LIFE. 



145 



distinct existence. Nothing, however, can be 

 more absurd than such a dogma. The two 

 classes of phenomena are not connected other- 

 wise than by a very remote analogy. All the 

 phenomena of Life (putting aside, of course, 

 those psychical changes with which we are 

 contrasting them) concern matter only, and 

 consist in its actions and reactions, and there 

 is nothing in them related to feeling or con- 

 sciousness ; it is but reasonable, then, to refer 

 them to the laws of matter if we can do so. 

 But the phenomena of mind are universally 

 allowed to be of a very different character; 

 there is nothing tangible or material about 

 them ; and, whether we regard them as causes 

 or results of material changes, our reasons must 

 have a very different basis than the existence or 

 non-ex, stence of a vital principle. On this 

 point all the most intelligent of modern writers 

 are fully agreed.* 



The doctrine of" the vital principle," which is 

 at present very commonly received under some 

 form or other, may be regarded as having been 

 first put forth in a distinct form by Barthez, 

 who invented this term to signify something 

 distinct from either mind or body, but never- 

 theless capable of existing by itself. The vis 

 medicatrix nature, which figures so promi- 

 nently in the theories of Hoffmann and Cullen, 

 is nothing more than the same hypothetical 

 agent under a different name ; for by this term 

 was denoted a " sort of in-dwelling guardian 

 of the body," which " presides over its func- 

 tions in the state of health ; and, when any 

 accidental cause of disturbance has given rise 

 to a temporary disorder in the system, exerts 

 itself to the best of its ability, with a sort of 

 instinctive effort, often well directed, though 

 sometimes liable to mistake, to restore the 

 healthful and regular condition."! No one 

 can have observed the phenomena of Life in 

 morbid conditions of the body without witness- 

 ing examples of the tendency to reparation in 

 the various parts which have suffered from the 

 ravages of disease or injury ; but this tendency 

 results, like their ordinary operations, from 

 their original constitution as parts of an or- 

 ganised system, and not from any independent 

 agent whose existence can be demonstrated ; 

 so that if the common phrase, " the healing 

 power of Nature," be employed at all, it should 



* Thus Mr. Abernethy, in his Exposition of 

 Hunter's Theory of Life, contended against con- 

 founding perception and intelligence with mere 

 vitality. Dr. Prichard remaiks (Review of the 

 Doctrine of a Vital Principle, p. 71,) that the con- 

 scious principle or mind and the vital principle, 

 " supposing for a moment that both really exist, 

 are entirely distinct in their nature and attributes." 

 And Dr. Alison's authority fully coincides with 

 those already quoted. " Whatever notion we may 

 entertain respecting the existence of a vital prin- 

 ciple, it has no connexion with our notion respect- 

 ing the existence of mind." (Outlines of Phvsio- 

 logy, p. 3.) These three physiologists may be 

 regarded as fairly representing three different 

 classes of opinions regarding the vital principle ; 

 the first being a zealous partizan of its claim to be 

 considered a distinct entity, the second as zealous 

 an opponent of the doctrine, and the third taking 

 an intermediate position. 



f Prichard, op. cit. p. 17. 



VOL. III. 



only be used as a general term for the expres- 

 sion of this tendency. Precisely the same may 

 be said of the " Nisus Formativus," or Bil- 

 dungstrieb of Blumenbach. If it be employed 

 merely as a general expression of phenomena 

 evidently directed by their unknown cause or 

 causes towards the same end, it is unobjection- 

 able ; but care must be taken lest it be sup- 

 posed that something has been gained by such 

 a generalisation, which, in fact, merely refers 

 to the final cause and not to the efficient cause, 

 and does not, therefore, carry us forward one 

 step in the inquiry into the latter. If, on the 

 other hand, it is intended thus to designate an 

 agent whose operations produce these pheno- 

 mena, it cannot be distinguished in any way 

 from that commonly spoken of as the vital 

 principle. Of a similar character would seem 

 to be the "organic agent" of Dr. Prout, the 

 "organic force" of Miiller and other German 

 physiologists. If by them are intended any 

 entities separate from matter, or any forces 

 distinct from those which the action of its 

 properties creates, they evidently come under 

 the same category.* 



We arrive, then, at last at the doctrine of 

 the vital principle, which, since the time of 

 Hunter, has prevailed in Britain, especially 

 amongst his disciples, until a comparatively 

 recent period, when its unphilosophical charac- 

 ter, its inability to explain the phenomena of 

 Life, and the absence of any valid evidence 

 for such an hypothesis, have been made appa- 

 rent. It is not easy to discover, however, from 

 his writings, what were the precise opinions of 

 Hunter upon this topic ; for the inquirer is 

 constantly perplexed by the peculiar vagueness 

 of his expressions, which, if taken in a rigid 

 sense, would indicate ideas quite opposed to 

 one another. Thus, we find him at one time 

 speaking of the brain as itself the maleria vita 

 in a concentrated state, and speculating that 

 " something similar to the materials of the 

 brain is diffused through the body, and even 

 contained in the blood." But he elsewhere 

 intimates his opinion that the principle of life 

 is independent of organisation, a something 

 superadded to the organised structure, as mag- 

 netism to iron, or electricity to various sub- 

 stances with which it may be connected. This 

 view was warmly espoused by Mr. Abernethy ; 

 so warmly, indeed, that he almost transforms 

 the analogy into identity, maintaining that 

 " if the vital principle of Mr. Hunter be not 



* Such expressions, says Rudolph!, (Translation 

 by How, p. 216,) may be approved of " when it is 

 wished briefly to mention the unknown cause of 

 life ; but it is extremely objectionable to presume 

 that they have thereby explained anything. Au- 

 thors generally commence at first with the modest 

 declaration that they mean, by the void vital power, 

 no more than the unknown origin of life ; but this 

 mask of modesty is presently thrown aside, and 

 they proceed as if the thing bad been quite clearly 

 proved. It is now become a something which is 

 imparted to the body in a certain quantum ; and 

 they talk of increased and diminished, exalted and 

 fallen vital power, &c., and thus they have a Dcus 

 ex mtirhina which must hel|> them through all 

 obstacles. In such a case was Brown with his 

 Excitability." 



