a sensation, carried by a nerve to the brain, of injury done to some part of the body. Though varying from mere discomfort to intense agony, pain is essential as a means of calling attention to the need of movement. Were it not for pain, one might hold his hand in the fire until it was burned to a crisp without knowing it. The pain from an injury to a nerve in any part of its course seems to originate at the end. Soldiers whose limbs have been amputated say that irritation of the stump seems at first to give pain to their lost fingers or toes. See NERVOUS SYSTEM.