SENIOR
TEXT
The Senior Textbook is an
elaboration of the Principles of Chiropractic, and advanced work in theory and practical
phases.
Art. 304.
Dates.
The history of Chiropractic is really the
history of adjustments. Quotation from Volume IV:
“Although Chiropractic was not so named
until 1896, yet the naming of ‘Chiropractic’ was much
like the naming of a baby; it was nine months old before it was
named. Chiropractic, in the beginning of the thoughts upon
which it was named, dates back at least five years
previous to 1895. During those five years, as I review many
of these writings, I find they talk about various phases of that which
now constitutes some of the phases of our present day
philosophy, showing that my father was thinking along and
towards those lines which eventually, suddenly crystallized
in the accidental case of Harvey Lillard, after which it sprung
suddenly into fire and produced the white hot blaze.” (B.J. Palmer)
As Chiropractic grew, other important things
useful in Chiropractic were discovered: Palpation, between
1898 and 1900; Nerve Tracing, 1905; Meric System,
1909; Spinograph, 1910, Taut and Tender Fibers, 1922;
Neurocalometer, 1924. (Note – I heard B.J. explain Taut
Fibers in 1920 in his classes, as if it were then old to
him. But no one seemed to pay much attention to it until in 1922, when
he began to emphasize it; so, 1922 is the date usually
mentioned. R. W. S.)
Art. 305.
History Of Adjusting.
I prefer to quote B.J. Palmer in “Majors
and Minors,” page 7, in order to tell the History of
Adjustments:
“The first patient who received a
Chiropractic adjustment was Harvey Lillard, a colored man.
The incident, in brief, follows. He had been deaf 17 years, so much
so that from the Fourth Floor of the building where he was
janitor he could not hear wagons moving or street cars
rolling on the streets below. When asked how he became deaf,
his explanation follows: ‘While in a cramped, stooped
position, I felt and heard something pop in my back. Immediately, I went deaf.’
To one who was observant, a student, that
would be an accidental eye-opener, and it was to D. D.
Palmer who asked, ‘What is the connection between the back
and hearing in the ears?’ He examined the back.
By good
fortune, the first case in which a spine was examined with that
thought in view, a LARGE bump was found. It was not one of
the common bumps we see today in palpation, but so
prominent it could be seen with the eye.
“The following consequential reasoning
occurred. If there was no bump when the hearing was good,
and the production of this bump destroyed hearing,
why don’t the reduction of the bump restore hearing?
The
first attempt to correct, what is now a subluxation, was then
made. The patient was put upon the floor, face down, and a
shove-like movement given. The “bump” was reduced
by the first three shoves, and in three days hearing was
restored. Harvey could hear a watch tick at the average
distance you and I can today.
“The next question was, if the reduction
of one bump in one man restores hearing, why won’t a
similar bump, in other people, produce deafness, and if it does,
why wouldn’t the reduction of these bumps, in the same
way, restore their hearing? It was tried on others.
By a
peculiar series of circumstances, the results did not come
as readily in their cases, but eventually they came.
“Then the third question arose: If a bump
in the back caused deafness, why not other parts of the
spine produce other dis-ease? So our question has gradually
enlarged until by a systematic systemic series of
investigations, covering years, you have your Chiropractic of today.
“Education advanced.
After a period we
ceased calling them ‘bumps.’ They became ‘dislocations.’
We, at a later time, were impressed with the idea that this
bump was not a dislocation. It was, in reality, not a
dislocation but partial, more assuming the character of a luxation,
yet not a luxation. It was a subluxation.
“When we had assumed, as a matter of
education, that breadth of ideals where they became
subluxations, we no longer assumed to shove. We developed the ‘push
and pull principle,’ which was of various forms and
methods.
“We began, at a following period, to study
the spine from a MECHANICAL point of
view. Until this time the only people who attempted to study the spine, as
a machine, were osteopaths, although pathologically they
still regarded man as chemistry and physics.
“We confined our observations of
mechanical ideas to the spine, so much so that we brought
out the ‘Knowledge of the Kinematics of the Spine’; both normal and
abnormal, as to position, apposition, and subluxations.
We
then began the study of the pathological, traumatic and
anomalous conditions of the spine. At that time began the
gathering of the osteological collection which we now
possess, for the purpose of elucidating the theories then
held and propagation of others.
“It became necessary that we know the
human spine. That was the keynote of the study of CAUSES
of diseases
of man. We studied spines of all characters;
thousands of other bones that we might better reach a new
thought or idea in progress. How well that has been done you
know today. Hours, months, and years were spent in the study
of ‘dead bones’ to be able to give thoughts that
may be taught in a few minutes. Yet it took years to reach
the conclusions given in a few minutes.
“When we studied the spine, mechanically
speaking, we realized that ‘treatment’ was far-fetched
in its application, as describing the thing we attempted to do.
Being a machine, mechanically constructed, mechanically
subluxated, it should be mechanically ADJUSTED. Then came
the word ‘adjustment.’
“Approximately six years ago we began a
series of clinical tests or investigations from a new
viewpoint. I refer to the Spinograph. Until
that period the X-Ray had not been used in its application
to human spines in living individuals for the purpose of ascertaining the approximate
detailed apposition of the vertebrae, normal, abnormal and
traumatic. When we made our first series of Spinographs
we were the
first to touch this vital question. There existed no
previous technique for our observations or work. It became
necessary to develop a system of taking spinographs to prove
that subluxations existed, where and of what character.
“We began tabulating these observations,
which today we are ready to say makes another step. These
conclusions are based on the readings and studies of over
50,000 spinographs, all of which were taken in our
laboratory with this definite end in view.
“It is no longer sufficient to say that we
adjust with the recoil. We are ready for our next step,
which you may call ‘206,’ altho I prefer the ‘Toggle-Recoil’
because of its application by the new series of observations
made from the spinographic facts.
“History is ‘his-story.’
The ‘his’
in this case being the author who has lived it, been the
cause for a large majority of it, therefore the source of the facts here
recorded could not be improved.” (B.J. Palmer)
Art. 306.
Four Viewpoints Of Area Adjusted.
(From Maj. and Min., page 9.)
“From the question of area of the spine
worked upon, there have been four viewpoints in adjusting
work:
“1.
Ordinarily we shoved but one of the
back-bones and our patient got well. All of which was pure
accident for we did not know why this place should, neither
was there a rule for application. Ask where to shove
for this or that and we didn’t know. The spine was unexplored
territory.
“2. Being unexplored territory, wishing to
get our cases well irrespective of what he had, knowing that
it came from the spine somewhere, we shoved
every back bone
at each ‘sitting’ each day. We began at the 7th cervical
and went clear down to the sacrum – we did not shove
cervical vertebrae in those days, we were afraid to. We
shoved them all, one by one, on the ground that (a) we didn’t know
where to shove for any one particular trouble; (b) we had no
meric system, the spine was not mapped out; (c) therefore hit
them all to be sure to hit the one involved. It was not a
hit-or-miss proposition, it was a hit-’em-all method,
so we couldn’t help but get the one involved. It was a
case of the lazy man’s load; being too indolent to think or reason,
we made a shot-gun series of shoves. Much like ‘Uncle
Howard’ Nutting says he ‘got the burglar in his house.’
He
‘started at the garret, went clean down to the cellar,
shooting into every corner where a burglar could hide,’ therefore ‘he was
sure he got the burglar.’
“Notwithstanding, this extreme shot-gun
method was in vogue in the Chiropractic styles of 1896-7;
notwithstanding, a major application of our meric system began
in 1898, and the major application went out of style and has
been ever since; yet, inconsistent as it now appears, there
is one lone advocate in our ranks who insists upon the every-vertebra-adjustment
idea today. Not being taught today in any
Chiropractic school, not being known by the largest majority
of our ranks, it is not known except to the oldest
Chiropractors, hence when it is sprung at some meeting, it
awakens a bit of interest not because of its reason or logic or brilliancy
of deduction, but because of its startling contrasting
nature.
