[ 59 ] 



Report on the Physiology of the Nervous System. By Wil- 

 liam Charles Henry, M.D., Physician to the Manchester 

 Royal Infirmary. 



Introduction. — The science of Physiology has for its object to 

 ascertain, to analyse, and to classify the qualities and actions 

 which are peculiar to living bodies. These vital properties re- 

 side exclusively in organized matter, which is characterized by 

 a molecular arrangement, not producible by ordinary physical 

 attractions and laws. Matter thus organized consists essen- 

 tially of solids, so disposed into an irregular network of laminae 

 and filaments, as to leave spaces occupied by fluids of various 

 natures. 'Texture' or 'tissue' is the anatomical term by which 

 such assemblages are distinguished. Of these the cellular, or 

 tela cellulosa, is most elementary, being the sole constituent of 

 several, and a partial component of all tissues and systems. 

 Thus the membranes and vessels consist entirely of condensed 

 cellular substance ; and even muscle and nerve are resolvable, 

 by microscopic analysis, into globules deposited in attenuated 

 cellular element. 



But though the phenomena, which are designated as vital, 

 are never foimd apart from organization, and have even by 

 some naturalists been regarded as identical with it, yet in the 

 order of succession vital actions seem necessarily to stand to 

 organized structures in the relation of antecedents ; for the 

 production of even the most rudimentary forms and textures 

 implies the previous operation of combining tendencies or ' vital 

 affinities'. The origin and early development of these vital 

 tendencies, and of organized structures, are beyond the pale of 

 exact or even of approximative knowledge. But it is matter of 

 certainty, that life is the product only of life ; that every new 

 plant or animal proceeds from some pre-existent being of the 

 same form and character ; and thus that the image of the great 

 Epicurean poet, " Quasi cursores vital lampada tradunt," pos- 

 sesses a compass and force of illustration which, as a supporter 

 of the doctrine of fortuitous production, he could not have him- 

 self contemplated. 



The popular notions respecting life are obscure and indeter- 

 minate ; nor are the opinions even of philosophers characterized 

 by much greater distinctness or mutual accordance. Like other 

 complex terms, ' life ' can obviously be defined only by an enume- 



