Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage

The results of the degree of asphyxia above described are shoAvn by graphic record in Fig. 36. Blood taken from the vena cava and from the femoral vein before asphyxia ("normal") failed to cause inhibition of the contractions. Blood taken from the femoral vein after asphyxia produced al- most the same effect as blood from the same vein before; asphyxia, therefore, had wrought no change demonstrable in the general venous flow. FiGTiKE 36. — Adrenal secretion produced by as- phyxia. At 1 normal vena-cava blood applied, at 2 removed. At 3 normal blood from femoral vein applied, at 4 removed. At 5 blood from femoral vein after asphyxia applied, at 6 re- moved. At 7 blood from the vena cava after asphyxia applied. Time, half-minutes.

Blood taken from the vena cava after asphyxia had, on the contrary, an effect markedly unlike blood from the same region before (compare the record after 1 and after 7, Fig. 36)— it caused the typical inhibition which indicates the presence of adrenal secretion.* That the positive result obtained in moderate asphyxia is not attributable to other agencies in the blood than adrenin is indicated by the failure of asphyxial femoral blood to cause inhibition, while vena-cava blood, taken almost simultane- ously, brought about immediate relaxation of the muscle. The conclusion was drawn, therefore, that asphyxia results in increased secretion of the adrenal glands.

This conclusion has been supported by Bor- berg and Fridericia,^® and also by Starkenstein,^'' who found that an increase of carbon-dioxide in the blood lessens the adrenin in the adrenal me- * This positive result might suggest that the comparison of both femoral and vena-cava blood under each condition was unnecessary, and that a comparison merely of vena-cava blood before and after asphyxia would be sufficient. Positive results were indeed thus secured, but they occurred even when the adrenal glands were carefully removed and extreme asphyxia (i. e., stoppage of respiration) was induced. That the blood may contain in extreme asphyxia a substance or substances capable of causing inhibition of intestinal con- tractions was thus demonstrated. In one instance, after the blood was proved free from adrenin, the aorta and vena cava were tied close below the diaphragm, and the carotids were tied about midway in the neck. Extreme asphyxia was produced (lasting five minutes). Blood now taken from the heart caused marked inhibition of the beating intestinal segment. Probably, therefore, the inhibitory action of blood taken from an animal when extremely asphyxiated cannot be due to adrenin alone.

dulla. And recently Czubalski ^» also has inferred, from the rise of blood pressure in asphyxia when the adrenals are intact and the absence of the rise if the adrenals are removed, that asphyxia sets free adrenin in the blood. Asphyxiajike_£ain and excitement, not only lib- erates adrenin,J)uJt,jLS,migh,irbe inferred from that fact^_also_mobilizes__sng_ar.i® And, furthermore, Starkenstein *" has shown that the asphyxia due to carbon-monoxide poisoning is not accompanied by increased blood sugar if the adrenal glands have been removed.

iB-caaa-slrongLemotions are followed by vigor- ous exertions, therefore, asphyxia is likely to result, and this will act in conjunction with the emotional excitement and, pain, or perhaps in con- tinuation of the influences of these states, to bring forth still more adrenal discharge and still further output of sugar from the Jiver. And these in turn would serve the laboring muscles in the manner already described. This suggestion is in accord with Macleod's *^ that the increased freeing of glycogen from the liver produced by muscular ex- ercise is possibly associated with increased carbon- dioxide in the blood. And it also harmonizes with Zuntz's statement *^ that the asphyxia of great physical exertion may call out sugar to such a de- gree that, in spite of the increased use of it in the active musdes, glycosuria may ensue.

The evidence previously adduced that adrenin causes relaxation of the smooth muscle of the bronchioles, taken in conjunction with the evidence that adrenal secretion is liberated in asphyxia, sug- gests that relief from difficult breathing may thus be automatically provided for in the organism. The well-known phenomenon of "second wind" is characterized by an almost miraculous refreshment and renewal of vigor, after an individual has per- sisted in violent exertion in spite of being "out of breath." It seems not improbable that this phe- nomenon, for which many explanations have been offered, is really due to setting in operation the supporting mechanism which, as we have seen, plays so important a role in augmenting bodily vigor in emotional excitement. The release of sugar and adrenin, the abundance of blood flow through the muscles — supplying energy and les- sening fatigue — and the relaxation of the bronchi- olar walls, are all occurrences which may reason- ably, be regarded as resulting from asphyxia. And when they take place they doubtless do much to abolish the distress itself by which they were occa- sioned. According to this explanation "second wind" would consist in the establishment of the same group of bodily changes, leading to more efficient physical struggle, that are observed in pain and excitement.

