168 THE HUMAN BODY 



appear, except in a very few cases, to be adaptive. It is difficult 

 to see where any advantage arises from the pallor of fright, or 

 from the dry mouth of embarrassment. In fact some of the 

 emotional reactions involving the digestive mechanism are, as 

 we shall see, distinctly harmful. This is all the more curious 

 when we remember that the ordinary reflexes of the sympathetic 

 system, which do not involve emotional states, are as adaptive as 

 any of the reactions of the Body. 



Emotional reactions differ, also, from the other reactions of 

 the sympathetic system in that they may be based upon memory. 

 To the extent that memories of previous experiences may arouse 

 definite emotional states within us, may the Body show the 

 characteristic reactions which accompany them. 