“3. The third viewpoint came following the
deduction of the radiation of nerves from specific parts of
the spine to specific organs of the body. The meric
system being the basis, the ‘specific system, of
adjustment came into vogue. We now adjusted only those subluxations for
which the patient had a dis-ease. For example: our case has
heart, stomach, liver and bowel troubles. The subluxations – a
la meric system – were H. P., S. P., K. P., and P.P.
This
man instead of getting 17 shoves on the back got but 4, one for
each. It eliminated the useless and concentrated on the
useful. It was direct, a subluxation for a dis-ease.
Thus its title
– ‘specific.’
“4. The fourth viewpoint is our present
‘Major and Minors’ wherein we even make the ‘specific
system’ a major and minor one in reality. Under this system we
classify the symptoms of the four given troubles above and
possibly find that two or three of the dis-eases this case has,
are adaptative to the one or two subluxations, hence are
minors of the major; the adjustment of the latter taking care of
the former. (More of this appears later.)
“There have been in reality four periods
in the history of Chiropractic ‘moves.’ First, the shove,
with its variations from Nos. 1 to 78;
second, the push
and pull, with its changes from Nos. 70 to 200; third, the recoil,
with its modes from Nos. 201 to 205;
fourth, the period
of the toggle-recoil or ‘206’.” (B.J. Palmer)
Art. 307.
The Palmer Toggle Recoil.
The Palmer Toggle Recoil, No. 206, is still
being used as the one specific and best “move” which
accomplishes the greatest percentage of adjustments. However,
since the time the above was written by B.J., the New
Posture, or Knee Posture, or Palmer Posture, came into use as
a new phase, about 1922. It is Dr. Palmer’s opinion,
supported by the Faculty of The P. S. C., that it is the best
posture for the patient, which, used with No. 206, is the
best combination to date. (See The Art of Chiropractic, textbook of
The Palmer School of Chiropractic.)
Art. 308.
How Chiropractic Was Named.
Chiropractic was named by Dr. Samuel H.
Weed, a minister well versed in ancient languages. Chiropractic is a word
composed for the Greek;
cheir meaning the
hand, and praktos meaning
done; hence, done by hand. Chiropractic has always run true to its name.
The
chiropractor adjusts subluxations, with his hands only, and
therefore must have dexterity and skill. This is art.
Art. 309.
The Major Premise. Principle
No. 1. (Art. 24)
Universal Intelligence is in all matter and
continually gives to it all its properties and actions.
Since it is universal it is common to every
locality. Therefore, it is in anything and everything that
is in the same locality. In the beginning it created
matter; it did not, then, abandon matter but creates or
unfolds thoughts for it every moment. This solicitude maintains matter in
existence. The physical “properties” which matter has,
are but force (energy) continually given to it by
intelligence. In a like manner, the quality that matter is
said to possess, is what intelligence is giving it. Life, as
Chiropractic sees it, is a quality or character that matter
may have, occasioned by the presence of, or attention of
intelligence,
having continuation or duration, involving time. (See
Webster). No lesser agency than Universal Intelligence can prevent any
of these things but the perfect expression of intelligence,
according to what man wants, may be prevented by the
limitations of matter. Even this is a universal law and is a
phase of the Universal Cycle.
Life is combination of intelligence, force,
and matter. Matter makes up the material universe –
intelligence is the immaterial universe, and force is what binds
them together. We perceive force as forms of energy.
Matter is that which fills space and its
function is to express force. It does not fill all space,
but there is no limit to the places you may find it. You may travel in
space (if you could) for an unlimited time, and no matter
how far you got, you would find material. The amount of it is
infinite. “Infinite” means having no limit – no
boundaries. “Universal” means everywhere – common to every locality.
Therefore, being infinite and everywhere, we use the term
Universe. If you subtract from the material universe, any
amount you wish to name – no matter how large – it would
not diminish the total amount. That is what infinity means.
The Immaterial Universe is the Intelligence
that made all this. It, too, is everywhere, and therefore it
is in all matter. It created everything, so it must have “known
how” infinitely, and is all-wise. It is stronger than the
strongest thing it made; and older, for it was there first.
It is
omnipotent, and unlimited. It fills all time, space, and
distance.
The definitions of Chiropractic give it
plenty of latitude in the realm of things universal. Therefore we are able to go
back to the most fundamental principle of
all; to “get our backs against the wall,” so to speak,
and know that we are starting at the beginning. To question this
fundamental is to be like the child who turns a picture over
to see it from the back, or asks who made God.
Art. 310.
The Chiropractic Meaning Of Life. Principle
No. 2.
The expression of intelligence through
matter is the Chiropractic meaning of life.
The meaning of the term
life has many
interpretations. It is usually accepted to mean existence,
or duration, or a vague idea of both. To Chiropractic, it is
definitely the expression of intelligence; the manifestation
of intelligence. Then in this broad sense the meaning is not limited to
mere organic matter, but includes all matter. Therefore, we
will be obliged to make a deductive classification, going from
the general to the specific, (Art. 12) and deal with the
specific; viz., universal life and organic life.
Art. 311.
The Union Of Intelligence And
Matter. Principle No.
3.
Life is necessarily the union of
intelligence and matter.
Without intelligence, matter could not even
exist. Without matter, intelligence could not be expressed.
We are never aware of motion unless we perceive matter
moving. The study of physics shows us that some form of
energy gets into matter to make it move. Without this energy,
matter is inert. The study of physics also shows us that no
matter is totally inert; therefore it always has some energy
in it. Energy must have an origin. From its character of
precision and accuracy, we deduce that its origin is
intelligence – nothing less. These facts from which we
derive our conclusions are axioms – can be perceived everywhere.
Our
recognition of the intelligence of life or of motion in
matter depends upon our ability to recognize law.
Art. 312.
The Triunity Of Life. Principle
No. 4.
Life is a Triunity having three necessary
united factors; viz., intelligence, force, and matter.
Without intelligence, matter could not even
exist. Without matter, intelligence could not be expressed.
Then there is a bond between intelligence and matter that
cannot be dispensed with. These three factors; intelligence,
matter, and the bond between them, are inseparable. The bond
is called force. It is sometimes called “The Missing Link.”
Unlike other sciences, which study them separately,
Chiropractic studies them all together. From this
fundamental arises Dr. Palmer’s comparison and his epigram. (See Art. 20.)
Art. 313.
The Perfection Of The Triunity. Principle
No. 5.
In order to have one hundred per cent life,
there must be one hundred per cent of intelligence, one
hundred per cent of force, one hundred per cent of
matter.
It is obvious that the three factors of the
triunity are inseparable; they are not separable in part, if
one hundred per cent perfection is to be maintained. Since
intelligence is always one hundred per cent perfect, and
always creates one hundred per cent of force,
it
is certain that if any imperfections of the triunity exist, (clinical
findings show that they do exist)
that matter is the only part of the triunity
that can be imperfect. Since
matter cannot be destroyed by any lesser agency than the Creator, it is obvious that
this imperfection is not in matter itself, but in the
quantity, quality, and arrangement of matter. Hence,
there
are limitations in structures of matter;
in its imperfect building; its imperfect arrangements; the wrong kind of matter for
the purpose or even the lack of matter which should be in
that structure but is not. From this fact arises the expression so
often used fundamentally in Chiropractic. The
expression of intelligence may be hindered by the limitations of
matter.
Art. 314.
The Principle Of Time. Principle
No. 6.
