it may be asked, "with which of these classes they are most allied?" The answer is obvious. All of them consist of tubular vessels of various diameter; and all of them transmit and transmute liquids. Possessing such strong characteristics of the vital system, they are evidently most allied to it.

In short, digestion prepares the vital matter, which is taken up by absorption-the first of the simple vital functions; respiration renovates it in the very middle of its course-between the two portions of the simple function of circulation; and generation, dependant on secretion-the last of these functions, communicates this vital matter, or propagates vitality to a new series of beings. In such arrangement the digestive organs therefore precede, and the generative follow, the simple vital organs; while the respiratory occupy a middle place between the veinous and the arterial circulation. Nothing, however, can be more improper, as the preceding observations show, than considering any one of these as a distinct class.

The preceding is a natural arrangement of the anatomy of man and the higher animals; and its peculiar simplicity is illustrated by its involving, in application, that of minerals and vegetables, and by its being capable of instant adaptation to physiological science,

In order to arrange animal PHYSIOLOGY, it is only necessary to substitute the term "functions for " organs; " and that science will likewise involve, in application, the physiology of mineral and vegetable bodies, and be in its turn capable of instant adaptation to medical science.

Thus the functions also are divided into mechanical, vital, and intellectual.

The mechanical functions are subdivided into that of support, that of connexion, and that of locomotion.

The vital functions are divided into that of absorption, that of circulation, and that of secretion.

The intellectual functions are divided into that of sensation, that of mental operation, and that of volition.

A circle of functions, I may observe, thus exist in animals, which exist not in minerals or vegetables, because volition, the last of the intellectual functions, connects itself to the mechanical ones by rendering them subservient to it in locomotion. Thus the first and the. last of these functions are as intimately connected as any of the intermediate ones, and a beautiful circle of organic function and organic influence is formed.

Thus, then, there are three orders both of organs and functionsthe locomotive, the vital, and the intellectual; and of each of these orders there are also three genera, namely, of the first or locomotive, those organs and functions which support, connect, and move; of the second, or vital, those which absorb, circulate, and secrete

and of the last, or intellectual, those which feel, think, and will; and by the latter of these the former is in locomotion affected.

In order to arrange PATHOLOGY, for the term "healthy functions," the subject of physiology, it is only necessary to substitute the term "diseased functions."

The classes of disease are, therefore, like those of anatomy and physiology, three; namely, diseases of the mechanical or locomotive functions, diseases of the vital functions, and diseases of intellectual functions.

The orders of the first class, as affecting the functions of the bones, the ligaments, and the muscles, are three, viz. diseases of support, diseases of connexion, and diseases of locomotion.

Those of the second class, as affecting the functions of the absorbent, the circulating, and the secreting, vessels, are likewise three, viz. diseases of absorption, diseases of circulation, and diseases of secretion.

Those of the third class, as affecting the functions of the organs of sense, of the brain, and of the nerves, are also three, viz. diseases of impression, diseases of judgment, and diseases of volition.

The genera under each order consist of diminished, depraved, and increased, functions.

Precisely in the same way would I class the articles of the MATERIA MEDICA; first, as operating upon the mechanical, vital, or intellectual, organs; and then as either increasing, rendering regular, or diminishing their action.

It is not unusual to consider the body as being divided into the head, the trunk, and the extremities; but in consequence of the hitherto universal neglect of the natural arrangement of the organs and functions into mechanical, vital, and intellectual, the beauty and interest which may be attached to this division has equally escaped the notice of anatomists.

It is a curious fact, and strongly confirmative of the preceding arrangements, that one of these parts-the extremities, consist almost entirely of mechanical organs, namely, of bones, ligaments, and muscles; that another-the trunk, consists of all the greater vital organs, namely, absorbents, blood-vessels, and glands; and that the third--the head, contains all the intellectual organs, namely, the organs of sense, cerebrum, and cerebellum. In perfect consistency with my assertion," that though the organs of digestion, respiration, and generation, were really compound, still they were chiefly vital, and properly belonged to that class," it is not less remarkable that in this division of the body they are found to occupy that partthe trunk, in which the chief simple vital organs are contained.

This also shows the impropriety of reckoning any of these a separate system from the vital.

It is a fact not less curious, nor less confirmative of the preceding arrangements, that of these parts those which consist chiefly of mechanical organs-organs which, in the sense already explained, are common to us with the lowest class of beings, namely, minerals,* are placed in the lowest situation, namely, the extremities; that which consists chiefly of vital organs-organs common to us with a higher class of beings, namely, vegetables, † is placed in a higher situation, namely, the trunk; and that which consists chiefly of intellectual organs-organs peculiar to the highest class of beings, namely, animals, ‡ is placed in the highest situation, namely, the head....It is not less remarkable, that this analogy is supported even in its minutest details: for, to choose the vital organs contained in the trunk as an illustration, it is a fact that those of absorption and secretion, which are most common to us with plants-a lower class of beings, have a lower situation-in the cavity of the abdomen; while those of circulation, which are very imperfect in plants, § and more peculiar to animals-a higher class of beings, hold a higher situation-in the cavity of the thorax.

pre

It is moreover worthy of remark, and still illustrative of the ceding arrangements, that in each of these three situations the bones differ both in position and in form. In the extremities they are situated internally to the soft parts, and are generally of cylindrical form; in the trunk they begin to assume a more external situation, and a flatter form, because they protect vital and more important parts, which they do not, however, altogether cover; and in the head they obtain the most external situation and the flattest form, especially in its highest part, because they protect intellectual and most important organs, which in some parts they completely invest.

The loss of such general views is the consequence of arbitrary methods. They did not present themselves to me till I had traced this outline of the natural system.

ALEXANDER WALKER.

The bones, moreover, contain the greatest quantity of mineral matter.
It is the possession of vessels which constitutes the vitality of vegetables.
In animals alone is nervous matter discoverable.

Plants have no real circulation, nor passage of their nutritive liquid through the same point.

ARTICLE VII.

Astronomical and Magnetical Observations at Hackney Wick By Col. Beaufoy.

88

Latitude, 51° 32' 40-3" North. Longitude West in Time 6" 100

Sept. 12, immersion of a small star in Sagittarii, 8h 59' 04" Mean Time at H. W.

Aug. 18 8h 20' 24° 15′ 23" 1h 15' 24° 23' 40" 6h 50′ 24° 17′ 45′′

Errata in the last Number of the Annals of Philosophy.

In the remarks on the yariation, after the words "the morning and noon observa, tions," insert " on the 20th."

1.845 inch.

.3.420

ARTICLE VIII.

ANALYSES OF BOOKS.

The Literary and Scientific Pursuits which are encouraged and enforced in the University of Cambridge briefly described and vindicated: with various Notes. By the Rev. Latham Wainewright, A. M. F. A. S. of Emmanuel College, in that University, and Rector of Great Brickhill, Bucks. London. Hatchard. 1815.

THE outcry which has been raised against the English universities, and the very general opinion entertained for some time past that they are rather theatres of dissipation than of learning and science, have been attended with several good effects. They have produced, it is said, a reform in Oxford, where the defects, if we believe Gibbon, and some others who have written on the subject, were great, and almost intolerable: and this reformation, if our information respecting that University be correct, might be carried still further, with considerable advantage to the young men who frequent it. They have occasioned likewise the present publication, which makes us acquainted with the mode of education followed at Cambridge, the sister University, long celebrated for the attention which she pays to mathematics and the mechanical sciences.