GENESIS OF MAN, MORALLY 



now concern ourselves ; as we shall presently see 

 that a different though somewhat allied state- 

 ment will much better express the facts in the 

 case. Hamilton's statement, however inade- 

 quate, is illustrated by a number of truths which 

 for our present purpose are of importance. A 

 large proportion of our painful states of con- 

 sciousness are attendant upon the inaction, or 

 what Hamilton less accurately calls the "re- 

 pressed exertion," of certain organic functions. 

 According to the character of the functions 

 in question, these painful states are known as 

 cravings or yearnings. Inaction of the alimen- 

 tary canal, and that molecular inaction due to 

 deficiency of water in the system, are attended 

 by feelings of hunger and thirst, which vary from 

 slight discomfort to intense agony according as 

 the inaction is prolonged. Of kindred character 

 are the acquired cravings for tobacco, alcohol, 

 and other narcotics. Inaction of the muscles 

 causes great discomfort in children who are com- 

 pelled to sit still, and grown persons feel similar 

 annoyance when the enforced stillness is long 

 enough kept up. Prisoners kept in dark cells 

 soon feel an intense craving for light, which 

 in time becomes scarcely less intolerable than 

 raging hunger. A similar explanation suffices 

 for the emotional yearnings involved in home- 

 sickness, ennui, deprivation of the approval of 

 our fellow creatures, or in separation from our 

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