There is no process which does not require
time.
Since action of matter implies a procession
of events, a continuity, naturally time enters into the
triunity as an element. Time is an element necessary to the bond
between intelligence and matter. Force is a word implying
action; action is process. Action implies one event after
another. One event after another, forming a series, implies
time. No happening, even though it takes only a moment, but
happens in a unit of time, or a fraction of a unit of time.
Art. 315.
The Amount Of Intelligence In
Matter. Principle No.
7.
The amount of intelligence for any given
unit of matter is always one hundred per cent, and is always
proportional to its requirements.
There are any number of instances in the
existence of matter which prove that it has the requisite
amount of attention from the Creator. That requisite amount is
enough and no more. It is, therefore, the perfect amount –
one hundred per cent. “Amount” means perfection, and
that is what is needed for the maintenance of the unit as it
is. No power less than the Creator could deprive a unit of matter
of its share of intelligence; but the limitations of matter
may prevent the expression of that intelligence. The “amount”
that one unit has, may be less than that which another unit
has, but is always one hundred per cent for that
particular unit. This holds true in both organic and
inorganic matter.
Art. 316.
The Function Of Intelligence. Principle
No. 8.
The Function of Intelligence is to create
force.
Everything in the universe has a purpose;
that purpose is its function. Intelligence is in the
universe, therefore it has a function. It is evident that the function of
intelligence is to think. Thinking is the origin of force.
Creating is the thinking or unfolding of thoughts. The force of
thought is the greatest of all forces, for it is really the
fundamental of all energies; of all dynamics.
Art. 317.
Mind. (116 to 125 V)
Mind is the activity of Innate Intelligence
in the brain as an organ.
The introduction of thought into matter via
the brain. (Prin.
3, 8, 10, 13.)
Chiropractic maintains that Innate
Intelligence is the power which governs the body; is the ego
itself. You are your Innate Intelligence, and your Innate
Intelligence is you. If you claim that you are master of
your Innate, that is a mistaken assumption of values and is the same as
Innate belittling herself. Surely, Innate would never do
this; but when it appears that she does, it is a mis-expression.
(Prin. 24)
Mind is the term applied to what
intelligence does when it is at work.
Innate Mind and Educated Mind are terms used
to indicate the kind of work being done.
When Innate does not work, there is no mind.
Let us compare a musician to the Power; his
instrument to the brain, and music to mind. When the
musician plays on his instrument, as an organ of expression,
there is music. When the musician ceases playing, there is
no music expressed.
In Chiropractic, the term
mind is
considered a little differently than it is in psychology.
In
psychology, one mind is considered in two divisions – conscious
and subconscious, with no definite division between them.
Psychology considers that this mind is the governing intellect
and implies that while the subconscious mind may govern
metabolism and the like, the conscious mind is your ego; is
really the master. We gather from the teachings of
psychology, which is based upon a materialistic view, that one can
willfully govern his own destinies, even to the extent of
healing.
Chiropractic does not use the terms
conscious
mind and subconscious
mind at
all, for there is absolutely no application of these terms to anything Chiropractic.
Chiropractic Philosophy is not a study of psychology, any
more than it is of chemistry or physics. Chiropractic
recognizes and honors all the findings of the
psychologist as it does that of the physicist. It makes use of these findings as
it does those of the physicist and agrees with psychology as
long as it is consistent with Chiropractic. In other
words, there is a Chiropractic psychology, which is the
study of the mind.
All the psychology that is considered in
Chiropractic can be studied under the division called “Mental,”
the third step of the Cycle.
Art. 318.
Innate Mind. (125 V)
Innate Mind is the activity of Innate
Intelligence in the innate brain as an organ.
The product of this activity is Innate
thoughts or mental force.
The act or business of assembling forces in
Innate brain.
Even when “she” uses educated brain, she
first uses innate brain. (See
Fig. 4.)
If Innate ceased giving attention to a
tissue cell one single instant, that tissue cell would
either act incoordinately, be poisoned, or be bodily injured.
All of these dangers being made are by the
unadapted universal forces present in all matter. (Prin. 1,
11.)
This attention is given in the form of
mental impulses, which are adapted forces, to cause the
tissue cell to act in an adaptative manner and thus escape or
overcome the dangers, however slight. Therefore, the innate
brain must be used every instant by Innate and consequently,
Innate mind is in existence all the time. (If the musician
plays all the time, there will be music all the time.)
Art. 319.
Educated Mind.
Educated Mind is the activity of Innate
Intelligence in the educated brain as an organ.
The product of this activity is educated
thoughts; such as, reasoning, will, memory, etc.
Innate controls the functions of the “voluntary”
organs via the educated brain. (See
diagram, Fig. 4.)
Educated thoughts are mostly for adaptation
to things external to the body.
Educated thoughts are never outwardly
expressed until Innate does it through Innate brain; for
instance, one may have a thought, but be unable to express it
vocally, if Innate is unable to operate the organs of speech
owing to interference with transmission of mental impulses.
In any
case, we should not know how to operate the organs of speech
even though we can will them to act. The educated thoughts
may be kept within the brain and as Chiropractic says,
expressed there, but which psychologists say make a physiological
change in the tissue of the brain. We see no reason why we
should not agree with this theory.
In the last analysis, all educated thoughts;
education, will, memory, reasoning, etc., are for adaptation
to things external to the body.
They are for welfare, comfort, betterment
and safety to the body. Though we sit down in an easy chair
and read a book, go to a show, these, after all, are
processes of education which are for a more competent
adaptation to environment. The fact that it may give us pleasure, does not
detract from the fact, for successful adaptations always
give pleasure; it is a natural psychological law.
The reason that man ranks the highest among
living things is because he possesses an organ for that
class of adaptations more highly developed than those of others.
“Voluntary” movements are those caused
by Innate which conform to or are influenced by the number
of times that movement has been made before. In other
words, it is an educated movement; and its efficiency is
dependent upon experience in doing that thing.
The term
voluntary has
reference to the will.
Voluntary movements are those we
educationally will to do.
Analyzation shows us that this is Innate
adapting a move to “synthetic” environment; to a group
of “stored-up” percepts; instead of immediately fresh ones.
For example, we decide to take a walk. The decision came
from no outside influence, but it was born of a group of
feelings or thoughts which we had experienced before.
We do not use the terms
voluntary and involuntary because
they imply that something might be involuntary to Innate Intelligence, which is impossible.
Art. 320.
The Philosophy Of Education. (See
Webster for education and percept.)
The Philosophy of Education is that every
experience and percept is stored away in the brain, in a
manner not well understood by any science.
Education is the term applied to the amount
of stored-up experiences and percepts.
Reasoning is the present comparisons and
classifications of stored-up experiences together with
present percepts and experiences.
Memory is a new mental adaptation to old
percepts and experiences.
Will is mental or physical adaptation to a
new grouping of old percepts and experiences, usually
influenced by the present.
Knowledge is the term applied to stored-up
educational values when they are so classified and grouped
as to be readily useful.
Wisdom is the term applied to mental skill
in classification and comparison of educational values
together with present percepts; “common sense.”
Instinct is the initial small amount of
experience recorded in the brain for a “nest-egg.”
Living things blessed with very much of this have little ability
to accumulate anything new.
A genius is one who has an unusually
augmented group of educational values centered around one
phase of human activity; or has this group
instinctively developed to start with.
The usefulness of educated mind to Innate
depends upon the amount of experiences stored away and
present ability to group these experiences. An old man may have
gone through many experiences, but stored few percepts.
In
that case, he has small education. Again, an old man may
have stored away many percepts, but owing to illness,
childishness, or other incoordinations, may be unable to make
adequate present comparisons. A feeble minded person, being
born that way, would be unable to store many percepts, so
experience would avail him but little. In that case, it is
probable that the brain tissue is defective or deficient, so that
Innate has not adequate material to work with. (Prin. 24.)
