200 Dr. Spurgin's Outlines of a Philosophical 



human faculties into exercise with the view to discover the 

 uses and ends of all the parts which compose this kingdom ; 

 more qualifications are required than might at first sight be 

 imagined : for not only is it necessary to possess a thorough 

 knowledge of the anatomy of the body, but likewise to be con- 

 versant with several other highly important branches of sci- 

 ence, both mathematical and physical, and to be initiated 

 moreover into that sort of abstract or philosophical reasoning, 

 which enables us to discern the difference between a cause 

 and its effect; or to perceive the relationship that subsists be- 

 tween a substance, and the forces and powers which it may 

 be the medium of manifesting. 



The investigation then of the animal economy requiring so 

 many aids, we must not be surprised at the slow progress of 

 our knowledge concerning it, nor ridicule the various strange 

 hypotheses and fancies of our ancestors ; still less ought we to 

 contend with any one of our own day for or against an opi- 

 nion, as if it were an empire; because if we are guided by ex- 

 perience, and the clear deductions of reason, the truth will in 

 all probability be eventually attained, to the dispersion of error. 

 But as I am precluded from entering upon such an investiga- 

 tion, or upon a consideration of the animal economy, to any 

 great extent, and can only take up the subject in a veiy ge- 

 neral and cursory manner, I have ventured to draw your at- 

 tention to the most important part of tliis economy, viz., the 

 blood : because the animal system regai'ds the blood as its 

 common fountain and source ; and in a philosophical point of 

 view, it may be said to be a general principle pervading and 

 entering into every part and portion of the body. 



I should be extremely unwilling to offer any thing to your 

 consideration, which might not prove either interesting or use- 

 ful to you in some degree ; but if the rule which insists on 

 an enumeration of facts, to the exclusion of all reasoning, and 

 which is too generally acted upon, be taken as the measure 

 of this interest or utility ; the prefatory remarks with which 

 I have set out, and which have been drawn up in opposition 

 to the rule just alluded-to, will, I fear, prove insipid to some, 

 and useless to others : but as in the pursuit of my plan there 

 is an abundance of facts to bring forward, and as some indul- 

 gence is claimed in an Introductory Lectui-e, I trust you will 

 find the general rule complied with in the sequel, whilst I 

 avail myself of your indulgence at the outset. 



If therefore we in the first place take an abstract or more 

 philosophical view of this most extraordinary fluid, the blood; 

 we may discern in it, as in a type, all the individual parts of 

 the animal economy ; seeing that neither the solids nor the re- 

 maining fluids of the body are derived to it, from any other 



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