The Utility of Eapid Coagulation in Pretentinq Loss OP Blood The increase of blood sugar, the secretion of adrenin, and the altered circulation in pain and emotional excitement have been interpreted in the foregoing discussion as biological adaptations to conditions in wild life which are likely to involve pain and emotional excitement, i. e., the necessities of fighting or flight. T^e_mQxe-j:apid-clat.ting of bloodunder^these same circumstances may also be regarded as an adaptive process, useful to the or- ganism. The importance-of eonserving the blood, especially in the struggles of mflrtal combat, needs no argument. The effect of local injury ia favor- ing the formation of a clot to seal the opened ves sels is obviously adaptive in protecting the organ- ism against hemorrhage. The injury that causes opening^J)lgod-Vjessels^,'£owever, is, if extensive, likely also to produce pain. And, as already shown, conditions^roducing pain increase adrenal secretion and hasten coagulation. Thus injury would be made less dangerous as an occasion for serious hemorrhage by two effects which the in- jury itself produces in the body — the local effect on clotting at the region of injury and the general effect on the speed of clotting wrought by reflex secretion of adrenin.

According to the argument here presented the strong emotions, as fear and anger, are rightly interpreted as the concomitants of bodily changes which may be of utmost service in subsequent ac- tion. These bodily changes are so much like those which occur in pain and fierce struggle that, as early writers on evolution suggested, the emotions may be considered as foreshadowing the suffering and intensity of actual strife. On this general basis, therefore, the bodily alterations attending violent emotional states would, as organic prepara- tions for fighting and possible injury, naturally involve the effects which pain itself would pro- duce. And increased blood sugar, increased adrenin, an adapted circulation and rapid clotting would all be favorable to the preservation of the organism that could best produce them.

22 Lee and Harrold : American Journal of Physiology, 1900, iv, p. ix. 2* Wilenko : Archiv fiir experimentelle Pathologie und Pharmakologie, 1913, Lxxi, p. 266. 2^ Lusk : Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 1914, xi, p. 49. Also Lusk and Eiche: Archives of Internal Medicine, 1914, xiii, p. 68. 3" Hoskins and Lovellette : Journal of the American Med- ical Association, 1914, Ixiii, p. 317. ^^ See Januschke and Pollak : Archiv fiir experimentelle Pathologie und Pharmakologie, 1911, Ixvi, p. 205. Trendelen- burg : Zentralblatt fiir Physiologie, 1912, xxvi, p. 1. Jackson : Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 1912, iv, p. 59.

" Starkenstein : Zeitschrift fiir experimentelle Pathol- ogie und Therapie, 1911, x, p. 95. The close relation between emotion and mnscu- lar action has long been perceived. As Sher- rington ^ has pointed out, "Emotion 'moves' ns, hence the word itself. If developed in intensity, it impels toward vigorous movement. Every vigor- ous movement of the body . . . involves also the less noticeable cooperation of the viscera, es- pecially of the circulatory and respiratory. The extra demand made upon the muscles that move the frame involves a heightened action of the nutrient organs which supply to the muscles the material for their energy." The researchl^s here reported have revealed a number of unsuspected ways in which muscular action is made more effi- cient because of emotional disturbances of the viscera. Every one of the visceral changes that have been noted— the cessation of processes in the alimentary canal (thus freeing the energy supply, for other parts) ; the shifting of blood from the

abdominal organs, whose activities are deferable, to the organs immediately essential to muscular exertion (the lungs, the heart, the central nervous system) ; the increased vigor of contraction of the heart ; the quick abolition of the effects of muscu- lar fatigue ; the mobilizing of energy-giving sugar in the circulation — every one of these viscera] changes is directly serviceable in making the or- ganism more effective in the violent display of energy which fear or rage or pain may involve.