Innate does not record in the brain all that
she knows, or all that she does in the body. In fact, only a
small portion is recorded. The amount that Innate can record
is limited by the brain tissue, even in the best of brains.
Thus, Innate’s expression is limited by the limitations of
matter. (Prin. 5, 24.) To express infinite wisdom, Innate
would require infinite brain tissue. Therefore the educated mind is
finite and also limited to a lifetime, at the end of which
the material records are “returned to dust.”
Educated minds probably have very few
entirely original thoughts. They are so bound by instinct,
habit, precedent, and the limitations of matter, the influences of
environment containing thousands of similar influences and
combinations of circumstances, that few minds are peculiar
enough (literally they are peculiar),
to lead off into untrammeled pathways. What they do is new to them and new to
contemporaneous minds and so it is said to be entirely new.
Perhaps it is; perhaps no human mind ever thought of it
before, but it is certain that it is not new to any Innate.
Universal Intelligence knows it, and Innate as a part of Universal
knows anything that is and will be pertaining to the matter
in her care. Therefore, what man invents is well known to
Intelligence and would likely have been expressed before,
had the same happy physical and circumstantial
combinations existed before.
Art 321.
Consciousness. (127, 314 V)
(Webster.)
Consciousness means awareness.
The present process of classification and
comparison of percepts by Innate Intelligence.
Innate mind is active and aware all the time
and receives all impressions.
(Note – a percept is an educational
impression.)
Educated mind is aware part of the time;
Innate records and compares percepts there during waking
moments.
The term “awareness” or “consciousness”
is better understood when applied to educated mind.
Innate receives impressions in innate brain
all the time, but while we sleep, these, even the ones from
the special senses, are not recorded. When we are awake, the
reports from the special senses, and many others, are
recorded, more or less definitely, and we are able to recall most
of them, if the occasion and combination or circumstances
are favorable.
For example, if we commit to memory a piece
of poetry, and then “forget it,” and twenty years later
commit it to memory again, it will seem vaguely familiar,
and “learning it by heart” is easier than it was the
first time.
Again: If we hear a band play a certain
piece of music, and if we notice the strains at all, even
without interest, the same strains will sound familiar years
afterward, and may even call back a visualization of the
place where it was heard.
Art. 322.
Unconsciousness. (314 V)
Unconsciousness is the lack or absence of
functional activity in educated brain.
Metabolistic activity, however, is not
necessarily lacking.
Normal unconsciousness is the normal
withdrawal of functional activity by Innate; as, in sleep.
Abnormal unconsciousness is the condition
when there is a lack of absence of functional activity, not
brought about by Innate, but due to interference
with transmission of mental impulses, trauma, or poisoning.
There is no unconsciousness in innate brain
as long as there is life in the body.
Normal unconsciousness, as sleep, is
necessary and beneficial. It is the natural method of Innate
to relax the body and brain and relieve them from all educated
function which is very wearing and productive of waste
materials. It is a sort of “moratorium” allowing time for tissues
to be cleansed, repaired, and brought up to their full
status of construction.
Abnormal unconsciousness, as abnormal sleep
or coma, is not natural; is not beneficial, and is not
brought about by Innate. It is not in any way desirable to
Innate, and while in that state the tissues of the body and
brain are being deprived of Innate’s ministrations and sometimes
are damaged beyond repair.
Art. 323.
Specific Phases Of
Unconsciousness. (313 to 320 V)
Sleep is a normal unconsciousness as an
adaptive act for bodily reparation.
Dreaming is an abnormal activity of some
educated brain cells during sleep.
Sleep, if it is normal, is accompanied by
perfect relaxation and is a complete resting of the educated
brain. If, however, there is some interference with
transmission, and perhaps poisons in the Serous Circulation
due to poor elimination, indigestion, or other incoordinations, some
of the educated brain cells are not resting as they should
be and are acting when Innate does not wish them to do so.
This pseudo-functioning is not caused by Innate, but by
poisons keeping the cells awake. (229, 317 V)
Since all the brain is not awake and there
is not perfect intercommunication between all cells, perfect
ideation is not obtained, and their concepts are apt to be
sketchy and erratic, hence the fantasy of dreams. From this
it can be seen that dreams are mild mental insanity. (316 V)
If a large enough section of the educated
brain is awake, with the rest of the educated brain asleep,
it is possible to get a connected train of thought on one line;
consequently, some remarkably clear thinking sometimes is
accomplished in dreams. As, when a student who has been
worrying about a mathematical problem, easily solves it in a
dream. The working section is not bothered by other
influences and is able to be used in concentrated thinking.
Sleep talking is a form of dreaming in which
the center from which the organs of speech are governed is
awake.
If no reasoning centers are awake at the
same time the “talking” is apt to be mere gibberish,
there being no thoughts to utter.
Sleep walking is a form of dreaming in which
the centers from which the locomotive organs are governed
are awake.
This may or may not be accompanied by
wakefulness of some reasoning or talking centers.
Fainting is a form of unconsciousness due to
sudden anemia of the brain; sometimes adaptive and sometimes
not.
If it is adaptative, it is a protective
measure by Innate to rescue from sudden or violent physical
or mental stress. If it is not adaptive, it is not a condition desired
by Innate, and is in no way beneficial and may even be
dangerous.
Coma is a form of unconsciousness, strictly
abnormal, and is often a symptom of approaching death.
In a profound coma it is impossible to wake
the patient and death soon ensues. There are other forms of
coma not fatal but always serious, in which it is possible
to wake the patient, but with considerable effort. (See
Symptomatology.)
Narcotic sleep is an abnormal sleep due to
paralysis of educated brain tissues by poisons. (315,
308, V)
Hypnotic sleep is a state of unconsciousness
induced by relaxation. (315
V)
Normal sleep is accompanied by relaxation.
Profound sleep – perfect relaxation. No educated thought
– no educated expression. To reverse this process, as we
can see many such reversals in nature, perfect relaxation is
accompanied by sleep. No need for educated expression,
therefore there are no educated thoughts; a law of cause and
effect and adaptation. The will is the first to
succumb. Hypnotism is accomplished by monotony. Monotony, by
its sameness, calling forth a long succession of identical
adaptations, induces relaxation and sleep follows. This is
accomplished usually through the sense of hearing and of
sight. To gaze fixedly for a long time will induce
hypnotism. A monotonous sound, as the hum of a dynamo will also act
the same. The hypnotist makes use of both of these, also of
suggestion.
Art. 324.
Mental Insanity. (316 V)
Mental insanity is unsound mind due to
unsound educated brain cells.
Incoordination in educated brain.
“Dreaming in greater degree”
(Palmer).
“Just as the different tissues of the body
are dependent upon nutrition for the proper performance of
their functions, so is the educated brain.” (Palmer)
The educated brain tissues can be made
unsound by interference with transmission of metabolistic
impulses (see
vegetative impulses in 317
V; 286 Morat; 281 Pottenger)
which make them susceptible to poisons in the Serous Circulation.
If these cells are unsound they
cannot function properly and coordinately, hence their
product, thought, will be unsound.
The term
insane is used
synonymously with unsound in
Chiropractic. To speak of insanity does not mean mental insanity, necessarily, in Chiropractic.
When
it is necessary to indicate the latter, the two words,
mental insanity are used. We also speak of
physical
insanity meaning
unsoundness of any tissue cell. The common, or medical usage
of the term insanity is to indicate mental insanity
only. The student is cautioned to be sure to learn this
difference in the use of terminology.
Art. 325.
The Amount Of Force Created By
Intelligence. Principle
No. 9.
