16 On the Influence of Air 



cretion, suppuration, digestion, &.c. We have before 

 remarked, that respiration imparted no new principle, 

 but that by its stimulus the air preserved that vibratory- 

 motion of the component parts of the animal body, es- 

 sential to the contraction and subsequent elongation of 

 its muscular fibres, and to the repeated action of its va- 

 rious organs. Dr. Fothergill remarks, that vitality con- 

 sists in action and re-action between the vital organs 

 and their respective stimuli. 



" Our fundamental power of animation is the capacity 

 of the living body to preserve the same degree of heat, 

 in various degrees of temperature of the same medium, 

 and in media of different density and pressure." Is it 

 then philosophical to consider the foetus, after disconnec- 

 tion from the placenta, as no longer possessing this vi- 

 tal attribute, but as totally dependant therefor on the 

 oxygenous portion of the atmosphere ? If this position 

 were true, simple inflation with oxygenous gas would, in 

 most cases of suspended animation from submersion, 

 &c, be amply sufficient to restore the vital functions. 

 The experiments of both Goodwin and Coleman on 

 submersed animals proves that the caloric and tempera- 

 ture of the body must first be gradually restored, before 

 respiration can be established. Animal heat, therefore, 

 is restorable without the aid of respiration, and is the 

 condition essentially requisite to the return of respira- 

 tion. Does it not irresistibly follow, that the loss of 

 heat in those vital organs, the heart and lungs, must ne- 

 cessarilv be accompanied by a loss of their motion, which 

 cannot be restored, till, by the restoration of their tem- 

 perature, they again become susceptible to the influence 



