tar t!852 NOTES CARPENTERS HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY, CONTAINING SOME ORIGINAL VIEWS OF THE ECONOMY OF NATURE—THE RESULT OF REASONING FOUNDED ON OBSERVATION, LOUIS MACKALL, 31. D. That the acts of all living beings are prompted by these com- mands or instincts. 3d. That the work of Creation was done in accordance with some vast scheme or design which its Author had in view; which scheme, in all its parts, is entirely too vast for human comprehension, although parts of it may come within our grasp. 4th. That we as well as all other living beings are so constituted that if our instincts, or the commands impressed upon our minds, are executed in the manner intended by the Author of Nature, that is, in the manner calculated to carry out the design of Creation, then our 23 happiness is promoted; and if those instincts are not executed in this manner, that unhappiness or misery is the necessary consequence. 5th. The general instincts are, the exercise of the faculties with which the mind is endowed, and the exercise of the acts or functions of the mind which are appointed to be performed. The special instincts are—1st, the giving and receiving life, or a subtle fluid, to and from other beings and other surrounding objects. 2d. The instinct which prompts us to seek society. 3d. The instinct which prompts us to take food. 4th. The instinct which prompts to the gratification of venereal desires. The exercise of the affections, as love, fear, hatred, anger, envy, &c, may be referred to the first of the special instincts, that of giving and receiving life. The exercise of the affections in an undue or excessive manner, which constitutes passion, is brought about or affected by an improper excitation of the imagination. In what manner the instincts are to be executed, or the commands of the Deity obeyed, we are informed in part by Revelation, and in part by observing the consequences of our conduct, or by being told of the consequences by others, or having learned those consequences by the study of the system of morals or Moral Philosophy; but our princi- pal guidance is derived from the Rule of Right,* of which we have spoken in section 17 5th. The nervous system, including the brain and other centres, is the means by wiiich living beings are brought into relation with the material world, for all living beings have nerves, or something analogous. They receive no impressions from surround- ing objects, but through the medium of the nerves; neither can they produce any impression on such objects, except through the same me- *This term is intended to express not only what should properly be understood by the terms Conscience, the Moral Sense, the Principle of Virtue, &c, but also the Rule that hpplies to mioor or more ordinary occurrences. On every occasion of life we should ask the question, what ought we to do? and take directions fro:r. this rule, which is implanted n our minds for this very purpose. By doing this it will be found that we promote our own happiness at the same time we are obeying the will of him who has made this pro- vision for the happiness of his creatures. It will be seen that I have not, in this work, adverted to tbe doctrines and truths of Re- velation, except in occasionally pointing out the correspondence of such truths with the conclusions that might be arrived at by reason. I embrace these truths freely and grate- fully, though with humility, arising from a consciousness of my inability fully to com- prehend the whole of them; but, it seems to me, that an attempt to elucidate these divine truths by any exercise of human reason, would be presumptuous and altogether out of place in a work of this kind. 24 dium. 6th. The nervous centres are not glands as is commonly sup- posed, which secrete the nervous fluid, but they are merely organs by means of which the nervous fluid is made to circulate. They perform the same office in the circulation of the nervous fluid that the heart does in the circulation of the blood. 7th.. The brain is not the organ of thought, which is exclusively an operation of the mind, or of the immaterial part of living beings ; but it is a principal organ in giving expression to thought by causing the circulation of the nervous fluid to and from the muscles appointed to give these expressions. When the mind is in operation, it naturally or instinctively determines the nerv- ous fluid to its principal centre, the brain, in readiness for distribution; and hence the brain has been considered the organ of thought. 8th. The nervous fluid or peculiar life of a living being is derived from the subtile fluids which are continually escaping from surrounding objects, which become assimilated in passing through the nerves in the same way as the blood becomes assimilated as it passes along the blood ves- sels; and from the secretions which are commonly stored up for that purpose. 9th. The action of muscles consists not in the contraction but in the elongation of their fibres. In locomotion, for instance, the impetus given to the body is caused by the elongation of some of the muscles of the extremities, and this elongation is caused by the pre- sence of the nervous fluid, which has been conveyed to them by the nerves. The contraction of other muscles of the extremities at the same instant is attributable to the fact, that the nervous fluid is with- drawn from them to furnish the increased supply to the muscles that are elongated. In grasping an object, the extensor muscles of the hand are in a state of action, while the flexor muscles are in a contrary state. 10th. The active state of the tubes consists in dilatation, which is effected by the active elongation of the fibres about their walls ; and from this view of the subject we may see how it is that muscles become contracted : for, if there is action in the nervous tubes constituting the nervous centres, which action causes their dilatation, it is evident that the nervous fluid would thus be withdrawn from the muscles and cause their contraction ; thus it is that stimulants applied, under certain cir- cumstances, to a part of a living body, by producing action in the cor- responding nervous centre, may cause the contraction of the muscles of the part to which they are applied ; or they may produce a constric- tion of the tubes in the same way, as is sometimes witnessed when sti- mulating applications are made to the dilated blood vessels of the con- lo junctiva, in chronic opthalmia. In all these instances, the impression made upon the nerves is followed by action in the nervous centres, and not at the point where the stimulant is applied; and all these instances are but exceptions to the general rule, which is thus quaintly expressed by the old authors : " Ubi irritatio ibi fluxus." Where there is irrita- tion, there is a flow of the nervous fluid, and the flow to the part, of other fluids is the consequence of this flow of the nervous fluid, caus- ing the dilatation of the tubes; which is an instinctive act of living beings for the purpose of resisting or of repairing injuries. 11th. The different forms of matter which enter into the composition of living be- ings are formed by the combination of the nervous fluid, or the pecu- liar life of such beings, with the fluids circulating in their tubes, which combination takes place invariably in accordance with certain fixed laws which have been established by the Author of Nature ; but the providing the circulating fluids, and the determining the nervous fluid to them is the immediate work of living beings themselves, to which work they are prompted, as in all their other acts, by instinct. From this reflection we come to the conclusion, that the Author of Nature not only does not form the compound parts of living beings, on which point the German philosophers insist so strongly, but we may safely conclude, that he forms no part whatever of those bodies, not even an elementary cell. His action in the creation of such bodies is limited to the creation of the spiritual part of living beings; to the issuing of his orders, and stamping them upon the immaterial portion of his creatures. This conclusion, if true, and it seems to me but little reflection is re- quired to convince any sound judgment of its truth, at once over- throws the whole fabric of Materialism. For it shows that the different forms of matter may be formed by minds guided by instinct, and that it is untrue that minds may be formed by the peculiar arrangement of particles of matter. •Sec 107 Having embraced the tenets of the German school of physiology, which is guilty of the monstrous absurdity of giving intel- ligence to matter, the author proceeds in this and some following para- graphs to explain the functions called those of organic life, by referring them to the agency of cells; and throughout the whole-account of these functions not a single reference is made to the mind or immaterial part of living beings, in which we have stated our belief that the personal identity of such beings exists. Neither is any mention made of Him who has created all things, and by whose directions or orders these 26 functions are exercised. The cells of the spongioles in plants perform the absorption of the nutritious fluid; the cells of the leaves convert the sap into latex; certain groups of cells separate the secretions from the sap; and he then calls attention to the fact "of the transitory life of these cells as individuals." The author proceeds to show, in sec. 109, that reproduction also is dependent upon the agency of cells, in proof of which he adduces the phenomena observed in Cryptogamia, where each cell is an independent individual, and where each cell has the power of preparing within itself reproductive germs ; and not content with these assumptions, he refers to distinct groups of cells, the^animal functions of absorption, assimilation, respiration, secretion, and repro- duction, and also those of muscular contraction and nervous action, which, he says, they alone perform. Now, this whole account of the operation of cells appears to my judgment, to be a tissue of folly and nonsense. It is not the result of reasoning, for it is not founded on the observation of any fact; neither could it be approved of by the judgment of any sane mind. The pro- position that cells are endowed with intelligence; that they perform all the acts attributed to them above; that they perform these acts inde- pendently of each other, and yet all concurring in effecting one com- mon object—the maintenance of the integrity of the entire organism— this proposition, I say, if presented to a well constituted mind, divested of the tinsel of fine language, and unsupported by the authority of such as pass for men of science, would be at once rejected as being absurd, and as being merely the work of a diseased imagination. In opposition to this view of the economy of Nature, let us recognise an all-wise Intelligence who has conceived a vast design, and, as a part of this design, creates a spiritual being, which he endows with certain faculties, and on which he impresses his orders or instincts. The ma- terials being provided, this being is set to work with the guidance of its Instincts. It first forms a Nervous System, by means of which it is brought into relation with the material world, or by which it is enabled to operate on, and be affected by, material objects. It then proceeds to form, out of the materials presented to it, and by the agency of its- nervous system, the organs that may be necessary for its future exist- ence, or to accomplish the ends for which it was designed by the Cre- ator. It forms its bodily organs precisely as a bird forms its nest, or the honey bee its comb; and all this is effected by the agency of the nervous fluid. It determines the nervous fluid to the materials pro- 27 vided for that purpose, and thus forms the fibres for the walls of the tubes. It determines another form of the nervous fluid to these fibres, and their elongation, and consequently the dilatation of these tubes, and the absorption of nutritious fluids take place; and determines the ner- vous fluid again to combine with this nutritious fluid at certain stages of its course, and thus the different organs are formed; and, again, the combination of the nervous fluid with the circulating fluids gives origin to the secretions. It performs all the vaiious functions of its economy, because it is instructed to do so by its Creator. 12th. All living beings are made free agents; they are at liberty to obey their instincts or not as they please, or they may pervert them ; that is, obey them in a manner not designed by their Creator. Thus, we may take food or not take it; we may take less than is adequate for the purpose for which it is intended, or we may take it in excess. In- temperance, whether in meat or drink, are instances of the latter. But all beings are gifted with the Rule of Right, which is intended to guide them in obeying the Instincts, and are so constituted that they are re- warded for a proper obedience of their instincts, or for their observance of the Rule of Right, by experiencing a sense of happiness—by which term I mean a sensation of what is called well-being, and not, what is frequently mistaken for it, excitement or pleasure; for an undue or im- proper indulgence of any of the instincts is accompanied by pleasure or excitement. This sensation of happiness, or of well-being, is the in- ducement held out by Infinite Wisdom to lead his creatures to act in accordance with his designs. On the contrary, all living beings are punished for any disobedience of their instincts, or improper indulgence of them, or for a disregard of the Rule of Right, by a sensation of un- happiness or of misery, which, when exalted in our species, is called remorse; and this sensation is the means instituted by Providence to deter his creatures from a disregard of this rule, or undue indulgence of their instincts; to teach mankind in what manner their instincts should be obeyed, or, in other words, meaning the same thing, what conduct or what actions are in accordance with the will of God, they have not only this Rule of Right implanted in their minds, but this is an important object of the Christian Religion; and hence it is a matter of plain observation that nations, as well as individuals, have become prosperous and happy, in a direct ratio with their cultivation of this institution in its purity. A part of the above view of the economy of Nature was proposed 28 to the consideration of Physiologists, ages since, by Stahl, who supposed that all the functions of the body were performed by an intelligent be- ing, that is, the soul; but his opinion was rejected on the ground that, if this were admitted, then brutes must be allowed to have souls also; which supposition was at that time thought sufficient to reduce the proposition of Stahl to an absurdity. Mankind alone, of all God's creatures, were allowed to be possessed of souls or minds, and to allow them to brutes was considered an attempt to drag mankind from the high position appointed them in the plan of Creation. The general sense of mankind, at this time, at least of the intelligent portion, ap- proves of the proposition that brutes are possessed of souls or minds, and considers the admission not at all derogatory of our privileges. The question, whether brutes are to be continued to a future state, in common with mankind, is now properly regarded as no concern of ours, but is properly left to the decision of him who created them. Sec. 112. Albumen is the result of the action of the nervous fluid, or peculiar life of animals, on the fluids absorbed and brought within the sphere of its action. Sec. 114. Fibrine is a more animalized substance than Albumen, from the fact that it has been more exposed to the action of the nervous fluid. Albumen, then, when exposed to the action of the nerves, be- comes Fibrine. Sec. 119. Fibrous tissue, as well as the osseous, and all other organ- ized tissues, are produced simply by the action of the nervous fluid upon Fibrine. Sec. 122. Cells are formed by the being itself, or immaterial part, under the guidance of its instincts, as the bird forms its nest, or the honey bee its comb; so also are formed the tubes or sap vessels. Giv- ing intelligence to cells, and making them reproduce germs, is absurd. Is the crop made by the plough; or is it not rather made by the intelli- gence of the farmer and his agents? Sec. 150. There is no occasion for the far-fetched hypothesis ad- vanced in this and other paragraphs, when all the phenomena are explained by making all the various changes, taking place in the circu- lating fluids, lo depend upon the action of the nervous fluid. Sec. 158. The phenomena of inflammation are all satisfactorily ex- plained by our hypothesis, as are also all the other facts mentioned by the author. The increased number of colorless corpuscles at an in- flamed point, in the whole system, where there is an inflammatory 29 diathesis, and in young animals possessed of much vitality, is owing to the action of the nervous fluid, which is instinctively determined to the blood vessels, and to their contents, under precisely such circumstances. An increased flow of the colorless corpuscles, or of any one part of the circulating mass, to any one point, is entirely incomprehensible, with- out supposing such corpuscles or parts to be endowed with intelligence, which, to my mind, is unspeakably ridiculous and absurd. The ela- boration of Fibrine may be a consequence of the formation of colorless corpuscles, or may be the express object of their formation; that is, the formation of these corpuscles may express one stage of the union of the nervous fluid with the nutritious fluid, when a further object of this union is the formation of Fibrine. Sec. 161. The development of epidermic cells is not solely attribu- table to a determination of blood to the skin or cutis; but the determi- nation of the blood, as well as the formation of the cells, are caused by the action of the nervous fluid, which is instinctively determined to any part of the body where there is friction or irritation. The thickening of the epidermis itself is a source of irritation, and hence it is that corns, which are nothing more than layers of the epidermis, sometimes con- tinue to grow even when friction is removed or prevented. Sec. 172. Cilia perform the same office on the internal mucous membrane, and upon serous membranes, as the hair does on the skin; that is, they are points by means of which the life of the animal is given off, and through which the life of surrounding substances, and of the secretions, are conveyed into the economy. The growth of hair may continue in the dead body in the same way as the motion of cilia con- tinues; for their functions continue after death. The process of giving off and receiving life is carried on until the body is decomposed; but this process is subject to other laws after death, and is effected by other means than those of the living body. Sec. 192. The formation of bone, and of all other animal solids, is clearly owing to the combination of the fluid of the nerves appropriated to that purpose, with the materials that have been prepared in the cir- culation for this change of form. Sec. 240. There is not a single fact stated in the whole account of the structure and action of muscles, contained in this and some pre- ceding paragraphs, that