The Amount of Force Created by Intelligence
is always one hundred per cent.
Force is an immaterial thing; there is
nothing to prevent intelligence from creating all it wants
of it. But intelligence being perfect, therefore incapable of
incorrect action, creates the requisite amount – no more,
no less. The amount of force created by Innate in the brain cell is
the proper amount to perform a specific act – no more, no
less – hence one hundred per cent.
The amount created a
moment later for the same tissue cell, may not be as much or
the same quality, but would be exactly suitable for the
occasion. This shows the law of adaptation.
Art. 326.
The Function Of Force. Principle
No. 10.
The Function of Force is to unite
intelligence and matter.
We would never know there is such a thing as
intelligence, since it is abstract, unless it is shown to us
by matter; that is, expressed. Matter cannot exist without the
attention of intelligence. Structures of matter cannot exist
without the building forces of intelligence. Structures of matter
cannot continue to exist without the maintenance by
intelligence. This is accomplished by the application of force by
intelligence. Thus force is the connecting link or bond
between intelligence and matter.
Art. 327.
The Character Of Universal Forces. Principle No. 11.
The forces of Universal Intelligence are
manifested as physical laws; are unswerving and unadapted
and have no solicitude for structures of matter.
Bodies actuated by physical forces will not
go one iota out of their way to dodge anything in their
paths. Things actuated by these forces may be injured or
destroyed by their rigor. There is not the slightest
variation of their amounts, qualities, or direction in order to protect
a single thing. They are antipodal to adapted forces.
However, the student must not conclude from this, that Universal
Intelligence is maliciously destructive. It is but the
working of the great cycle; the plan of Universal Intelligence that this be
so, in order to maintain life. Universal Intelligence, by
putting localized portions of itself in matter, builds up
structures in order that there may be something to tear
down. What would happen eventually, if no structure was ever torn
down? It is clear that creation would cease and there could
be no further life; for structures must be destroyed in order that
living things continue to live. A little thought will show
us that every bit of food we eat or have eaten is organic matter,
vegetable or animal, it matters not which, both have had
Innates and have been deprived of their lives in order that
we might live! Another thought; suppose all the people who
have lived in all the thousands of years were living now, is it
not possible that the entire surface of the earth would be
covered several layers deep with their bodies?
Let us compare your watch to one of Innate’s
structures for an analogy. This watch is made of molecules
and atoms which are just as valuable to Universal
Intelligence in the elemental state as they are in a
structural state. The structure, however, was of value to the factory which
made it, and is to you, who possess it. In the hands of
both, it gets extreme care. You do not trust it to the tender (?)
mercies of universal laws by leaving it outdoors in all
kinds of weather; by putting it in water or letting it fall.
You
keep it carefully in your pocket, suspended on a chain, or
in its case. At every instant of its structural existence, you
keep it in a safe place and see that it is repaired when it
needs it. To be convinced of what universal laws will do to a tissue
cell, a structure valued by Innate, you should take your
watch, a structure valued by you, and hold it over a hard floor or
stone and let the law of gravity have it for a fraction of a
second.
Art. 328.
Interference With Transmission Of
Universal Force. Principle
No. 12.
There can be interference with the
transmission of universal forces.
The phenomena of Universal Forces are
common, and its interference is too common to be discussed
at great length. A tree makes shade when the sun shines; lead
plates interfere with X-rays; brass stops magnetism; rubber
and glass interfere with the passage of electricity, etc., etc.
Whether these forces be radiant or conducted, there is a way
to interfere with them. If they are being conducted through
material, a gap in the conductor will stop their flow; and a
diminishing of the size of the conductor will diminish the
amount which gets through. As swiftly as the energies travel
in the radiant form and with apparent ease, they all prefer to
pause, enter, and be conducted by matter. If this were not
true, we could have no electricity for use, no compasses, no radio
sets, no shade for comfort, and no sunburns. Each of these
energies has a preference for certain kinds of matter.
Having these well established facts about natural phenomena,
then is it not reasonable to suppose Innate’s forces
might be radiant, but like other forms of energy, prefer a
conductor and have a preference for the
kind of
conductor, which is nerve tissue? And, if this is true, is
it not reasonable to suppose, though we cannot see this mental energy, that the
impingement of this living conductor will interfere with the
flow? It is true; it is no longer in the realm of theory; it has been
proven time and again, when adjustments have gotten sick
people well.
Art. 329.
The Function Of Matter. Principle
No. 13.
The Function of Matter is to express force.
Nowhere in the Universe can there be matter
that does not receive the caretaking of Universal
Intelligence. The Great Intelligence keeps it up to date every
moment and no bit of material is without its share of
vibration for the creative thinking of Universal Power is transformed
into what we know as forms of energy. We are never aware of
these forces until they are expressed by matter. You
cannot perceive a motion unless matter does it, and matter
will not move, unless a form of energy gets into it. The same may be
said of other forms of energy that we know in our study of
physics, such as, heat, light, and electricity. These forms
are all interchangeable, hence life is but vibration in
degree. The forms, of which we have spoken, are according to the
unchangeable laws of physics, therefore unadaptable. It
applies to inorganic matter.
Though structures of matter may have many
varied functions, all of them are primarily to express
force. It is impossible to conceive matter without force
or force without matter, and we know that force originates
in intelligence.
NOTE: – The term
force is used
in Chiropractic as energy is
physics.
Art. 330.
Universal Life In All Matter. Principle
No. 14.
Force is manifested by motion in matter; all
matter has motion, therefore there is universal life in all
matter.
This is a principle derived from, and really
belonging to No. 2. Life is necessarily the union of
intelligence and matter. Intelligence is an entity.
Matter is entity. The character of matter when intelligence is present, is
what we called life. It is made known to us by matter expressing the
force which intelligence creates. “Life is manifested by
vibrations, according to degree.” Molecules have vibrations –
manifesting force. Nothing but intelligence could issue the
force. Tissue cells have vibrations – a greater degree of
life, manifesting force. Bodies of “animate” things have
more movement (from within); still more life. It requires
intelligent creative forces to cause such movements. Therefore, an organism, with signs of life, has more intelligence united
with it than the molecule. (See Fig. 6) The vibrations of
molecules and atoms are manifestations of universal life.
Our
ability to perceive life is exactly proportional to our
ability to recognize Universal Intelligence all about us.
Every
structure of matter from a lump of clay to the tiger has
intelligence in it, exactly proportional to its state of organization.
The higher the grade of structure, the higher the grade of intelligence present, to
make it and keep it that way.
“Degree” in Chiropractic terminology is
taken to mean “degree of perfection”; therefore, it
involves quality as well as quantity.
Art. 331.
There Can Be No Motion In Matter
Without The Effort Of Force. Principle
No. 15.
Matter can have no motion without the
application of force by intelligence.
This is a fact that is so obvious that it is
easy to overlook. No one ever saw motion, but everyone has
perceived matter moving. It was the matter which was seen;
and when it possessed motion it was perceived that it
changed location, or was changing location. An act is an intangible
thing and it is never perceptible to us, unless matter makes
it so. If no force were applied to matter, it would be totally
inert. Of course no one has ever seen matter, which was in
that condition. It is the writer’s opinion that if such were the
case, it would cease to exist. It is a proposition reduced
to the absurd. All matter has motion and therefore has what
Chiropractic calls universal life. The origin of force being
intelligence, then any motion is indicative of intelligence, if one
cares to note it. But how about matter which has a force
applied to it and does not change location? We know such to be
true. The answer to that is, we must apply the Laws of
Motion and realize there are greater forces than the applied
one, which cause the matter to remain stationary. A given
portion of matter has molecular motion which we cannot see, and
may apparently be at rest.
