moral effort by its stable, firm fixedness of purpose. Firmness has been formed by a fine development of bone; its sign is found in the elongation of the lower jaw-bone, and this bone, as a logical and physiological sequence, has been formed by the kidney and fluid system of the body doing its work in a thorough and capable manner; upbuilding the bones by means of the lime in the system which has been conveyed in its fluid state to its several destinations, and also by the excretory action of the kidneys in excreting noxious and useless elements. An excess of bone, like all unbalanced systems, induces disease as well as perversions of character, which are shown in the mulish and stupid animal and person whose bones are too large and heavy for the other systems to harmonize with and give them proportionate action. Too much bone leaves its possessor stupid, obtuse, inert,-in other words, dull and lazy. The ass is a specimen of what a preponderance of bone will do in the way of stupidity and obstinacy. In the human family we shall find many who are real sufferers by too heavy and too large bones; not only do they suffer from inertia or laziness, but a too great deposition of lime in the system induces constitutional disorders, such as rheumatism, gout, enlargement of the joints, and ossification, in some instances, of the fingers; also, a decided tendency to liver complaints and melancholy as age advances. Those who doubt that mind and morals are dependent upon physiological formation for the illustration of their varied modes of action are referred to an examination of the bony system and its associated characteristics in all their various modifications for evidence of what is herein stated. The cultivation of Firmness, where it is defective, should be attempted in a religious spirit, with the view of improving upon ancestral inheritances and for the sake of advancing character to a balanced condition, to the end that morality may be enhanced, success in business assured, and health and longevity made possible. FACULTIES DERIVED FROM THE INTESTINAL SYSTEM. Digestion or Alimentiveness.—Digestion has its principal sign in the face located on either side of the mouth, and is known by fullness of the lower part of the cheek. This is the most prominent sign, in infancy, of good assimilative and nutritive powers. It is true that the signs of good digestion are to be found all over the person, and the bones will be well covered with adipose tissue where this function is vigorous. There is a seeming want of inductive ratiocination on the part of the majority of persons, who, while they recognize this sign for one physical function in the face, -viz., that of good digestive powers,-look no farther for the signs of the action of the other visceral organs, such as the liver, the kidneys, the heart, the lungs, the glands, the stomach, etc. Now, if Nature has placed the sign for one function in the face, it is logical and natural to infer that others are also represented there. While this function (digestion) is the sustainer of all the mental faculties that is to say, gives the nutrition essential to their existence and activity-the kidney system keeps all in purity and soundness by its excretory qualities alone. The fact that the fluid waste of the body exceeds the solid waste is undeniable. By actual demonstration it has been proved that the fluid waste from the kidneys and sweat-glands is more, by several pounds' weight in twenty-four hours, than is the waste excreted from the intestinal system. Writers on Writers on physiology are unable to account for the origin of the sensation of hunger. They do not seem to be able to discover how the individual becomes conscious of the need of the body for more nourishment; that is to say, how the stomach is made to feel hunger. Dr. C. Cutter, a writer of physiology, observes: It has been inferred by some writers on physiology that the glands which supply the gastric fluid, by a specjes of instinctive intelligence, would only secrete enough fluid to convert into chyme the aliment needed to supply the real wants of the system. What are the reasons for this inference? There is no evidence that the gastric glands possess instinctive intelligence, and can there be a reason adduced why they may not be stimulated to extra functional action as well as other organs, and why they may not also be influenced by habit? Precisely what Dr. Cutter means by "instinctive intelligence" he does not explain; and until he gives his explanation we can find no solution to the question as he propounds it. How can the human system know when it requires nutriment? My theory has been stated before, and I should answer, from its mind, or consciousness; for, as mind inheres in every part of the body, so the branches and filaments of nerves connected with the gastric glands convey to the brain these wants of the individual. The pneumogastric nerve ramifies upon the stomach, and this nerve becomes cognizant of the wants of the organ over which it presides, so to speak, and, communicating with the nerves of the other parts of the organism involved in the process of digestion, all combined make demand for more nutrition and prepare the several organs and glands for its reception. This theory is clearly proved by the fact that where the brain is functionally or structurally diseased it is often incapable of taking cog nizance of the conditions and appeals of these parts, and insane persons are often compelled by force to partake of food, as they would starve to death if left to their own care, not being notified by the stomach of the needs of the body-the consequence of the diseased condition of the brain. The case of the wounded sailor, noted by Sir Astley Cooper, illustrates this theory, and shows that all the vegetative processes of the body can go on without the brain being conscious of the action of the organs of respiration, secretion, excretion, or growth. In Sir Astley Cooper's "Lectures on Surgery," the following singular case is noted: At Gibraltar, a sailor fell from the yardarm of a ship, and was taken up unconscious. He remained some months in the hospital there, in a perfectly insensible condition. He was then conveyed to England and placed in a hospital at Deptford, where Sir Astley Cooper, the eminent surgeon, visited him. He was informed by the attending surgeon that the sailor had been insensible for many months. He said: He lies on his back with a few signs of life; he breathes; indeed, has a pulse, and some motion in his fingers; but in all other respects he is deprived of all powers of mind, volition, or sensation. If he wanted food, he had the power of moving the lips and tongue, and this action of his mouth was the signal to his attendants for supplying this want.