PAIN. . 295 



generally. These nerves, when the system is disordered in 

 any part, may bring messages that cause intense pain. Of 

 course, they are warnings (they are more than mere warnings ; 

 probably if the earlier indications of simple discomfort had 

 been heeded, the later more emphatic messages of pain would 

 not have been necessary). These messages of pain demand 

 attention. 



In reference to pain in the skin, it is held that the skin, 

 too, has its nerves of general sensibility, and that these are 

 distinct from those of touch and temperature sense. That 

 when they are unduly stimulated they give rise to painful 

 sensations. It is to be noted that the internal organs are 

 ordinarily devoid of feeling, and that the skin is especially 

 sensitive. The skin senses stand guard at the outposts, so to 

 speak, of the body's camp, and give warning of approaching 

 danger. No enemy may enter without being discovered by 

 these keen sentinels, and the alarm is given. If it is not 

 heeded, great harm may follow. And it is a comfort to know 

 that the more severe wounds do not cause pain in proportion 

 to their extent. When a person says his " lungs are sore " 

 the pain is usually in the muscles of fche chest from coughing. 

 While there may be acute pain from the lungs, as in pleurisy, 

 there is often deep-seated lung disease without pain from the 

 lungs themselves. The muscles of the chest and back may be 

 strained by lifting, and the soreness is erroneously attributed 

 to the lungs or kidneys. Hence there is frequently a wholly 

 needless apprehension of deep-seated disorder, whereas in 

 reality there is merely a strain of superficial muscles. In 

 amputating a limb the chief pain is in cutting through the 

 skin. Some excellent authorities still hold the view that pain 

 is merely the result of intensifying any of the simple sen- 

 sations ; but it is generally held that it results from the 

 excessive stimulation of the nerves of general sensibility ; as 