Art. 332.
Universal Force In All Kinds Of
Matter. Principle No.
16.
Universal Intelligence gives force to both
organic and inorganic matter.
If Universal Force is universal, which it
is, it is impossible for any matter to be where Universal
Force is not. Organic matter is but inorganic matter built
(organized) into structures, and has its full quota of
Universal Forces. It should be kept in mind, however, that they are fully
under the control of Innate Intelligence; that is to say,
adapted. If the student has followed the subject closely through the
book, he will see, easily, that Innate does not lack for
forces to adapt and assemble for her use, and all without a
cable from Universal Intelligence for conduction. (See Fig.
6)
Art. 333.
Cause And Effect. Principle
No. 17.
Every Effect has a Cause, and every Cause
has Effects.
It is evident that one could not exist
without the other. There could be no reason for the
existence of a cause, if it did not have effects. It is an axiom, that there
could not be an effect without a cause causing it. The study
of Chiropractic is largely a study of the relations between
Cause and Effect, and Effect and Cause.
Art. 334.
The Signs Of Life. Principle
No. 18.
The Signs of Life are evidence of the
intelligence of life.
They are motions of the adaptive kind which
show the presence and government of a localized
intelligence. They differ from the motions of universal forces, in
that they show selection and the judgment of local
intelligence in every phase. They meet, use, or oppose every
environmental circumstance, if it is within the range of
their limitations. There are five principal signs of life.
Their names in
order of importance are: assimilation, excretion,
adaptability, growth, and reproduction. An organism may have these
signs so latent that it is difficult to tell whether the
organism is alive or not. Yet this low organism has its share, its
quota, the requisite amount of intelligence for its state of
organization.
Art. 335.
Organized Matter. Principle
No. 19.
The material of the body of a “living
thing” is organic matter.
Organized matter is structures of molecules
and atoms which have been assembled for the purpose of
functioning adaptively. They are structures that have
been built by their innates to house them (the innates).
They are, therefore, under the solicitous care of those
intelligences, the same as any house would be under the care
of its owner. The house of an innate intelligence is built and “kept
in repair” by its owner. The structure is precious to the
intelligence that built it, but it is not precious as a structure to
Universal Intelligence, except insofar as it is a part of
the Universal scheme to have structures built in order to tear them down.
Art. 336.
Innate Intelligence. Principle
No. 20.
A “living thing” has an inborn
intelligence within its body, called Innate Intelligence.
It is the local intelligence which has built
a house for itself and keeps that house in repair, and is
the intelligence to which the condition of the structure is of
supreme importance.
No one will deny that it requires
intelligence to build a body. It cannot be denied that it
takes intelligence to build even a tissue cell. No scientist, however clever,
has been able to do it and never will, for it is a task for
The Infinite. It must be remembered that infinity is in a tissue cell
just as much as in stellar space. It cannot be done by man,
no matter how efficient his laboratories are. Moreover,
man cannot even repair one of these tissue cells if it is
damaged. The cells and the bodies are built according to a plan.
It
takes an infinitely wise Architect to make those plans.
Though scientists have studied anatomy and histology for centuries,
their knowledge of the body leaves as much unexplored as
Darkest Africa before it was explored. Sugar is organic
matter having the formula C12H22O11.
It is made by the innate intelligence of plants. Let chemists take the same elements
in the same proportions, combine them chemically, and they
will have a compound of C, H, and O, but it will not be
real sugar. Why? Because the infinite wisdom of an innate
intelligence was necessary.
Let us, in this step of our study, look upon
Innate Intelligence less romantically and more
scientifically. Not as a little god coldly aloof somewhere in our bodies;
whom we personify with a capitalized name and whom the more
conceited of us think we must chastise occasionally; but
as a mathematical law of nature.
Art. 337.
The Mission Of Innate
Intelligence. Principle
No. 21.
The Mission of Innate Intelligence is to
maintain the material of the body of a living thing in
active organization.
It is the ambition of Innate Intelligence to
build the body and then keep it actively organic. The
Universe would not be complete without everything; hence a
universe could not be complete with only unadapted forces
and universal laws of the destructive kind. In order to complete
the cycle, there must be construction. In order to complete
the cycle, a local and specific application of intelligence is
necessary.
Art. 338.
Evolution Values.
A series of similar adaptations repeated a
number of times results in a change of shape and texture of
a tissue.
If there is a failure of such adaptations
there will be no adaptive improvements in the tissue. The
failure is due to interference with transmission.
If no need arises calling for adaptive
improvement, such changes will not be made and the specie
settles into a type.
If there is not a constant use of the
adaptive improvements of tissue, it will be removed or
reduced to the rudimentary, by Innate.
If the change in tissue, due to successful
adaptation, becomes permanent through use, it will be
transmitted to posterity.
If the descendants continue to use
improvements which were inherited, they become permanently
established as property of the race.
The unsuccessful adaptations are not
transmitted to posterity for in that case there are no
values to transmit.
Dis-ease is a failure to adapt, therefore is
not inherited.
(Art.
207.)
Whenever there is adaptation made in a
tissue cell by Innate, there is perfect physical
personification of Innate – her plans perfected. The organism successfully
has passed the Xth. milestone in the history of the
universe. Innate knows that all the tissue cells of that structure
are adequate for the present; but Innate knows that there
are other “milestones” to pass and that the circumstances of the
future occasions may be different. If the tissue cells have
not passed the present milestone successfully and made adaptation,
they certainly will not be any better prepared for the next
one. The value that the organism accumulates by experience, in
this manner, is Accumulative Constructive Survival Value.
The
organism now is ready to do easily what it did the
first time and to withstand a greater adversity the next
time. The “essence” of these values is inherited by succeeding
generations of that organism. Note, we do not say, if a
workman has calloused hands, that his son is bound to have
calloused hands. No, the change is slower than that.
If
several generations of workmen have calloused hands, the offspring
of that line will have tougher skin on the hands. However,
even in the life of one animal or plant, we easily can
perceive the structural strengthening (within limits of
course). The action for the moment of stress, that we spoke of, was
adaptation and so was the structural strengthening that
followed. (See foregoing definition.) From this arises the statement
mentioned before. Adversity is the mold that the Creator
uses to shape the forms and destinies of living things.
“Great
pilots were made on deep seas and rough waters.” The
living things that we perceive about us today have the forms and
structures they possess, because every cell in them is the
result of intellectual adaptation sometime in the past.
From this
we can see from whence came the expression “the survival
of the fittest.”
“The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
That stood out on the open plain,
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man,
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow in ease.”
(Better Homes and Gardens, April 1927.)
The successful adaptations were inherited,
that is, the survival value of it was. Obviously, the
unsuccessful adaptations cannot be passed on to posterity, for in
that case there is no survival value. There is nothing to
inherit. Also, if there is no occasion for; no call for intellectual
adaptation; no adversity to be met, there will be no
adaptation, hence no survival value. Therefore, if a race of beings is
called upon to face the ever-changing conditions of the
universe with its evolution, that race will fall into a type that has
gotten behind the advance of the world, and will find it
harder to adapt when the necessity for it comes. That is what
happened to the dinosaurus.
Therefore, step by step, physical
personification advances with the changing institutions of
the universe. On that basis, the next tissue cells expanded are better
equipped. This also is the explanation of acclimatization.
Not only does it pertain to the expansion of better cells in
the present body, but that perfection of plans is given to
succeeding bodies of the race.
Should there be a failure of adaptation for
any reason – because there was no call for it or because
subluxations prevented it, there will be no survival
value for inheritance. Since we use a unit system in our
work, as explained in the Normal Complete Cycle in Freshman work,
likewise we might say that survival value is the unit of
evolutionary value; positive values transmitted to posterity as
a foundation to build better.
