340 THE LAWS OF ORGANIC 



the brain and the nerves which supply this organ* 

 The following objections may, probably, be 

 brought forward against the present view: 1. 

 That the heart is, at times, instantaneously affected 

 with palpitation. %. That the order of respiration 

 is frequently deranged without being accompanied 

 by a corresponding alteration in the heart.* In 

 answer to these and similar objections, I may 

 here remark, that there are different degrees of 

 palpitation, agreeably to the intensity of the 

 causes that produce them ; and although we speak 

 of palpitation as a general term well understood, 

 yet we must not forget that the recognition of 

 this abnormal action depends as much upon the ca- 

 pability of the mind to attend to its sensations as 

 upon the irregularity in the function of the heart. 

 If we were always equally sensible to every 

 change of this organ, it is not improbable that 

 we should become so familiarized with the va- 

 riety of its pulsations as to be entirely unsus- 

 ceptible of its present occasional disorders. The 

 heart is beating more violently when the system 

 is stimulated by spiritous liquors, by running, 

 vehement speaking, and many other kinds of 

 muscular exercise, than in the generality of those 

 cases in which we complain of palpitation; but, un- 

 der those circumstances, the mind is also excited, 



* For the better understanding and appreciating the causes 

 which disturb the thoracic organs, the reader is referred to the 

 Chapters on Palpitation and Syncope. 



