Changes produced in the nervous system by civilization, considered according to the evidence of physiology and the philosophy of history / by Robert Verity.

  • Verity, Robert.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Changes produced in the nervous system by civilization, considered according to the evidence of physiology and the philosophy of history / by Robert Verity. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    know that such knowledge does exist; and as the outward characteristics of the different temperaments and constitu- ent elements are appreciable, without difficulty, with proper study and instruction, it comes within the power of indi- viduals interested, (and who is not?) to possess, if not the whole, at least an essential part, of the necessary informa- tion. They will then learn there is as much natural dif- ference between the various qualities of blood and of or- ganisation in the human species as there is between the finest porcelain and the coarsest potters' clay; and from' the physiological laws presiding over hereditary transmis- sion, they will be made aware that either the one or the other (as the case may be) will enter into the organisation of their descendants. Note 3. Another subject of importance in this department of physiology is the influence of the constitution and habits of parents on their offspring. That the stature, complexion, forms of feature and limbs, &c., as well as the mental peculiarities of the offspring, fre- quently bear a strong resemblance to those of the parents, is matter of familiar observation ;—it is certain also, that resemblances in these respects are observed nearly indis- criminately to both parents ;—and it has often been noticed that such peculiarities have passed over one generation, and appeared in the next. Peculiarities of formation, such as supernumerary fingers or toes, have in like manner often been hereditary in families, sometimes descending by the females and sometimes by the males, and yet been found E