PLEASURE AND PAIN. 
9 
explicable in a similar manner. They culminate in corns, 
bunions, bed sores, and lacerations. The Pains of many 
diseases allow of a like explanation. Intestinal Pain is 
often due to the distention of the membranes by solid or 
gaseous matter, which must obviously result in slight 
ruptures or strains upon their surfaces. The passage of 
renal calculi, gall stones, or clotted catamenial discharges 
is sometimes perfectly excruciating. Ulcerated sore-throat 
and many other internal complaints are obviously disinte¬ 
grative in their nature. Inflammatory diseases, such as 
gout, imply a straining of the tissues in the inflamed parts. 
Irritant gases, when inhaled, destroy the pulmonary tissues. 
Toothache is produced either by the actual exposure and 
wasting away of a nerve, or by virulent matter arising 
from decomposition of the teeth being carried to the nerve 
and setting up destructive chemical action. In short, a 
great number of Pains may be explained by very slight dis¬ 
memberments of minor portions of the body. 
In other cases the evidence only shows a tendency to 
disruption rather than its actual presence. Whenever a 
mass of connective tissue is exposed to a violent strain, the 
nerves which it contains are pinched or twisted and arouse 
an intensely painful sensation. Sprains, cramps, and 
spasms, are all due to disruptive pulls upon a muscle or 
tendon. Twitching the hair, jerking a limb, pinching the 
flesh, yield kindred feelings of less intensity. Here also we 
may perhaps suppose that there is actual separation of 
minute tissues ; for if we continue pulling the hair, we pull 
it out ; if we go on jerking the limb, we dislocate it ; and if