That the major emotions have an energizing effect has been commonly recognized.* Darwin testified to having heard, "as a proof of the exciting nature of anger, that a man when ex- cessively jaded will sometimes invent imaginary offences and put himself into a passion, uncon- sciously for the sake of reinvigorating him- self ; and," Darwin ^ continues, "since hearing this remark, I have occasionally recognized its full truth." Under the impulse of fear also, men have been known to achieve extraordinary feats of running and leaping. McDougall * cites the in-

* Russell (The Pima Indians, United States Bureau of Ethnology, 1908, p. 243) relates a tale told by the Indians to their children, in which an injured coyote was chasing some quails. "Finally the quails got tired," according to the story, "hut the coyote did not, for he was angry and did not feel fatigue." stance of an athlete who, when pursued as a boy by a savage animal, leaped over a wall which he could not again "clear" until he attained his full stature and strength. The very unusual abilities, both physical and mental, which men have exhib- ited in times of stress were dealt with from the psychological point of view by William James * in one of his last essays. He suggested that in every person there are "reservoirs of power" which are not ordinarily called upon, but which are nevertheless ready to pour forth streams of energy if only the occasion presents itself. These figurative expressions of the psychologist receive definite and concrete exemplification, so far as the physical exhibitions of power are concerned, in the highly serviceable bodily changes which have been described in the foregoing chapters.

It would doubtless be incorrect to attempt to account for all the increased strength and tireless endurance, which may be experienced in periods of great excitement, on the basis of abundant sup- plies provided then for muscular contraction, and a special secretion for avoiding or abolishing the depressive influences of fatigue. Tremors, mus- cular twitchings, the assumption of characteristic attitudes, all indicate that there is an immensely augmented activity of the nervous system — an ac- tivity that discharges powerfully even into parts not directly concerned in struggle, as, for exam-

pie, into the muscles of voice, causing peculiar cries or warning notes; into the muscles of the ears, drawing them back or causing them to stand erect, and into the small muscles about the lips, tightening them and revealing the teeth. The typical appearances of human beings, as well as lower animals, when in the grip of such deeply agitating emotions as fear and rage, are so well recognized as to constitute a primitive and com- mon means of judging the nature of the experience through which the organism is passing. This "pat- tern" response of the nervous system to an emo- tion-provoking object or situation is probably capable of bringing into action a much greater number of neurones in the central nervous system than are likely to be concerned in even a supreme act of volition. The nervous impulses delivered to the muscles, furthermore, operate upon organs well supplied with energy-yielding material and well fortified by rapidly circulating blood and by secreted adrenin, against quick loss of power be- cause of accumulating waste. Under such circum- stances of excitement the performance of extraor- dinary feats of strength or endurance is natural enough.*

* If individual neurones obey the law of either supreme ac- tion or inaction, the "all-or-none law," the only means of securing a graded response is through variation of the number of neurones engaged in action — the more, the greater the re- sulting manifestation of strength. In connection with the conception that strong emotion has a dynamogenic value, it is of interest to note that on occasions when great demands are likely to be placed on the neuro-muscular system in the doing of unusual labors, emotional excitement is not uncommonly an accompaniment. In order to emphasize points in the argument developed thus far, I propose to cite some examples of the association of emotional excitement with remark- able exhibitions of power or resistance to fatigue.

Already in an earlier account (see p. 75) I have mentioned finding sugar in the urine in approxi- mately fifty per cent of a group of college football players after the most exacting game of the sea- son's play. As is well understood, such games are heralded far and wide, loyal supporters of each college may travel hundreds of miles to attend the contest, enthusiastic meetings of undergraduate students are held in each college to demonstrate their devotion to the team and their confidence in its prowess — indeed, the arguments for victory, the songs, the cheering, are likely to be so disturb- ing to the players, that before an important con- test they are not infrequently removed from college surroundings in order to avoid being over- wrought when the contest comes.

tiplied manyfold. There is practically a holiday in college and to a large extent in the city as well. The streets are filled with eager supporters of each team as the hosts begin to gather at the field. As many as 70,000 spectators may be present, each one tense and strongly partisan. The student bands lead the singing, by thousands of voices, of songs which urge to the utmost effort for the college ; and, in anticipation, these songs also cele- brate the victory.