militates against, or is at all opposed to, the proposition, that muscular action is dependent upon the presence of a subtile fluid, which we denominate the peculiar life of the animal; or 30 to the still more important proposition, that the presence of this fluid causes the elongation, and not the contraction, of the fibres or fibrilhe of muscles; and that the absence or withdrawal of this fluid causes the contraction, and not the relaxation, of the same fibres or fibrillar. The myolemma is calculated to confine the action of the fluid to the fibre which it encloses. The effect of the fluid may be to separate the disks or striae from each other, as seen in fig. 100, or to change the form of the cells from the form of a square to that of an oblong, fig. 99. Sec. 246. We have said, in a note to a preceding paragraph, the materials of the nervous fluid were derived from surrounding bodies, and from the secretions, and that these materials undergo a change, in pass- ing along the nerves, which fits it for the various purposes of the econ- omy; and we advanced the opinion that the brain, and other centres, performed the same function in the circulation of the nervous fluid, that the head, does in the circulation of the blood. The vesicular sub- stance contained in the centres may have an office distinct from the tubular portion, by virtue of which it may effect changes in the con- stitution of the nervous fluid, analogous to the changes effected in the blood by means of the liver. Sec. 254. The greatest confusion of thought is evinced in this and some following paragraphs. "The idea of Life, in its simplest and most correct acceptation," is not "vital action which involves change," all of which expression is sheer nonsense; but the idea to be attached to the term Life should be, that it is a subtile fluid which is the basis of matter. The notion of change that is commonly attached to the term, or associated with it, is derived from the circumstance, that one of the most important laws of Nature relating to inanimate bodies is, that there must be between these bodies a constant interchange of this subtile fluid, and also the most important instinct or command impressed upon living beings is this same interchange of life between each other, as well as between them and surrounding inanimate bodies. The interchanges of life among inanimate bodies take place in accordance with certain laws of Nature that are called Chemical. The interchanges of life taking place among animated bodies, or living beings, are carried on in accordance with other laws of Nature, called Vital, or laws of Vital- ity. The subtile fluid, which is the basis of all matter when it enters the economy of a living being, becomes compounded, elaborated, and changed to a form in which it is adapted to effect the various changes required in such beings; but all such changes are effected under the 31 superintendence of the spiritual and intelligent being in which the per- sonal identity of such beings consist. By superintendence, is meant, that living beings determine their peculiar life to points where such changes take place; and that these changes could not take place with- out such determination, and without certain alterations or modification of the fluid which are effected by these living beings in the passage of the fluid to such points. The Oyster and Ascidia referred to in the text are each possessed of an immaterial and spiritual existence or being, totally distinct from their bodies; on which spiritual beings are impressed instincts, and among them that by which they are prompted to effect the changes they do effect in their bodies and in the objects around them. These changes are brought about by the agency of the peculiar life of the animal, which life is under the control of the spiritual being of which we have spoken, and consequently should be regarded as effected i« accordance with the laws of Nature called Vital, and as entirely independent of chemical laws, which relate solely to dead or inanimate matter or bodies. The office performed by Cilia has been explained in a previous note, section 172. "The Oyster closing its shell, and the Ascidia contracting its muscular tunic, when it receives any kind of mechanical* irritation, and the former, whilst lying undisturbed in its native haunts, drawing together its valves if a shadow passes between itself and the Sun," may all be referred to the agency of the. spiritual being which constitutes its identity, which withdraws its nervous fluid or peculiar life from its muscles to its nervous centres, and thus causes the contraction of the former. Whatever "has been already stated regarding the nature of the actions of the Nervous and Muscular systems, by which the move - ments of animals are chiefly effected, which would make it appear that these, in common with the Vegetative functions, involve a chemi- cal alteration in the structure performing them," is utterly false and unfounded in fact; and the general proposition, "that a change in chemical composition is an essential condition of every vital phenom- enon;" is altogether gratuitous, and is introduced here, unconnected as it is with the rest of the paragraph, merely as a hook on which to hang the doctrine of Materialism, of which the author is a firm sup- porter. If there is any use for the terms vital and chemical, it is to dis- tinguish the two classes of phenomena, one of which occurs in living being*, and the other in inanimate matter; and the attempt to make the 32 one class dependent on the other is calculated to render the terms of no avail whatever by depriving them of any definite meaning. Sec. 255. In the earliest periods of existence all living beings re- quire impressions to be made upon them by external objects to bring their otherwise dormant powers into play, so far as to enable them to de- velope their bodies under the guidance of instinct. The ova of animals fur the most part derive the necessary impressions from the parent; others derive them from the fluids, that is, the atmosphere or other flu- ids with which they happen to be placed in contact. The seeds of plants derive the necessary impressions mainly from the source last mentioned. Hence it is that such ova or seeds "may remain unaltered during a period of many centuries; vegetating at last, when placed in favorable circumstances." The admission of the author, that the state above referred to is exactly similar to that of a hibernating animal, or of one during»sleep, contradicts his assertion that a seed under the cir- cumstances supposed is not alive; for animals, when torpid, or when asleep, are unquestionably alive. Sec. 256. Having advanced in section 254 the fallacious proposition that a change in chemical composition is an essential condition of every vital phenomenon, the author here disproves it by asserting that there is a large number of phenomena in the living organism which can not be in the least explained by the operation of physical and chemical forces. He says, in the former paragraph, that the actions of the mus- cular system involves a chemical alteration in the structure performing them; and here he avers that "the contraction of a muscle" is a vital phenomenon, and "its character and condition appear to be totally distinct from those of Chemical or Physical phenomena!" He pro- ceeds to attempt an explanation of muscular action, and involves the whole subject in the most inextricable confusion by using terms and expressions that have no sensible meaning, as "vital force," "contrac- tile force." "This dormant force is termed a property;" "thus we regard it as the essential peculiarity of living muscular tissue that it possesses the vital property of contractity," all of which is pure non- sense. The simple truth is, that whenever a muscle is in connection with a spiritual being by means of nerves, it may be brought into ac- tion by this being determining its nervous fluid to it, and may be con- tracted by this being withdrawing this fluid from it. It may also be contracted by the loss of its nervous fluid in any way. There is not the slightest necessity for the use of the term contractility in explaining 33 muscular action, and this supposed property exists no where but in the Imagination. This sentence, "the muscle is said to possess the pro- perty of contractility; the property, called into operation by the appro- priate stimulus, gives rise to the contractile force, and the force produ- ces, if its operation be unopposed, the act of contraction," is unquali- fied nonsense. Sec. 257. I regard the circumstance, that "it is now almost univer- sally admitted by intelligent Physiologists that we gain nothing by the assumption of some general controlling agency, or vital principle, dis- tinct from the organized structure itself," as one of the most deplora- ble misfortunes that has ever occurred to the human race. It is indeed a most lamentable fact that Physiologists have almost universally em- braced the odious doctrine of Materialism, which seems destined to be fraught with more wide-spread ruin to the human family than the fall from rectitude of our first Parents. Its tendency clearly is to es- trange man from his Creator, by withdrawing his attention from his immortal spirit, and enchaining it to his body, which his reason leads him to regard as mortal and perishable. It impairs or destroys our reverence for the Deity, by degrading him from his high character of Lawgiver, Ruler, and Governor of the world, to that of a common la- borer, whose office consists in constructing microscopic organisms, from whence the other parts of all beings and substances are devel- oped. It is very questionable if the Author of Nature creates any or- ganism whatever, connected with the bodies of living beings. He creates their spiritual parts, and endows them with certain faculties, and impresses on them certain instincts or commands, which prompts them to construct organs suitable for the performance of the purposes for which they are designed by their Creator. They do this, as we have said before, by first forming the nervous system, which brings them in- to relation with the material world; and by the agency of this nervous system they convert the materials presented to them into tissues and organs. All the actions of every living being are prompted by the in- stincts or commands of its Creator; and when these commands are obeyed, as he has appointed that they should be obeyed, then his crea- tures are happy; but if these commands are perverted or obeyed differ- ently from his intentions, or not obeyed at all, then are his creatures unhappy or miserable. This is the condition of all living beings; they are all made free agents, and their happiness and unhappiness is placed at their own disposal. Happiness is made the inducement to a proper 3 31 obedience of their instincts, whilst an improper obedience is punished by unhappiness. This view of the economy of Nature becomes a sub- ject of the utmost interest when it is considered that it is applicable to ourselves. We are endowed with nearly the same faculties, perform, the same functions, mental and corporeal, as other beings, and have impressed on our spiritual being the same, or similar instincts. 'Tis true that our faculties, at least some of them, as the Imagination, Judg- ment, &c, are more developed; and our functions, as Reason, Inven- tion, &c, are performed more perfectly than those of brutes; but our advantage over them consists in our capacity to record the results of our Reason and Invention; and thus possessing the facility of commu- nicating these results from one to another; in our capacity to contem- plate the operations of the Deity in his works; in the instinct, which seems peculiar to man. that prompts him to give his affections to his Creator, his admiration of his wonders, and his gratitude for the bles- sings he continually enjoys; in the scheme of Christianity, which con- tains definite rules to direct him as to the manner he should obey his instincts, and proposes to him as an inducement to such obedience, not only happiness in this life, but a state of endless enjoyment in a future world. The view which I am advocating imparts a new inter- est to the study of Ihe Natural History of living Beings, by pointing out a new and unfailing principle of classification or orderly arrangement of them, I mean that of their instincts; by pointing out the close con- nexion between them and their Creator, from an obedience or a perver- sion of whose commands all their actions originate, and a new interest is possessed by all these actions from a knowledge of their origin. Thus the anatomical structure of the body, the habits, color, voice, habitations, &c, &c, all become subjects of intense interest to the student of Nature, when he is convinced that all these proceed from the immediate commands of the Author of Nature. He thus discovers a rock— "On which man's tossing thought May rest from ruin, dare his fate survey, And nobly think it something to be born." The doctrine of Materialism, on the contrary, leads the student of Nature directly to Infidelity and Atheism, by withdrawing his attention from the close connexion that might be observed between the Creator and his creatures. In all our works on Science, it has come to be con- sidered unscientific and unphilosophical, not to say ridiculous, to make 35 any reference to the agency of the Creator in any part of his creation, and an utter forgetfulness of God is studiously inculcated. Finally, Materialists, by making no allusion to happiness, or to the means of attaining it, either in the present or in a future state, deprive their disci- ples of the true motives of action, by representing that " the life, after death, which we are to inherit, is to be merely a horrid life of wrig- gling impurities, originated in the putrefactive mucus." Sec. 258. The conditions on which vital phenomena depend are, an organized structure, connected by nerves with an intelligent Being. External impressions, as from heat, the life of the atmosphere, &c, may be necessary to cause this intelligent Being to exercise its appoint- ed functions. The position, " that the peculiar properties, which we term vital, are dependent upon the peculiar modes of combination and aggregation of the elementary particles, which are characteristic of or- ganized structures," is utterly false, and unworthy of the consideration of any rational mind. Derangement in function, or irregular action, may result from change of structure, or from external conditions, which causes the Being, instinctively, to determine an abnormal or unusual flow of the nervous fluid to the part affected; but the same unusual determination, producing derangement of functions, frequently arises from impressions made upon the mind by moral causes. If a muscle has been long disused, its owner may find some difficulty in bringing it into action; because the nerves through which the nervous fluid is transmitted, which tubular, may have become from disuse are partially impermeable; and to this same cause may be attributed its change in appearance from imperfect nutrition. Again, convulsive or irregular actions of the Nervous System, are immediately dependent upon the efforts of the mind, although such efforts may, in some instances, be excited by external impressions, which may proceed as well from the circulating fluids as from other sources. The vital actions, or phenom- ena, may all be explained without the use of the vital properties at- tributed to the tissues. Sec. 263. After stating that the operations of the mind are attended with a waste of nervous matter, the author proceeds to say, " from this, and other considerations, we are almost irresistibly led to the be- lief, that every act of Mind is inseparably connected in our present state of being with material changes in the Nervous System;" " a doc- trine," he adds, " not in the least inconsistent with a belief in the sep- arate immaterial existence of the Mind itself, nor with the expectation 36 of a future state;" in which strain the author indulges on several occa- sions in the course of his work. But is not this admission in direct contradiction to the remark just now made, " that we gain nothing by the assumption of some general controlling agency, or Vital principle, distinct from the organized Structure itself?" Is it not the whole ten- dency of the doctrine of Materialism to show that Mind is the result of a peculiar arrangement of the particles of the brain, or of the action of the brain; and is not this supposition inconsistent with the separate ex- istence of the Mind, and with the existence of a future state ? It seems to me, that such expressions as we have 'quoted above, are merely thrown out occasionally by the writer in order to conciliate the multi- tude, who are naturally led to contrary or different conclusions. Sec. 259. In the re-union of small portions of the body that have been detached, the restoration of vitality depends on the apposition of the amputated extremities of the nerves of the body to those of the part detached, as by this means their nervous fluid is conveyed to the part, and consequently the nutritious fluids are invited there by the di- latation of the tubes. It is impossible to conceive of a circulation, or of other vital phenomena, without the agency of the nervous fluid. Sec. 261. The phenomena presented by Plants, are only to be ex- plained by supposing them to be possessed, like animals, of separate immaterial existences, endowed with faculties, and impressed with in- stincts which prompt their various actions; and that these immaterial existences have for their agent in producing the changes in their own bodies, and in surrounding objects, a fluid analogous to the nervous fluid of animals, circulating through the Pith and Medullary processes, which are clearly the analogues of the Brain and Nerves. Innumera- ble facts show that they are impressed with instincts; that they adapt means for the attainment of ends, which is a mental function; and that they select their food, which involves sensation, feeling, and con- sciousness, or will. The changes in their circulating fluids, from the watery sap to the solid, woody fibre, take place precisely as similar changes take place in the circulating fluids of animals, and by a simi- lar agency. Sec. 265. The action of the alimentary canal or tube, and of all other tubes, is an instance of ordinary muscular action. The pecu- liarity of such action, consisting in the fact that impressions made on any one point cause or is followed by action, in a normal state, in a point subsequent to that on which the impression is made, in the direc- 37 tion of the action of the tube; thus an impression made on the fauces, causes or is followed by the dilatation of the upper portion of the oeso- phagus; when the impression is made by the morsel on this upper por- tion, the dilatation takes place further along the tube, and so on; the same may be said of the action of all other tubes—the impression of the blood on the Auricle causes or is followed by the dilatation of the Ventricle; the impression on the Ventricle by the dilatation of the Ar- teries, and so on; but the impressions in all these instances produce action, by inducing the immaterial existence to determine the nervous fluid to the points required; which it does instinctively, when it receives the impression. But if the impression is made