60 



representations, the credulous and inexperienced 

 reader has been deceived. In this treatise he 

 generalized the idea of mucus so far, that ac- 

 cording* to his statement, the epidermis, nails, silk, 

 hair, and other substances of the most different 

 chemical and physiological characters, were no- 

 thing else than hardened mucus. 



The intestinal canal, besides of the mu- 

 cous membrane, is surrounded by a dense cellu- 

 lar and a muscular membrane, corresponding in 

 their chemical properties, the former with the 

 cellular texture, and the latter with the muscles. 

 On the whole of its outside, from the throat to the 

 rectum, it is enveloped by the serous membrane of 

 the abdomen. These serous membranes, which are 

 found in all the cavities of the body (to conclude 

 from the imperfect chemical experiments that 

 have been made on them) consist of the same 

 fundamental mass as the cellular texture. They 

 are called serous, because a serous fluid constant- 

 ly moistens them, and prevents their adhesion. 

 This fluid is very considerable as to its quantity ; 

 it has been chiefly collected in dropsies, and never 

 examined in its healthy state ; we have, however, 

 every reason to suppose, that its composition on 

 these occasions is not altered. Accord '.m* 1 to sonic 