Into the midst of that huge, cheering, yelling, singing, flag-waving crowd, the players are wel- comed in a special outburst of these same demon- strations of enthusiasm. Soon the game begins. The position of every player is known, if not be- cause of previous acquaintance and recognition, because card-diagrams give the information. Every important play is seen by the assembled thousands, and the player who makes it is at once announced to all, and is likely to be honored by his multitudinous college mates in a special cheer, ending in his name. Any player who, by infrac- tion of the rules or failure to do his part, loses ground gained by his team is also known. The man who is "played out" in efforts to win for his team and college, and consequently has to leave the field, is welcomed to the side lines by acclamations suited for a great hero. In short, every effort is made, through the powerful incentives of censure

and a flaunting recognition, to make eaeli member of the team realize vividly his responsibility, both personal and as one of a group, for the supreme, all-important result — victory for his college. This responsibility works tremendously on the emotions of the players. In the dressing room - before a critical contest I have seen a "gridiron warrior," ready in canvas suit, cleated shoes, and leather helmet, sitting grimly on a bench, his fists clenched, his jaws tight, and his face the color of clay. He performed wonderfully when the game began, and after it was over there was a large per- centage of sugar in his urine ! Probably no sport requires a more sustained and extreme display of neuro-muscular effort than American football. P-'^. And from the foregoing description of the condi- tions that surround the contests it is easy to real- ize that they conspire to arouse in the players ex- citements which would bring forth very efficiently the bodily reserves for use in the fierce struggle which the game requires.

What is true of football is true, though perhaps to a less degree, of the racing sports, as running and rowing. Again great multitudes attend the events, the contests are followed closely from be- ginning to end, and as the goal is approached the cheering and cries for victory gather in volume and intensity as if arranged for a thrilling climax. The whole setting is most highly favorable to the dramatic development of an acme of excitement as the moment for the last desperate effort to win is put forth.

Dancing, which formed a significant feature of primitive rituals, has always been accompanied by exciting conditions, and not unusually was an ex- hibition of remarkable endurance. In the trans- fer of the Ark to Zion there were processions and sacrifices, and King David "danced before the Lord with all his might." Mooney ® in his ac- count of dances among the American Indians tells of a young man who in one of the ceremonials danced three days and nights without food, drink or sleep. In such a terrible ordeal the favoring presence of others, who through group action help to stimulate both the excitement and the activities, must be an important element in prolonging the efforts of the individual.

In the history of religious manias " there are many instances of large numbers of people becom- ing frenzied and then showing extraordinary en- durance while dancing. In 1374 a mania broke forth in Germany, the Netherlands and France, in which the victims claimed to dance in honor of Saint John. Men and women went about dancing hand in hand, in pairs, or in a circle, on the streets, in the churches, at their homes, or wherever they might be, hour after hour without rest. While dancing they sang, uttered cries, and saw visions. Whole companies of .these crazy fanatics went dancing along the public roads and into the cities, until they had to be interfered with.

In 1740 an extraordinary sect, known as the "Jumpers," arose in Wales. According to the description given by Wesley, their exercises were not unlike those of certain frenzied states among the Indians. "After the preaching was over," Wesley ^ wrote, "anyone who pleased gave out a verse of a hymn; and this they sung over and over again, with all their might and main, thirty or forty times, till some of them worked them- selves into a sort of drunkenness or madness ; they were then violently agitated, and leaped up and down in all manner of postures, frequently for hours together." There were sometimes thou- sands at a single meeting of the Jumpers, shouting out their excitement and ready to leap for joy.^ Wesley has also described instances of tremendous emotional outburst at Methodist meetings which he addressed. "Some were torn with a kind of convulsive motion in every part of their bodies, and that so violently that often four or five per- sons could not hold one of them. I have seen many hysterical or epileptic fits," he wrote, "but none of them were like these in many respects."

companied by intense excitement and apparently tireless movements. "The cries of 'Ya Allah !' are increased doubly, as also those of 'Ya Hoo !' with frightful bowlings shrieked by the dervishes to- gether in the dance." . . . "There was no reg- ularity in their dancing, but each seemed to be per- forming the antics of a madman ; now moving his body up and down; the next moment turning round, then using odd gesticulations with his arms, next jumping, and sometimes screaming." . , > "At the moment when they would seem to stop from sheer exhaustion the sheikh makes a point of exciting them to new efforts by walking through their midst, making also himself most violent movements. He is next replaced by two elders, who double the quickness of the step and the agita- tion of the body ; they even straighten themselves up from time to time, and excite the envy or emu- lation of others in their astonishing efforts to con- tinue the dance until their strength is entirely exhausted." Such is the frenzy thus developed that the performers may be subjected to severe pain, yet only show signs of elation.

