CHAPTER VII 



DISEASES OF THE KINETIC SYSTEM 



THE postulate that there is in the body a kinetic 

 system, consisting mainly of certain organs, which are 

 driven by the stimuli of the outer and the inner environ- 

 ments of the body, throws light upon many problems 

 of the medical clinic, as well as of human relations. 

 According to this postulate, the body is a mechanism 

 integrated and driven by the brain in response to ade- 

 quate stimuli contact, distance and chemical aris- 

 ing within and without the body. The phenomena of 

 health and of disease are manifestations of the activity 

 of this system. When the body mechanism is driven 

 at a moderate speed by an environment to which the 

 capacity of the body is perfectly adjusted, the result 

 may be compared to that following the driving of 

 any other machine by a careful and considerate mas- 

 ter a maximum of work done, with a minimum of 

 wear and tear on the parts. When for a short period of 

 time or continuously the driving is at an excessive 

 pace, there results a sudden or gradual breakdown, 

 involving always the weakest link in the mechanism. 



When the kinetic system is driven at an overwhelm- 

 ing speed by such activations as severe physical injury, 

 intense emotional excitation, perforation of the intes- 

 tines, the pointing of an abscess into new territory, 

 the sudden onset of certain infectious diseases, such as 



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