138 Dr. Edwards, De V Influence 



refer. Now we find that the public take some pains, and 

 'with reason, to inform themselves upon subjects connected 

 with physiological knowledge. A well-educated person, 

 ■idisposed to philosophical inquiries, is not merely contented 

 with the consciousness of living, and the common information 

 he derives of its means by experience, but he seeks also to 

 comprehend the relations subsisting between his own organi- 

 .sation and the matters with which he is surrounded, and 

 which at once furnish him with nutrition, life, and support, 

 and assail him with disease and annihilation. His own 

 instincts and observation, joined to the more learned expe- 

 rience of his medical advisers, help him through the preca- 

 rious stages of life, and these may perhaps be sufficient for all 

 its purposes : and under this impression many will seek to 

 know no more of the secrets of nature. 



But we live in an inquiring and scrutinising age, when the 

 demand for scientific principles is very generally urgent. 

 All, therefore, relating to organisation seems of equal interest 

 with that appertaining to what is termed the physical crea- 

 tion or inert matter. 



Under this impression we have perused the book before us 

 with great satisfaction, and propose to present our readers 

 with an analysis of the valuable materials which it contains. 

 We have some knowledge of Dr. Edwards, a countryman 

 domiciliated in France, and long resident in Paris. We have 

 confidence 5n his reports, and highly estimate his philosophi- 

 cal skill, extensive acquirements, and accuracy of observation, 

 ranking him among the first physiologists of the age. 



The work, now under consideration, contains an elaborate 

 account of a long series of experiments, instituted for the 

 purpose of ascertaining the influence of the physical agents 

 upon animal life. These agents comprehend the atmospheric 

 air, water, and temperature ; the two first constituting the 

 media in which all animals exist, and the last influencing in 

 common the inhabitants of both media. It is true, this is a 

 subject by no means new, for it has engaged the attention 

 of experimenters from the earliest days of science. But Dr. 

 Edwards has diligently and patiently sought to investigate 

 the subject himself, to correct previous errors, and to embody 

 the facts which he has accumulated into a more complete 

 and regular system than heretofore adopted. In this attempt 

 he has been eminently successful, and has efl'ected more 

 perhaps than all who preceded him, availing himself, never- 

 theless, of the experience of former inquiries. 

 - The extent of his book, atid the number of the experiments^ 



