42 THE NEW PHYSIOLOGY. 



which the living organism manifests itself ; in the 

 apparent chaotic whirl of life-processes we are tracing 

 organic activity. The idea of the maintenance of the 

 faint alkalinity of the blood at once lights up for us and 

 enables us to predict a whole mass of phenomena con- 

 nected with respiration, circulation and excretion, and 

 points the way to interpretation and treatment of many 

 of the symptoms of disease. Following similar lines, 

 and proceeding always on the assumption that the 

 living organism is really an organism, and no mere 

 machine, physiology can progress steadily and con- 

 fidently, adding continuously to what is already known 

 about living organisms, and with a clear appreciation of 

 the essential points that await investigation. 



No branch of science is in reality more alive and 

 rapidly progressive than the physiology of the present 

 day. Like the bewitched princess, she is waking up to 

 her rightful place, and is meanwhile engaged in brushing 

 away the cobwebs which have been woven round her 

 during her sleep. Among the other cobwebs is the sup- 

 position that biology, which deals with what chemists or 

 physicists are apt to look upon as slimy indefinite messes, 

 like blood or protoplasm, is not an exact science. I have 

 already said enough to indicate that in no branch of 

 science are exact quantitative methods and results more 

 essential than in physiology. 



The difficulties of a physico-chemical interpretation 

 of life have been felt ever since biology emerged as a 

 branch of science ; and I wish now to refer to a hypo- 

 thesis — that of the so-called " vitalists," by means of 

 which it has been sought to overcome the difficulty. 

 The vitalists are at one with the supporters of the 



