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hydrogen on the other took place was not known until Spallanzani 

 experimented, and published his classical Memoirs on Respiration 

 (1803), a work edited posthumously "from the unpublished manu- 

 scripts of the author " by his friend John Senebier. To the English 

 translation, there is prefixed A sketch of tlie life and Writings of 

 Spallanzani, from which I have taken certain facts. The Letter, 

 conformably to the spirit of the times, is addressed to Citizen Senebier. 

 Every science student of physiology should read and inwardly digest 

 these classical Memoirs of Spallanzani. The plan adopted is to use 

 different animals, beginning with the lowest class and proceeding to the 

 highest. Spallanzani grasped the importance of the New Chemistry. 



" Different kinds of ' worms ' enclosed in atmospheric air, with or without lungs, all 

 alike absorbed the whole of the oxygen," and carbonic acid was produced. "Worms" 

 confined in pure azote or pure hydrogen equally yielded carbonic acid. " Larvae weighing 

 only a few grains absorbed in a given time nearly as much oxygen as an amphibious 

 animal infinitely larger." " The stomach, liver, intestines, ovaries of fishes, etc., after they 

 have been separated from the body of the animal," absorb all the oxygen, and give off 

 carbonic acid. " After destruction of the lungs of amphibia, these animals did likewise." 



Here then was a mighty stride forward : oxydation does not take 

 place in the lungs, nor, indeed, in the blood. It is the tissues that 

 respire, i.e. consume oxygen and give off carbonic acid. Spallanzani 

 had studied profoundly what we now call "internal respiration." 

 Secondly, it is not the oxygen taken in on which the tissues live, 

 and give out carbonic acid, for snails and " worms " give off this gas in 

 an atmosphere of pure azote or hydrogen. 



IN this connection we must mention the important treatise of 

 W. F. EDWAKDS (born Jamaica, 1777), On the Influence of 

 Physical Agents on Life, which first appeared in a French dress, 

 and was translated into English by Dr. Hodgkin and Dr. Fisher 

 (1832). In this work the subject of asphyxia in batrachian reptiles, 

 fishes, and warm-blooded animals, and the influence of temperature 

 and many other subjects are fully discussed. The hypothesis of 

 Dutrochet, some observations on electricity, and Hodgkin 's work on 

 absorption and the spleen, and that of his co-worker, Joseph J. 

 Lister, on the microscopic characters of the animal tissues and fluids 

 are added in the English edition. We would have liked to add the 

 portrait of THOMAS HODGKIN (1798-1866) to the list of our 

 Apostles. Hodgkin's thesis on Absorption, presented to Edinburgh 

 University (1823), is particularly interesting. It contains an admirable 

 historical account of the lymphatic system and the absorption from 

 the intestinal tract of colour fluids, &c. After joining the College of 

 Physicians he became Curator of the Museum of Guy's Hospital. 



