﻿OF 
  THE 
  DOCTRINE 
  OF 
  VITAL 
  AFFINITY. 
  391 
  

  

  seem 
  analogous 
  to 
  them, 
  — 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  ascertain 
  laws 
  peculiar 
  to 
  this 
  set 
  of 
  phe- 
  

   nomena. 
  

  

  Dr 
  Daubeny 
  refers 
  also 
  to 
  a 
  passage 
  in 
  the 
  writings 
  of 
  Dr 
  Bostock, 
  in 
  which 
  

   he 
  speaks 
  of 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  operation 
  of 
  the 
  vital 
  principle, 
  or 
  to 
  any 
  vital 
  affi- 
  

   nities, 
  " 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  those 
  delusive 
  attempts 
  to 
  substitute 
  words 
  for 
  ideas, 
  which 
  

   have 
  so 
  much 
  tended 
  to 
  retard 
  physiological 
  science 
  j" 
  or, 
  as 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  more 
  

   simply 
  expressed, 
  as 
  only 
  a 
  reference 
  to 
  an 
  occult 
  cause, 
  or 
  a 
  confession 
  of 
  ignorance 
  

   on 
  the 
  subject. 
  On 
  this 
  I 
  would 
  observe, 
  that 
  if, 
  by 
  merely 
  using 
  the 
  term 
  Vital 
  

   Affinity, 
  we 
  were 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  we 
  offered 
  a 
  sufficient 
  explanation 
  of 
  any 
  pheno- 
  

   mena, 
  I 
  would 
  agree 
  with 
  Dr 
  Bostock. 
  But 
  I 
  use 
  the 
  term 
  only 
  as 
  defining 
  

   the 
  department 
  of 
  human 
  knowledge 
  to 
  which 
  these 
  phenomena 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  refer- 
  

   red, 
  and 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  explanation 
  of 
  them 
  (i. 
  e., 
  the 
  law 
  according 
  to 
  which 
  they 
  

   take 
  place), 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  ; 
  and 
  thus 
  using 
  it, 
  I 
  maintain 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  nothing 
  

   delusive 
  or 
  unscientific 
  in 
  thus 
  limiting 
  and 
  fixing 
  the 
  object 
  of 
  our 
  inquiries. 
  

   The 
  investigation 
  of 
  the 
  law 
  or 
  laws 
  by 
  which 
  vital 
  affinities 
  are 
  distinguished 
  

   from 
  the 
  affinities 
  of 
  inorganic 
  matter, 
  is 
  a 
  subsequent 
  inquiry, 
  in 
  which 
  we 
  may 
  

   add, 
  that 
  some 
  progress 
  has 
  been 
  made. 
  It 
  is 
  something, 
  for 
  example, 
  to 
  say 
  

   that 
  vital 
  affinities 
  shew 
  themselves 
  in 
  living 
  beings 
  in 
  two 
  distinct 
  ways 
  ; 
  first, 
  

   by 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  new 
  compounds, 
  found 
  nowhere 
  else 
  in 
  nature 
  ; 
  secondly, 
  by 
  

   the 
  selection 
  and 
  attraction 
  of 
  these 
  compounds, 
  at 
  different 
  points, 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  

   complex 
  fluid, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  form 
  organised 
  structures 
  ; 
  and 
  to 
  point 
  out 
  the 
  circum- 
  

   stances 
  in 
  which 
  these 
  powers 
  act. 
  Tt 
  is 
  something 
  to 
  say, 
  with 
  Dr 
  Prout 
  (if 
  

   that 
  principle 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  held 
  as 
  established), 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  new 
  com- 
  

   pounds 
  in 
  living 
  bodies, 
  the 
  elements 
  employed 
  by 
  nature 
  are 
  not 
  subjected 
  

   to 
  any 
  new 
  affinities, 
  but 
  only 
  hindered 
  from 
  obeying 
  certain 
  of 
  those 
  which 
  

   actuate 
  them 
  in 
  other 
  circumstances 
  ; 
  while 
  others 
  are 
  allowed 
  to 
  act. 
  It 
  is 
  some- 
  

   thing 
  to 
  say, 
  that 
  the 
  compounds 
  thus 
  formed 
  perish 
  many 
  times 
  during 
  the 
  life 
  

   of 
  the 
  structure 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  contained, 
  — 
  the 
  more 
  rapidly 
  as 
  their 
  vital 
  pro- 
  

   perties 
  have 
  been 
  more 
  energetically 
  exercised 
  ; 
  and 
  by 
  perishing 
  furnish 
  the 
  poi- 
  

   sonous 
  matter 
  which 
  continually 
  circulates 
  in 
  every 
  living 
  animal, 
  and 
  for 
  the 
  

   expulsion 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  organs 
  of 
  excretion 
  are 
  provided. 
  It 
  is 
  something 
  to 
  say 
  

   that 
  Carbon, 
  fixed 
  from 
  the 
  atmosphere 
  by 
  plants, 
  is 
  the 
  substratum 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  

   organic 
  compounds 
  of 
  which 
  living 
  beings 
  are 
  composed 
  ; 
  and 
  that 
  Oxygen, 
  taken 
  

   in 
  by 
  the 
  lungs 
  or 
  gills 
  of 
  animals, 
  is 
  the 
  great 
  agent 
  in 
  forming 
  the 
  excretions 
  

   by 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  constantly 
  worn 
  down. 
  And 
  I 
  think 
  we 
  define 
  and 
  limit 
  all 
  

   these 
  inquiries 
  satisfactorily, 
  when 
  we 
  say, 
  that 
  we 
  seek 
  to 
  ascertain 
  the 
  laws, 
  

   according 
  to 
  which 
  ordinary 
  chemical 
  affinities 
  are 
  modified 
  in 
  living 
  bodies 
  ; 
  or 
  

   according 
  to 
  which 
  that 
  power 
  acts, 
  which, 
  by 
  Dr 
  Daubeny' 
  s 
  own 
  admission, 
  

   resides 
  in 
  living 
  bodies, 
  and 
  produces 
  chemical 
  effects, 
  " 
  but 
  is 
  distinct 
  from 
  or- 
  

   dinary 
  chemical 
  forces." 
  

  

  Dr 
  Daubeny 
  goes 
  on 
  to 
  say, 
  that 
  Nature 
  has 
  at 
  her 
  command 
  an 
  apparatus 
  

  

  