Elements of physiology / by A. Richerand ; translated from the French by G.J.M. De Lys.

  • Anthelme Richerand
Date:
1815
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Elements of physiology / by A. Richerand ; translated from the French by G.J.M. De Lys. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    volatility of their elements, tlie necessary union of fluids an'd so'IicTsy the nutrition, and developement from the diffusive combination^ while the growth of inanimate bodies takes place from the mere juxfa position of particles, the origin of living bodies in generation, their destruction in death, such are the characters wliich distinguish- organized beings froni' inorganized substances. We are about to enter into a detail of those characters, to appreciate all their differ-, encesy for knowledge is to be acquired onl}'^ by comparison; and the greatvr our accuracy in comparing, the more precise and ex- tensive will be the knowledge we obtain. Several modern authors have proved, that it is impossible to obtain an accurate idea of life, i except by comparing those bodies which ai'e endowed vviDh it, wkb those m which life has never existed, or has ceased to> exist. This ; comparison,^ I liope, will be fruitful in interesting results, and will furnish several useful considerations, immediately applicable to the knowledge of man. The first remarkable difference between organized and inorganized bodies, is to be found in the homogeneousness of the latter, and the compound nature of the former. Let a block of mai-ble be broken, | each piece will be perfectly similar to the rest, there will be no dif- j ferences among them, but such as rekite to size or shape; Break ! down the fragments, each grain will c&ntaia particles of carbonate of lime, which will be throvvghoufe the same. On the other hand, the division of a vegetable or an animal, shews parts heterogeneous or dissimilar. In different parts there will be found muscles, bones, arteries, blossoms, leaves, bark, pith, &c. ! Organized beings cannot live, or exist in their natural condition-, unless solids and liquids enter at once into their composition. The co-existence of these two elements is necessary; and living bodies always contain a liquid mass more or less considerable, and inces- santly agitated by the motion of the solid and living parts. It is in fact impossible to conceive life existing, without a complicated i combination of solids and fluids; and without admitting in the former, the faculty of being affected by impressions from the latter, ] and the power of acting in consequence of those impressions. The water which penetrates into mineral substances, does not form a necessary part of them, and one cannot adduee in proof of the ex. ktence of liquids in that class of substances, the water of crystalli- zation, though intimately combined, and rendered solid in the crys- tallized substances. ^ These inorganic and homogeneous substances, formed of par- ticles similar to one another,-when resolved by decomposition into their last elements, possess a great simplicity of inward nature^ ■