Chemical and Structural Characters of the Blood. Difference between Arterial and Venous Blood... Conditions which Influence the Character of the Blood.. Coagulation and Vital Properties of the Blood.... Circumstances which Promote Coagulation... Circumstances which Retard Coagulation. HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. INTRODUCTION. PHYSIOLOGY, from puois, "nature," and λoyos, a description," in its general sense, has for its province the investigation of the active phenomena presented by organized bodies, and is divided into two parts, viz:-Animal, and Vegetable Physiology: the former treats of the laws that control the Animal Kingdom; the latter relates to those of the Vegetable Kingdom. Animal Physiology may also be divided into two parts, viz: Human Physiology, and Comparative Physiology, or the Physiology of the lower animals. Human Physiology treats of the vital phenomena of the human species, and is of much more practical importance to the medical student than the Physiology of the lower animals, on account of its relation to Pathology and Therapeutics. The study of Physiology requires an intimate knowledge of Anatomy and Chemistry, in order that the student may be able to comprehend the character of the structure he is examining, and the substances of which it is composed. Animate bodies, in contradistinction to inanimate, are possessed of organs, each of which has a special structure and distinct office to perform in the living organism. This action or office is called its function, for example, the function of the liver is to secrete bile, the salivary glands to secrete saliva, &c. The functions of the different organs are also mutually dependent on each other. The aëration of the blood by the lungs, is dependent on its circulation by the heart and blood vessels, and the circulation of the blood |