Art. 339.
The Quality Of Innate
Intelligence. Principle
No. 22.
There is one hundred per cent of Innate
Intelligence in every living thing.
The “Quantity” of Innate Intelligence in
one thing may not be as
much as the “Quantity” in another living thing, but it
is the requisite amount, hence one hundred per
cent for that thing. (See Principle No. 7.)
Art. 340.
The Function Of Innate
Intelligence. Principle
No. 23.
The Function of Innate Intelligence is to
create adaptive forces to be used in and for the body.
Everything in the universe has a purpose and
that purpose is its function. Obviously, Innate
Intelligence, being in the universe, has a purpose. Objects of
inorganic matter do not need adaptation, so they have no special
attention
from Universal Intelligence. This special
attention is given to certain units of matter, by Universal
Intelligence, and the name of this
special
attention is
Innate Intelligence.
Innate Intelligence, the law of
organization, continually coordinates the forces and
materials within the organism to keep it actively organized.
That is to say,
creating. “Act of making, producing, fashioning, or
bringing into existence.” “Act of constituting or investing with a
new character, title or the like.” (Webster.) Innate takes
elements of no adaptive character, puts them together, “investing
with new character,” and now a new structure is brought
into being, and is so maintained.
Nothing less than intelligence could do
this. It is all accomplished, not by creating new forces and
matter “out of nothing,” but “investing” what is
already existing with new character. Thus the natural
energies within the body are assembled and made to do the work of
organization. In this light, then Innate
Intelligence is
the intelligence within the organism, which systematizes the forces
already there; it is,
scientifically speaking, the principle of organization.
Its
creations are forces systematized
adaptively, and materials built into intelligently planned
forms.
Art. 341.
The Limits Of Adaptation. Principle
No. 24.
Innate Intelligence adapts forces and matter
for the body as long as it can do so without breaking a
universal law.
It is evident that extreme adaptation cannot
be made for the body. Adaptation of matter can only be to
the point where molecules and atoms
must obey
physical and chemical laws. Innate can manage these laws up
to a certain point by manipulation, but cannot change or destroy
them. She can only use them to the limits of matter.
Therefore, Principle No. 5 applies to this one. Man can adapt
universal forces for his use and convenience, so it should
not be so difficult for Innate to do it. Should Innate fail in these
adaptations for any cause, these forces will injure or
destroy her tissues.
Art. 342.
The Character Of Innate Forces. Principle
No. 25.
The forces of Innate never injure or destroy
the tissues in which they work.
The forces of Innate are constructive –
not destructive. While there is wear on the part that
functions at the bidding of Innate, these parts are just as rapidly
repaired. On the contrary, the forces of universal, while
they may cause an organ to act in a manner which resembles its
function, and which causes wear, do absolutely nothing to
repair it. The action of universal forces upon organisms may be so
violent as to destroy them directly. The forces of
universal, as for instance electricity, will cause the muscles of a
dead frog’s leg to act like function, but it does nothing
for repair. When the wearing has wasted the muscle tissue, it
will not be in condition to be called a good organic
structure, and will soon cease to act.
That something which travels over the
nerves, which is arranged in cyclic form, is really an
intelligent current of life. People used to think it was a physical
force, or a chemical force that acted according to the laws
of physics and chemistry, and caused natural phenomena in the tissues
of the body in a mechanical way, as gravity does in falling
bodies. They thought it might be electricity that flowed
out over the nerves as it does over wires from the power
house, and that it might act upon tissue cells in a chemical way, as
it does in a bath for silver plating. Now we find that none
of these are true for the following reasons: If a body were
governed by a law as invariable as the law of falling
bodies, and as inadaptable, it would be an automaton. If electricity, which
is only a form of energy, were a power that governed the
actions of organs, it would be as apt to destroy the nerves and
tissues as it does the wires from the power house, and the
lamps and motors unless it too, is governed by an
intelligence. For electricity does not exhibit any
solicitous concern for the material through which it works; neither does
chemical action do so. Besides, if these facts were true, it
would be possible for man to create man in a laboratory, as he creates
physical and chemical phenomena. Man cannot build even one
tissue cell or repair the same if it is damaged. He may be
able to keep a tissue cell alive for a time in artificial
surroundings, but the tissue cell merely exists; does not function
or do the thing for which it was created, any more than a
bear in hibernation shows activity. No, this life shows that it
is an adaptable law, able to make instantaneous changes
according to environmental conditions of a tissue cell.
None but the Creator can change a law, make laws, or
circumvent physical laws, so the life current must be a force
directly from Law itself. It is not hard to see this, for
the manifestations of the intelligence of life are everywhere about
us; in man, animals, insects, plants, and lower organisms.
It builds all these, provides all their needs, circumvents
adversity, repairs them when damaged, and maintains them
until death. Then, this power leaves them and they rapidly return to
their elemental state – molecules and atoms.
What is in the living, which a moment after,
is not in the dead? What has gone that has kept these
molecules and atoms together in a unit of life, which is able to
show manifestations of intelligence, sensibility, and signs
of life? Mental force, that which flows over nerves to their
peripheral ending. This force or message is specific for the
momentary needs of a tissue cell. It must therefore be a more
highly organized force than that given to molecules and
atoms.
A lump of clay may be said to have some
organization, for it is a lump, but Universal did not endow
it with a special warden to see that it stays a lump. It has
no power to remove it from danger of disintegration, but
must take whatever fate brings it, without any attempt to circumvent
it.
Art. 343.
Comparison Of Universal And Innate
Forces. Principle No.
26.
In order to carry on the universal cycle of
life, Universal Forces are destructive, and Innate Forces
are constructive, as regards structural matter.
From our study of physics, we know that the
universe is full of energy. We see it manifested in every
bit of matter. There seems to be no limit to the amount of
energy that may be in the space occupied by matter, but
there seems to be a limit as to how much of it a given bit of
matter can express. Yet that limit may be of astonishing
proportions. Just what may be the electrical potential in say, a
pint of water or a marble? Like matter, energy cannot be
destroyed, but we see its manifestations reappearing in many different
forms.
We observe that energy seems to travel; or
at least it can express itself in matter at a distance from
its source. We say that it travels by radiation and conduction.
When it radiates, it travels swiftly – approximately at
the rate of one hundred and eighty-six thousand miles a second.
As
well as it travels by radiation, however, it seems to like
to pause and “play around” in matter. If this were not true,
we could not have radio receiving sets for the radio would
scorn our aerials. So, though it must travel much slower in matter,
it seems that it really prefers that mode.
With many forms of radiant energy, there can
be interference with its transference. We will not say all
forms, for we do not know, but we do know that an umbrella
interferes with the sun’s rays considerably. Lead hinders
X-rays; brass hinders magnetic rays, etc.
In matter, energy travels at a widely
variable rate of speed depending upon the form of energy and
upon the kind of material and the shape of the material.
Through some materials, a given form of energy will scarcely
travel at all. Thus we find that electricity prefers some
metals, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, and the like,
but does not pass readily through glass or rubber. Heat will pass
through silver, copper, and gold readily, but not glass,
asbestos, etc. Magnetism passes through soft iron easily, but not
brass or copper or gold and the like. Also, we find that
since these forms are radiant, they will easily be caught by the
kind of matter they prefer.
There can be interference with the
conduction of these energies, as when the conductor has a
gap or when its thickness is diminished. When interference with
conduction is thus offered to a conducted form of energy, it
will be transformed, partly or wholly, back into the radiant form
or into some other form. As in a conductor of electricity,
we find that electricity, when it suffers interference,
transforms into heat and radiates.
