MEDICAL SCIENCE. 457 



medicorum, but that men are ignorant of what 

 causes the heart to beat, the stomach to digest, the 

 brain to think, the nerves to feel, and our active 

 limbs to move? 



The true panacea, or elixir of life, must not be 

 sought in specifics and nostrums, but in a clear 

 and definite knowledge of the mode in which the 

 organizing principle operates in the different 

 functions of life. Were it not that all the phe- 

 nomena of nature are linked together as parts 

 of one great whole, it would be of far higher im- 

 portance to know the cause of vital, than that of 

 planetary motion. Nor was it ever intended by 

 Infinite Wisdom and Goodness, that knowledge 

 so essential to the happiness of our race should 

 remain a sealed book. Life is the problem 

 of problems, the solution of which would clear 

 up a thousand other mysteries, and banish innu- 

 merable errors from the pages of science. And 

 it may be asserted with confidence, that whoever 

 is without faith in the power of well-directed 

 efforts to resolve it, will never accomplish much 

 towards enlarging the empire of man over the 

 numerous evils by which he is surrounded. A 

 complete knowledge of this subject would do 

 more to elevate the condition of mankind, than 

 the power of transmuting the baser metals into 

 gold, or even charcoal into the precious diamond ; 

 for all the riches of the earth are not to be com- 

 pared with health. 