by a morsel or sub- stance that it would be improper to receive into or propel along the tube, the action is suspended, by the mind refusing to dilate it. It is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to swallow nauseating medicine, and the Mind obstinately refuses to dilate the lungs or chest when the surrounding Atmosphere is unfit for respiration. Facts of this kind are met with constantly. Plants, as well as animals, select their food; and this fact leads directly to the conclusion that all living Beings are possessed of an immaterial existence, endowed with intelligence; for without this intelligence, we cannot possibly conceive of any proposi- tion that would explain the phenomena. It must be admitted that in- telligence is an attribute of Mind, and not, as is sometimes supposed, a property of matter. There is no active propulsion of the food along the alimentary canal; nor is there any active propulsion of the blood by the Heart. The Medullary processes and pith, and the woody fibres in plants, answer to the Nervous and Muscular systems of Animals. Sec. 266. Here we have again the fruits of the doctrine of Material- ism The functions are made to depend upon the properties of the tissues; the properties of the tissues upon the condition of the blood; the condition of the blood upon respiration, and so on; it seems to be entirely forgotten by the Materialist, that there is any such thing as an intelligent, immaterial existence or Being, that performs these func- tions-because it is commanded to do so for the purpose of carrying out the designs of its Creator; although it may sometimes be prevented from performing them by the abnormal condition of the organs or in- struments by which those functions are to be exercised. The cases ot acephalous fetuses furnish no argument against our view, but if proper- ly regarded, they confirm it. The taking of food, and applying it to 3S the growth of the body, shows some, however low, degree of intelli- gence; the Brain being the organ, not of thought, but the organ in- tended to give expression to the thoughts, and these thoughts being repressed for the want of the meansof expression, the mind itself be- comes torpid as it regards its higher faculties, and these become in time almost or altogether obliterated. The Nervous System becomes affected by a cessation of a due sup- ply of blood, because a large supply of the nervous fluid is derived from the blood, and a large supply of the nervous fluid is constantly being expended on the blood, for the purpose of converting it into the secretions, and into the several tissues. Sec. 269. A diminution of the nutritious fluids circulating through the system may give rise to an impression originating in the extremity of the nerves terminating in the tubes; which impression, when con- veyed to the mind, calls into exercise the actions that are prompted by the instinct that urges us to obtain food. " The mental operations, which have for their object the acquisition of food," are all purely in- stinctive, as all other mental operations are; and the distinction between these and voluntary acts is unfounded. The difference between the acts of this nature in Man, somewhat advanced in life, and those of in- fants or brutes, consists in the fact that the former have more fully de- veloped the functions of the Mind, by which he can adopt means to the accomplishment of ends, and is thus enabled to obtain food that would be unattainable by the latter. Sec. 270. The food received into the mouth is prepared by the agency of the nervous fluid, which is determined to it by the Mind, through the medium of the nerves of the teeth, and those of the salivary glands, when it is united with the saliva; and being thus prepared, it is so constituted that, being presented to the anterior pillars of the fauces, it causes an impression which is transmitted to the Mind; and if the impression be of a proper kind, the Mind determines the proper nervous fluid to the fibres of the fauces, which consequently become actively elongated, and the morsel invited along by the expansion or dilatation of the fauces. Here again another impression is made, and another determination by the Mind of the nervous fluid to the fibres of the upper portion of the oesophagus, which becomes dilated, and again draws the morsel along, at the same time that it is in some degree pro- pelled from its former position by the passive contraction of the fibres of the part from which the nervous fluid has been withdrawn, or has 39 passed away. This process is repeated until the morsel is conducted through the oesophagus; and, indeed, by the same process, its contents are carried through the alimentary canal; nay, by the same identical process, the passage of their contents take3 place through all living tubes. The secretions that are added to these contents as they pass along are nothing more than preparations of the nervous fluid, which are mixed with the contents of the alimentary canal in the form of saliva, gastric liquor, bile, &c; the object of which is to induce the changes in the circulating mass necessary for the purposes of the economy. The proposition that impressions made on the living body, when conveyed to the nervous centres, are followed by a determination of the nervous fluid, without the intervention of an intelligent immate- rial being, is inconsistent with phenomena that are constantly present- ing themselves, and is utterly false. In explaining physiological phenomena, there is no occasion for the use of a vocabulary of technical terms, compounded of dead or foreign languages, which are commonly made use of as a cloak to ignorance, or to exclude from a subject, which is of the greatest interest to all, the consideration of those whose judgments are unsophisticated, and who consequently would be most likely to arrive at just conclusions. "There is" no "reason" whatever "to believe that the changes which the chyle undergoes in its progress through the lacteals are due to the action of certain cells, which are seen to be diffused through the liquid; or that these, by their independent powers of growth, are con- tinually absorbing into themselves the fluid in which they float, &c; on the contrary, all nature cries out against this dangerous doctrine. This is the starting point, the fundamental principle of Materialism— that all living beings arise from the operations of cells "which have an inherent vitality"—"independent powers of growth"—and are en- dowed with intelligence enough to construct the bodies of all beings! And this monstrous assumption is here introduced by the remark that, "there is reason to believe!!" Sec. 272. That the action of the Heart, and the peristaltic move- ments of the alimentary canal, are quite independent of the agency of the Nervous system, is an assertion contradicted by the plainest dictates of Reason, which lead directly to the conclusion that all action in living bodies are effected by the agency of the nervous fluid; for it is this fluid alone that brings the immaterial existence, called the Mind, into relation with the material world; and without its agency we can neither receive nor produce any impression whatever. 10 Sec. 275. The office of the lungs is the absorption of life from the atmosphere in the form of oxygen, and the giving off the life of the. individual in the form of carbonic acid gas; and the office of the liver is to allow the nervous fluid to unite with'the blood, and convert it into bile; and then the life of this secretion to be taken up to supply the waste of the nervous fluid. The slow combustion which is said to take place in the tissues of the living body has no existence except in the prurient imaginations of Materialists. Animal heat is a secretion formed by a peculiar combination of the nervous fluid, and is always in a direct ratio with the quantity of nervous fluid at the command of the individual. Sec. 276. "The chief function of the kidneys is" to form a secretion, from which, as from all the other secretions, nervous fluid or the life of the animal is derived; and the urine is stored up temporarily in the bladder, that this object may be the more effectually accomplished. The urine in the bladder is also constantly receiving the nervous fluid from the nerves of this viscus, according to the great law of Nature, which has appointed that all things should constantly receive and give off the subtle fluid, life; and the same may be said of the urine as it passes along the Urethra to be voided. Sec. 277. The special function of the Lymphatics is to continue the circulation of the secretions, in order that they may be the more fully exposed to the action of the nerves referred to above. Sec. 278. Animal heat being a peculiar combination of the life or nervous fluid of the individual, it is of course regulated by the expen- diture of the nervous fluid on the secretions. External heat, when applied under favorable circumstances, makes an impression which causes a preternatural determination of the nervous fluid to the skin, and consequently an increased secretion of the perspiration. The agency of cells in secretion, and selective secretion and selective absorp- tion, is all nonsense; for it is giving intelligence to cells to which they have no claim whatever. Sec. 279. The process of secretion cannot be rationally explained with any other supposition than that of the agency of the nervous fluid, and the attempt to refer it to the agency of cells is supremely absurd. The action of the excretory tubes were explained when speaking of the action of tubes in general. Sec. 2S0. It is not philosophical to distinguish between the functions, calling one set Organic, and making it independent of the Nervous 41 system; and the other set Animal, which is dependent on the agency of the Nerves. All the functions in an individual are properly refer- able to the agency of one intelligent, immaterial existence, which has constructed the organs by which the functions are performed, and operates on these organs by means of a single agent, the nervous fluid. The formation of cells may be one step in the formation of the tissues belonging to those composing these organs; but the endowing these cells with intelligence, and attributing to them powers such as Materialists award to them, is perfectly preposterous. Sec. 281. The function or process of Reproduction is entirely dis- tinct from that of Nutrition, notwithstanding the assertion to the con- trary made by Materialists. In the former, a new immaterial being "is begotten, not made," by cells, endowed with certain distinct faculties, and impressed with certain instincts or commands, which are to regu late its future actions. Whether such a being is a natural result of some mysterious union of Mind with Mind, or the act of one Mind; or whether each being is produced by a special act of Creation, is left a question undecided; it is sufficient for the purposes of the Physiologist to know, that such a being is formed with such faculties and such in- stincts, and it is his province to trace the actions arising from these in- stincts. Nutrition is nothing more than an act prompted by one of these instincts. It suits the purpose of the Materialist, in order to make his doctrine consistent with itself, to make "Reproduction consist in the formation ■ of a cell, which can give origin to others, from which again others spring; and in the capability of these last to undergo several kinds of transformation, so as ultimately to produce a fabric, in which the number of different parts is equal to that of the functions to be per- formed, every separate part having a purpose distinct from that of the rest!!!" If the cells can do all this—if they can adapt means so nicely to the attainment of ends, and this, too, through a long series of steps, which act presupposes a highly developed Reason to become acquainted with the laws by which these ends are to be attained—then must these cells be possessed of an intelligence equal to that of the Deity himself. For we contend that no creature could do all this without the guidance of the Creator, which he gives by means of the instincts. Let it be constantly borne in mind, that in this system of Materialism no mention is ever made of the Deity, and no reference whatever is made to the agency of the Creator in any part of the Crea- 42 tion; except perhaps occasionally, and in very rare instances, to admit that he creates some microscopic organism, perhaps the nucleus of a cell. I have not the mental capacity to perceive the lucidness of the re- mark, that "the Nervous system lives and grows within an Animal, as a Parasitic Plant does in a Vegetable; with its life and growth certain sensations and mental acts, varying in the different classes of Animals, are connected by nature in a manner altogether inscrutable to man; but the objects of the existence of Animals require that these mental acts should exert a powerful controlling influence over all the textures and organs of which they are composed;" but, on the contrary, this whole sentence seems to me to be involved in the most impenetrable obscurity. Sec. 283. I protest, at the outset, against the assumption that action in the living body consists in the contraction of its fibres. Contraction of the fibres is caused by the individual determining the nervous fluid from the fibres to its nervous centres; and the action, in such instances, is in these centres and not in the fibres. The active state of a muscle, or of its fibres, consists in their elongation, which is effected by the presence of the nervous fluid, determined to them by the individual. Sensation and motion belong to Plants as well as to Animals, although the former are not commonly capable of locomotion. The Pith and Medullary processes evidently perform the same office in Vegetables as the Nervous system in Animals. The insisting upon the observance of a rule—"non fingere hypothesis''—which the author says is well known in philosophy, and which he says cannot be too steadily kept in view in prosecuting physiological inquiries, comes with an ill grace from a Materialist. What is Materialism but a feigned hypothesis, unfounded on any fact in nature, and yet fraught with greater evil and with more horrible consequences to the Human race, than any hypothesis that has ever been concocted by the wildest imagination of Man. The time has passed when the human mind could be trammelled by the rule just referred to. It is too late in the day to advance the doctrine that one or two individuals are to have the exclusive privilege of exercising the function of reason, when all are known to possess the same privilege by a charter from God; when it is known that, in exer- cising reason, we are necessarily compelled to suppose an hypothesis, . in order to find out any truth ; and when all claim the right to exercise their own judgment on any proposition or hypothesis submitted to it, in order to decide whether it be true or false. 43 Sec. 285. The observation that " every method at present known, by which mind can act upon mind, requires muscular contraction for its medium, and sensation as its recipient, means simply what I have before advanced, namely, that we can neither make nor receive an impression but through the agency of the nervous fluid. The remarks about " the general scheme of man's probationary ex- istence," and "that in a future state of being the communion of mind with mind will be more intimate," &c, &c, are here introduced again at a reasonable interval, merely to keep way with the unreflect- ing; for, I again insist, that the materialist is incapable of perceiving the true relation of the creature to its Creator; and what is of still more importance, he is, from the nature of his opinions, utterly incapable of perceiving any ground on which to found a belief in a future state. If the reproduction of a living being is the work of nutrition, and the for- mation of the body, in which it is believed that the personal identity of such being consists, be the work of cells ; and if the mind be the re- sult of the structure of the brain ; or, in other words, if the brain be the organ of thought—then must the Materialist inevitably come to the con- clusion that the existence of a God, with whom he is so distantly con- nected, is a matter of but little interest to him ; and, further, that the existence of his mind depending upon materials which his experience teaches him to be perishable, when these do perish, then his mind must be annihilated, and, of course, that a future state is altogether imaginary. Sec. 286. Light, sound, and odors, are but forms of life or peculiar combinations of the subtle fluid which we have said was the basis of matter, and which we propose to call life. The nerves of the senses are each separately adapted to receive one of these forms of life, and transmit it to the centres to be perceived by the individual; the nerves of sight to receive light; the nerves of hearing, sounds; and nerves to smell, odors ; but in order to transmit these forms of life, it becomes necessary that the nerves should be rendered permeable by a determina- tion to them of the nervous fluid of the individual, and this determina- tion is always made when the senses are exercised, and is what is meant by the expression, giving the attention. The minutiae of the anatomical structure of the organs of the senses are calculated to pre- pare impressions, or the subtle fluid making them for transmission through the nerves. We have heretofore adverted to the fallacy enter^ tained by the author in relation to contractility, to muscular action, and to its independence of the Nervous system. 