GENESIS OF MAN, MORALLY 



absence of its function must cause disturbance 

 of the consensus, — implies, too, that its function 

 may be raised to an excess which must cause dis- 

 turbance of the consensus, — implies, therefore, 

 that maintenance of the consensus goes along 

 with a medium degree of its function." In ac- 

 cordance with this view, we may note that hun- 

 ger and thirst are feelings attendant upon a 

 kind of functional inaction which is harmful, and 

 even fatal if prolonged ; that inaction or exces- 

 sive action of the muscles is injurious as well 

 as painful ; that the intense heat and cold, 

 and the violent pressure, which cause distress, 

 will also cause more or less injury, and may 

 cause death ; that the discomfort following re- 

 pletion and narcosis is the concomitant of a 

 state of things which, if kept up, must end in 

 dyspepsia, or other forms of disease, entailing 

 usually a permanent lowering of nutrition ; and 

 that the intense sounds and lights which dis- 

 tress the ear and eye also tend to produce deaf- 

 ness and blindness. And in like manner, the 

 enforced inaction of the social and aesthetic feel- 

 ings, which is attended by mental discomfort, is 

 also attended in the long run by a diminution 

 of the fulness and completeness of psychical 

 life, which in extreme cases may result in con- 

 sumption, insanity, or narcotic craving. 



It would seem, therefore, that the class of 

 cases upon which Hamilton relied will justify 



VOL. IV ^ ^3 



