100 THE LAWS OF ORGANIC 



which are more obvious in their character, and 

 more easily traced. In the attempt to explain 

 the difficulties of the present subject, which, as 

 yet, has never been investigated, I may probably 

 fail in convincing all of the correctness of the 

 views ; but it cannot be denied that the applica- 

 tion is practical. 



LXXXVIII. In the first months of infantile 

 life, the respirations are extremely numerous, pre- 

 senting from 30 to 50 inspirations in a minute ; 

 the heart is also proportionately quick and fre- 

 quent in its pulsation ; and the heat of the body 

 is generally above the standard of the adult. 



LXXXIX. The nourishment of the infant is 

 derived from the breasts of the mother, and this 

 is of a rich and nutritious quality, well adapted 

 to support and extend the powers of life, without 

 requiring much elaboration on the part of its 

 organs to fit it for the purposes of nature. The 

 digestive process, which brings into action the 

 greater part of the abdominal viscera, is, therefore, 

 on the present occasion, not so energetically exer- 

 cised as to make great demands upon the blood. 



And if it be acknowledged that the assimilat- 

 ing organs are less powerfully exercised than 

 in after life, the brain, and those parts of the 

 system subsequently developed for the procrea- 

 tion of the species, are to be considered as influ- 

 encing even less the mode of circulation or the ex- 

 penditure of the blood. Although the former 



