ORIGIN OF TEMPERAMENT. 997 



In accordance with the Grecian axiom, that 

 " strength is derived from spirit and from blood," 

 and depends on the amount of caloric that passes 

 through the body in a given time ; it may be 

 observed that birds belong more emphatically to 

 the sanguine or dynamic temperament than 

 mammalia, and the more active among the latter, 

 than such as have imperfect organs of respiration, 

 and therefore fall into a state of lethargy during 

 winter ; but that all warm blooded animals in 

 perfect health are of a sanguine constitution, 

 and belong to the dynamic temperament, when 

 compared with reptiles and fishes, which are 

 cold blooded, imperfectly organized, deficient in 

 strength, and therefore belong to the adynamic 

 temperament, which includes all individuals of 

 the human species, with small chest and diseased 

 lungs, whether cold and dry, or cold and moist. 



According to the analyses of Denis and Le 

 Canu, the average proportion of solid particles in 

 the blood of vigorous and healthy men during 

 youth, adolescence, and middle life, varies from 



until something both accurate and more definite is offered. For 

 example, when the thorax is large, the brain finely developed and 

 well formed, the temperament may be denominated sanguineo- 

 cerebral, when the thorax and muscles predominate, it may be 

 called athletic, msanguineo-muscular, and sanguineo-abdominal 

 when the chest and chylopoietic organs are large. But if the 

 brain be large, the chest small, or the lungs imperfect, the tem- 

 perament may be regarded as nervous: or if the thorax, brain, 

 and muscles be small, and the abdomen predominate, it may be 

 termed phlegmatic. 



