Contributions in physiology : the circulation / by Dr. Paine.

  • Paine, Martyn, 1794-1877.
Date:
[1848?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Contributions in physiology : the circulation / by Dr. Paine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    '(P~Z- OlaskJZs CONTRIBUTIONS IN PHYSIOLOGY BY DR. PAINE. THE CIRCULATION. [Continued from vol. 33, page 527.] To the Editor of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. Sir,—At the close of my last communication, I remarked that, at an- other time I will briefly continue this subject, for the purpose of showing that mind is a perfectly distinct essence. Since then, I have concluded to examine the question in the form of an essay, and will now, with your permission, extend my remarks, as embraced in the foregoing arti- cle, upon the subject of the circulation in plants. Absorption by the roots is considered an inadequate explanation of the circulation of sap among those who advocate the doctrine of capillary attraction ; and, if numerical strength were to decide the question, what I am about to say would be a waste of your valuable Journal. To in- terpret the process in plants, the leaf, or its equivalent, has been taken as especially instrumental; serving either as an exhausting apparatus by evaporation, or under the designation of endosmosis, or contributing its aid by supposed chemical influences, through the operation of light, upon the ascending sap. Some one of these hypotheses is considered an in- dispensable auxiliary to the doctrine of capillary attraction as applied to the circulation of sap. An ingenious application of chemical principles has been propounded to satisfy the supposed exigencies of capillary attraction as concerned in the absorption and ascent of sap, and professes to afford the true solution of the downward motion. This hypothesis is also thought to be a new obstacle to the doctrine which ascribes life to a plant, and the dependence of its circulation and unique products upon vital actions. The hypothesis derives, also, no little importance from its application to the circulation of the blood, and the admission that, if it cannot be sustained in respect to plants, it must be equally groundless in regard to animals. The doctrine comes recommended to our attention by its dis- tinguished advocates.