/ 



)^ 



Z/p^^ 



THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



79 



^^^^"-^ce ofj 



^ ^^-^pcnd 



M 



this analogy. He observed that, if in a solution of nitre 

 and sulphate of soda a crystal of nitre be dropped, all 



ter af ^^^ dissolved nitre crystallizes, the sulphate remaining 



•' '^^fc ;„ „„i.,4-;^^ . TTrl-,o.-ooc nn rpvprdincr the PYneriment a 



' possessed k- 



'• Lcwcs 



«1 



C' 



in solution j whereas, on reversing the experiment, a 

 crystal of sulphate of soda is fo :n to crystallize all the 



liluded 



P°intl dissolved sulphate, leaving the nitre undisturbed. In 



to 



rh 



''[ 



e 



like manner, muscle selects from the blood its own 



nourisb.;: materials, which are there in solution, rejecting those 



fluid, each stl which the nerve will select.' And, in fact, the more 



es that are lit; we study the phenomena of nutrition, growth, and 



'lar to thefoiE repair — wheresoever taking place — the more we may 



•f different salt become convinced of the fact that the influence of pre- 



only those m. 

 10 called attei 



existing living matter does, in the main, show itself 

 in this way. It may be seen by the mode in which 

 an ulcer heals. The new skin forms, under ordinary 

 , , .V circumstances, only at the edges of the sore in 



■-t seem to snow _ ' ^ 



,e in order that e: continuation with pre-existing skm 5 and the method 

 nd the absolute neff recently adopted by surgeons, of transferring a small 



-ous intermediates 



portion of epidermis to the midst of a large surface 



c to ^/^"^"_^J, which has been denuded by a burn, is but a practical 



^^ ° theoretical < application of this physiological fact ^ From the 



to the i^^ 



ints as i^ ^ ^ 1 ^j^jg admirable method of treatment was initiated by M. Reverdin, 



leir ^PP^^^^!^^^^^^^^ of Paris, and first practised in this country by Mr. Pollock. The latter 



-cells of ^ ^"^^^ says : ' It has appeared to me that when this process of cicatrization 



,he mUls. of ft* 

 ^ . till i' ='* 



approaches the margin of the original ulcer, although this may have been 

 •\ tiii !•- - , jg^ indolent or stationary, there is a stimulus given to the latter, and a fresh 

 L ^,-e ordinaA^ process of cicatrization commences from this edge, and new tissue is 



formed in a direction to meet that from the transplanted portion. It has 



)# 



■ fhe in^'^^ ^' 



■ 



r\. 



also appeared to me that the process of cicatrization is more rapid in the 

 transplanted portion on the side nearest the edge of the original sore, when 

 the two edges approach each other.' (' Trans, of Clinical Society,' vol. iv.) 



