Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but allother spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
References to the illustrations and paragraphs in this volume havebeen linked to the relevant item. Unlinked references are to Volume I.
The cover was edited by the transcriber and is placed in thepublic domain.
OR,
AN EXPOSITION
OF THE
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL CONSTITUTIONOF MAN,
WITH A VIEW TO THE PROMOTION OF
HUMAN LONGEVITY AND HAPPINESS.
BY
SOUTHWOOD SMITH, M.D.,
Physician to the London Fever Hospital, to the Eastern Dispensary,and to the Jews’ Hospital.
IN TWO VOLUMES. Vol. II.
THIRD EDITION.
LONDON:
C. COX, 12, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND.
1847.
London: Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street.
iii
OF THE FUNCTION OF RESPIRATION.
Respiration in the plant; in the animal—Aquatic andaërial respiration—Apparatus of each traced throughthe lower to the higher classes of animals—Apparatusin man—Trachea, Bronchi, Air Vesicles—Pulmonaryartery—Lungs—Respiratory motions: inspiration; expiration—Howin the former air and blood flow to thelungs; how in the latter air and blood flow from the lungs—Relationbetween respiration and circulation—Quantityof air and blood employed in each respiratory action—Calculationsfounded on these estimates—Changes producedby animal respiration on the air: changes producedby vegetable respiration on the air—Changes producedby respiration on the blood—Respiratory function of theliver—Uses of respiration
Page 1
OF THE FUNCTION OF GENERATING HEAT.
Of the temperature of living bodies—Temperature ofplants—Power of plants to resist cold and endure heat—Powerof generating heat—Temperature of animals—Warm-bloodedand cold-blooded animals—Temperatureof the higher animals—Temperature of the differentparts of the animal body—Temperature of the humanbody—Power of maintaining that temperature at a fixedpoint, whether in intense cold or intense heat—Experimentswhich prove that this power is a vital power—Evidenceivthat the power of generating heat is connectedwith the function of respiration—Analogy betweenrespiration and combustion—Phenomena connected withthe functions of the animal body, which prove that itspower of generating heat is proportionate to the extentof its respiration—Theory of the production of animalheat—Influence of the nervous system in maintainingand regulating the process—Means by which cold isgenerated, and the temperature of the body kept at itsown natural standard during exposure to an elevatedtemperature
Page 120
OF THE FUNCTION OF DIGESTION.
Process of assimil