586 Notices respecting New Books. 



the exercise of the visual and auditory apparatus ; and it is a 

 question whether some chemical action is not established by 

 the agency of sapid bodies upon the epidermis of the mucous 

 membrane of the mouth : it is, at least, seen evidently in some 

 cases, as in the effects of vinegar, the mineral acids, a great 

 number of salts, &c. By the same agents similar effects are 

 produced upon dead bodies ; and Dr. Majendie thinks that to 

 this species of combination the different kinds of impression 

 made by sapid bodies may be fairly attributed, as well as the 

 variable duration of such impressions. Nor is it reasonable 

 to deny that many of our remedies may act by a chemical ac- 

 tion on the alimentary canal : alkalies are thus frequently 

 serviceable, by clearing the primoe viai of superfluous animal 

 matter, which they effect by forming with it a soluble compounc'. 

 If the origin of animal heat cannot be satisfactorily traced to 

 a strictly chemical source, its maintenance, distribution, and 

 regulation may at least be shown to depend upon the agency 

 of those laws which alike govern the temperature of inert mat- 

 ter. Do we not perceive that every animal suffering from 

 diminished temperature, instinctively diminishes the surface 

 of its body, which is in contact with the cooling medium ? 

 Man under such circumstances is seen to bend the different 

 parts of his limbs upon each other, and to apply them forcibly 

 to the trunk *. It will be also seen, when we come to consider 

 the nature of capillary action, that many of the phaenomena 

 of living bodies, which have been erroneously attributed to the 

 action of the living principle, may be satisfactorily explained 

 by the simple operation of this attractive force. The absurdi- 

 ties of the chemical and mechanical sects have undoubtedly 

 driven the modern physiologist into a mischievous scepticism 

 with regard to the influence of physical causes upon a living 

 animal. John Hunter, even to associate whose name with error 

 will be regarded by many as an act little short of impiety, has 

 repeatedly attributed to the speciflc effect of life, actions that 

 ought to be solely referred to the powers belonging to inani- 

 mate matter. In the same manner an objection to impute to 

 the physical property of elasticity certain phaenomena ex- 

 hibited by membranous structure, has led Bordieuf, Bichat:):, 

 Blumenbach§, and others, to assign to it a peculiar vital power. 



* Children and weak persons often take this position when in bed. It 

 would therefore be improper to confine j'oung children in swathing clothes 

 so as to prevent the necessary flexion. 



f Recherches sur le Tissu Muqueux, § 70. 



t Traite des Membranes, pp. 62, 101, 133. 



j Iiistit. Physiolog. § 40, 59. 



whose 



