﻿390 
  PROFESSOR 
  ALISON'S 
  DEFENCE 
  

  

  animals, 
  and 
  resume 
  their 
  office 
  as 
  manures, 
  afford 
  a 
  manifest 
  presumption 
  that 
  

   such 
  modification 
  takes 
  place. 
  

  

  The 
  chief 
  consideration 
  which 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  prevented 
  Dr 
  Daubeny 
  from 
  

   acknowledging 
  that 
  the 
  power 
  which 
  he 
  himself 
  supposes 
  to 
  exist 
  in 
  living 
  beings, 
  

   and 
  to 
  regulate 
  chemical 
  changes 
  there, 
  is 
  deserving 
  of 
  a 
  separate 
  name 
  and 
  a 
  

   separate 
  inquiry, 
  is 
  thus 
  stated 
  : 
  — 
  " 
  If 
  it 
  is 
  asserted 
  that 
  this 
  power 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  

   directly 
  ascribed 
  to 
  the 
  vital 
  principle 
  itself, 
  we 
  pause 
  for 
  further 
  information." 
  

  

  Here 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  me 
  manifest, 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  misapprehension 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  correct 
  

   meaning 
  of 
  words, 
  and 
  one 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  traced 
  in 
  many 
  other 
  speculations 
  in 
  

   the 
  elementary 
  departments 
  of 
  physiology, 
  — 
  investing 
  the 
  term 
  Vital 
  Principle 
  

   with 
  a 
  meaning 
  much 
  more 
  mysterious 
  and 
  formidable 
  than 
  is 
  needful. 
  Accord- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  the 
  only 
  idea 
  which 
  I 
  can 
  form 
  of 
  what 
  is 
  properly 
  termed 
  the 
  vital 
  prin- 
  

   ciple, 
  Dr 
  Daubeny 
  has 
  already 
  admitted, 
  in 
  the 
  words 
  above 
  quoted 
  from 
  him, 
  

   that, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  we 
  can 
  yet 
  see, 
  we 
  must 
  regard 
  the 
  vital 
  principle 
  as 
  concerned 
  in 
  

   forming 
  the 
  " 
  wonderful 
  products 
  of 
  organic 
  life 
  ;" 
  because 
  he 
  says, 
  that 
  these 
  

   result 
  from 
  a 
  power 
  residing 
  in 
  living 
  matter, 
  producing 
  physical 
  effects, 
  yet 
  

   distinct 
  in 
  its 
  effects 
  from 
  ordinary 
  chemical 
  and 
  physical 
  forces. 
  

  

  The 
  only 
  correct 
  way 
  of 
  defining 
  what 
  we 
  call 
  Vitality, 
  or 
  the 
  vital 
  principle, 
  

   as 
  I 
  have 
  always 
  maintained, 
  and 
  as 
  I 
  think 
  the 
  best 
  authorities 
  now 
  admit, 
  is 
  

   this: 
  — 
  First, 
  we 
  describe 
  what 
  we 
  call 
  living 
  beings. 
  They 
  are 
  those, 
  as 
  Cutiek 
  

   states, 
  which 
  originate 
  by 
  a 
  process 
  of 
  generation, 
  which 
  we 
  can 
  describe, 
  — 
  are 
  

   maintained 
  by 
  a 
  process 
  of 
  growth 
  and 
  nutrition, 
  which 
  we 
  can 
  describe, 
  — 
  and 
  ter- 
  

   minate 
  by 
  death 
  and 
  decomposition, 
  which 
  we 
  can 
  describe. 
  Then, 
  having 
  thus 
  dis- 
  

   criminated 
  those 
  bodies 
  which 
  we 
  call 
  living, 
  we 
  say 
  that, 
  in 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  we 
  can 
  satisfy 
  

   ourselves, 
  that 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  phenomena 
  which 
  they 
  present 
  are 
  inexplicable 
  by, 
  

   and 
  inconsistent 
  with, 
  the 
  laws 
  regulating 
  the 
  changes 
  of 
  any 
  other 
  matter, 
  we 
  call 
  

   them 
  effects 
  of 
  the 
  vital 
  principle, 
  or 
  vitality 
  ; 
  and 
  that 
  is 
  our 
  definition 
  of 
  those 
  

   terms. 
  Those 
  who 
  object 
  to 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  substantive 
  noun 
  Vitality, 
  or 
  the 
  

   Vital 
  Principle, 
  as 
  a 
  general 
  expression 
  for 
  such 
  phenomena, 
  constantly 
  use 
  the 
  

   adjective 
  Vital, 
  or 
  Living, 
  which 
  conveys 
  the 
  very 
  same 
  meaning, 
  and 
  can 
  be 
  

   defined, 
  as 
  I 
  apprehend, 
  in 
  no 
  other 
  way. 
  The 
  real 
  efficient 
  cause 
  of 
  these, 
  as 
  of 
  

   all 
  other 
  phenomena 
  in 
  nature, 
  is 
  the 
  Divine 
  Will, 
  and 
  is 
  inscrutable 
  ; 
  but 
  we 
  

   know, 
  that 
  in 
  all 
  departments 
  of 
  Nature, 
  this 
  all-powerful 
  cause 
  acts 
  according 
  

   to 
  laws 
  which 
  we 
  can 
  understand, 
  and 
  the 
  discovery 
  and 
  application 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  

   the 
  object 
  of 
  all 
  science. 
  When 
  we 
  see 
  that 
  any 
  phenomena 
  in 
  nature 
  take 
  

   place 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  law 
  as 
  others 
  more 
  familiar, 
  we 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  explain 
  

   them, 
  or 
  to 
  assign 
  their 
  physical 
  cause 
  ; 
  but 
  until 
  that 
  is 
  clearly 
  ascertained, 
  we 
  

   obey 
  the 
  dictates 
  of 
  science 
  in 
  declining 
  to 
  arrange 
  them 
  along 
  with 
  those 
  de- 
  

   pending 
  on 
  any 
  law 
  otherwise 
  known 
  to 
  us, 
  and 
  endeavouring 
  to 
  apply 
  the 
  me- 
  

   thod 
  of 
  induction 
  to 
  themselves, 
  — 
  and 
  to 
  any 
  such 
  isolated 
  phenomena 
  as 
  may 
  

  

  