THE LAWS OF ORGANIC 



those who assert that it is a direct stimulant, lay 

 great stress, and with justice, on the more fre- 

 quent occurrence of excited action, such as the 

 forcible contractions of the heart, strong and 

 frequent pulsations of the arteries, and increased 

 temperature, displayed occasionally in the flow 

 of perspiration or heat of surface. 



Some individuals entertain opinions less ex- 

 clusive in their character, and regard opium as 

 possessing both these properties. The stimulant 

 effects, they say, arise from the smallness of the 

 dose, and the sedative from an excessive quanti- 

 ty. This explanation is consistent with certain 

 facts, but is far from being satisfactory, when ap- 

 plied to the different phenomena of the system, 

 originating from the influence of opium. 



CCLXI. Our ideas concerning the charac- 

 ters which constitute a sedative or stimulant, are 

 neither exact nor precise, and, until we have more 

 definite conceptions of these characters, we shall 

 continue to dispute about the action of opium. 

 If a sedative be defined to be a power that de- 

 presses the mental and corporeal faculties, evinced 

 by the incapability or insensibility of the mind, 

 and a diminution of the contractions of the heart ; 

 and if a stimulant be defined to be an agent which 

 excites the intellectual and physical endowments 

 of the system, as indicated by an unusual flow of 

 animal spirits, and increase of muscular force, we 

 are fully prepared to examine the merits of those 



