The vitality of the blood : proved by physiological experiment, and its application to veterinary pathology demonstrated / by J.S. Gamgee.

  • Gamgee, Sampson, 1828-1886.
Date:
[1849?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The vitality of the blood : proved by physiological experiment, and its application to veterinary pathology demonstrated / by J.S. Gamgee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    THE VITALITY OF THE BLOOD PROVED BY PHYSIOLOGICAl, EXPERIMENT, AND ITS APPLICATION TO VETERINAKY PATHOLOGY DEMONSTRATED. By J. S. Gamgeb, Student, Royal Veterinmy College, London. [Read before the Veterinary Medical Association, Session 1848-9.] WITH the intention of proving by inductive reasoning, founded on physiological experiment, the truth of the doctrine first advo- cated by Hunter, that 'the blood is a living fluid, and for the purpose of establishing thereon principles applicable to veterinary pathology, one important question first requires solution,—What is the nature of the attribute life ? which we affirm to be an in- herent endowment of the blood. To account for the infinitely varied and beautiful phenomena presented by living bodies, many physiologists have exercised their ingenuous minds from the very earliest periods ; and, launching into ideal regions of mystery and fancy, have too often been satisfied with the adoption of chimerical hypotheses, rather than adhere to undeniable facts. Aristotle referred the organization of the numerous individuals constituting the animal and vegetable kingdoms to a series of animating principles ; whereas Hunter conceived the materia vitse diffusa to be the main cause of the constant activity mani- fested by an organism in the processes of development, decay, and repair. These theories have been successively combatted by those of Mliller and Prout, who, consonantly with prevalent notions, were desirous of attributing the functional activity of the animal eco-