44 Sec. 289. The account given by the author of the arrangement of the tubular fibres of nerves is incorrect. These are very properly di- vided into two sets—the afferent, destined to convey impressions from the periphery to the centres or ganglia, (and these impressions are nothing more than the subtle fluid which we have said is ever passing from all material objects;) the other set of nerves is called efferent, and convey the nervous fluid/rowi the centres to the periphery. The error referred to consists in representing the afferent nerves as being distri- buted only to the sensory surfaces or organs, and the efferent nerves as distributed exclusively to the muscles; whereas the truth is both sets, the afferent and efferent, are distributed to the sensory surfaces and or- gans, and both sets are likewise distributed to the muscles and other fibrous tissues. Another important error in this paragraph it may not be well to pass unnoticed. The efferent nerves are represented as conveying the nervous influence, which means nervous fluid, to the muscles which are thereby thrown into contraction, which is supposed to be the active state of the muscle. This statement is untrue ; the nervous fluid, when conveyed through the efferent nerve to a muscle, causes its elongation, which is in fact its active state; and the contraction of a muscle, which is in reality its passive state, is caused by having its nervous influence or nervous fluid conveyed from it by means of the afferent nerves, which convey it to the nervous centres. The ganglia 1 suppose act as so many hearts in circulating the nervous fluid, and thus give the mind a greater or more efficient con- trol of this fluid by facilitating its circulation. Sec. 292. The reasoning here is extremely imperfect, and the con- clusion arrived at may be substituted by another, which furnishes a more rational explanation of the facts. A large portion of the nervous fluid is derived from the blood ; the more as it becomes assimilated and vivified by the action of the nerves upon it, and of the atmosphere in the lungs ; and from this fact it is easy to see that " the activity of the nervous system is not merely dependent upon a constant and ample supply of blood ; but that it requires that this blood should be in a state of extreme pjrity," that is, that it should contain its due share of materials ready to pass into the nerves. The conclusion that " the functional activity of the nervous system is mainly dependent upon the combination of the oxygen supplied by the blood, with its ele- ments," is an essential proposition in the doctrine of Materialism, but 45 is not entitled to rank as a Physiological truth. The production of the nervous force (if the expression has any meaning) is not a result of any change of composition, but is referable to the agency of an immaterial existence. Sec. 293. The attempt made by Materialists to explain what are called the phenomena of life, without the agency, direct or indirect, of any immaterial Being, has led to a complicated, confused, and unintel- ligible explanation of these phenomena, such as is contained in the fol- lowing paragraphs : When a number of facts or instances are presented to our observa- tion, it is philosophical to arrange them so as to bring them readily within the comprehension, and to infer from them propositions that are practical, that is, that may enable us to exercise our invention, or the function by which we adapt means to the attainment of ends ; and any proposition thus found, provided it enables us to exercise this func- tion, may be received as a truth, if not inconsistent with other known truths. From the known phenomena presented by living beings I think we may infer, that there is a subtle fluid called the nervous fluid, which circulates through the nerves and nervous centres, as the blood through the blood vessels and heart; and again, that this fluid is under the control of an immaterial Being, which it makes use of under the guidance of another immaterial Being, who is the Creator and Supreme Governor of the Universe ; that this guidance is effected by means of the instincts or commands impressed on these creatures at the moment of their creation. Admitting the truth of these general propositions, we are enabled to understand many phenomena which are otherwise unintelligible, and we are further enabled by them to adapt means for the attainment of many important ends which we could not otherwise attain For instance, we may make use of these propositions to enable us to employ means to counteract the deleterious agency of disease upon our bodies; and they enable us to see more clearly the reason- ableness of the truths of Christianity, and thus lead us to make use of the means it inculcates, in order to attain to a state of future hap- nincss • Sec' 297 Electricity is a subtle fluid which permeates inanimate matter, and", of course, is not identical with the nervous fluid which belongs to animated bodies, although it may make impressions on the latter bodies. fl.rM Sec. 299. In every trunk of nerves, afferent as well as efferent fibres 46 are bound up; and the irritation of the trunk may cause action in the afferent fibres which withdraw the nervous fluid from the muscle, and thus cause its contraction; but it would not cause a determination of the nervous fluid probably to the muscle, because the attention of the individual would be limited to the point at which the irritation was made. Sec. 300. Experiments made to determine the function of nerves are entitled to no credit, from the fact that they have all been made under the false impression that the contraction of a muscle is the result of a determination to it of the nervous fluid, or, as it is said, of the nervous influence; when the truth is, that this contraction is the result of the withdrawal/rom. the muscle of the said fluid or influence. Sec. 307. 1. There is no distinction in reality between voluntary and involuntary acts, (both proceeding from the instincts,) unless it be that in the latter impressions are more immediately followed by the act of the mind determining the nervous fluid where its presence is required ; whereas in voluntary acts the operation of the mind is perhaps more deliberate, and is preceded by the exercise of the mental function called Invention, or that function by which we adapt means to the attain- ment of ends : thus, when the odor from its mother's breast makes an impression on the infant, and awakens its appetite for food, it imme- diately seizes upon the nipple, if presented to it; but the adult, when his appetite for food is excited, sets himself to work to adapt means for the attainment of food, if it is not at hand, or makes use of his facul- ties to bring it within his reach. 2. The reflex function 1 have explained in a former note; which explanation has proceeded from my own reasoning, without any refer- ence to any thing written on the subject. The error committed by Dr. Hall in his investigations, consisted in his attempt to explain the phe- nomena by the use of mechanical principles alone, and without any regard to an intelligent Being; the impression made on a centre was followed by an immediate determination of the nervous influence from that centre, without even the intervention of the will. But this blind act of the centre would not account in any satisfactory manner for the phenomena. Take, for example, the instances of reflex action exhib- ited in the Circulation of the Blood; when an impression is made on the left Auricle of the Heart by the vitalized blood from the Lungs, this impression is conveyed to the nervous centre, and is followed by an active dilatation (not the contraction) of the left Ventricle; which 47 active dilatation, by forming a vacuum, draws the blood from the Au- ricle into the Ventricle, when, at the same time, the active state having passed from the Auricle, it assists the motion of the blood into the Ven- tricle by its (the Auricle's) passive contraction. The impression made on the left Ventricle by the blood flowing into it, is followed, in like manner, by a simultaneous active dilatation of all the arteries of the general system; and so the action is carried forward, from one point to another, throughout the whole circulation. The difference between Dr. Hall's views of reflex action (which, by the by, he has never ap- plied to the action of the tubes, or to the circulation of the blood) and mine, consists in this, that he refers the acts simply to the nerves, ner- vous centres, and muscular fibres, engaged in the operation, and con- siders them merely as the result of the operation of certain properties inherent in these parts, which takes place in accordance with certain general mechanical laws; while, according to my views of this reflex action, it is the result of the determination of the nervous fluid, by an intelligent Being, which receives the impression from the blood, and dilates the different parts, as we have seen, for its circulation through the system, in accordance with a command which it has impressed upon it by its Creator. Which of the above views is the correct one, may be decided when it is seen which of them leads to the most im- portant practical application; or which will enable us the most certainly to adapt means for the attainment of ends, or to make use of means for the preservation of health and the alleviation of disease. Sec. 311. One of the greatest obstacles to a clear view of the ner- vous function, is the assumption (altogether gratuitous) that Plants have no part of their system corresponding to the nervous structure in Ani- mals. But I do not see how Physiologists can possibly shut their eyes against, or withdraw their observation from, the very striking analogy to the Nervous system presented in the Pith and Medullary processes of Plants. The arrangement of the latter is very similar to that of the Nervous centres and Nerves; and the anatomical structure differs from that of other parts of the Plant, as the anatomical structure of the Nerves differs from any other structure in Animals. The sole objec- tion to the acknowledgment of a truth so obvious and palpable to the senses, seems to arise from the fact, that such an admission might lead to conclusions inconsistent with the established views by which the dis- tinction is drawn between Plants and Animals. This distinction, as laid down by Physiologists, is, that Animals are possessed of a will, of 48 sensation, and of motion: whilst Plants have none of these, simply be- cause they have no Nervous system, which is the instrument of these faculties, and without which they could have no existence. But, if it be admitted that Plants have a Nervous system, or something analo- gous, then this distinction (on which Physiologists seem to plume them- selves) could not be drawn. The truth is, that we have the very strongest proof (the evidence of our senses) of the fact, that Plants are possessed of volition, sensation, and motion; and this fact furnishes a convincing argument in favor of the opinion, that the Pith and Medul- lary processes in Plants are the analogues of the nervous centres and Nerves in Animals; and this fact, together with another known fact, namely, that Plants have instincts which regulate their actions, com- pletely establishes the truth that Plants, like Animals, are possessed of a separate immaterial existence, whence all their actions immediately proceed. Sec. 313. If we have the right to infer (as we undoubtedly have) from the phenomena presented in the Hydra, that they are possessed of a Nervous system, why have we not the same right to infer, from similar phenomena presented by Plants, that these are possessed of a system analogous to the Nervous system, which could be no other than the Pith and Medullary processes? The tentacula in Hydra do not (when particles of food are conveyed by them to the orifice of the sto- mach) contract throughout, as the text would seem to intimate; but having longitudinal fibres arranged on every side, the fibres of one side are actively elongated, whilst those on the opposite side are passively contracted; and thus the extremity of the tentaculum is bent over, and this action of several united brings the particle of food to the orifice of the stomach; no individual tentacle being even shortened while the animal is feeding. Sec. 316. Tunicata.—The water is drawn into these animals by the active dilatation of the sac, and is expelled by its passive contraction. Any rough impression made on the tentacula, or on the surface of the sac, causes the animal instinctively to withdraw its nervous fluid from the fibres of its walls to its nervous centre; and, consequently, the im- pression is immediately followed by the contraction of the walls, and the expulsion of the water they enclose. When the animal is actively engaged, as in feeding, the fibres, both of the tentacles and sacs, are elongated; the tentacles consequently extended, and the sac dilated. The office of the Cilia has been explained in a former note, sect. 172. 49 The actions of this animal, by which it contracts its tunic, are simple, and not reflex. Sec. 336. Those acts that are performed by all the individuals of any one species of living Beings—the act of one Being being precisely similar to that of another—may be called purely instinctive; that is, they all proceed immediately from the command of the Creator, im- pressed upon the mind of the individual, and are not preceded by the exercise of Reason and Invention. Thus, the taking of food, or the manner of taking it; the manner of reproducing the species; the mi- gration of animals; the building of nests by birds; the peculiar sounds given off by the various species of animals; their peculiar secretions. are all purely instinctive acts, because they are not the result of the exercise of Invention, or the function by which means are made use of for the attainment of ends; these acts are performed without any reference to the ultimate object to be attained. Of this nature are the acts of the honey bee, in constructing its comb and storing up its honey. It is prompted to perform these acts by its instincts, and they are per- formed without reference to any ulterior object. Man, in constructing his habitation, and in making provision for the future, first exercises his Reason, and then his Invention, by which he adapts means for the attainment of special objects. The adaptation of means to ends is not the result of Reason, as stated in the text, but it is the result of the exercise of a different function— that of Invention. The acts which I call purely instinctive, and which the author terms "consensual," do not take place, however, as he would have us sup- pose, without the intervention of the will or Mind; but, on the con- trary, these, as well as all other acts of living Beings, are prompted by the instincts impressed on the Mind, and are the immediate acts of the Mind itself. Sec. 359. The semblance of the human foetus, in its different stages of development, to the permanent forms of animals, lower in the scale of being, is altogether fanciful and fabulous; like the ridiculous dream of Goethe, which has been greedily caught at by Naturalists, namely, that all the productions of plants, such as flowers, carpels, fruit, &c, are metamorphosed leaves. The indulgence of a morbid Imagination in investigating the subject of Physical science, leads to no valuable result whatever, and should always be discountenanced by inquirers after truth. 4 50 Sec. 36S. The arguments made use of by the author to establish the point, that reflex actions are independent of sensation, are all false; because they proceed on the false assumption, that the action of mus- cles consists in contraction, or that innervation causes the contraction of muscles. The instances mentioned in this paragraph have no bear- ing upon the point at issue, because they are not instances of reflex action at all. The convulsion or contraction of the muscles arising from comparatively slight irritation, was owing to the fact that such irritation, by acting on the nervous centre, caused the person to deter- mine the nervous fluid from the muscles to the centre, and conse- quently the muscles became contracted, or were thrown into convul- sions. This view is confirmed by the fact mentioned, that the individual, by extending his muscles by an effort of the will, that is, by determin- ing the nervous fluid to the muscles, was enabled to overcome these involuntary contractions, and to walk. Sec. 380. The purpose for which the several acts of sighing, yawn- ing, sobbing, laughing, coughing, sneezing, crying, &c, are perform- ed, is to get rid of accumulated nervous fluid, which has not been regularly expended immediately preceding these acts; from the circum- stance that the mind has been occupied, either by some source of irri- tation in the system, or by some of the emotions, or passions; which latter are nothing more than the emotions or affections unduly exalted by means of the Imagination. Yawning, for instance, is caused by an accumulation of the nervous fluid, resulting from the Mind's ceas- ing to give its attention to the distribution of the nervous fluid to parts of the system otherwise constantly receiving it during the waking state; to the Brain, for instance, for the expression of thought; or to the senses, which at such time are disposed to suspend their functions, as in sleep. Sec. 382. The act of deglutition has already been explained, sect. 270. The active stages in the process consist in the dilatation, and not in the contraction, of the fauces and the several portions of the oeso- phagus; and these acts evidently proceed from the immediate agency of an intelligent being. Matter of itself has no intelligence, neither is it capable of independent action. Sec. 3S7. The Sphincter muscle of the Cardiac orifice of the stomach is opened, not by pressure, but in consequence of an impression made either on the lower portion of the oesophagus, as in deglutition, or on the Cardiac portion of the stomach, as in vomiting. AH Sphincter 51 muscles, in their natural state, or state of repose, close the tube or passage abou;t which they are placed, and it is by a preternatural deter- mination to them of the nervous fluid, causing the elongation of their fibres, that these tubes or passages become dilated. Sec. 388. The Hallerian doctrine, that the muscular fibre possesses, in itself, the property of contractility, which the author unhesitatingly adopts, is not supported by any facts mentioned in this paragraph; in- asmuch as it is assumed that muscular action consists in contraction, which has been shown to be utterly false. The contraction of the in- testines may well take place when separated from their connexion with the nerves, for we have said the loss of the nervous fluid is always the cause of contraction. The dilatation of the intestines, under similar circumstances, may depend on the motion of the contents in conse- quence of the contraction in other parts of the tube. Sec. 389. The intestinal tube, from the stomach to the rectum, s certainly dependent for its action on the nerves connected with the spinal cord. Sec. 390. The action of the urinary tube or canal, including the bladder, is precisely similar to that of the alimentary canal. The im- pression made on the ureters by the urine as it passes through them, is followed by the dilatation of the bladder, dependent on a determination to the fibres of its walls of the nervous fluid; and this dilatation is, in a normal condition of the viscus, in a direct ratio with the quantity of urine flowing into it. When the urine has passed into the bladder, and undergone the changes it is appointed to undergo there, that is, has given off and received nervous influence, it makes an impression which is followed by the dilatation of the sphincter of the bladder, by the individual withdrawing the nervous fluid from the fibres of the body and fundus, and determining it to the fibres of the sphincter—the contraction of the body, and fundus of the bladder, then is in a passive state, resulting from the withdrawal of the cause of action—the ner- vous fluid. That the determination spoken of is made by the mind, or individual, is proved by the fact that we can, in many instances, re- lax the sphincter, and discharge the urine voluntarily, without awaiting the impression on the bladder. The passage of the urine along the urethra is effected by the alternate dilatation and contraction of por- tions of the tube, in the same manner as the passage of the morsel takes place through the oesophagus. Sec. 391. In the acts of defecation and urination, a draft is made 52 on the whole system for nervous fluid, but especially on the abdominal muscles, and those concerned in respiration, for the purpose of supply- ing the demand necessary for the dilatation of the tubes, and especially of the sphincters concerned in these acts. This circumstance furnishes a clear and simple explanation of the contraction of these muscles on such occasions. Sec. 392. The assistance given to the sphincters to enable them to resist the expulsion of the contents of the tube, consists in increasing the action of the nervous centres, and thus preventing the determina- tion to them of their cause of action, which, by elongating their fibres, would effect their relaxation, or rather their active dilatation. This is proved by the fact, that if the action of these centres be diminished, or lessened by any cause, such as the depressing passion of Fear for instance, the contracted state of the sphincters cannot be maintained. Sec. 393. The arguments in this paragraph show to what lengths the author allows himself to be carried, in order to support a favorite hypothesis. To prove that the ejacutio seminis is unattended with sensation, and consequently, that it is independent of the Nervous sys- tem, he brings forward the testimony of one Brachet, who " mentions a case of this kind in the human subject, in which the patient's own testimony could be adduced!!!" What credit is due to the statements of a writer who could undertake to prove, with such feeble testimony, that there is no sensation connected with an act, which, according to the experience of every one who has ever experienced it, is accompanied with the most ecstatic of all sensations—is left to be determined by his readers. The emissio seminis takes place precisely as the other actions of the tubes of which we have spoken; the secretion of the semen, and the preparation of the fluid in the vesicula seminales, furnishes the impres- sion necessary to give rise to the action resulting in the emission. The same explanation applies to the action of the uterine tube, embracing the uterus itself. The impression made by friction, and by the male se- men, gives rise to an action, which, commencing in the Vagina, termi- nates at the extremity of the Fallopian tube, by which means the semen is conveyed to the ovaries; and, again, the impression from the impregnated ovum gives origin to the series of actions in the Fallopian tube, beginning with the embrace of the ovaries by its extremities, the corpora fimbriata, and ending in the delivery of the ovum within the cavity of the uterus. 