118 THE LAWS OF ORGANIC 



fluid is subjected to the action of cold, a greater 

 quantity will be successively acted upon until 

 the minute vessels are constricted by this agent ; 

 and when this happens, the plant droops, and 

 the bird forgets its song. Every phenomenon 

 of organic and animal life is regulated by, or de- 

 pends upon, the nature and motion of the circu- 

 lating fluid peculiar to the individual being. 



CXXII. From this view it appears that summer 

 has the tendency to diffuse the blood in greater 

 quantity over the surface of the body ; and this 

 being the case, an individual will at this time be 

 more liable to internal disorders and inflamma- 

 tions than in the middle of winter, from the occa- 

 sional application of the opposite temperature. 

 It is an ascertained and acknowledged fact, that, 

 in autumn, inflammations of the thoracic viscera, 

 fevers, and dysenteric affections, are more com- 

 mon than at any other season. 



CXXIII. Previous to autumn, the system has 

 experienced a general stimulus : accelerated cir- 

 culation and augmented heat are its consequen- 

 ces ; and as these conditions have existed for a 

 long time, they have, in some measure, become 

 established, and, therefore, cannot be expected to 

 return immediately to another state which is to 

 adapt the animal economy to different circumstan- 

 ces. It sometimes happens that autumn does not 

 approach in a benignant or gentle manner, but, on 

 the contrary, is accompanied by cold and damp 



