Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/203

 CHAPTER XIII

MENTAL AND BODILY REACTION

BODILY action may be brought about in two ways through the brain, or through internal or external physical causes. In either case the nerve centers perform their functions, either in the inception of the thought or in the transfer of outward or inward cause. The act of moving the hand may originate in the brain, or it may occur through the fact that the member is in close proximity to fire. In the former circumstance the act begins with the thought in the brain, and nervous influence operates directly upon moving muscles. In the second condition the sensory nerves inform the brain that the flesh is burning, and the brain sets in motion the muscles necessary to move the hand. In both instances the moving power emanates from the brain, and the phenomenon as described may happen in connection with any specific portion of the body. Not