ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY. 
181 
works, and no one required more of that skill 
for which he is distinguished, than his treatise 
on the Physiology of Animal Creation. It is 
impossible to read and apply the information 
contained in this volume, without increasing 
our wonder, and fear and admiration of the 
Great First Cause, seeing, that subjects passed 
over without a thought, — animals upon which 
we have never bestowed a look, become, when 
viewed through the medium of the book under 
notice, as wonderful in structure as man him- 
self. Mr. Carpenter, however, does not pro- 
fess to touch upon theology. Indeed, in his 
Introduction, he all but disclaims it : he 
says — 
" Whilst keeping in view the most impor- 
tant practical applications of the science of 
Physiology, he has not thought it desirable to 
pursue these too far ; since they constitute the 
details of the art of preserving health, which 
is founded upon it, and which may be much 
better studied in a distinct form, when thi3 
outline of the science has been mastered. And, 
for the same reason, he has adverted but 
slightly to those inferences respecting the in- 
finite power, wisdom, and goodness of the 
Great First Cause, which are more obvious, 
although, perhaps, not really more clear and 
valid in this science than in any other. Be- 
lieving, as he does, that these inferences are 
more satisfactorily founded upon the prin- 
ciples than upon the facts of the science, — or, 
in other words, upon the general manifesta- 
tions of law and order, than upon individual 
instances of design, — he has thought it the 
legitimate object of this treatise to lay the 
foundation for them by developing, so far as 
might be, the Principles of Physiology, leaving 
it to a special treatise on Natural Theology to 
build up the applications." — Pp. vii. viii. 
The subject is ably introduced, and it is 
demonstrated that it is impossible to neglect 
tho study without forming a very inferior 
opinion of all around us. It has been truly 
said, "The proper study of mankind is man;" 
but, while we may feel interested in that which 
concerns our immediate wants, we are too apt 
to think carelessly, if we think at all, of things 
which affect the future. How little does he 
who enjoys a garden, contemplate the life, he 
is constantly sacrificing to destroy the enemies 
of his plants and fruit ! the destroyer of 
myriads of living creatures would be asto- 
nished if he saw and contemplated the frame- 
work and machinery which constitutes the 
meanest of his victims. All things of daily 
and hourly occurrence pass unheeded, while 
circumstances which arc strange, though of far 
less importance, excite our wonder, our admi- 
ration, and our fears. As the author observes 
in his Introduction — 
" We are much more apt to seek for expla- 
nations of phenomena that rarely present 
themselves than of those which we daily wit- 
ness. The comet excites the curiosity of the 
vulgar, whilst the movements of the sun, 
moon, and planets are regarded by them as 
things of course. We almost daily see vast 
numbers of animals, of different tribes, in 
active life around us : their origin, growth, 
movements, decline, death, and reproduction 
are continually taking place under our eyes ; 
and there seems to common apprehension no- 
thing to explain, where every thing is so 
apparent. And of man, too, the ordinary 
vital actions are so familiar, that the study of 
their conditions appears superfluous. To be 
born, to grow, to be subject to occasional dis- 
ease, to decline, to die, is his lot in common 
with other animals ; and what knowledge can 
avail (it may be asked) to avert the doom im- 
posed on him by his Creator ? 
" In reply to this, it is sufficient to state, 
that millions annually perish from a neglect 
of the conditions which Divine wisdom has 
appointed as requisite for the preservation of 
the body from fatal disease ; and that millions 
more are constantly suffering pain and weak- 
ness that might have been prevented by a 
simple attention to those principles which it 
is the province of Physiology to unfold. From 
the moment of his birth, the infant is almost 
entirely dependent upon the condition in which 
he is placed for the future development of his 
frame ; and it depends in great part upon the 
care with which he is tended, and the know- 
ledge by which that care is guided, whether 
he shall grow up in health and vigour of body 
and mind, or become weakly, fretful, and self- 
willed, a source of constant discomfort to him- 
self and to others ; or form one of that vast 
proportion, whose lot it is to be removed from 
this world before infancy has expanded into 
childhood."— Pp. 1, 2. 
Happily does the author prepare the student 
for wonders that he will discover, and few 
writers contrive to put so much information 
into so little space. In a sort of summary of 
extraordinary facts, which pave the way for 
every thing, he says — 
" The diffusion of animal life is only one 
degree less extensive than that of vegetable 
existence. As animals cannot, like plants, 
obtain their support directly from the elements 
around, they cannot maintain life where life 
of some kind has not preceded them. But 
vegetation of the humblest kind is often suffi- 
cient to maintain animals of the highest class. 
Thus tin 1 lichen that grows beneath the snows 
of Lapland is, for many months in the year, 
the only food of the rein- deer, and thus con- 
tributes to the support of human races, which 