53 This view of tubular action furnishes the key to a simple and ready explanation of one among the most important functions, and certainly the one least understood of any of the functions of the animal econo- my—I allude to Parturition. The foetus, in a normal state, having arrived at a proper stage of development, makes an impression on the uterus, which is conveyed by the nerves to the mind of the mother, who instinctively performs the series of acts that result in the expulsion of the foetus, or birth of the child. The impression being made on the body and fundus of the uterus, she determines the nervous fluid to the fibres of the cervix and os uteri, which, by this means, become dilated, or as it is commonly termed, relaxed. The nervous influence having by this act been withdrawn from the body and fundus of the uterus, these latter contract simultaneously with the dilatation of the cervix and os uteri, and thus the foetus is brought into contact with the latter. The impression by the foetus, at this stage of its progress, is followed by a determination of the nervous influence to the fibres of the vagina; and again that tube being dilated, and the cervix and os uteri conse- quently contracted, the foetus is moved another step in its progress. Finally, the impression made by the foetus on the vagina, is followed by the dilatation of its external orifice, together with the contraction of the walls of its superior portion, and the foetus is, by this joint action, expelled. Sec. 394. The action of the spinal cord is the same on the sphinc- ters, as on all other muscular fibres. The action of the orbicularis muscle in movements of the eyelids is misrepresented; the contraction of this muscle upon the irritation of the margin of the tarsus, is not an instance of reflex action, but is direct, and owing to the action of the corresponding nervous centre, which, when the impression is made on the tarsus, withdraws the nervous influence from the fibres of the muscle. The opening of the eyes is effected by the preternatural de- termination of the nervous fluid during the waking state, which deter- mination ceases in sleep, or when the eyes are closed. Sec. 395. The closure of the pupil against a strong light is an in- stance of reflex action. The closure is not effected by any sphincter fibres, as the author seems to suppose, but by the active elongation of the longitudinal fibres of the Ciliary processes, which follows the im- pression made by the strong light, as we have seen in all other instances of reflex action excited by impressions. Sec. 397. The action of the muscles concerned in locomotion is 54 precisely similar in itself to that already explained. The exciting cause, however, is volition, or originates in the Mind, and not in any external impression. The impulse, or that which propels the body along, it should be recollected, is the active elongation of certain mus- cles, by the determination to them of the nervous influence; and this U done at the expense of certain other set or sets of muscles, which have their nervous influence withdrawn, and are thereby contracted. The same may be said of the muscles of the upper extremities; of the hand, for instance, in the act of closing or grasping a solid body. The mus- cles that are in a state of action in this movement are, contrary to the received opinion, the extensors—which are actively elongated by the nervous fluid, which has been withdrawn for this purpose from the flexor muscles, which flexor muscles are thereby contracted. Conse- quently, this contraction is passive, and not their active state, as is com- monly supposed. Sec. 39S. The tension, or slate of partial contraction, observed in the fibres of the living body, depends on the action of the nervous cen- tres, which control or regulate the condition of the fibres, by regulat- ing the supply of nervous fluid. When these centres are destroyed,. as in the instances cited, this tension is of course lost, or ceases. By what has been said, I mean that the centres are the instruments that the Mind makes use of to control the supply of nervous fluid. Sec. 401. Tetanus is a disease of the nervous centres, resulting in a highly irritable condition; a slight stimulus applied in this state causes a preternatural action in the centres, and consequently an extraordina- ry revulsion of the nervous energy from the muscles, which is the immediate cause of their contraction. The effect of the Tincture of Cantharides in the case related by Dr. Hall, was merely to determine the nervous influence to the bladder, which caused its expansion, and the retention of the urine. The phenomena connected with the frog, as related under the supposition that there if, at the season of copula- tion, a preternatural determination of the nervous fluid to the organs concerned, or engaged directly, as well as indirectly, in the act—the grasping with the interior extremities is owing to the active elongation of the extensor muscles. The enlargement of the thumb is attributa- ble to the same determination. Sec. 419. The author here mentions a fact, which becomes impor- tant when placed in connexion with my view of muscular action. Speaking of the hypoglossal nerve, he remarks, " when this nerve is 55 paralyzed on one side in hemiplegia, it will be generally observed that the tongue, when the patient is directed to put it out, is projected to- wards the palsied side of the face-" " this is due," he adds, "to the want of action of the lingual muscles of that side, which do not aid in pushing forward the tip." Now, this explanation happens to be true, and is exactly in accordance with my view, in which I consider the action of muscles to consist in the active elongation of their fibres. The action of the fibres on the sound side would tend to protrude the tongue, but the want of action on the paralyzed side of the tongue would cause the projection of the organ towards this side—the action of the side being " unantagonised by their fellows." If the action of muscles consisted in contraction, it is evident the projection of the tongue would be in a contrary direction, or towards the sound side, where the fibres, if in a state of action, would be contracted. Sec. 42S. All the actions of all living beings are instinctive, that is to say, they have their origin in an inherent impulse, and this impulse originates from the command of the Creator. This world is evidently formed in accordance with some vast scheme, and living beings are placed here in order to perform an appointed part in this scheme. To direct them as to what is required of them, commands have been is- sued, and have been stamped upon the immaterial existence which con- stitutes the personal identity of every such being. These instincts are impressed upon them, at the same time that they are endowed with faculties, capacities, and affections. If obeyed according to the will of the Designer, these commands serve to guide, us, as well as all living beings, to happiness; if disobeyed or perverted, they lead as directly to unhappiness and misery. The world is so constituted that happiness is proposed as the reward of obedience to the will of the Creator; and, on the contrary, unhappiness is the punishment appointed for the dis- obedience of his will. The reward is appointed to induce creatures to carry out or promote the designs of the Creator; the punishment is in- tended to deter them from marring his designs. The slightest atten- tion to what is passing around us, will be sufficient to lead to an ac- knowledgment of the truth of these conclusions. Of the instincts some may be called determinate, because they lead or direct to a certain series of acts resulting in the attainment of some specific object. Of this kind are those acts commonly regarded as peculiar to the lower order of animals, such as the construction of the comb by the 56 honey bee, the building of nests by birds, etc. We shall see, however, that the determinate instincts are common to man and brutes. The general instincts are those which prompt to the exercise of the mental faculties and functions, and of the affections. As instances of these instincts we may enumerate the exercise of reason and invention, which perhaps contribute more to the welfare of mankind than any other of the instincts—the results of their exercise having a more ex- tensive operation, or a wider bearing upon the human race generally, than that of any other of the instincts; besides this, the exercise of reason and of invention, or obedience to the instincts which prompt these exercises, is rewarded with perhaps the purest and highest pleasure or happiness of which the human mind is susceptible. The exercise of the determinate instincts is commonly attended with peculiar conditions and the impressions made by these external condi- tions on the mind of the being may be regarded as the exciting cause of such exercise; the impressions made by the odor of flowers, or other odors, cause the bee to call forth its energies, which are directed towards the formation of its comb; and the warmth of the season arouses in spring the dormant faculties of the birds, which are busied in construct- ing their nests and rearing their young. Sec. 429. The attempt to draw a line of demarkation between in- stinct and intelligence is futile. The instincts are as much a part of the intellect as the mental faculties; I mean to say, they belong to the mind and are stamped upon it. Bees are not tied down to any line of action by the constitution of their nervous system. The assertion that they are is gratuitous, and is founded in an uttei ignorance of the economy of nature. Bees are possessed of determinate instincts, one of which prompts all bees to construct a comb, and another to work together for a common object, &c.; they have also been observed to be guided by a general instinct, as that of exercising invention, or adapt- ing means for the attainment of specific ends. The shape and direc- tion of the comb have been seen to be varied to suit the peculiar cir- cumstances under which it was built. A piece of glass thrust into a hive has caused the bees to vary the comb from the perpendicular in which they were building it; and this was done by giving a peculiar and unusual shape to the individual cells. Sec. 430. All the actions of animals are evidently referable to the immediate directing influence of the mind and not of the sensations, which latter idea implies an absurdity. 57 The reflex actions are all instinctive, and belong to the class we have called determinate; as also are vomiting, sneezing, laughter, &c, photophobia, hydrophobia, hysteria. Sec. 437. The emotions or affections are endowments of the mind, and to treat of them, as the author does of these, as well as of all other vital acts, without any reference to the immaterial existence, is, to my mind, supremely absurd. The mind gives expression to the affections through the medium of certain nerves operating on certain muscles, &c. In the exercise of the affections, there is a greater or less deter- mination of the nervous fluid to some of the viscera. The organs of respiration, the heart, stomach, and liver, are some of the viscera which suffer from such determination. The passions, it may be remarked, are merely the affections or emotions preternaturally exalted by the agency of an excited imagination. Thus anger, love, fear, &c, become passions only when thus exalted. Sec. 438. I have heretofore explained (Sec. 394,) the action of the Sphincters in a manner entirely different from the explanation of the author. Fear is a depressing passion, and, when carried to a certain extent, paralyzes the mind, and renders it incapable of performing the most ordinary acts; it cannot support or continue the action of the ner- vous centres so as to retain the sphincters even in their modern state of contraction; but the expansive power of these centres ceasing altogether, the nervous fluid flows to the fibres of the sphincters, these become elongated, the tube or neck of the receptacle dilated, and its contents discharged. This effect of fear is evinced in man as well as in the lower animals. Sec. 440. The instances mentioned of melancholy and mania may be referred to a loss of balance between the faculties of the mind—the imagination being morbidly developed at the expense of the judgment. Sec. 443. There is no sphincter of the iris. The pupil is contracted or diminished by the agency of the longitudinal fibres of the Ciliary processes, which become elongated when in a state of action, and thus tend to close the pupil, or reduce its diameter. The contraction or in- active state of the same fibres tends to dilate the pupil, or increase its diameter; the contraction of the pupil is properly represented as an in- stance of reflex action—using this term in its proper sense; the impres- sion of a strong light being made on the retina is conveyed to the mind, and the mind instinctively determines the nervous fluid to the longi- tudinal fibres, spoken of, which, becoming elongated, close the pupil, and the injury that might result from too much light is avoided. 58 Sec. 444. The contraction of the orbicularis muscle is effected by the action of its corresponding nervous centre, by which means the nervous fluid is withdrawn from the muscle. This is not an instance of reflex action. Sec. 471. The very unsatisfactory account given by the author of the function of the Nervous system is attributable to the very confused notions entertained in regard to the nature of this portion of the animal economy. This system is not, nor is any part of it, the instrument of the reasoning faculties, nor has it any control over the vital actions in itself. The reasoning faculties, by which expression I suppose he means the mental faculties, belong exclusively to the immaterial exist- ence; and so does the control over all the vital actions, whether those called vegetative, or over those called animal. The Nervous system is the instrument the mind makes use of to attain its various objects, or to effect various changes in the material world; but it is in no other sense an instrument of the reasoning faculties. The older anatomists were correct in considering motion and sensation, as well as all other vital acts, as immediately dependent upon a subtile fluid, which they termed "animal spirits," propagated from the brain, and they might have added, from other nervous centres; but the mistake committed by them, in common with modern physiologists, consists in attributing this propagation of the fluid to the agency of these parts themselves; instead of referring it to the agency of the mind, which uses these or- gans, the nervous centres and nerves, merely as the instruments or channels through which to transmit the fluid. The monstrous folly admitted into physiological science is the attempt to explain vital phe- nomena without any reference to the real agent, the mind, by which these phenomena are brought into existence. The same folly exists in chemical science, in taking no cognizance of the subtile fluid, Life, which is the real agent in producing the changes about which that science is conversant. I conceive, as 1 have before stated, that the vesicular matter observed in the brain, and other nervous centres, performs the office of a gland, wherein the nervous fluid undergoes some change in order to bring it to its perfect state—ready to be used for the purposes required in the economy; or it may be that this vesicular matter is the receptacle for storing up the nervous fluid for use in any emergency, or for any ex- traordinary demand. We know that, whenever any extraordinary ex- ertion is to be made, there is, immediately preceding the act, a with- 59 drawal or determination of the nervous fluid from the periphery to these centres, and it is retained there temporarily, and then concentrat- ed upon the organ or organs brought into action. Sec. 476. We have said that a large portion of the nervous fluid was derived from the secretions. May not the remarkable supply of blood to the encephalon and to the spinal cord, be intended to furnish materials for the secretion between the pia mater and arachnoid mem- brane, from which secretion a considerable supply of nervous fluid may be obtained? Many important phenomena might be explained by taking this view of the subject. Sec. 478. The author introduces into his subject much unnecessary confusion, by laying down the proposition that the cerebrum is the sole instrument of intelligence and still more by confounding intelli- gence, which is the result of the action of the mental faculties generally, with the result of one of the functions, called Invention; by the exer- cise of which, means are adapted to ends. The subject is rendered still more unintelligible, by attempting to draw a distinction between in- telligence and instinct, or between the intelligent adaptation of means to ends, which is in itself an instinctive act; and other instincts, such as the taking of food or the indulgence of the venereal appetite. The fact that infants sometimes suck without a cerebrum, only proves that this organ is not indispensable to the operation of the mind; but it can have no weight as an argument to prove that this act is not one of in- telligence, or is not directed by the mind. The fact that physicians occasionally consult the inclination or disin- clination of the patient in applying remedies, serves to