On some relations of chemistry to medicine : address to the medical students at the opening of the winter session, University of Glasgow, Tuesday, October 30, 1877 / by John Ferguson.

  • John Ferguson
Date:
1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On some relations of chemistry to medicine : address to the medical students at the opening of the winter session, University of Glasgow, Tuesday, October 30, 1877 / by John Ferguson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    discovery in animal chemistry, the first well ascertained fact which was to reunite chemistry and medicine, not in a fanciful manner, but on a firm experimental basis, was not made of direct purpose, but, like so many other dis¬ coveries, was the outcome of an investigation pursued in a totally different direction and with quite a different intent. The discovery to which I allude was a consequence of the enquiry into what had all along been the central problem of chemistry, namely, the explanation of combus¬ tion. What happens when any ordinary substance, like a candle, burns in the air ? What happens when a metal, like iron, rusts in the air ? The answer to these questions had run in one groove from the earliest times of which we have record, down to the middle of last century, and then, after the hitherto received answer had been debated for upwards of a dozen years, it was found to be insufficient and a new one was given. This long discussion not only widened men’s powers of generalizing but also brought to light a great number of new experimental facts and among them was this: A candle burns when the materials composing it unite rapidly with one of the gases contained in the atmosphere, giving rise thereby to certain new substances, and evolving likewise light and heat; an animal, say man, is composed largely of the same ultimate elements as the candle: he inhales the air, and pro¬ duces the same effect upon it that the burning candle does, and gives rise to the same products. In brief, combustion
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