Volume 1

The philosophy of health ; or, an exposition of the physical and mental constitution of man, with a view to the promotion of human longevity and happiness / by Southwood Smith.

  • Smith, Southwood, 1788-1861.
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The philosophy of health ; or, an exposition of the physical and mental constitution of man, with a view to the promotion of human longevity and happiness / by Southwood Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    blood, would explain some phenomena connected with the circulation not yet clearly elucidated; but the proof of the self-moving power of the blood does not yet seem to he complete. It is, however, impossible to explain the phenomena of the circu- lation, or to obtain a satisfactory view of some of the other functions of the economy, without sup- posing the particles of the blood to be endowed with a vital power of repulsion, in consequence of which they are prevented from uniting when in contact, and the fluidity of the mass is main- tained. In this account of the powers that move the blood, no notice has been taken of the physical agents supposed to act as auxiliaries to the heart, in carrying on the circulation, such as the suction power of the thorax, and of the auricles of the heart, and the capillary attraction of the vessels; because, without questioning the existence of such agents, or denying that advantage may be taken of them, it seems pretty clear that their influence is but trivial, and they assumed importance only when the vital endowments of the tissues were not well understood. 304. The ultimate end for which the apparatus of the circulation is constructed, and for which all its action is exerted, is to convey arterial blood to the capillary arteries. These vessels are totally distinct in structure and in office from the larger arterial tubes. All the tunics of these minute