Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 August 1889 — The Philosophy of Tears. [ARTICLE]

The Philosophy of Tears.

I was in company the other day with my friend, the professor of chemistry, and being in a reflective mood I chanced to say: “Professor, tears are a curious thing.” “By no means,” replied hej promptly. “Their composition is quite simple; about ninety-eight parts water and two parts salt, albumen and mucus. I did not pursue the conversation, but thought, without sayiog«Bo, that if tears are not a curious thing a professor of chemistry certainly is. I happened a few days after to repeat the conversation to our professor of physiologv, w ho, bringing his superciliary muscles into play, said: “Simple as it may appear to Dr. Atom, the genesis of tears is quite a complex process, and they have multiple mechanical functions. They are secreted by the lachrymal gland and partly by the orbicularis canal and thence into the eye, which they flood, and thus effectuate detersion, facilitate the movement of the eyeball, and preserve the transparency of the so-called cornea.”

I could only respond: “I dare say, all you tell me is very wonderful and very complex, but how on earth do the little babies learn to cry so early and so well ?” I did not tell him that I did not comprehend a word he had uttered, and hence the wonder—omne ignotum pro magnifico. Much less did I reveal what was passing in my mind. It next occurred to me to find out what the poets say about tears. They travel from earth to heaven very rapidly, in a daring, desultory way, and always through mists and clouds, seeing things very indistinctly, and rarely telling the truth about w’hat they do see. Here is a definition of tears that we can accept without aversion—tears are the bright, bodily form of feeling. The poet does not tell us that when we W’eep we are doing nothing more than secreting a mucous fluid by means of the lachrymal gland. He feels bound, however, to state the fact that tears are not more pure than dewdrops. The whole truth would have been that they are not as pure by a good deal. Perhaps Mr. Bailey did not know that they contained mucus, albumen, and salt. We wish we did not possess the uncomfortable information. We shall never again be able to kiss the tears from her cheek with the same relish we once did.—Atlanta.