CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 23 



Points glued to points a living line extends, 



Touch'd by some goad approach the bending ends; 



Rings join to rings, and irritated tubes 



Clasp with young lips the nutrient globes or cubes; 



And urged by appetencies new select, 



Imbibe, retain, digest, secrete, eject. 



In branching cones the living web expands, 



Lymphatic ducts, and convoluted glands; 2(30 



Aortal tubes propel the nascent blood, 



And lengthening veins absorb the refluent flood; 



Leaves, lungs, and gills, the vital ether breathe 



On earth's green surface, or the waves beneath.. 



In branching cones, 1. 259. The whole branch of an artery or vein < 

 may be considered as a cone, though each distinct division of it is a 

 cylinder. It is probable that the amount of the areas of all the small 

 branches from one trunk may equal that of the trunk, otherwise the 

 velocity of the blood would be greater in some parts than in others, 

 which probably only exists when a part is compressed or inflamed. 



Absorb the refluent flood, 1. 262. The force of the arterial impulse 

 appears to cease, after having propelled the blood through the capil- 

 lary vessels; whence the venous circulation is owing to the extremi- 

 ties of the veins absorbing the blood, as those of the lymphatics 

 absorb the fluids. The great force of absorption is well elucidated 

 by Dr. Hales's experiment on the rise of the sap-juice in a vine- 

 stump see Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXIII. 



