As we have shown, the bene- and nociceptors orientate man to all forms of physical contact--the former GUIDE HIM TO the acquisition of food and to sexual contact; the latter DIRECT HIM FROM contacts of a harmful nature. The distance ceptors, on the other hand, adapt man to his distant environment by means of communication through unseen forces--ethereal vibrations produce sight; air waves produce sound; microscopic particles of matter produce smell. The advantage of the distance ceptors is that they allow time for orientation, and because of this great advantage the majority of man's actions are responses to their adequate stimuli. As Sherrington has stated, the greater part of the brain has been developed by means of stimuli received through the special senses, especially through the light ceptors, the optic nerves. We have just stated that by means of the distance ceptors animals and man orientate themselves to their distant environment. As a result of the stimulation of the special senses chase and escape are effected, fight is conducted, food is secured, and mates are found. It is obvious, therefore, that the distance ceptors are the primary cause of continuous and exhausting expenditures of energy. On the other hand, stimuli applied to contact ceptors lead to short, quick discharges of nervous energy. The child puts his hand in the fire and there is an immediate and complete response to the injuring contact; he sees a pot of jam on the pantry shelf and a long train of continued activities are set in motion, leading to the acquisition of the desired object. The contact ceptors do not at all promote the expenditure of energy in the chase or in fight, in the search for food or for mates. Since the distance ceptors control these activities, one would expect to find that they control also those organs whose function is the production of energizing internal secretions. Over these organs--the thyroid, the adrenals, the hypophysis--the contact ceptors have no control. Prolonged laboratory experimentation seems to prove this postulate. According to our observations, no amount of physical trauma inflicted upon animals will cause hyperthyroidism or increased adrenalin in the blood, while fear and rage do produce hyperthyroidism and increased adrenalin (Fig. 44) (Cannon). This is a statement of far-reaching importance and is the key to an explanation of many chronic diseases-- diseases which are associated with the intense stimulation of the distance ceptors in human relations.