Human physiology : prepared with special reference to students of medicine / by Joseph Howard Raymond.

  • Raymond, Joseph H. (Joseph Howard), 1845-1915
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

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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    it occurs in the vegetable kingdom aids very much in elucidating the process of reproduction in the human species. Animal Physiology.—The same organs in different animals per- form their functions in different ways. Thus the stomach of the cow and that of the dog act very dissimilarly, and a knowledge of the one would aid very little in acquiring a knowledge of the other. What is true of the stomach is true of other organs to a greater or lesser degree. Each class of animals has its own peculi- arities as to function—that is, has its own physiology. One who intends to devote his life to the treatment of the diseases of the lower animals must study the functions of those animals, while one who is preparing himself for the cure of human diseases must understand the functions of the organs of the human body, or Human Physiology. ]\rany hints, it is true, may be obtained by the student of human physiology from a study of the processes which take place in the lower animals, and many of the most valuable contributions made to physiologic science have been based upon such a study ; but it must ever be borne in mind that specific differences exist, and that we cannot infer too much from such observations. Thus one who studies the process of stomach digestion in a ruminant, such as the cow, will make a most serious blunder should he sup- pose that the process is the same in man. Errors of a similar character, though perhaps less glaring, have been made, notably in the process of reproduction. This process is so obscure that many opportunities which have presented themselves for investi- gation, both in the lower and in the higher animals, have been seized upon ; but theories which have been accepted as proved, and which have largely depended on such observations, are now, in the light of more recent study, being questioned. Notwith- standing this disadvantage, had it not been for such studies many of the most important facts of medical science would have re- mained undiscovered. Inasmuch as functions cease with life, these observations can only be made upon living animals. Vivi- sedion, therefore, has been of the greatest benefit to the human race, and those who decry it are daily reaping the results which it has attained, and which could never have been attained with- out it. Wanton and unnecessary experiments are to be condemned, but no terms of praise are too exalted to bestow upon those patient investigators who, through many long years, have laboriously and zealously pursued their studies and experiments, with no other end in view than to add to the sum of human knowledge and to contribute to the relief of human suffering. Human Physiology Defined.—Human physiology is the science which treats of the huiiuin functions. This science, together with anatomy, which treats of structure, and with chemistry, which treats of composition, lies at the foundation of rational medicine.