340 
The Philosophy of Pain . [June, 
due sleep, be hindered in taking food, and to a great extent 
incapacitated for his business. In this case we find almost 
all the chara(5teristics of the efficient watchman either 
absent, or it might even be said reversed. The alarm, espe- 
cially if we compare this case with the painless approach of 
apoplexy, is inversely as the danger. The warning given is 
in itself a far greater evil than the mischief to be warded off. 
The result, moreover, is in the majority of cases not the 
preservation, but the loss of the part affecfted. Thus all the 
suffering experienced practically goes for nothing. It can 
scarcely be contended that man gains anything by the ex- 
treme sensitiveness which the nerves of the teeth possess. 
Should a variety of the human race spring up in whom these 
nerves became insensible on the first approach of decay in 
the teeth, such a race would, pro tanto , fare not worse, but 
better, in the struggle for existence. 
I have, in accordance with a very generally-received 
opinion, pronounced the sensitiveness of man to the contact 
of external objects a safeguard against a variety of dangers. 
But even here there are certain limits easily and often ex- 
ceeded, beyond which this sensitiveness, so far from being 
an advantage to its possessors, becomes a serious drawback. 
It is well known that in all those parts of the world — tro- 
pical, temperate, or ardtic — where mosquitoes, sandflies, &c., 
are numerous, they form a very tangible obstacle in the way 
of man’s “ replenishing and subduing” the world. It is also 
on record that sensitiveness to the bites of these and similar 
vermin varies greatly in different persons. Whilst some 
experience merely a very slight irritation, which quickly 
passes off, the bites in others occasion swellings and inflam- 
mation of a very annoying character. I know of cases where 
the attacks of the common English midge have rendered 
medical treatment necessary. On the other hand, I enjoy 
immunity from the bite of Simulium colwnbaczense, one of 
the most dreaded of these tiny marauders. Seeing, there- 
fore, how greatly human susceptibility to gnat-bites can 
vary, it is at least conceivable that a strain of our species 
might some time arise who would experience no annoyance 
from such inserts. It is beyond all dispute that in many 
parts of the world such a race would, c ceteris paribus , possess 
a decided advantage over ordinary mortals, and would have 
a natural tendency to preponderate in all regions infested 
with mosquitoes. Extreme sensitiveness to heat, to cold, to 
wind, &c., is also no safeguard or advantage, but a decided 
element of weakness. 
Hence we see that the susceptibility to pain in animals, 
