THE NOBLER JUICES. 



deriving from the vessels nearest to them (not always 

 indeed directly, but often by transmission from a dis- 

 tance), in accordance with their several special require- 

 ments, certain quantities of material ; and again that, 

 after they have taken this material up, they be held to 

 be capable of subjecting it to further changes within 

 themselves, and* this in such a manner that they either 

 derive therefrom new matter for their own development ; 

 or that the substances accumulate in their interior, with- 

 out their reaping any immediate benefit from it ; or 

 finally that, after this imbibition of material, even decay 

 may arise in their structure and their dissolution ensue. 

 At all events it seems necessary to me that great promi- 

 nence should be assigned to this specific action of the ele- \ 

 ments of tissues, in opposition to the specific action of the 

 vessels, and that in studying local processes we should 

 principally devote ourselves to the investigation of pro- 

 cesses of this nature. 



It will now, I think, be most suitable for us next to 

 enter a little more in detail upon the consideration of 

 the facts which form the basis of the humoro-pathologi- 

 cal system upon the study of the so-called nobler juices. 

 If the blood be considered in its normal influence upon 

 nutrition, the most important point is not its movement, 

 nor the greater or less afflux of it, but its intimate com- 

 position. When the quantity of blood is great, but its 

 composition does not correspond to the natural require- 

 ments of the parts, nutrition may suffer ; when the quan- 

 tity is small, nutrition may proceed in a comparatively 

 very favourable manner, if every single particle of the 

 blood contain its ingredients mixed in the most favorable 

 proportions. 



If the blood be considered as a whole in contradistinc- 

 tion to other parts, the most dangerous thing we can do 



11 



