SECT. VII. PHYSIOLOGY. 77 
cLxx1x. All spirituous liquors, and those me- 
dicines called antispasmodics, produce spasm or 
conyulsions when administered in improper doses. 
In Hindostan, the strychnos nux vomica is said. to 
cause trismus even in horses which browse upon it 
by accident. 
cLxxx. All causes, whether physical or moral, 
which act powerfully on the nervous system, are 
injurious to the generation of the vital force. 
Intense study too long continued, begets quivering 
and convulsions of the muscles; and when the 
emotions of the mind are sudden and violent, vita- 
lity is sometimes even annihilated: Eli died on 
receiving intelligence that his two sons had fallen 
in battle ; and Sophocles expired on being awarded. 
the tragic wreath at the Olympic games. In 
those cases, however, where the mental emotions 
are of an exciting nature, there is frequently a 
determination of blood to the brain. 
cLxxxI. By thus grouping the causes of spas- 
modie action of the muscles into stimulants and 
sedatives, the former have been shown to possess 
sedative effect when applied to the nervous system 
beyond a certain degree of intensity ; spasm, con- 
vulsion, and paralysis are therefore only different 
degrees of reduction of the vital force. 
cLxxxu1. By rigid attention to causation in 
morbid contraction, clear, definite, and scientific 
rules of practice may be founded. It does not 
