First steps to anatomy / [James Lawson Drummond].

  • James Lawson Drummond
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: First steps to anatomy / [James Lawson Drummond]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    those belonging to each; that the animal has, in addition to the living properties of the vegetable, others of a higher order peculiar to itself; that it has not only the vegetable life, but, superadded to this, an animal life also. The animal, like the vegetable, takes in nutri- tive matter which it converts into its own substance, and by which it grows and is sup- ported; like the vegetable, it originates from a predecessor, exists for a time, and then dies. All organized bodies, whether animal or vege- table, possess these properties; and hence the term applied to this kind of life is that of organic,—it is called Organic Life. As a stone possesses none of the above functions, so the plant enjoys not those of animal life: it hears not, sees not, tastes not, feels not; for, though the shrinking of the sensitive plant may seem very like an effect produced by a sense of touch, it is not so—it is owing merely to irritability, and is unaccom- panied by any degree of sensation. The heart of a skate will pulsate strongly after it has been separated twenty-four hours from the fish, and I have seen it beat when touched with a needle after a considerably longer period Now, although the heart contracted under such
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