288 THE LAWS OF ORGANIC 



CCCXIIL During the state of repose, when 

 the circulation is equable or little invigorated, 

 such a heart may perform its office ; but if muscu- 

 lar exertion be employed, or powerful internal 

 stimuli be taken, or if the mind be excited by 

 violent passion, more blood is transmitted in a 

 given time than it is capable of receiving or pro- 

 pelling with its accustomed regularity. This 

 peculiar conformation may sometimes be the 

 cause of palpitation on occasions apparently un- 

 important. It will make the heart extremely 

 liable to suffer from an overcharged state of the 

 lungs. 



CCCXIV. The heart, as a whole, may, in 

 its relations to the system, be exact, yet its parts 

 may want harmony among themselves. If we 

 were sufficiently advanced in knowledge to esti- 

 mate slight deviations of this kind, it is not im- 

 probable that many symptoms, otherwise inex- 

 plicable, would be found to originate in such a 

 conformation. When a ventricle or auricle is evi- 

 dently enlarged or diminished, we are almost sure 

 to find this accompanied by con sequences that can- 

 not be referred to any other cause than an increased 

 or diminished capacity ; and it is not improbable 

 that the predisposition of some individuals to oc- 

 casional palpitation is sometimes to be attributed 

 to this cause. When a cavity is lessened, which 

 sometimes occurs, its parietes,for the most part, are 

 considerably thickened, and this condition consti- 



