SECT. IX. PHYSIOLOGY. 89 
ccvi. In the cold-blooded animals, the brain 
has so little influence on the heart, that many of 
them have lived for weeks after its removal, with- 
out having seemed to suffer any material injury ; 
and even in the human species, acephalous foetuses 
show that the functions of the heart may be 
carried on in utero, independent of the brain. 
But all strong emotions of the mind, whether of 
a pleasing or disagreeable nature, affect the move- 
ments of the human heart, which has therefore 
been regarded as the seat of the passions. Severe 
and lasting grief commonly induces aneurism of 
this organ, and is expressly called by the populace 
a broken heart. In France, for some years after 
the revolution, which tore asunder so extensively 
the ties of kindred and friendship, the number of 
diseases of the heart was unprecedented. 
