Continuity 73 



and old laws for non-living, the laws are 

 the same; or if ever they differ, the 

 burden of proof rests on him who sustains 

 the difference. The conservation of en- 

 ergy, the laws of chemical combination, 

 the laws of electric currents, of radiation, 

 etc., etc., all the laws of Chemistry and 

 Physics, may be applied without hesita- 

 tion in the Organic domain. Whether 

 they are sufficient is open to question, 

 but as far as they go they are necessary; 

 and it is the business of the physiologist 

 to seek out and demonstrate the action 

 of those laws in every vital action. 



This is clearly recognised by the leaders, 

 and in the definition of Physiology by 

 Burdon Sanderson he definitely limited 

 it to the study of "ascertainable char- 

 acters of a chemical and physical type." 

 In his Address to the Sub-section of 

 Anatomy and Physiology at York in 

 1 88 1 he spoke as follows: 



It would give you a true idea of the nature 

 of the great advance which took place about the 

 middle of this century if I were to define it as 

 the epoch of the death of ' 'vitalism." Before 



