LECTURE VL 245 



man, who could see so far through the ob- 

 scurity in which these subjects were involved,, 

 in his time? But the sun of science has 

 since shone on them, and we now see dis- 

 tinctly the probability and rationality of his 

 theory. Sir H. Davy's experiments prove 

 that they are electrical actions, by which 

 all combinations and decompositions of 

 matter are occasioned, and that what is 

 called electricity pervades every thing 

 whether solid or fluid. In speaking of di- 

 gestion, it has been already shown, that ac- 

 tions productive of secretion are regulated 

 by the general powers of life, by the ener- 

 gies of the nervous system. Every one 

 now seems convinced, by direct experi- 

 ments, that vessels so modify their con- 

 tents, that the liquids and substances which 

 the absorbents take up, become lymph, a 

 fluid resembling blood, in their transit 

 through those vessels ; and that the chyle 

 imbibed from the bowels is undergo- 

 ing continual modifications as it proceeds 

 through these channels to the sanguiferous 

 system. Yet, as I have mentioned in my 

 former lectures, the most direct proof of the 



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