Mental energy in the body seems to obey the
same laws. As to its radiation, that is another story and is
too lengthy and entirely too theoretical to be within the
scope of this article. In the conducted form of mental
energy, we have more data and plenty of its manifestations.
We find
that it, too, prefers a conductor and uses nerve tissue for
its conveyance. About what mental energy
is, we are just
as much in the dark as electricians are about electricity,
but as electricians can do practical work, nevertheless, so
chiropractors are not hindered by that lack of knowledge.
Theories are a help and are progressive if they are based upon soundly
established facts; and as the electrician bases his
practical work upon a theory, so can the chiropractor.
Like other conducted forces, mental energy
can suffer interference by interposing a gap, by impinging
the conductor, or by deranging its substance.
Let us study another phase of the universal
energies. Universal Intelligence, with its universal
energies, fills all the space in the universe, and every spot in the
universe. Any place without it would be outside of the
universe, which is impossible and absurd. The body, then, is no
exception. Universal energies permeate every cell.
But there
is this difference; in the body, normally, Innate
keeps these forces all balanced, controlled, adapted to her
uses at all times – every moment. In fact, that is how “she”
does her work – by using the universal energies she finds
at hand. There are always plenty of them. Interference with her
balancing forces, which she has assembled (from universal
supply of course) prevents balancing and controlling the
forces resident at the tissue cell. Interference with
transmission causes the universal forces, in that given spot, to be
instantly unbalanced and therefore not behaving as Innate
wants them to. Of course, these universal forces must be
expressed by matter, as any kind of force must be. That is a
Chiropractic fundamental; but what material have these
universal forces at hand to express them? Anyone can see
that it is the tissue cell, for that is the spot we are talking
about. Then, this cell is expressing some physical or
chemical forces, without the management of Innate Intelligence.
All the energies of the body must be
controlled by Innate by balancing, restraining, and
augmenting them by the transmission of other forces from the
universal source. This is Innate’s job; her mission in the
body; her function. She can break no universal laws; create nothing
new; but can “juggle” the existing forces to build
existing matter into structures to house her, and then
continually “juggle” more forces to maintain that house.
Let her vigilance be interfered with one moment, and the universal forces
play pranks; that is, they are pranks according to Innate’s
estimation.
For organic matter, there are adaptable
forms of force. These forces show that intelligence has
originated them or managed them, and they are for the building
and maintenance of living organisms. Should these forces be
withdrawn, the living organisms revert to the elemental
state wherein their molecules act according to the
unswerving laws of physics and chemistry. A living organism has signs of
life, which is evidence that it is under the care of
intelligence; evidence of special care.
Having these forms of adaptability,
sensibility, and the forces which govern the organism, it
can respond to any new set of circumstance – not unswerving action
but changing action, according to the demands of the moment.
In a collection of living cells, as a living unit (for
instance, an animal) these forces come from a central point.
This points out that intelligence in a well-organized unit has a
headquarters.
If we use the hypothesis that mental
impulses are energies, then it must be a very carefully
composed unit of energies, prepared (created) by Innate in order to
impel the cell to proper action, which must be coordinative.
Mere action is not sufficient, that would be “stimulation”;
it must be right action in quantity, quality, direction, and
time. We might conceive of this mental impulse as being composed of
certain kinds of physical energies, in proper proportions,
which will balance other such forces in the Tissue Cell; as
electricity valency, magnetism, cohesion, etc., etc. Perhaps
some of these energies are not known to us in physics.
What right
have we to assume that we have found them all? The writer
presents this as a hypothesis or theory in order to get a
working basis. In other places in this book, other theories
for the same thing have been offered, for the same purpose.
Art. 344.
The Normality Of Innate
Intelligence. Principle
No. 27.
Innate Intelligence is always normal and its
function is always normal.
This is a principle from the Triune of Life
(Prin. 4) for more specific application. Intelligence is
always perfect – always one hundred per cent. The forces
which it assembles are always correct. They are not correct
when they reach Tissue Cell if there is interference with
transmission, but that is not because of imperfection in
Innate’s work, but because of the limitations of matter (Prin. 24).
It
is because the conducting tissue is imperfect or the
receiving tissue (Tissue Cell) is imperfect. Both the conducting tissue and
the receiving tissues are matter which is the third factor
of the Triune of Life, and the only member of it which can be
imperfect. The imperfection, of course, is in structure.
The
molecules of a wrecked locomotive are just as good as those
in a locomotive in running order, but the wrecked locomotive
is imperfect in structure and therefore is not a good organ
to express man’s wishes.
Here again we see embodied in a principle,
Local and Condition; Local, referring to the conducting
material, and Condition referring to the functioning –
or receiving material.
Art. 345.
The Conductor Of Mental Force. Principle
No. 28.
The forces of Innate Intelligence operate
through or over the nervous system.
Nearly all of us have read or studied some
physiology. We learned the bones, muscles, and organs and
the chief functions of the various parts of the body. We have always known that there is a spinal cord in the
human body. We learned, in a general way, “that the brain
controlled our movements” and the actions of our organs,
and that sensation depended upon the system of nerves.
The fact
that this system might go wrong did not occur to us, or if
it did, we were apt to think it not important.
Since most laymen have gone this far in
physiology, when the chiropractor explains how
incoordination can and does occur through this wonderful system of nerve
tissue, it looks reasonable to them. But at first the layman
is apt to get the idea that the chiropractor stimulates these
nerves, thinking of the effects only. Therefore, it is
necessary to explain that stimulation is not the same as the natural
current which is being delivered to all parts of the body.
If every living thing depended upon stimulation from the outside
in order to have its organs function every one of them would
have to have a doctor attending to them day and night,
continually sending in stimuli, which shows the absurdity of
such a belief. The
chiropractor aims only to restore
–
to bring about restoration. He adds no more current but
removes the obstacles to the normal flow of that which should be supplied
to the tissues from the inside. He is able to show how
pressure upon nerves can hinder the normal flow and the manner in
which he removes the pressure, so that Innate, who is able
to attend this body of tissue day and night may deliver
that which is necessary to the organs. The doctor could not
give this continuous service, but Innate can. The service of
Innate is not stimulation, for stimulation is addition –
not restoration. Stimuli are unadapted universal forces, not messages of
control. Stimuli only add more uncontrolled universal forces
to tissues which are already in the grip of such forces.
The brain is the headquarters of Innate’s
control – the seat of the mind. It is very delicate tissue
and is kept in a bony cavity, well padded and protected.
The
manner of its function is, and has always been, a mystery.
But for that matter, the manner of functioning of any tissue is still
a mystery – that is Innate’s business. Since the brain
is tissue and composed of tissue cells much like any tissue cell,
except in form and purpose, it is probable that they
function as other tissue cells, merely responding with their signs of life
– adaptability – to the forces which Innate delivers to
them to use or to transmit.
The brain is in two parts and each part has
two lobes. It is composed of soft gray matter on the outside
portions, called the cortice; and of white matter in the
inner or medullary portion. The gray matter is masses of
nerve cell bodies which are much the same as other cells, in that
they have bodies, nucleii, protoplasm, etc., but they differ
from other cells in that they have exceptionally long white branches.
Masses of these white branches are the white portions of the
brain. The cell is called a neuron, the long single branches
are called axons. The branches of the axons at their distal
ends are called terminal arborizations. The short branches
on the bodies are called dendrites. (See Fig. 8.)
The brain might be likened to an electric
power station. In it is generated a current of some kind.
From the brain, leads the Spinal Cord. It is composed of bundles
of Axons which form the white matter surrounding the gray
matter of the cord. The gray matter of the spinal cord is
made up of nerve cell bodies that are similar to those of
the brain. The bundles of nerve axons, and the column of gray
matter in the center, may be likened to an electric cable
which leads from the power station. (See Fig. 34.)
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