* This last sentence corroborates my theory of the mental power of the nerves of the digestive apparatus. It is here proved that consciousness was suspended for many months; yet the organs of digestion had power to manifest intelligence in the manner indicated above. This man lay in this condition for thirteen months, when Sir Astley Cooper trephined him; that is to say, raised the depressed portion of the bone from off the brain, upon which it was pressing. Four hours afterward he was able to sit up in bed and converse, and four days after he was restored to all the faculties of his mind and functions of body. He said that he remembered nothing from the moment that he fell; thus proving that the faculty of Memory of Events was entirely suspended. His reason, we see, was dormant; all power over the muscles, with the exception of a slight motion of the fingers and tongue and lips, was gone; yet this man lived, breathed, secreted the juices of the stomach, liver, and intestines; excreted from the kidneys and bowels; but was unable to manifest intelligence, except that sort which the digestive apparatus was able to make apparent. This peculiar diseased condition of the sailor above instanced led to the important discovery that consciousness, or mind, existed within the body, as it does in those animals which are destitute of *Quoted from "A Physiology for Schools," C. Cutter, M.D., p. 30. a brain; it shows also that, while thought is manufactured in the brain, consciousness and intelligence are properties of nerve and ganglionic masses, and the nerves connected with the glandular system of digestion were able in this instance to make the man's wants apparent without the direct co-operation of either brains for thought, or muscles for speech. Of the method of studying mind through observation of morbid or diseased conditions, Dr. Maudsley remarks thus: It is probable that an exact observation of the mental effects of morbid states of the different organs would help the inquiry into the feelings and desires of the mind which owe their origin to particular organs. What are the psychological features of disease of the heart, disease of the lungs, disease of the liver? They are unquestionably different in each case.* Elsewhere the same writer observes: Let me now say a few words concerning the abdominal organs. No one will call in question that the states of their functions do exert a positive influence on our states of mind. I have met with one case of severe melancholia of long standing which was distinctly cured by the expulsion of a tape-worm, and it appears to be tolerably certain that hypochondriacal insanity is in some instances connected with, if not caused by, a perverted sensation proceeding from an internal organ, most often abdominal. In health we are not conscious of the impressions which these organs make upon the brain, albeit they assuredly send their unperceived contributions to the stream of energies of which consciousness is the sum and outcome; but when a disordered organ sends a morbid impression to the brain it no longer does its work there in silence and self-suppression, but asserts itself in an unwonted affection of consciousness. Not long since I saw a patient who believed that he had a man in his belly; when his bowels were constipated the delusion became active; he made desperate efforts by vomiting to get rid of his tormentor, and was then surly, morose, and dangerous; but when his bowels had been relieved the delusion subsided into the background and he was goodtempered and industrious.† The reciprocal action of visceral organs upon the brain, and of the brain upon interior organs, has long been investigated in asylums for the insane; but for want of a system to verify observations not much progress in the intelligent treatment of these cases has been made. A correct understanding of the physiognomy will assist materially in the recovery of these patients where disorder is caused by diseased states of the abdominal organs; for the face does unfold the signs for all these organs, and will reveal at a glance which are the weaker, and consequently those which are most likely to be assailed with disease, as well as those which are sufficiently strong to assist in repelling disease. *Body and Mind, Henry Maudsley, M.D., p. 36. FACULTIES DERIVED FROM THE GLANDULAR SYSTEM. Benevolence.-Benevolence, shown by the full, rolling, moist under lip, indicates a strong and active condition of the glandular system, both of the secretory and absorbent systems. Whenever this feature of the physiognomy is well developed, most of the secreting glands-viz., the lachrymal, salivary, and mammary glands, pancreas, liver, prostate, and testes-will be found to coincide in their vigor and normal action with the size and moisture of the under lip. The absorbent glands also find their illustration in the same feature. The absorbents are divided into two classesthe lacteals and the lymphatics. The function of absorption is indispensable to nutrition; its agents are the numerous minute vessels named the "absorbents" and the small, reddish bodies through which these vessels pass the "absorbent or conglobate lymphatic glands." The lacteals are found only in the abdomen. Their office is to convey the chyle, which they absorb (after the food has been digested in the intestines), to the thoracic duct, whence it is sent into the general circulation to repair the waste and renew the tissues. The lymphatics, on the contrary, are distributed through all portions of the body. Their use is to take up by absorption all waste or useless matters, and convey such matters which have become solvent either to the general circulation, there to be discharged from the system by some of the excretory organs, or used again in the economy of the human organism.* I have inserted this slight description of the office of the glandular system, in order that those of my readers who are not well read in physiology and anatomy may understand the philosophy of the action of these glands and the appropriateness of their signs in the face. Now, the glands in the lower lip, being more numerous and more prominent than in any other part of the face, would seem to point to that feature as the facial index of the glandular power of the entire system; added to the fact that the absorbing glands are directly related to the function of digestion, and whenever a prominent sign of any function or faculty is observed in the face, all minor signs are always to be found in juxtaposition with it, just as in the body all organs which assist a similar function or class of functions are placed in positions of sufficient contiguity to facilitate their mutual action. If the entire glandular system is well developed, we must infer that the absorbents will take up sufficient material to supply the necessities of the organism by creating new tissues, and that the excretory glands will perform the task of carrying from the system all effete or waste matter. Hence, a good development of this system shows its power to throw off diseases as well as to resist the approach of * Practical Anatomy, Robert Harrison, M.D., p. 360. |