Familiar letters on chemistry, and its relation to commerce, physiology, and agriculture / by Justus Liebig ; edited by John Gardner.

  • Liebig, Justus, Freiherr von, 1803-1873.
Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Familiar letters on chemistry, and its relation to commerce, physiology, and agriculture / by Justus Liebig ; edited by John Gardner. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    LETTER VI. My dear sir : One of the most remarkable effects of the recent progress of science is the alliance of chemistry with physiology, by which a new and unexpected light has been thrown upon the vital processes of plants and animals. We have now no longer any difficulty in understanding the different actions of aliments, poisons, and re- medial agents—we have a clear conception of the causes of hunger, of the exact nature of death; and we are not, as formerly, obliged to content our- selves with a mere description of their symptoms. It is now ascertained with positive certainty, that all the substances which constitute the food of man must be divided into two great classes, one of which serves for the nutrition and reproduction of the animal body, while the other ministers to quite different purposes. Thus starch, gum, sugar, beer, wine, spirits, &c, furnish no element capable of entering into the composition of blood, muscular fibre, or any part which is the seat of the vital principle. It must surely be universally interest- ing to trace the great change our views have