CHAPTER XI THE UTILITY OF THE BODILY CHANGES IN PAIN AND GREAT EMOTION We now turn from a consideration of the data secured in our experiments to an interpretation of the data. One of the most important lessons of experience is learning to distinguish between the facts of observation and the inferences drawn from those facts. The facts may remain unquestioned; the explanation, however, may be changed by additional facts or through the influence of more extensive views. Having given this warning, I propose to discuss the bearings of the results reported in the earlier chapters. Our inquiry thus far has revealed that the adrenin secreted by the adrenal glands in times of stress has all the effects in the body that are produced by injected adrenin. It plays an essential rôle in calling forth stored carbohydrate from the liver, thus flooding the blood with sugar; it helps in distributing the blood to the heart, lungs, central nervous system and limbs, while taking it away from the inhibited organs of the abdomen; it quickly abolishes the effects of muscular fatigue; and it renders the blood more rapidly coagulable. These remarkable facts are, furthermore, associated with some of the most primitive experiences in the life of higher organisms, experiences common to all, both man and beast--the elemental experiences of pain and fear and rage that come suddenly in critical emergencies. What is the significance of these profound bodily alterations? What are the _emergency functions_ of secreted adrenin? The Reflex Nature of Bodily Responses in Pain and the Major Emotions, and the Useful Character of Reflexes The most significant feature of these bodily reactions in pain and in the presence of emotion-provoking objects is that they are of the nature of reflexes--they are not willed movements, indeed they are often distressingly beyond the control of the will. The pattern of the reaction, in these as in other reflexes, is deeply inwrought in the workings of the nervous system, and when the appropriate occasion arises, typical organic responses are evoked through inherent automatisms. It has long been recognized that the most characteristic feature of reflexes is their “purposive” nature, or their utility either in preserving the welfare of the organism or in safeguarding it against injury. The reflexes of sucking, swallowing, vomiting and coughing, for instance, need only to be mentioned to indicate the variety of ways in which reflexes favor the continuance of existence. When, therefore, these automatic responses accompanying pain and fear and rage--the increased discharge of adrenin and sugar--are under consideration, it is reasonable to inquire first as to their utility.