IV
There is another part of the body which opens periodically to allow of the ejection of the refuse of the factory; it consists in a cloaca and a cistern which contains a yellow liquid. It is a less beautiful part of the organism, but during violent emotions involuntary movements are produced in it so characteristic of fear that we must turn our attention to it. Physicians thought that these irregularities were caused by a paralysis of the sphincter muscle, but this is not the case. The researches which I made with Prof. Pellicani[26] showed that, in man as well as in animals, there are strong contractions of the bladder which correspond to psychic facts. Scarcely have we experienced some slight emotion or been excited by some thought but there is an immediate change in the state of the muscles of this organ. I regret that the nature of this book does not permit of the reproduction of the curves traced by the plethysmograph, which show that psychic phenomena and any irritation of the sensory nerves produce a contraction of the bladder.
This is the reason why, during emotion, we feel the urgent and repeated need to expel the urine, without the amount of accumulated liquid being such as to explain the necessity. We can no doubt all remember the annoyance which the contraction of this organ caused us on certain solemn occasions; for instance, when we had to make a speech, or present ourselves for an examination, or were anxiously expecting something.
The feeling of contraction and pressure in the abdomen when we approach a precipice, or when we are in great apprehension, is solely due to the involuntary contraction of the bladder. We have shown that all causes producing a contraction of the blood-vessels have the same effect on the muscles of the bladder. I have often seen excitable, good-tempered dogs, in whom caresses and the sight of food were sufficient to produce such a contraction of the bladder, that the urine was expelled; and this suffices to confirm the fact that in our organism the same phenomena may be produced by opposite causes.
In emotions violently agitating the nervous system, and especially in fear, the contraction of the bladder is so forcible that the will can no longer hinder the expulsion of the accumulated liquid; it is therefore not a paralysis, but too forcible a contraction of the walls of the bladder which causes the involuntary expulsion.
Let us throw a passing glance at what takes place in the cloaca maxima. The intestinal walls are as contractile as those of the bladder; nor need this surprise us, as they are furnished with smooth muscles, and receive nerves and blood-vessels from the same source. We know, indeed, that this canal is subject to rapid movements, for we have all frequently heard that rumbling noise of the intestines which we cannot suppress. If the abdominal walls were transparent, we should see, when this occurs, that there is a limited contraction of the intestinal walls which propagates itself slowly in the direction of the egress. These movements, called peristaltic, are present even when we hear no noise; they serve to mix the food in the stomach, promote digestion, and convey the useless residuum to the rectum.
In paroxysms of fear the rapidity of these movements is so greatly increased that, in a very short time, they convey substances introduced into the stomach to the terminal portion of the intestines before there has been time to elaborate, digest, and condense them. It is therefore no paralysis which may, in certain circumstances, make the most courageous men appear ridiculous, it is a stream overflowing its banks—the intestines contracting so violently as to eject their contents rapidly from the organism.
One of my friends, who served as a volunteer in 1866, described to me the physical disturbances which he suffered the first time he was under fire. 'Believe me,’ he said, 'nothing can give you an idea of the furious shower of bullets which whizzed about our ears. We were near a cemetery; perhaps it was the sight of the crosses and of some corpses lying by the road-side which increased my terror, but the bullets burying themselves in the walls and trees, the cries of wounded comrades, the grim rattle of musketry, the roar of the cannon, seemed to tear me inwardly. The dysentery was so terrible that my body seemed to fall to pieces. I was always cowering in the ditches, could only stumble forwards, scarcely even rise from the ground. I was ashamed; I could have killed myself only to be able to look death bravely in the face, but, indeed, my organism could not bear that terrible sight!'