FINAL CAUSES. 21 



the parts with which they became ideiititied ? 

 By what transcendent power, above all, did this 

 assemblage of material particles first become 

 animated by the breath of life ; and from what 

 elevated source did they derive those higher 

 energies, apparently so foreign to their inherent 

 properties, and investing these once lifeless and 

 inert materials with the exalted attributes of 

 activity, of sensation, of perception, of intelli- 

 gence? Shall we ever comprehend the nature 

 of this subtle and pervading principle, by the 

 agency of which all these wonderful phenomena 

 of life are produced, and which, combining into 

 one harmonious system so many heterogeneous 

 and jarring elements, has led to the formation 

 of this exquisite frame, this elaborate machine, 

 this miraculous assemblage of faculties ? 



The discovery of a clue, if any such can be 

 found, to the mazes of this perplexing labyrinth 

 can be hoped for only from the successful cul- 

 tivation of the science of physiology. But be- 

 fore engaging in this arduous study, we ought 

 previously to inquire into the methods of reason- 

 ing by which it is to be conducted. 



The object of physiology is, by the diligent 

 examination of the phenomena of life, to ascer- 

 tain the laws which regulate those phenomena, 

 both as they apply to the individual beings en- 

 dowed with life, and also as they relate to the* 

 various assemblages that constitute the species, 



