REVIEWS — HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. 253 



holding it loosely and ready to give it up, and go back again for a 

 fresh supply." Now, herein lies a grave question ; is the oxygen 

 merely mechanically absorbed by the blood, for it is admitted that 

 other constituents than the corpuscles absorb oxygen, or does it enter 

 into combination, unstable, yet chemical ? Many lean to the former 

 ' view, we to the latter, and we confess that with the apodictic reasons 

 of Liebig we very nearly coincide. But we cannot give to these their 

 proper consideration ; in truth much beyond our wish have these re- 

 marks been carried in extent, and hence anxious, not to weary the 

 reader, we hurry to a conclusion. 



To an amusing paragraph on saliva we would in sad earnest draw 

 the attention of those who are given to the solace of tobacco, that best 

 and worst of sedatives : " Though so large a quantity of saliva as 

 twenty ounces may be secreted in a day, this being about one half of 

 the urinary discharge, it is to be remembered that the water is not lost 

 to the system, as in the latter case. If here the impure habit of pro- 

 fuse spitting is indulged in, it is interesting to remark (more 'phy- 

 siologico), the reflected effect which takes place in the reduced quan- 

 tity of urine and an instinctive desire for water, a kind of perpetual 

 thirst. It is probable that under these disgusting circumstances, the 

 percentage amount of saline substances in the saliva is increased, and 

 that, so far as that class of bodies is concerned, the salivary glands act 

 vicariously for the kidneys, and the mouth is thus converted into a 

 urinary aqueduct." 



Of the brevity of some of the descriptions we have already spoken, 

 this is a fault almost everywhere to be perceived, thus in that most 

 obscure portion of the economy, the region and functions of the liver, 

 the author dismisses the composition of the bile in this summary 

 way : "Bile, from whatever animal it may have been derived, contains 

 a resinous soda salt, a coloring material, cholesterin and mucus, the 

 acid of the soda salt is the taurocholic or glycocholic." Taurine is a 

 few lines below mentioned ; this verges on the incomplete, almost on 

 the inaccurate ; if there be hope of finally comprehending the func- 

 tions of this or any other organ, a knowledge of the composition of its 

 peculiar secretion ought surely to be an element in the sequence of 

 reasoning thereon. To speak of the glycocholate or taurocholate of 

 soda, as if one or the other of these solely, and not both, existed in 

 bile is to give a wrong impression to those who have not the means of 

 ascertaining the facts. It seems as if the fullness of his vision had 

 condensed, but yet contracted his intellect as light contracts the 

 pupil, so that he compels his readers to see through the same medium. 



