HARVARD MEDICAL LIBRARY

IN THE

FRANCIS A. COUNTWAY
LIBRARY OF MEDICINE

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING VITAL MOTION.

CHAPTER II.

OF VITAL MOVEMENTS.

A. OF. VITAL MOVEMENTS IN VESSELS AND CELLS

SECTION I.

OF VITAL MOVEMENTS IN THE VESSELS, CELLS, AND INTER-

CELLULAR PASSAGES OF THE PLANT

I. In the laticiferous vessels (cyclosis)

II. In simple cells, (including the phenomena of

III. In the plant generally (circulation of the sap).

B. OF VITAL MOVEMENTS SUCH AS ARE SEEN IN THE

IRRITABLE TUMOURS OF THE SENSITIVE PLANT, IN

THE COATS OF THE ALIMENTARY CANAL, AND IN

VOLUNTARY MUSCLES

52

SECTION I.

IN THE IRRITABLE TUMOURS OF THE SENSITIVE PLANT.

SECTION II.

IN THE COATS OF THE ALIMENTARY CANAL AND IN VOLUN-

PAGE

52

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PREFACE.

In a work lately published under the title of "Proteus ; or, the Law of Nature," I have endeavoured to realize that unity, or rò èv, which is said to ensoul the diversities of things, and bind them together in one. I have traced this principle in plant and animal, not merely as a vague generality, but as pervading the entire structure-from a simple organ to a perfect organism, and from the complicated nervous, vascular, or osseous systems, to the more rudimentary parts of the economy. I have traced, also, the same principle into inorganic bodies;-so that in relation to form, we may conclude that there is one archetypal law in all created things, whether animate or inanimate. Heat, light, chemical affinity, electricity, motion, and other physical agencies, have also been found to be connected with each other, and with the more recondite vital influences, as correlative aspects of one central force; so that the unity of creation is reflected in force as well as form. And finally, this principle