AND ANIMAL LIFE. 341 



and, on this account, is not always sufficiently at 

 rest to analyze feelings of this nature. The ner- 

 vous patient, whose every moment is devoted to 

 the discovery of new or uncommon pains, regards 

 the palpitation of the heart as the most constant 

 and troublesome of all symptoms ; but when we 

 apply the stethoscope to the chest, it is not un- 

 usual to find the action as regular as in the state 

 of health. 



From these remarks, it is manifest that palpi- 

 tation, in many instances, may be supposed to 

 exist where there is no increased or irregular 

 action of the heart, but a greater susceptibility 

 of the mind to the ordinary operations of the sys- 

 tem. 



CCCCIV. Several cases are on record of indi- 

 viduals who were able to arrest the motions of 

 the heart, shewing that these were under the 

 direction of the will. It is impossible to doubt 

 the fact, bqt the manner may be called in ques- 

 tion. From the great power we possess in ex- 

 citing or depressing respiration, and the direct 

 influence this has upon every state of the heart, 

 it is probable that the action of the organ was 

 stopped by exercising the will upon respiration, 

 and not upon the heart. We are not to infer from 

 this surmise, that every individual is capable of 

 performing the same act, nor do I imagine it 

 possible to be taught ; because I believe, when- 

 ever this phenomenon occurs, that there is some 



