COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



a well-developed vascular system, the blood 

 runs in definite channels, and with well-marked 

 differences of movement. Its movement is slow 

 and continuous in the capillaries, fast and con- 

 tinuous in the veins, still faster but discontinu- 

 ous in the arteries ; while the rhythms in all 

 are subordinated by the central rhythm of the 

 heart. Still more remarkable, in the most com- 

 plex organisms, is that kind of functional in- 

 tegration which consists in the mutual depend- 

 ence of different functions. Neither alimentation 

 nor circulation nor respiration can go on alone ; 

 and all three are dependent upon the continu- 

 ance of nervous action, which in turn depends 

 alike upon each of the three. A few whiffs of 

 tobacco, for example, setting up slight molec- 

 ular changes in the medulla oblongata, increase 

 the heart's rate of pulsation, and stimulate every 

 one of the alimentary secretions, while it is 

 probable also that, through the medium of the 

 sympathetic ganglia, the sectional area of every 

 artery is slightly altered. The cautious phy- 

 sician, in prescribing a powerful drug, knows 

 that he is dealing with an integration of motions 

 so extensive that the disturbance of any one 

 will alter the directions and composition of all 

 the others to a degree which baffles accurate 

 calculation. Contrasting with such cases as 

 these the homogeneous, indefinite and uncom- 

 bined movements of those lowest animals, that 

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