904 ERRORS OF LIEBIG. 



living tissues," that " in their return towards 

 the heart, the globules which have lost their 

 oxygen, combine with carbonic acid, producing 

 venous blood, that " the globules of arterial 

 blood contain a compound of iron saturated with 

 oxygen, which, in the living blood, loses its oxy- 

 gen during its passage through the capillaries," 

 that after losing a part of their oxygen, they be- 

 come venous, and combine with carbonic acid, 

 which is given off in the lungs, when they again 

 absorb oxygen, which is conveyed to all parts 

 of the body, that " waste of matter occurs in con- 

 sequence of the absorption of oxygen into the sub- 

 stance of living parts," that in cases of starvation, 

 and in all chronic diseases, death is produced by 

 the chemical action of oxygen, by which every 

 part of the body, except the bones, is consumed 

 by a slow combustion, and that the true cause 

 of death in these cases, is the respiratory process, 

 (pp. 28, 223, 238, 243, 259, 271.) 



Now it is worthy of special notice, that in no 

 part of his work, has Liebig explained what 

 causes the constituents of arterial blood to com- 

 bine with and nourish the solids : the consequence 

 of which has been, as might naturally be sup- 

 posed, that all his speculations in regard to the 

 cause of waste have been founded on hypothe- 

 tical and erroneous assumptions.* But we have 



* He is equally in error with regard to the cause of the circu- 

 lation ; for he represents the heart as a forcing pump, which sends 

 blood into all parts of the body ; and also a suction pump, by 



