SOURCES OF ERROR. 561 



the logic of quantity, whatever men may say about 

 its mysterious and hyperphysical properties. 



All erroneous theories in physiology and pa- 

 thology, have arisen from partial examinations 

 of nature as one harmonious and indivisible 

 system, all the operations of which are governed 

 by one principle, in accordance with the most 

 simple and perfectly uniform laws from the 

 stupendous revolutions of the heavenly bodies, 

 to the circulations of " the invisible air," and the 

 refined transformations of universal chemistry. 



Having already shown that the power of the 

 earth to multiply organic forms is regulated by 

 the amount of caloric it receives from the solar 

 fountain, I proceed to prove that the organizing 

 power of animals, and the activity of their respec- 

 tive functions, are directly in proportion to the 

 quantity of the same active principle derived from 

 the atmosphere by respiration. 



Among all the operations of nature, there is 

 nothing more calculated to excite admiration, 

 than the silent, beautiful process of living com- 

 bustion, by which the temperature of the more 

 perfect animals is maintained at nearly a uniform 

 standard in all climates, during winter and sum- 

 mer. Yet so little has the importance of the 

 subject been appreciated, that physiologists are 

 as much divided in their opinions in regard to 

 the immediate source and agency of animal heat 

 as in the age of Harvey, Sydenham, and Mayo. 