show that the mind should be regarded as having the direction of the operations tak- ing place within the body, and as being capable of pointing out what would be proper and what improper. In other words, this fact should convince us of the immediate agency of the mind in all the .operations of the body. Sec. 479. The importance of the distinction we have drawn be- tween the instincts or instinctive acts, that is, into determinate and gen- eral, is here clearly shown. The author calls the first purely instinctive acts, and the general instincts he speaks of as "those which rather result from the intellec- tualfaculties,prompted by the instinctive propensities." The exer- cise of invention, or the adaptation of means to ends, is prompted by a o-eneral instinct, which the author thinks is stronger in birds than in in- 60 sects. Invention is a single function of the mind, but it does not re- quire the co-operation of all the mental faculties, as the author implies. Invention is not, and should not be, regarded as synonymous with in- telligence; for this function may be developed in animals of inferior intelligence, although it is commonly associated with the higher facul- ties, as it is in man. Sec. 480. I object to the introduction into use of the term educa- bility. The idea may be expressed by referring the phenomena to the development of invention. Sec. 481. May not the power of an animal, I mean the sum of its actions, resulting from the use of the nervous fluid, be measured by the quantity of the secretion in the nervous centres, or by the capacity of these centres? Sec. 483. The views set forth in this paragraph are confused and unsatisfactory. The Mind or Soul, which is the immaterial existence of living beings, is endowed with certain simple faculties, as Observa- tion, Imagination, Memory, &c; it is also endowed with certain affec- tions or emotions, as Love, Fear, Anger, &c.; and it is further en- dowed with the capacity of combining the exercise of several of the simple faculties into one act, called a function, as that of Reason, Invention, &c. The Mind is moreover impressed with, or has stamped into it, the Instincts, which are the commands of its Creator, directing the performance of such acts as may be necessary to carry out his designs. The exercise of the simple faculties, of the affections, and of the functions of the Mind, are prompted by the Instincts which we have said belong to the Mind or Intellect; consequently, all these exercises or acts are acts of intelligence. Sec. 484. The Mind makes use of the Cerebrum in causing the cir- culation of the nervous fluid for the execution of its various purposes, and the more various and important these purposes are, the more will particular parts or portions of this organ be developed, in consequence of the increased exercise of such parts or portions. This I think will account for the development, under certain circumstances, of the Brain as well as of its individual parts; this development being the result, and not the cause, of the operations of the Mind. What the author seems to understand by the term genius, is nothing more than a morbidly de- veloped imagination—a development carried to excess, at the expense of other mental endowments. Sec. 486. The fact that inflammation of the cortical substance, or 61 of the membranes, gives rise to general action, favors the supposition that the secretion in the centres is the measure of the power of an ani- mal; for such inflammation would be attended with a preternatural flow of blood to the parts, and probably a preternaturally increased secretion, which the mind endeavors to get rid of by determining it to the several organs; the inflammation of the fibrous portion of the cere- brum would have a contrary effect, by withdrawing the fluid from the secreting membrane. Sec. 487. What give rise to the operations of the Intellect are the Instincts, and these only; that is to say, that the exercise of the facul- ties, affections, and functions of the Mind, are prompted solely by the Instincts. External circumstances, such as stimuli, may furnish the condition or occasion which the Mind may judge proper for the exer- cise of these faculties, affections, or functions, or for the indulgence of the determinate Instincts; but they can have no other agency in re- lation to these acts. An animal may feel hungry without having his food before him, although the presence of his food might exercise an increased desire for food; and indeed the sensation of hunger might first be excited by the presence of the food, that is, by the life of the food acting on his nerves; still the sensation would have its origin in his Instincts, and not in the food before him. The sight of a female might furnish the condition or occasion which his mind might judge proper for the indulgence of his venereal desires; and the sight of the female might arouse these desires, that were not before awakened; yet the feeling or sensation that would prompt his action would have its origin in his own mind, and not in the female. Sec. 489. The distinction drawn between Perception and Sensation appears to me to be erroneous. The author makes the difference be- tween the two to consist in the degree of impulse of an impression, or in the afferent quantity of the fluid transmitted through the afferent nerves of the senses. 1 do not think, however, that there can be any proper distinction between the terms—the difference between sensa- tions or impressions arising solely from the different attention given to them. In the case of the student's not hearing the striking of the clock, when his mind was otherwise engaged, the fact is readily ex- plained by reference to the circumstance, that, by giving attention to any impression, the mind determines the nervous fluid to the neuri- lemma of the nerves receiving the impression, and thus renders them more permeable, or effects certain changes in the impressions that may 62 be necessary, before they reach the sensorium. When attention is not given to impressions, such determination of the nervous fluid does not take place, or, at all events, takes place imperfectly; consequently there would be a difference in the effect produced on the mind. In Per- ception, however, as well as in Sensation, attention may be paid to impressions. The more frequently attention is given to any nerve, or set of nerves, the more permeable do they become, and the more read- ily are impressions transmitted through them; and this readiness of transmission constitutes habit. Thus we may acquire the habit of ex- ercising any set of muscles, simply by frequently transmitting the nervous fluid to and from them. In the same way we acquire a habit of exercising any of the senses, by frequently transmitting the nervous fluid through their peculiar nerves. Sec. 490. The acquirement of Perceptions is not a cerebral but a mental operation. The emotions or affections are expressed by the Mind determining the nervous fluid to the muscles of the countenance generally, but sometimes to other muscles; a shrug of the shoulder is very expressive of emotion. These movements of the muscles are more readily interpreted than words, especially by young children. Sec. 491. Memory is a faculty of the Mind, and has nothing to do with the cerebrum, further than that the cerebrum is the organ through the medium of which sensations are conveyed to the Mind; an injury of this organ may affect any of the faculties of the Mind, for they may become dormant from a want of due exercise. Sec. 492. What is referred to Conception, is nothing more than an operation of the Imagination. Sec. 493. What the author calls Internal Perception, Reflection or Introspection, Intellectual Ideas, and Trains of Thought, are merely instances of the exercise of Reason; and the belief in our present and past existence; in our personal identity; in the stability of the order of Nature, &c, are plainly the conclusions arrived at by this exercise of Reason. They are certainly not derived from any changes in the cerebrum. Sec. 494. The author seems to have formed a very imperfect and erroneous notion concerning the process of reasoning. I have published what I believe to be a true and simple account of this process, which I have represented as consisting in the combined exercise of three of the simple mental faculties—Observation or Perception, Imagination, and Judgment. The author has confounded the exercise of the affections 63 or emotions with that of the Imagination, from the fact that the emo- tions are frequently exalted by means of the Imagination into what are called the Passions; and again, he has confounded the function of Reason, the result of which is the attainment of general conclusions, with the function of Invention, the result of which is the adaptation of means to ends. The author takes occasion, after a certain interval, to construct a sentence, ad captandum, which, as it winds up with some- thing about purity and love, some of his readers will think very pretty. All that I can derive from it, however, is a very imperfectly expressed acknowledgment, that the Imagination is concerned in the process of reasoning. Sec. 504. In all spasmodic diseases the nervous centres, and espe- cially the spinal axis, is in a preternaturally active state, and the nerv- ous fluid being consequently withdrawn from the muscles, they become rigid, contracted, or convulsed. Sec. 514. The properties of bodies are nothing more than the sub- tile fluid, Life, which composes their substance, and which is continually passing from them and entering other bodies. The impression from this fluid is received through the nerves of living beings, and transmitted to the Mind. The various forms in which this fluid is given off, gives rise to the various impressions received, as of color, quantity, quality, &c; which impressions again are suited to the several varieties in the nerves through which they have to pass, as those of sight, smell, hear- ing, touch, &c. Sec. 515. The feelings of hunger, thirst, nausea, venereal appetite, &c, arise from the preternatural state of the nerves distributed to the organs concerned; this preternatural state of the nerves proceeds from the determination of the nervous fluid to them by the Mind; which fluid accumulates in the extremities of the efferent nerves, or causes the flow of blood to the part by dilating the vessels, either of which would place the nerves in an unnatural state, and give rise to a sense of un- easiness. Sec. 521. The facts mentioned in this and the two preceding para- graphs, tend to show the correctness of the meaning we have attached to the term attention, or rather to the correctness of the view we have taken of the process that takes place in the exercise of attention, name- ly, that the act consists in the determination of the nervous fluid, by the Mind, to the neurilemma of the nerves concerned in conveying impressions to the Mind; thus causing their dilatation, and|rendering them more permeable to such impressions. 04 Sec. 523. The nerves of touch, like those of the other senses, are made capable of receiving a peculiar form of the subtile fluid, Life,. which is ever passing off from all material bodies. Sec. 524. The feeling of tickling proceeds from the unusual im- pressions transmitted through the nerves; which excites the nervous centre, and induces the mind to make an effort to get rid of this ex- citement by calling into action the muscles of respiration, producing laughter. Sec. 526. The facts here enumerated may be well explained by means of my hypothesis concerning the subtile fluid, Life; this fluid, transmitted through the water, was the means by which the whales became aware of the suffering of their fellow at a distance from them. Sec. 527. The nerves supplying the organs of taste are adapted to receive the peculiar form of life given off by sapid bodies; but there is this peculiarity in them, that this form of life must undergo a change, by being subjected to the action of the saliva, before it can be trans- mitted through the nerves to the mind. Sec. 529. The phenomena mentioned in this paragraph may be readily explained, by referring to our view of the operation of the nerves of the senses in connexion with what we have said in relation to atten- tion, without confounding together the operations of the two distinct senses of taste and smell. Inflammation of the Schneiderian mem- brane, closing the nostrils, and all other means used to blunt this sense, act simply by withdrawing the attention of the mind from the nerves immediately engaged in the act of smelling; thus rendering them less permeable by the impressions made on them; and this view is con- firmed by the fact afterwards mentioned, namely, that the sense can be improved, or the nerves rendered more sensible or more permeable, by frequently directing attention to them, as in the case of the experienced wine taster, or of the epicure. Odours are merely forms of thejsubtile fluid, Life, which are constantly given off by all odorous bodies. Certain substances, as musk, may have the power of converting the life received from the atmosphere, or other surrounding bodies, into its peculiar form of life, or into its own substance, and be thus enabled to preserve the same weight for a long time. Sec. 533. Light is a form of life derived principally from the Sun, but may be obtained from the decomposition of many substances, as in ignition and in putrefaction; it is also sometimes formed as a secre- 65 tion, as in the fire-fly, &c. It seems, however, that it must pass through certain changes, like odours and sapid bodies, before it can be transmitted through the nerves allotted to the sense of vision. This change it undergoes in passing through the coats and humors of the eye, at the same time that the direction of its currents or rays is modi- fied by those bodies. The image which is reflected from the retina I do not think is essential to the performance of the function of Vision, but I believe it to be altogether accidental, or simply the result of the reflection of the light from a transparent membrane, as the retina, coated behind with the opake corded coat. The fluid which constitutes light, I believe, is transmitted, undergoing certain changes as it passes along, through the optic nerves, and is all that is necessary to produce the requisite impressions on the mind. Glasses have the effect of concen- trating or diffusing the light, and thus aid or diminish the force of its impression, and at the same time serve to fix the attention of the mind on the nerves employed. Sec. 556. What we have said in regard to the other senses is appli- cable to the sense of Hearing. Sound is a form of life which becomes modified as it passes through the various parts of the ear, and through the auditory nerve, in order that it may make the due impression on the mind. Music may be regarded as that form, or those forms, of sound which may pass through these various passages without doing violence to the parts concerned in transmitting them, or rather which produce an agreeable excitement in such parts; whilst unmusical or harsh sounds have a contrary effect. Finally, in the exercise of each and of all of the senses, the faculty of the Mind, called Judgment, must be improved by exercise before the full benefit can be derived from these sources of information; and the judgment must be guided by what we have called the Rule of Right implanted in every mind. The preservation of this rule7 is what constitutes taste, as applied to the arts. Sec. 573. 1 adopt, unhesitatingly, the opinion which the author ar- gues against, and which he considers exploded, namely, that no move- ment nor change is effected in the living body, unless through the agency of the nervous system, operated on by the mind or soul. That con- tractility is any thing real, substantive, or even conceivable, as having an inherent connexion with the muscular fibre, I utterly deny. Con- tractility is nothing more than a term, that should express the idea that a muscle may be, or is capable of being, contracted, when its appropri- 5 66 ate cause of action is brought into operation. This cause of action, or rather of want of action, is the withdrawal from the fibres of the nervous fluid, and not, as is supposed, any active agent whatever, and certainly not any agency inherent in the muscle or fibre. How Physiologists can'positively and universally deny that plants have any thing in their economy analogous to the nervous system of animals, is to me one of the most remarkable circumstances in the his- tory of the sciences; since the fact is so very palpable, that the Pith and Medullary processes are the analogues of the ceralvo-spinal axis and the nerves, that it appears impossible to overlook the analogy. All the phenomena of the vegetable world tend to show that plants perform a great variety of acts in obedience to their instincts, strikingly resem- bling similar acts in animals, and dependent, undoubtedly, on the same mechanism in their structure. They select their appropriate food from the soil in which they grow; elaborate this food into their various or- gans; throw out tendrils, in some instances, and entwine them around objects suitable to their support; are sensible to variations in the weather, &c, &c.; all of which acts it is impossible to explain, or refer to any general law, without the supposition that they are possessed of a nervous system, or its analogue. Sec. 574. The distinction between the conditions of muscle, of muscular fibre, called irritability and tonicity, is simply this, that in the former there is readiness in the nerves communicating with the muscle to transmit the nervous fluid to or from the centre, or through them- selves when unconnected with a centre. Tonicity depends upon the muscle having a due supply of nervous fluid, that is, such a supply as will preserve it in a state of moderate contraction or tension. This state is dependent for the most part on the action of the nerves, and more particularly of the nervous centres, which, when moderately excited, preserve the just balance in the supply of the fluid. Sec. 575. No muscular fibre belonging to a living being, or possessed of vital activity, can be caused to contract by stimuli, unless these stimuli act through the medium of the nervous system, and in a normal state of the economy, the agency of the nervous system is invariably under the control and subject to the prompting or direction of the mind. This general law is applicable to the non-striated as well as to the striated fibres. In the former, however, the stimuli are so constantly applied, and so continually followed by actions, that such actions com- monly do not arrest the attention or arouse the consciousness of the 67 mind. I have already explained the action of the bladder, uterus, and heart. The relaxation of these organs is the active state, and the contraction of them the passive state. Sec. 576. Stimuli applied to the nerves which supply any muscle, produce a contraction of the muscle by conveying the impression to the nervous centre, and causing action there, by which means the nervous fluid is withdrawn from the muscle. The contraction speedily alternates with relaxation, because the action cannot be maintained in the centre, but for a limited time in the normal state; although it may be continued by an electric current, or any other preternatural stimulus continuously applied. The