324 Biology in America 



tion gives a very different picture from that of a man killed 

 accidentally, certain of the cells having almost disappeared 

 in the forme?'. The injection of poison (i.e. diphtheria toxin) 

 into a dog- will produce similar changes in the l)rain, hut these 

 changes can he in large measure prevented by the injection 

 of mori)hin at the same time as the toxin, the former check- 

 ing the nervous action induced by the latter. 



"Never before has there been such an opportunity for 

 studying the behavior of the human mechanism uiidci- the 

 strongest physical and psychic stress as in wari-ing Europe 

 today. Tlioi-e ol)servations of the injured, of soldiers in the 

 field, of ])i'isoners and of refugees gave me an unparalleled 

 opportunity for studying the human kinetic drive on a vast 

 scale. The illustration shows the gross effect of the combina- 

 tion of extreme emotion and exertion as they are manifested 

 in the faces and bearing of Belgium refugees and of wounded 

 soldiers. 



"Turning now from the individual acutely driven by in- 

 jury, by infection, by emotion, let us consider the individual 

 chronically driven by the stinuili of want, ambition, anger, 

 jealousy or grief, by infection, by pain and by autointoxica- 

 tion. In the acute kinetic drive the individual is endan- 

 gered by death from exhaustion or from acid intoxication, 

 whereas in the chronic drive, the danger is that one or an- 

 other of the overdriven organs or tissues may be perma- 

 nently injured. 



"The common chronic drives are mental and physical over- 

 work, chronic infections, excessive diet and pregnancy, the 

 emotions of fear, hate, jealousy, shame and despair, and for- 

 eign proteins, as in intestinal stasis. These conditions pre- 

 sent every-day problems and demand but little discussion. 

 Since the lesions of these various driving causes are the same, 

 however; since infection, emotion. and overwork produce iden- 

 tical end-effects; since usually two or more of these operate 

 simultaneously, and since the emotional states are most amen- 

 able to control, it becomes obvious why these conditions have 

 often been controlled by means which have apparently no 

 direct therapeutic value, such as faith in the physician, travel, 

 diversion, prayer, healing springs, philosophy and Christian 

 Science. Again and again, in the domain of regular medi- 

 cine as in the domain of irregular medicine, the exclusion 

 of worry has relieved the drive sufficiently to allow the body 

 processes to overcome the primary disease. But the reverse is 

 true also — innumerable men, under tlie strain of a chronic 

 drive, are pushed beyond the narrow limits of safety by the 

 added drive of grief, worry or shame. Is it not possible that 

 when it is understood that the various kinetic stimuli have 



