Elements of anatomy and physiology : prepared for the use of schools and colleges / by W. S. W. Ruschenberger ; from the text of Milne Edwards and Achille Comté.

  • Henri Milne-Edwards
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Elements of anatomy and physiology : prepared for the use of schools and colleges / by W. S. W. Ruschenberger ; from the text of Milne Edwards and Achille Comté. 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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    digestion, respiration, and the circulation of the blood belong to this class of functions. 39. The functions of relation, are all those which place the ani- mal in relation with the other beings of nature; they are princi- pally the faculties of feeling in different ways, and of moving. By the aid of these functions the animal is enabled to appreciate the form, the colour, and the position of objects surrounding him; to hear the sounds which they make, to advance towards or retire from them, in a word, they serve to establish between him and the external world a variety of relations which are as numerous as they are useful. 40. The functions of nutrition are indispensable to the main- tenance of life, and they are found, in a greater or less number in all living or organised beings, and for this reason they are called the functions of organic life, or functions of vegetative life. 41. The functions of relation, on the contrary, do not exist in all living beings; plants have them not; animals alone possess them, but, in loosing them they do not necessarily cease to live ; during a part of their existence, they do not exercise them, and this state of repose of the functions of relation, constitutes sleep. 42. In consequence of these functions being peculiar to animals, they are also called the functions of animal life. It is now very easy to state, in a few words, the most impor- tant differences which exist between vegetables and animals. 43. Vegetables are beings constituted for living, with the power of nourishing and reproducing themselves. 44. Animals are beings whose conformation enables them to live, to be nourished, to reproduce themselves, to feel, and to move. The reader will now easily comprehend the difference between organised beings, as plants and animals, and inorganic bodies, as rocks and minerals, which do not possess the power of nourishing and reproducing themselves, the first and most important effects of living organization, for without these effects, death would speedily leave the earth destitute of both animals and plants. We shall first consider those functions which belong to vege- tative life, and which have nutrition for their object. 39. What is the object of the functions of relation ? 40. Why are the functions of nutrition called the functions of organic ];fe ? Do the functions of nutrition exist in all organized beings '! 41. Do the functions of relation belong; to all living things ? What is with- out them ? When the functions of relation arc suspended what is the state of the anicnal ? 42. Why are these called functions of animal life ? 43 What are vegetables? 44. What are animals?