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Untitled Article
1 and membrane , and muscle , and brain , and bone ; the tears , the wa& f the fat , the saliva , the gastric juice , the milk , the bile ; in a word all the solids and all the fluids of the body . * But the capillaries accomplish still more , for they are architects as well as chemists . After they have manufactured whatever substance may be required , they arrange it ; they build it up into structure . The arteries of the brain not only form cerebral matter , but
they so dispose it after they have formed it , as to build up the organ we call the brain . The capillaries of the eye not only form the different membranes and the various humours of which it is composed , but when they have formed them they so arrange them as to constitute the optical instrument . In this manner all the capillaries of the body build up all the structures of the body , and in a word , make the whole frame what it is ; wherefore , says Mr . Hunter , the capillary vessels are the masons and architects of the system /
The laws which regulate these wonderful actions are , as has been said , not yet clearly ascertained , but it is certain that there is one great agent at work throughout nature , and it seems probable that here it has great influence , although its operation in relation to the vital economy is yet but imperfectly known ; this agent is electricity ; and the lecturer went on to explain its influence , as far as that has been ascertained , on the different portions of the apparatus of the circulation .
The moment that the use of the circulation is understood , its intimate connexion with the health or disease of the whole system becomes apparent , and the justice of the following remarks may be perceived ! 4 Between the tissue and the blood the relation is close and mutual . If the blood be healthy the tissue will be sound ; if the tissue be diseased the blood must become proportionally morbid . Now to an extent far greater than is commonly conceived we have it in our own power to affect the qualities of the Mood ; to endow it with properties adapted to render the organization of the body sound , and the state
of the mind healthful and vigorous ; or , on the contrary , to produce physical and mental debility or violence . The practical relations of this subject are therefore extended , and possess a deep interest . 4 A considerable variety in the composition of the blood is compatible with sound health . Within certain limits all its constituent principles may vary in their relative proportions , without producing any morbid effects in the system , but beyond these limits any change is productive of evil . For the maintenance of the state of health , the blood must be in a certain quantity , and of a certain quality ; it must go through a regular process of purification ; it must have a certain distribution , and it must flow with a certain rapidity and force . '
Deficiency of quantity in the blood , causing every function to be languidly and inefficiently performed , brings on physical and mental feebleness and debility . Excess of quantity , oppressing all the organs , causes a listless body and torpid mind , and a whole train of suffering and disease . For the adjustment both of the quality and quantity of the vital fluid , nature has provided , in the various organs of the body . There is the constant change going on by means of the capillary arte - ries and veins ; the arteries laying down new particles , the veins carrying away the old , and taking them to be renovated In the lungs .
Untitled Article
Dr . Southwood Smith on the Animal Economy . 2 01
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1833, page 201, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2610/page/57/
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