nce of pain is,
necessarily, one of comparison. There is little doubt that in the lower
classes the sensation of pain is felt in a much less degree than in
those of a highly intellectual and nervous temperament. If we
eliminate the element of fear, which always predominates in the lower
classes, the result of general hospital observation will show this
distinction. There are many circumstances which have a marked influence
on pain. Patriotism, enthusiasm, and general excitement, together with
pride and natural obstinacy, prove the power of the mind over the body.
The tortures endured by prisoners of war, religious martyrs and
victims, exemplify the power of a strong will excited by deep emotion
over the sensation of pain. The flagellants, persons who expiated their
sins by voluntarily flaying themselves to the point of exhaustion, are
modern examples of persons who in religious enthusiasm inflict pain on
themselves. In the ancient times in India the frenzied zealots
struggled for positions from which they could throw themselves under
the car of the Juggernaut, and their intense emotions turned the pains
of their wounds into a pleasure. According to the reports of her
Majesty's surgeons, there are at the present time in India native
Brahmins who hang themselves on sharp hooks placed in the flesh between
the scapulae, and remain in this position without the least visible
show of pain. In a similar manner they pierce the lips and cheeks with
long pins and bore the tongue with a hot iron. From a reliable source
the authors have an account of a man in Northern India who as a means
of self-inflicted penance held his arm aloft for the greater part of
each day, bending the fingers tightly on the palms. After a
considerable time the nails had grown or been forced through the palms
of the hands, making their exit on the dorsal surfaces. There are many
savage rites and ceremonies calling for the severe infliction of pain
on the participants which have been described from time to time by
travelers. The Aztecs willingly sacrificed even their lives in the
worship of their Sun-god.

By means of singing and dancing the Aissaoui, in the Algerian town of
Constantine, throw themselves into an ecstatic state in which their
bodies seem to be insensible even to severe wounds. Hellwald says they
run sharp-pointed irons into their heads, eyes, necks, and breasts
without apparent pain or injury to themselves. Some observers claim
they are