 many ills which unquestionably yield to Christian Science 

 and kindred ministrations. A normal circulation goes 

 far to insure normal nutrition and irritability in each part, 

 and these states are the fundamentals of health. Fur- 

 thermore, the feeling of health which is not always the 

 same thing as the possession of health must depend, in 

 the absence of more positive sensations, on the character 

 of the cerebral circulation. Assuming the blood to be 

 chemically normal a moderate change in the amount 

 passing through the brain may make all the difference 

 between the sense of power and the feeling of utter help- 

 lessness. 



Beside dictating the character of the breathing and 

 determining the volume and distribution of the blood- 

 flow, the lower part of the brain exercises control of the 

 alimentary canal and, in varying degree, of the glands. 

 To mention these facts is merely to recapitulate what has 

 already been pointed out. It must be recalled that the 

 government of the glands is partly through direct com- 

 munication with their secreting cells and partly through 

 vasomotor regulation of their blood-supply. In many 

 cases of sustained glandular activity both features exist 

 at the same time. 



