Human physiology : prepared with special reference to students of medicine / by Joseph Howard Raymond.
- Raymond, Joseph H. (Joseph Howard), 1845-1915
- Date:
- 1901
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Human physiology : prepared with special reference to students of medicine / by Joseph Howard Raymond. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.
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![inorf/cniic. These terms are used in two senses : first, as to Mrucf- uir, and, second, as to prodnrt. When we say that a plant or an animal is organic, we mean that it is made up of organs—that is, of structures which perform functions. The })lant or the animal may he simple or may he complex, but, however simple or however com})lex, its parts do something-, that something being: the function of the part which acts. We say, therefore, that the plant or animal is organic, meaning that it is composed of organs—organic, then, as to structure. The rock has no organs, therefore it is no)i-urf/((iiic, or is inorganic. These terms are used also in another sense. Thus we speak of honey as organic. Mani- festly, we do not mean organic as to structure, for honey has no organs, that is, no parts which perform functions, but it is the product of the bee, which is an organic structure; hence honey is an organic product. The nectary of a flower is organic as to structure, and the nectar which it produces is also organic, inasmuch as it is the product of the nectary. But organs do not act each for itself: they are, as a rule, associated in the performance of a common function, and thus associated form a system. Thus the group of organs which are concerned in digestion forms the digestive system ; those which together accomplish the circulation of the l)lood, the circulatory system. An attempt has been made to distinguish an apparatus from a si/.-<fem; the former being defined as a group of organs concerned in the performance of a common function, no matter how dissimilar their structure, while organs similar in structure irrespective of their function Avould be regarded as a system. Similarity of function, under this definition, would characterize an apparatus, and similarity of structure a system. The organs whose functions are to digest food would be regarded as an apjia- ratus, constituting the digestive apparatus ; the bones, on the other hand, would form the osseous system. Practically, however, such a differentiation is of no use, and the two terms apparatus and system may therefore be used interchangeably. Branches of Physiology.—From these elementary con- siderations it is evident that physiology has to do with living plants and animals only—that is, with organic structures and inci- dentally with their products. That branch of the science which treats of the functions of ])lants is denominated Vegetable Physi- ology, and that which deals with the functions of animals is called Animal Physiology. Vegetable Physiology.—We are concerned but indirectly with vegetable physiology, or so far only as its study helps us to under- stand some of the more obscure processes in animals. Some of these processes, being sim]iler in plants, are more easily studied in them, and what is there learned is of great assistance in understanding analogous processes in man. Thus a knowledge of fertilization as](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21209893_0023.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
