Excerpt from The Physiological Anatomy and Physiology of Man, Vol. 1 of 2 Or, to take an example from the science which is to form the subject of the following pages. The function of respiration in animals is a very complex process, respecting the nature of which many unsatisfactory hypotheses had been formed, owing to the obscurity in which many of the phenomena, immediately or remotely connected with it, were involved. Until the law of the diffusion of gases, and of the permeability of membranes by them, had been developed, and until it had been shewn that car bonio acid is held in solution in venous blood, no theory of respira tion could be framed adequate to explain all the phenomena. It is now proved, that, in this process, a true interchange of gases takes place through the coats of the pulmonary blood-vessels, the oxygen of the air abstracting and occupying the place of the carbonic acid of the blood. An admirable example is thus afforded of a most impor tant vital process taking place in obedience to a purely physical law. Living objects are those which properly belong to the science of Physiology. These are strongly contrasted with the inanimate bodies (which have never lived), to which other branches of natural science refer. 'at the same time, there are many points of resem blance between them; and as both owe their origin to the same Creative mandate, and are reducible (as will be seen by-and-by) to the same elementary constituents, so they are subject in a great degree to the same physical laws, and are to be investigated accord ing to the same principles of philosophical inquiry. We propose, in the first place, to compare living or organized bodies, with inanimate, mineral, or unorganized bodies, and to ex plain what is meant by the term Life. Secondly, to review briefly, and with reference to their leading distinctions, the phenomena of the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Thirdly, to point out the value of a knowledge of Physiology, especially that of Man, in relation to medicine, and to explain the best mode of pursuing it. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.