In all these dances the two most marked features are the intense excitement of those who engage in them and the very remarkable physical endurance which they manifest. Although there is no direct evidence, such as was obtained in examining the football players, that bodily changes favorable to great neuro-nmscular exertion are developed in these furies of fanaticism, it is highly probahle that they are so developed, and that the feats of fortitude which are performed are to a large ex- tent explicable on the basis of a "tapping of the reservoirs of power" through the emotional ex- citement.

Throughout the discussion of the probable sig- nificance of the bodily changes in pain and great emotion, the value of these changes in the strug- gles of conflict or escape was emphasized. In hu- man beings as well as in lower animals the wildest passions are aroused when the necessities of com- bat become urgent. One needs only to glance at the history of warfare to observe that when the primitive Amotions of anger and hatred are per- mitted full sway, men who have been considerate and thoughtful of their fellows and their fellows' rights suddenly may turn into infuriated savages, slaughtering innocent women and children, muti- lating the wounded, burning, ravaging, and looting, with all the wild fervor of demons. It is in such excesses of emotional turbulence that the most astonishing instances of prolonged exertion and incredible endurance are to be found.

Probably the fiercest struggles between men that are recorded are those which occurred when the wager of battle was a means of determining innocence or guilty^In the corners of the plot se- lected for the combat a bier was prepared for each participant, as a symbol that the struggle was for life or death. Each was attended by his relatives and followers, and by his father confessor.^" After each had prayed to God for help in the com- ing combat, the weapons were selected, the sacra- ment was administered, and the battle was begun. The principals fought to the end with continuous and brutal ferocity, resembling the desperate en- counters of wild beasts. A fairly illustrative ex- ample is furnished in an incident which followed the assassination of Charles the Good of Flanders in 1127. One of the accomplices, a knight named Guy, was challenged for complicity by another named Herman. Both were renowned warriors. Herman was speedily unhorsed by Guy, who with his lance frustrated all Herman's attempts to re- mount. Then Herman disabled Guy's horse, and the combat was renewed on foot with swords. Equally skilful in fence, they continued the strug- gle till fatigue compelled them to drop sword and shield, whereupon they wrestled for the mastery. Guy threw his antagonist, fell on him, and beat him in the face with his gauntlets till he seemed to be motionless ; but Herman had quietly slipped his hand below the other's coat of mail and, grasping the testicles, with a mighty effort wrenched thexn

away. Immediately Guy fell over and expired.^* In such terrific fights as these, conducted in the extremes of rage and hate, the mechanisms for reenforcing the parts of the body which are of primary importance in the struggle are brought fully into action and are of utmost value in secur- ing victory.^ It is noteworthy that in all the instances thus far cited — in the great games, in dancing, and in fighting — two factors are present that are well known to have an augmenting effect both in the full development of emotions and in the perform- ance of unusual m,uscular labors. One of these is the crowd of witnesses or participants, who con- tribute the "mob spirit" that tends to carry the actions of the individual far beyond the limits set by any personal considerations or prudencies. The other is the influence of music. As Darwin long ago indicated, music has a wonderful power of recalling in a vague and indefinite manner strong emotions which have been felt by our an- cestors in long-past ages. Especially is this true of martial music. For the grim purposes of war the reed and the lute are grotesquely ill-suited ; to rouse men to action strident brass and the jarring instruments of percussion are used in full force. The influence of martial music on some persons

is so profound as to cause the muscles to tremble and tears to come to the eyes — ^both indications of the deep stirring of emotional responses in the body. And when deeds of fortitude and fierce ex- ertion are to be performed the effectiveness of such music in rousing the aggressive emotions has long been recognized. The Romans charged their foes amid the blasts of trumpets and horns. The ancient Germans rushed to battle, their forces spurred by the sounds of drums, flutes, cymbals and clarions. There is a tradition that the Hunga- rian troops are the worst in Europe, until their bands begin to play — then they. are the best! The late General Linevitch is quoted as saying : "Music is one of the most vital ammunitions of the Eussian army. Without music a Russian soldier would be dull, cowardly, brutal and inefficient. From music he absorbs a magic power of endurance, and for- gets the sufferings and mortality. It is a divine dynamite." And Napoleon is said to have testified that the weird and barbaric tunes of the Cossack regiments infuriated them to such rage that they wiped out the cream of his army.^^ A careful consideration of the use of martial music in war- fare would perhaps bring further interesting evi- dence that its function is to reenforce the bodily changes that attend the belligerent emotions.