110 LETTERS TO BROTHER JOHN. 



feeble, that they have not power to keep the limb 

 steady, even while he carries nourishment to his 

 mouth. His heart, too, contracts so feebly, that it 

 cannot send the blood far enough to reach the skin. 

 It is this which makes it so deadly pale ; it is this, 

 too, which makes him shiver on the application of 

 the slightest current of air. 



In the above picture you will observe two things : 

 first, that the CONTRACTILITY of the invalid has 

 almost entirely disappeared, leaving him powerless ; 

 and secondly, that his SENSIBILITY is so acute, that 

 those impressions of light, sound, touch, &c., which 

 under ordinary circumstances were only necessary 

 to the enjoyment of existence, have now become 

 sources of painful suffering ; thus proving, that 

 whenever SENSIBILITY is advanced beyond the 

 natural standard, the sources of pain are multiplied, 

 and those of pleasure diminished; and that where- 

 ever SENSIBILITY is excessively high, CONTRACTILITY 

 (that is, strength) is excessively low. 



It is true, that this is a case of extreme illness, 

 and that every departure from health will not pro- 

 duce this extreme state of things. But it will pro- 

 duce an approximation to it. In the slightest de- 

 parture from health, the same effects of things 

 will be produced ; the only difference being in 

 degree. 