non-striated muscles require peculiar impressions to be made on their nerves, in order to their being brought into action; and the action of any part of a tube about which this form of muscle is placed, is dependent commonly upon the action in some other part. Thus, an impression made on the middle of the oesophagus might not be followed by any action, although that impression be made by pinching or prick- ing it; when an impression made at the same time with a morsel of food from the fauces, would produce the act of deglutition or action through the whole course of the tube. The heart, when removed from the body, may be contracted either by the action of its nerves, which, by being dilated, withdraw the nervous fluid from the muscular fibres, or these fibres may be contract- ed simply by the loss of the nervous fluid from the cut extremities of the nerves. Sec. 577. In the normal condition the centres and periphery of the nervous system in a living being are alternately in an active and inac- tive state. When the centres are in an active state, the muscles or fibres become contracted; when there is action at the periphery, or when there is a determination through this extremity of the nerves to the fibres, the latter become elongated or relaxed; and yet this relaxa- tion is not a state of inaction as is commonly supposed, but it is the really and only active state of the fibres. The action of a stimulus continually operating on the centres or periphery may produce con- tinued spasm or relaxation. Sec. 579. Narcotics act directly on the nervous system, impairing its powers, as the medium through which the mind directs the circulation of the nervous fluid; but the fact that the muscles maybe made to contract after, the nerves have been deadened, or their powers impaired 68 by the use of narcotics, furnishes no proof whatever that the irritability of muscles is independent of the agency of the nerves. The fluid in the nerves might still be liable to be operated on by the electric current, or other artificial means, and thus give rise to, or cause the contraction of, the muscles. Sec. 5S0. The effects resulting from concussion arise from the sud- den preternatural action of the centres, by which means the nervous fluid is withdrawn from some organ whose action cannot be suspended even for a short time without endangering life. I witnessed a case wherein a woman wTas struck on the stomach by her husband, both of them being partially intoxicated, and having their feelings highly wrought. The woman fell down senseless, and the action of the heart and arteries was entirely suspended; but the abdomen soon became distended, and the stomach and intestines enormously dilated or ex- panded. It seemed to me that the nervous fluid had been withdrawn from the system generally, and then preternaturally determined to the stomach and intestines at the expense of the heart and blood vessels. Sec. 583. The fact that theenergy of muscular contraction is determin- ed by the supply of arterial blood which the muscle receives, may be ex- plained without supposing that the blood has any agency in increasing" the irritability of the muscle. It is a general law of nature that there must be a continual interchange of the subtile fluid, which is the basis of matter among all the objects of the material world. No material object can be so independent of other surrounding objects as not to be constrained to give off life in some form to, and receive life from, them. If any form of matter gives off more life than it receives, it must cease to exist in that form; and if any form receives more life than it gives off, there must be a change in it—it must grow. This law ap- plies to living as well as to dead matter; and it applies, too, to the individ- ual organs or parts of such objects. Thus, in the exercise of the senses we have said there is a determination of the nervous fluid (which is the life of an animal) to the nerves of the senses, at the same time that im- pression (that is, the life from external objects) are received from them. So, in the exercise of the muscles, life must be received from some source, else its supply would soon be exhausted, and this source is the blood, the increased supply of which, when a muscle is in action, is owing to the dilatation of the blood vessels resulting from the determi- nation to them of an increased supply of nervous fluid. This explana- tion becomes more important when applied to the phenomena observed 69 in the action of the organs possessed of what are called erectile tissues. The extraordinary supply of blood observed in such cases is intended to subserve the purpose here indicated, and has no agency, except inci- dental, in causing the distension of the organ. The principal agent in such instances, as in the erection of the penis, is the nervous fluid, which is determined to the fibres of the organ, and causes their active elonga- tion or extension. Sec. 586. The doctrine, now generally accepted as a physiological truth, that the active exercise of the contractility of muscle is attended with a waste or disintegration of its tissue, is unfounded and altogether gratuitous. 1st. The increase in the demand for food occasioned by muscular activity, is an indication that the life of the animal, its nervous fluid, has been exhausted by. this means, and that the animal requires a fur- ther supply, which he finds it necessary to obtain by taking food. 2d. Oxygen can not be essential to the contractile force of a muscle, because this force is solely dependent upon the action of its correspond- ing nerves or nervous centres. 3d. Experiments made to prove that there is a chemical change in muscles, when exercised, are entitled to no consideration, because it is a subject foreign from chemistry, and one in which the chemist is unable to take cognizance of the principal agent in bringing about changes, that is, the nervous fluid; and further, it would be utterly impossible by the most careful analysis to arrive at any appreciable difference result- ing from the action of a muscle. 4th. The increase in the excretions show nothing ; for they may be increased by any cause that determines a flow of the nervous fluid and of the blood to the excretory organs. The augmentation of the car- bonic acid from the lungs, and of urea from the kidneys, may proceed from many other causes than the disintegration of the muscles. Sim- ply a change in diet is sufficient to effect such augmentation. If the author were satisfied with admitting, that the change in the condition of a muscle effected by exercise is merely incidental, as he seems to intimate in the next paragraph, I agree with him ; but I do not admit that such change is essential to the action of a muscle. It is certainly true, that frequently renewed exercise of muscles occasions an increase in their nutrition; but it has not been shown that in every act of a muscle there is a loss of its substance; and even if this were true, it would not follow that the action of the muscle was dependent on this 70 change in its condition or substance ; particularly when we can refer this action to a much more simple cause. Sec. 588. In the frequent exercise of any muscle or muscles, the nerves connecting them with the centres acquire a readiness in trans- mitting their fluids; they become as it were more permeable ; and, on the contrary, this readiness in transmitting impressions on their fluids, or this permeability, is partially lost by disuse. This disuse of the nerves of any organ or part, if unusual, will of course be attended with the cessation of the usual nutritive processes. These are facts of com- mon observation, and they go to show that the nutritive processes are clearly dependent upon nervous agency ; but they cannot be made to show that there is any necessary connexion between the nutrition and action of a muscle. These two processes are distinct, although they frequently accompany each other. They both depend on nervous agency, but the nerves engaged in one of them belong to a different class of nerves from those engaged in the other process. The nerves destined for muscular action transmit a fluid which elongates or ex- tends the fibre ; the nerves of nutrition convey a fluid which com- bines with the circulating fluids, and converts them into the solids. Sec. 5S9. I totally deny that there is any thing substantive to be understood by the term Muscular Irritability. The objections advanc- ed against the doctrine, that muscular action as well as all other vital actions are dependent upon the immediate agency of the nervous fluid, are futile in the extreme. The first, namely, the improbability that one tissue should give a property to another tissue, is unworthy of any serious notice from us, inasmuch as we do not admit the existence of any such property, or require its agency in explaining the phenomena of muscular action. The second objection, namely, that vegetable tis- sues are capable of contraction, or, as he expresses it, are endowed with contractility in a high degree, has no weight whatever with me; for I admit that plants possess the same mechanism as animals; that they have a nervous system in their pith and medullary processes; and, fur- ther, that they are possessed of an immaterial existence on which their instincts are impressed, separate and distinct from their material bodies. The same may be said of (he lower classes of animals, their actions all depend on nervous agency. Neither is the third objection entitled to regard, that is, that the action of the heart may be kept up by taking care that the current of the circulation be not interrupted; for it is cer- tain that, if the circulation is not interrupted, there will be sufficient 71 communication with the nerves and centres to maintain the action of the heart. Where there are neither brain nor spinal cord, there must be some other centres to supply their place. I embrace the broad doctrine that all actions in the living body re- quire the agency of the nervous system, and are solely dependent on this agency, without any modification. The experiment of Dr. Reid, to my mind, proves nothing ; for the limbs of the frogs which he con- sidered cut off from all nervous connexion, were evidently in con- nexion with other nervous centres through the medium of their nerves, although they may have been separated from the spinal cord directly, by the scission of the spinal nerves. The notion that muscular con- tractility is something substantive, leads the author into vast confusion of thought. The experiment of Dr. Reid alluded to in Note C, proves conclusively that nervous influence is essential to the nutritive process; but it is here adduced to prove that the loss of irritability which follows the severance of the connexion between the nervous centres and the muscle, is not immediately due to the interruption of any influence communicated by the former. The experiment of dividing the sciatic nerve of the rabbit is of the same character as the one already alluded to, and proves nothing more. Sec. 590. The false or erroneous notion in regard to muscular con- tractility or irritability, has led the author to reject the hypothesis that all stimuli, which excite muscles to contraction, operate first on the nervous filaments which enter muscles, and through them on the mus- cular fibres. The observation of x\tr. Bowman, on which the author relies as the main support of his peculiar views, simply shows that an isolated fibre may have the fluid from its nerve withdrawn or destroyed by irritation, or by chemical stimuli. Sec. 593. If 1 understand the author's meaning, which I am not certain of, the state of the muscle to which the term Tonicity should be applied, is that superinduced by the moderate action of its afferent nerves and of its corresponding nervous centre; by which means rather less of the nervous fluid is retained in its fibres than is sufficient for their full and free extension; they are, in this state, verging on a state of contraction. The rigor mortis is a condition of the muscles very dif- ferent from this; for, in the latter state, the nervous centres as well as the nerves have lost their action, and the nervous fluid is left to be dis- tributed according to its natural tendency, which is, to be withdrawn from the flexors, and to flow towards the extensors; hence the flexors 72 are contracted and the extensors rigidly extended. This view of the subject will, I think, explain all the facts observed, or that are men- tioned in the text. The account of the voice and speech may, 1 think, be simplified so as to be expressed in few words. Sound is a form of life, and the voice of animals are but modifications of their peculiar life, or their nervous fluid. The vocal sounds are produced by determining the nervous fluid to the vocal tube, embracing the trachea, larynx, and the outlets through the mouth and nostrils. Tones or notes result from the greater determination of this fluid to particular parts of the vocal tube; in the lower notes to the lower portions, and in the higher notes to the upper portions, of the tube. The vocal sounds, modified by the life given off by the several parts of the mouth, as the fauces, palate, teeth, lips, and tongue, are formed into articulate sounds. The muscular fibres about the larynx and trachea are no doubt intended to assist in modifying the voice, but they do this probably by fixing the tube and varying its calibre or the volume of air contained in it; but I believe the principal object attained by the muscles about the larynx is the closure of the rima glottidis, in order to exclude deleterious sub- stances from the lungs. The active state of these muscles, it must be recollected, being that of extension of their fibres, would produce effects opposite to those attributed to them in the text. The oscilla- tions or vibrations of the tube formed by the trachea and larynx, or of parts of this tube, may be essential to the formation of tones; but such vibrations could not take place unless the tube was made tense by the action of muscles. Sec. 619. The view taken above, of the formation of the voice and speech, enables us to suggest a plain and simple explanation of stam- mering, which is caused simply by a want of readiness in transmitting the nervous fluid by the nerves going to the organs, or some of the organs, engaged in forming articulate sounds. An impediment in, or the deranged function of, these nerves would account for all the phe- nomena. The greater difficulty experienced from anxiety to speak fluently arises from the fact that, under such circumstances, there is a preternatural activity of the nervous centres, which tends to concen- trate the fluid there, and consequently prevents its determination through the proper nerves. The remedial means are, as suggested in the text, to restore this readiness in the nerves, by judicious exercise of the nerves implicated; thus improving the judgment, and imparting confidence to the mind of the sufferer. 73 Sec. 620. The great difficulty with the author and his sect, in acknowledging the important and palpable truth that all vital changes, actions, and movements depend on the immediate agency of the Ner- vous system, seems to arise from the fact that Plants are capable of certain changes and movements similar to those observed in Animals; and, assuming as a truth that which is a gross and palpable error, namely, that Plants have nothing approaching to a Nervous system, they insist upon it, that such changes and movements in Animals must be referred to some other agency; and yet they admit that the processes alluded to are influenced by the action of Nerves. The next error which misleads them from taking a correct view of the subject, is the assumption that muscular action consists in contrac- tion, when it really consists in extension or elongation. Thus, the first step in nutritive absorption (which altogether escapes their observation) is the dilatation of the cells or tubes through which the fluid has to pass. This dilatation, effected by the active elongation of the fibres about the cells or tubes, is brought about by the immediate agency of the nervous fluid transmitted to them; the contraction, which is regarded as the first, being in reality the second stage in the process, and merely the reaction from the active state of the organs referred to. Another difficulty experienced in arriving at the truth, in regard to this subject, arises from a want of such an acquaintance with the economy of Nature as leads to the acknowledgment that the basis of all matter is a subtile fluid, by the agency of which alone, the different forms of matter are both constituted and dissolved. Thus it might be seen, that an organized tissue, or a secretion, may be formed simply by the union of the nervous fluid, which is the life of an animal, with the circulating fluid; although it must be borne in mind that such union can only take place in accordance with certain fixed laws, established by the Author of Nature for the governance of the changes that take place in the living economy. The active state of the heart does not produce impulsion, as we have before shown; neither does the active state of the muscles of respiration, or of any fibres about the walls of any of the tubes or hollow organs. The relaxed state of the uterus re- ferred to is its active state, caused by a preternatural determination to its fibres of the nervous fluid, which is their cause of action; and the application of suction, or other irritation to the nipple, by making a re- vulsion from the uterus, or diverting its cause of action from it, causes its contraction. 