CHAP. 5. 1. ON VITAL FUNCTIONS. 191 



SECTION I. 



Further Observations on tlie Effects of Atmo- 

 spheric Peculiarities on the Functions of 

 Organized Bodies.* 



EVERY organized body, as far as human 

 sagacity can penetrate, appears susceptible of 

 diseased actions, which may be excited by 

 different causes. In man these causes are 

 various and complicated, and the morbid ac- 

 tions which arise, in consequence, are numerous 

 and dissimilar. And this circumstance may 

 be attributed to his organization and to his 

 mode of life. The influence of the atmosphere, 

 which is one cause, is apt to be overlooked 

 in the human subject, from the variety of 

 others which are continually operating, and 



* The attention of various writers at length begins to be 

 revived, and directed towards the study of the atmosphere, 

 and its effects on health. See a Spanish Work,, entitled, 

 Observationes Sobre el Clima de Lima y sus Influencias en 

 los Seres Organizados en especial el Hombre por el Doctor 

 DON HIPOLITO UNANUE. Madrid, 1815. 



