234 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 



a considerable quantity of the brain has taken place, as the 

 result of accident, without causing death, and without even 

 affecting seriously the intellect. A remarkable case of injury 

 of the brain is recorded, in which, from the accidental explo- 

 sion of gunpowder used in blasting a rock, the " tarnping-iron " 

 was driven directly through the skull of a man. This iron 

 rod, three feet and seven inches long, an inch and a quarter 

 in diameter, and weighing more than thirteen pounds, entered 

 the head below the ear and passed out at the top of the skull, 

 carrying with it portions of the brain and fragments of bone. 

 The man sustained the loss of sight on one side, but otherwise 

 recovered his health and the use of his faculties. Moreover, 

 disease has occurred, compromising a large portion of the 

 brain, without impairing the faculties of the mind, when the 

 disease was limited to one side only. (Eead Note 9.) 



9. The Emotions Influence the Bodily Health. " The exciting emo- 

 tions which are pleasurable, such as joy and hope, are of a kind that 

 seldom tend to a dangerous excess, and may be regarded as exercising 

 generally an eminently healthful influence upon the body. Hilarity is a 

 great refresher and strengthener of life. Laughter is a wholesome exer- 

 cise, which, beginning at the lungs, diaphragm, and connected muscles, is 

 continued to the whole body, 'shaking the sides,' and causing that jelly- 

 like vibration of the frame of which we are so agreeably conscious when 

 under its influence. The heart beats more briskly, but with a safe regu- 

 larity of action, and sends the blood to the smallest and most distant 

 vessel. The face glows with warmth and color, the eye brightens, and 

 the temperature of the whole body is moderately raised. With the uni- 

 versal pleasurable sensation there comes a disposition of every organ to 

 healthy action. When hilarity and its ordinary expression of laughter 

 become habitual, the insensible perspiration of the skin is increased, the 

 breathing quickened, the lungs and chest expanded, the appetite and 

 digestion strengthened, and nutrition consequently increased. The old 

 proverb, 'Laugh and grow fat,' states a scientific truth. The influence 

 of laughter upon the body is recognized by Shakespeare, in his descrip- 

 tion of the 'spare Cassius' 'Seldom he smiles.' 'To be free-minded 

 and cheerfully disposed at hours of meat, and sleep, and exercise, is one 

 of the best precepts of long-lasting.' Such is the testimony of Lord Bacon 

 to the favorable influence of the pleasurable emotions upon the body. 

 The depressing emotions, such as fear, anxiety, and grief, are always 

 fatal to health, and frequent causes of death. There is an Eastern 

 apologue which describes a stranger on the road meeting the Plague 

 coming out of Bagdad. 'You have been committing great havoc there,' 

 said the traveler, pointing to the city. ' ' Not so great,' replied the Plague. 



