3. In Christendom. — That such institutions are alto- gether at variance with the spirit of Christianity may be judged from the fact that revenge, so far from be- ing counted a right or duty, was condemned by Christ and his apostles as a vice and passion to be shunned
(Acts vii, 60 ; Matt, v, 44 ; Luke vi, 28 ; Rom. xii, 14 sq. ; comp. Rom. xiii, where the power of executing revenge is vested in the authorities alone).
In Europe the custom of blood-revenge is still prev- alent in Corsica and Sardinia, where, however, it is more the consequence of a vindictive character than of an established law or custom. A Corsican never passes over an insult without retaliation, either on the offender or his family, and this cruel and un-Christian custom (vendetta traversa, mutual vengeance) is the source of many assassinations. The celebrated Gen- eral Paoli did his best to eradicate this abominable practice, but his dominion was of too short duration for the effective cure of the evil, which has gained ground ever since the first French Revolution, even among the female sex. It is calculated that about four hundred persons yearly lose their lives in Sar- dinia by this atrocious habit (Simonot, Lettres sur la Corse, p. 314). See Murder.
BLOODY SWEAT. According to Luke xxii, 44, our Lord's sweat was "as great drops of blood falling to the ground." Michaelis takes the passage to mean nothing more than that the drops were as large as fall- ing drops of blood (Anmerk. fur Ungclehrte, ad loc). This, which also appears to be a common explanation, is liable to some objection. For, if an ordinary ob- server compares a fluid which he is accustomed to see colorless, to blood, which is so well known and so well characterized by its color, and does not specify any particular point of resemblance, he would more natu- rally be understood to allude to the color, since it is the most prominent and characteristic quality.
There are several cases recorded by the older medi- cal writers under the title of bloody sweat. With the exception of one or two instances, not above suspicion of fraud, they have, however, all been cases of general hemorrhagic disease, in which blood has flowed from different parts of the body, such as the nose, eyes, ears, lungs, stomach, and bowels, and, lastly, from various parts of the skin. The greater number of cases de-. scribed by authors were observed in women and chil. dren, and sometimes in infants. The case of a young lady who was afflicted with cutaneous haemorrhage is detailed by Mesaporiti in a letter to Valisneri. She is noticed to have been cheerful, although she must have suffered greatlv from debility and febrile symptoms (Ph:l. Trans. No. 303, p. 2114). The case of an infant, onlv three months old, affected with the same disease, is related by Du Gard (Phil. Trans. No. 109, p. 193). A similar case is described in the Nov. Act. Acad. Nate Cur. iv, 193. See also Eph. Acad. Nat. Cur. obs. 41; and, for other references, Copland's Diet, of Med. ii, 72. Where haemorrhage diathesis exists, muscular exertion, being a powerful exciting cause of all kinds of haemorrhage, must likewise give rise to the cutane- ous form of the disease. — Kitto, s. v.
The above are all instances of a chronic nature, re- sulting from a general diseased state of the blood- vessels, and are therefore little in point as illustrating the case of our Saviour, whose emotions were the i ause of this temporary phenomenon while in full health. See Agony, a" late ingenious and careful writer, whose profession qualifies him to judge in the matter (The Physical Cause of the Deal, of Christ, by Win. Stroud, itf.D., London, 1847), thus maintains the pos- sibility of proper bloody sweat, under strong mental exertion, especially in cases of anxiety and terror. The author, in brief, gives us the rationale of this phenomenon, and then cites a number of cases in which it has actually occurred: "Perspiration, both sensible and insensible, takes place from the mouths of small regularly organized tubes, which perforate the skin in all parts of the body, terminating in blind extremities internally, and by innumerable orifices on the outer surface. These tubes are surrounded by a ' net-work of minute vessels, and penetrated by the ul- i timate ramifications of arteries which, according- to the
BLOOD
838
BLUE
force of the local circulation, depending chiefly on that of the heart, discharge either the watery parts of the blood in the state of vapor, its grosser ingredients in the form of a glutinous liquid, or, in extreme cases, the entire blood itself. The influence of the invigor- ating passions, more especially in exciting an increased flow of blood to the skin, is familiarly illustrated 03' the process of blushing, either from shame or anger; f, ,r during this state the heart beats strongly, the sur- face of the body becomes hot and red, and, if the emo- tion is very powerful, breaks out into a warm and copious perspiration, the first step toward a bloody sweat" (Physical Cause, p. 85, 86). See Sweat.