Observations on certain parts of the animal oeconomy : inclusive of several papers from the Philosophical transactions, etc. / by John Hunter ... ; with notes by Richard Owen.
- John Hunter
- Date:
- 1840
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Observations on certain parts of the animal oeconomy : inclusive of several papers from the Philosophical transactions, etc. / by John Hunter ... ; with notes by Richard Owen. 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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![10. SOME OBSERVATIONS ON DIGESTION. The paper which I formerly presented to the Royal Society, « On the Stomach itself being digested after Death, was published in 1772, in the 62d volume of the Philosophical Transactions, and has attracted the attention of Spallanzani* and others. In the course of these my observations I shall make some remarks upon the experiments and opinions of these gentlemen, compare them with those of Reaumur,f and, having given some general facts of my own upon digestion, shall conclude by adding a copy of the above-mentioned paper, with the hope that others will take up the subject in a more enlarged point of view, and prosecute an inquiry which is of so much consequence in the investigation of the opera- tions of the animal ceconomy. I cannot at present spare sufficient time to give my opinions at large on this subject, with all the ex- periments and observations I have made upon it; but as soon as I have leisure I shall lay them before the public. To discover new parts has been a principal object in the re- searches of the young or practical anatomist; but the connexion, arrangement, mode of action, and uses of the. whole, or of particular organs, have more commonly been reserved for the consideration of those whose views were extended further, and whose powers of reasoning had been enlarged by habits of observation and inquiry. Curious and speculative men have likewise made attempts in this way, but often without being sufficiently acquainted with the structure of the parts they were about to consider, and consequently ill informed respecting their relations and connexions with one another. Not contented to reason from those which were most obvious, which might have led to useful knowledge, they have been directed by what best suited their fancy, and have principally at- tempted the most obscure and intricate. Generation, or the mode of continuing the species, and digestion, or the means of preserv- ing the individual, have been with them the great objects of inquiry ; yet it does not appear that they have been very successful. Al- though digestion, as being one of the most important operations of the animal ceconomy, and most obvious in its effects, supplies a number of facts to assist in ascertaining its powers, little has been hitherto made out towards investigating the various circumstances under which it is performed. The mode of dividing the food for the increase of its surface, in some animals, suggested one method of explaining the process of * [Spallanzani's observations on digestion appeared first in his work called Fisica Animate e Vegetable, 12mo. 1782; a translation of which was published in London, with the title ' Dissertations relative to the Natural History of Animals and Vegetables,' in 17S4.] ■(• [ Sur la Digestion des Oiseaux, Mem de VAcud. des Sciences de Paris 1752 pp. 266—307, and pp. 461—495.]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21131545_0078.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