74 Sec. 621. That the visceral nerves are endowed with a high degree of sensibility, or are highly sensitive, is a matter of common experience. The reason why the matter in contact with these extremities does not cause sensation is, that it is brought into relation with the nerves in passing through the previous stages in its progress, as the contents of the alimentary canal, or of the excretory ducts of other viscera. Sec. 622. There is a mode of connexion between distant points in the living system which seems to have been overlooked by physiolo- gists. I allude to the chain of what I have understood by the reflex actions. Thus, a full meal taken into the stomach originates an action, which is propagated along the absorbents, lacteals, and blood vessels, to the remotest part of the system; and this action may become inordi- nate in the direction of some one point, or some one of the viscera, pro- ducing there increased action in the tubes, or increased sensation, or both; and this inordinate action is most apt to be determined to the point or organ wherein the nerves have been most exercised; hence an action, originating in a full meal, or any other cause, may become in- ordinate when determined to the lungs, the heart, the liver, the genital organs, or even to any point—as a wound, where the nerves have been exercised more than usual, arising from any cause. By this means a connexion is established between actions in distant points of the system that could not be referred to the agency of any nerve or set of nerves. Sec. 623. By emotional conditions of the Mind, the author seems to mean the Passions, which are, as we have said, the Affections exalted by the Imagination. The first effect of passion on the system is the withdrawal of the nervous fluid from the periphery of the nerves, and its collection or concentration upon the centres. This I conceive to be an instinctive act of the Mind, in order that it may have at its disposal a larger supply of the fluid, to be determined when occasion might re- quire; hence we see pallor of the surface and contractions of the mus- cles, especially those of the face. This first stage is followed, however, sooner or later, by a reaction, wherein the Mind determines the fluid in an excessive manner to some of the viscera or organs, or to the blood vessels of the face and neck, causing, in some instances, blushing; in others, a redness of the face more permanent than blushing. All the phenomena presented in the exercise of the Passions, may be readily referred to these conditions of the Nervous system, brought about by the immediate agency of the Mind. Sec. 624. "There is good evidence," not only "that the Nervous 75 system has an immediate.action upon the molecular changes, which constitute the functions of Nutrition and Secretion," &c; but it is clear to my mind, that, without the agency of the Nervous system, these functions could not be performed at all; and it is also clear, that these molecular changes are solely attributable to the agency of the nervous fluid. It is impossible that any one could prove what the earliest condition of foetal life consists in; or that, in this condition, there is no germ of the Nervous system. From analogy we may con- clude that, as soon as the embryo commences an independent action, that is, an action resulting in the formation of any part or organ of its body, that it is possessed of a Nervous system, however imperfect. And here I will take occasion to repeat, that I believe that the actions in the first stages of embryonic life, as well as in all subsequent stages of development, are effected or guided by the Mind, or the immaterial existence of the individual, prompted and instructed by the Instincts, which are the commands impressed upon it by its Creator. I again repeat my conviction, that the Nervous system is the only medium through which the Mind, or the immaterial existence, is brought into relation with the material world, so as to be enabled to effect changes in it, or be affected by impressions from it. With this view, there is no occasion to admit the existence of any inherent properties of the tissues, for all the phenomena of existence may be explained more satisfactorily without the use of such properties. Secretion may take place after death; that is, after the Mind has lost its control over the body, because the nervous fluid contained in the nerves and nervous centres may flow to the periphery of the nerves, and there, combining with the fluids, form secretions, or the substance of the tissues; but, in most instances of these formations, death is only apparent; the vital actions being suspended only in some parts of the system, whilst there is sufficient vitality to carry on the processes in other parts. Sec 625. The influence of the Nervous system upon the secretions is simply this, that it is the medium or channel through which the nervous fluid is conveyed to the secretory organ; which fluid, combin- ing with the fluids circulating in its vessels, constitute the secretions themselves Whenever the flow of the nervous fluid is interrupted, the secretion is suspended; and whenever there is an increased deter- mination of the fluid to a secretory organ, there is an increased forma- tion of the secretions. Here, again, we have an easy explanation of the phenomena, presented in modifications or alterations of the secre- 76 tions, brought about by affections of the Mind. If the affection be favorable to a determination of the nervous fluid from the centres, there is excitement in one or more secretions; if the mental affections are favorable, or tend to determine the nervous fluid to the centres, the secretions become more or less affected; some one or more of them be- ing suspended wholly or partially. Hence we may clearly understand how the indulgence of a fretful temper in a nursing female may, by interrupting the normal flow of the nervous fluid, suspend the secretion of milk, or change its nature, so that it will produce marked effects on the alimentary canal of the infant; altering the appearance of the stools, and vitiating, more or less, the secretions that contribute to the digest- ive process. The same may be said of the other secretions which are observed to be influenced by affections of the Mind. Freedom from anxiety and despair, are attended with the same condition of the nerves, for, in both conditions, there is no extraordinary action of the centres, so that the nervous fluid is allowed to flow to the periphery, and consequently the secretion of fat is increased. The love of the sexes is an affection which, if properly indulged, is attended with in- finite pleasure; but if it is exalted into a passion by an inordinate ex- citement of the Imagination, creating a train of lascivious thoughts and ideas, it commonly produces the most direful effects on the Mind, weakening all its powers, and rendering it miserable and wretched. In reflecting on the above observation, with a number of others that might be made of a kindred nature, we may, by the exercise of Reason, arrive at the all-important conclusion, that the happiness of living be- ings has its foundation in a due or proper indulgence of the Instinctive desires; that is to say, an indulgence conformable to the will of Him who is .the Supreme Governor of the universe; and, on the contrary, that unhappiness or misery is the result of a disregard or an improper in- dulgence of the same desires. Sec. 629. The following long account of food, and of the Digestive process, is given, according to the German system of Philosophy, with- out the slightest reference to the Mind or to a Creator. The whole of the phenomena are attempted to be explained without the aid of the one or the other. Instead of following the author through his long and complex account, wherein he arrives at no practical conclusions, I will briefly state my understanding of this subject. What seems to be an important object in the scheme of Creation is, that there should be a constant interchange of the subtile fluid called Life, which, by its 77 combinations, constitutes every form of matter among the several forms of which the material w^orld is composed. To attain this object, laws were established for the government of inorganic or lifeless bodies, by virtue of which these interchanges wTere made to take place under par- ticular circumstances. To these laws are to be referred the movements as well of the heavenly bodies as of terrestrial bodies, together with the various interchanges that take place among them. The law of Gravi- tation, as well as the laws of Chemical Changes—of Attraction, and of Repulsion—may all be resolved into, or traced up to, this great ob- ject in the economy of Nature. The law of Gravitation which, as proposed by Sir Isaac Newton, is but a generalization of the human Mind, or an hypothesis formed by a human Imagination, becomes, in connexion with this view of the subject, a law of Nature; the apple that falls from the tree is drawn to the earth, that it may impart its life to, or interchange its life with, the earth, until its life is dissipated and it ceases to exist, as happens with all perishable bodies. The stone, when thrown in the air, falls to the earth for the same cause; but as it interchanges life more slowly, or receives as much life as it gives off, its form continues. The same thing takes place in chemical attraction. The pith ball is attracted towards a rod in a certain electrical condition, for the purpose of interchanging its life with it; and, when this has been carried to a certain extent, it is drawn off again in another direc- tion, to interchange its life with the atmosphere, or other objects with which it may be surrounded. The alkalies interchange life with the acids, and anew material is formed, &c, &c. All these interchanges take place in accordance with certain fixed regulations established by the Author of Nature, which require that all bodies thus interchanging life should be in a certain relative condition towards each other; and it is the office of the Chemist, and of the Natural Philosopher, to discover the nature of these relative conditions, or what they consist in, in order that changes of form may be effected. To carry out this great object seems to have been a leading motive in the creation of living beings; for this purpose the Author of Nature has impressed on the minds, or immaterial existence of such beings, instincts or commands, the aim of which seems to be the accomplish- ment of this object. In the primitive ages of our globe plants were created, that they might interchange life with the soil on which they grew. Subsequently animals were created, to interchange life with the plants; and it is remarkable to observe, in considering the history of the 78 ages, when they were first created, how admirably they seem to have been adapted to such a purpose. Their size and structure suited pre- cisely such an object. Again, as ages rolled on, animals were formed to prey on, and thus to interchange life with, beings of their own nature, at the same time that they were commanded to interchange life with each other in various other forms. As of sounds by means of the voice, of the affections by the means of the secretions, &c. This object seems to have been continually kept in view in creating the whole series of living beings. They were commanded to interchange life; and to enforce obedience to this command or instinct, they were so con- stituted that, if the instinct is not obeyed, they were made to experience a sensation of uneasiness or unhappiness; thus we have the true origin of the sensation called hunger. It is a sensation which living beings are made to feel as the natural consequence of a disregard of that pre- cept of their Creator, which commands them to take food at stated intervals, or to make this kind of interchange of life, which he has ap- pointed that they should make. This law of nature, by means of the operation of which the great object mentioned above is attained, is the chain which binds together every'part of the universe. Sec. 630. The evolution of the animal fabric, in every stage of its existence, is effected by the immaterial part of the animal guided by its instincts. "The materials which are subservient to this evolution are all derived from the external world, either immediately or through the medium of the parent." But these materials in passing to their desti- nation, in the formation of the living tissues, are first resolved into the simple element which we have called life, before they are converted into these tissues; so that life, derived from any source whatever, may be converted into the animal solids, this form not being so material as the circumstance that it be derived from a sufficiently extensive range of objects; for it appears to be the will of the' Creator that this in- terchange should not be confined to one or two objects, but that it should be extended to a certain number. In selecting articles of diet, the mind seems instinctively to make choice of such as not only may contribute to the formation of the tissues, but also of such as are calcu- lated to cause a determination of a larger supply than usual of the nervous fluid to the digestive organs; of this nature are the condiments, as salt, &c, which in this way seem to favor the changes in the mate- rials going on in the nutritive process. Thirst is merely a variety of hunger, originating in a like cause. 79 The theory which refers the heat of living beings to combustion, appears to me to be unphilosophical and unfounded. Animal heat is a secretion formed, like all other secretions, by the agency of the nervous fluid; and to maintain the body by this secretion at a proper tempera- ture, a certain quantity of nutriment is required; but to attempt to regulate the nutriment, with the view to obtain the materials of com- bustion, seems ridiculous. Sec. 655. In plants there is a process strikingly analogous to diges- tion. The fluid taken up by the spongioles or extremities of the roots passes through a series of cellular sacs, in which it becomes more and more elaborated as it passes along; being acted upon, no doubt, by a fluid analogous to the nervous fluid, which is conveyed to the sap through the medium of the medullary processes. The sap undergoes a change in the leaves analogous to the change effected in the blood by the lungs, and then, passing along through the tubes of the plant, it is still acted on by the same cause, until it is finally converted into the solids or tissues. The spongioles, then, are to the plant what the primse viae, or alimentary canal, is to the animal. The process of taking alimentary matter into the system is attended with one principal purpose on the part of the Mind, and that is, the in- timate commixture with it of the nervous fluid in various forms. This purpose or object is effected in the first place by mastication, by which means the food is not only comminuted or minutely divided, but at the same time, the nervous fluid, transmitted through the nerves and sub- stance of the teeth, is intimately blended with the masticated food. The nervous fluid combined with, or entering into the composition of, the saliva, is by this means also mixed in, and the morsel thus prepar- ed is fitted to excite the series of actions which take place in degluti- tion. This series of actions or acts is divided into separate stages, in each of which the action or active state is confined to a small portion of the tube through which the aliment passes, as is well described in the text; but it should be particularly borne in mind that the active state consists in the dilatation of the part immediately preceding the morsel, and not in the contraction of the part through which it passes, the latter act being passive; and it should be further observed that, in all probability, the morsel undergoes some change from nervous agency in each stage through which it passes—as the sap in each of the sacs—that may fit it for exciting action in the subsequent stage. In this way the morsel so of food is conducted from the mouth to the stomach. In the latter organ there is constantly covering its internal surface a mucous secre- tion, the main purpose of which is, I suppose, in common with most other secretions, the supplying the nervous system with nervous fluid; although it may have some agency, like that of the saliva, in changing the condition of the alimentary mass in the stomach. The principal agent, however, in effecting these changes in this viscus, is the gastric juice, which is highly charged with the nervous fluid. The move- ments of the stomach by means of its muscular fibres are evidently in- tended to promote the changes alluded to, by bringing the contents of this viscus into an intimate union with the gastric juice. The changes produced in the contents of the stomach, by the causes referred to, pre- pare them as the appropriate stimulus which, acting on the sentient nerves of the pyloric orifice, causes the reflex action of its fibres which dilate the orifice; and thus the chyme, or so much of the food as has undergone a proper change, is allowed to pass into the duodenum. The phenomena observed by Dr. Beaumont are readily explained in the view I have proposed of the digestive process—the condition of the stomach itself and of its contents being clearly referable to the varying condition of the Nervous system. Sec. 660. The process which takes place in the passage of the chyme through the intestinal canal is strictly analogous to that which occurs in the stomach. Changes are effected in it by the agency of the ner- vous fluid, in the form of the secretions of the mucous membrane, and of the auxiliary organs of digestion, the liver, pancreas, &c; and the mass is prepared to pass, in part into the lacteals and other absorbent vessels, part along the course of the canal, until a residue is expelled as foeces. In the course of its passage a gate is fixed like the pyloric orifice of the stomach, where the mass is challenged, as it were, and required to produce evidence of its fitness to pass. This gate is at the commencement of the colon, and is called the valve of the colon; through which the contents of the ilium are hardly allowed to pass, unless previously prepared by the agency of the nervous fluid. From what has been said it will be readily understood how the pro- cess of Digestion may be influenced by the affections of the Mind when unduly exalted. In this condition the nervous fluid is with- drawn, as we have heretofore stated, from the periphery of the nerves, and concentrated upon the centres. The secretions, which are formed by means of this fluid, become changed in their nature, or either re- 81 duced in quantity or entirely suspended; and consequently the whole process of which we are speaking becomes more or less disarranged. Sec. 663. The long, complicated, unsatisfactory, and in some parts contradictory, account here given of chymification and chylification may be advantageously substituted by the simple explanation we have suggested, namely, that they are the result of the changes effected in the alimentary mass by the agency of the nervous fluid, which is mixed with it in the form of the secretions that are poured into the alimentary canal, and intermingled with this mass as it passes along the prima via. Why it should be necessary that this fluid should be modified as it is in these various secretions before the final result can be effected, is sufficiently answered by saying, that we find by observation that such is the appointment of the Author of Nature, and that it is our province not to inquire why, but simply to observe that it is so. The seasons are appointed to follow each other in regular order, and one season is made to be dependent on the one preceding it. So it is with the sev- eral stages in the growth of a plant, <3» II 9, ^^76, (( 14, " 81, (( 6, 83, « 28, 85, l( 28, 85, (( 31, 86, (< 16, 86, (< 16, 98, (< 9, 110, « 24, 110, (( 30, 115, (( 24, 116, (( 7, 118, II 7, for "observation" read Observation. for "unhapviness" read unhappiness. % for "tribes" read tubes. for "trachea" read tracheae. the word "are" misplaced. for "to" read for. for "hypothesis" read hypotheses. for "to" read of. for "semblance" read resemblance. for "ejacutio" read ejaculatio. for "seminales" read seminalis. for "modern" read moderate. the word "afferent," before quantity, to be omitted. for "corded" read choroid. for "ceralvo" read cerebro. comma after anxiety. for "prima via" read primae via?. for "venal" read renal. for "Briffy" read Buffy. , for "Poiseville" read Poiseuille. for "ingenious" read ingenuous. for "propositions" read proportions. for "chelonions," read chelonians. for "arcolus" read areolar. a semicolon after excreted. for "allantoes" read allantois. for "considered" read considerable. for "light" read sight. RESULT n <* WASHINGTON: GIDEON & CO., PRINTERS 1852. NOTES CARPENTERS HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY, CONTAINING SOME ORIGINAL VIEWS OF THE ECONOMY OF NATURE—THE RESULT! OF REASONING FOUNDED ON OBSERVATION, y v LOUIS MACKALL, M. I). 'DE PAKTIBUS VIT.K IINUSQUISQUE DELIBEBAT, DE SUMMA NEMO."—SENECA. /i 'SS WASHINGTON: GIDEON &. CO., PRINTERS 1852. ft t *im£g-!m