AND ANIMAL LIFE. 383 



we also remark, that the surface of the body is 

 highly vascular and generally florid at this peri- 

 od. If we turn to the system in decline from 

 age, we perceive that the frequency and vigour 

 of respiration and circulation are strikingly di- 

 minished, and, still further, that the restless de- 

 sire of action, the rotundity of the muscles, and 

 the vascular and florid condition of the surface 

 of the body, no longer exist. 



It can scarcely be denied, that if we lessen the 

 frequency or perfection of respiration, we shall 

 deteriorate the powers of life. The excited and 

 generally diffused circulation, in childhood, is a 

 consequence of the stimulating properties of the blood 

 and other conditions^ fully stated in Chapter IV. ; 

 and, therefore, this state of the circulating sys- 

 tem, and every organic function dependent on 

 its influence, are to be referred to the frequency 

 or perfection of respiration, as the primary source 

 of every effect. 



CCCCLVII. We may next inquire how the 

 frequency of respiration can operate so as to oc- 

 casion these marked results. In the nine gene- 

 ral laws, or deductions following XXVIII. I have 

 alluded to particular states of the respiration, 

 and have endeavoured to show that certain of 

 these are the cause of the buffy or inflammatory 

 coat in blood, arising from its highly oxygenated 

 qualities ; and, moreover, when opposite respi- 

 ratory or sanguiferous conditions are present, 



