Supreme Good.

In this is the advantage of a well-regulated understanding, that its light beams upon the forms of excellence breathing around, whilst it detects in their lurking places the hideous monsters of an erroneous philosophy, which makes nature minister to impiety, substitutes vice for virtue, and defrauds common sense of its just conclusions.

For these and other reasons, it is evident that a man's moral and intellectual principles are, if I may so express myself, like mathematical co-ordinates, by which the path of his behaviour may be ascertained, that his temperament may, by intellectual causes, (to be found in the nature of his studies, and the method according to which he pursues them,) be confirmed, modified, or counteracted; and that the ordinary tone of his feelings, the principles on which he admires, likes, judges, or censures, take some footing on the basis of his intellectual habits.

5. We may consider farther, that this mental discipline has an influence on society, as well as the individuals to whom it is immediately applied. The pleasure derived from literature is a branch which sympathy takes from erudition, and engrafts into social life. It grows quickly under the warming and cherishing rays of friendship, and appears most vivid in the light of beneficence. Intellectual tastes, which rise into magnitude with scientific attainments, and are often the fruits of retired contemplation, diverge from the mind where they exist; they give part of their own character to society by assimilation, and ever seeking accessions of strength from kindly and congenial sources, and shrinking with sensitive dislike from rude ignorance, they mould with silent, but strong control, the partialities and antipathies of social life.

Partiality and antipathy seem to be natural genera, under which most of the different species of human habits may be arranged; for it is seldom that absolute indifference paralyzes the human constitution, and closes the avenues through which external influence makes its way to the heart-these feelings may be excited in the breast by every object which can be proposed to our minds, whether animal, moral, or intellectual; and if it be asked,-Why man is placed under such an economy? a solution of the question may be given in the words of the great Locke: "We may find a reason why God hath scattered up and down several degrees of pleasure and pain, in all the things that environ and affect us; and blended them together in almost all that our thoughts and

112.-VOL. X.

senses have to do with; that we, finding imperfection, dissatisfaction, and want of complete happiness, in all the enjoyments which the creatures can afford us, might be led to seek it in the enjoyment of Him, with whom there is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for

evermore.

Each individual of the human race must be considered as the centre of a sphere; and as exerting attractive or repulsive powers on all the rational beings within that circumference. As this applies to every rational being, within the sphere of each individual, it is evident, that in the world an infinite number of desires and aversions cross each other, and mingle their respective influences. This being the case, social happiness, which was rescued from the scattering of "Eden's first bloom," and which diffuses a fragrance through the habitations of mortality, can only be perfected by a wise control over the passions. And these breathe in the elements of desire or aversion; for they imbibe with thirsty vehemence every sweet draught that sparkles in pleasure's cup, and care not for the consequences of such luxury; or they violate that heavenly charity which is not easily provoked, by sternly rebuking from their presence every subject of their dislike.

There is no power that charms with so much interest as friendship, which, in many instances, owes its birth to a coincidence of partialities and antipathies--" idem velle atque idem nolle, id demum firma amicitia est." The sympathies which swelled the soul of Cicero to rapture, were not annihilated by the death of his friends, but reached even to their immortality. He exclaimed with enthusiasm,-"O præclarum diem, cum ad illud divinum animorum concilium cætumque proficiscar; cumque ex hâc turbâ et colluvione discedem! proficiscar enim non ad eos solum viros, de quibus ante dixi, sed etiam ad Catonem

If, therefore, mental culture and intellectual tastes affect our partialities and antipathies, they affect our social existence; and it will readily be granted, that men do not lose their intellectual in their social character. He who is an Archimedes in his closet will retain his individual character amidst the concussions of fortune, as that philosopher did amidst the sacking of his native city; when he enters into company, he is still a mathematician, and each subject of discussion, however it may have been treated by the poet, or the man whose

Cicero de Senectute, c. 23. ช

347

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Mental associations were not wanting at the banquets of the ancients. The love of song, which doubtless called to their recollection the magnanimity of heroes, and what were then deemed high and noble endowments, reigned among the guests. Homer paints their disposition, when he describes Ulysses, entertained by king Alcinous, as professing with how much delight the bard thrilled his soul.*

Αλκίνοε κρεῖον πάντων ἀριδείκετε λαῶν, Ητοι, μὲν τόδε καλὸν ἀκουέμεν ἐστιν ἀοιδου Τοιουδ', οἷος ὅδ ̓ ἐστὶ, θεοῖς ἐναλίγκιος αὐδην.

Thus the interesting strain elevated their spirits to rapturous sentiments: imagination spread a warm and exhilarating hue over their festivities, and made the place of convivial meeting a rendezvous for mental delights.

Perhaps the sway exerted over social life by intellectual peculiarities, and prepossessions of soul, in all their shades of difference, cannot be better illustrated than by the literary history of Johnson and his contemporaries. "The flow of soul" never ceased to accompany and fertilize their career, obstructed occasionally by the weeds, often indeed dense and unyielding, of human imperfection. Reader, trace in your fancy the great moralist as he issued from his abode, after his breakfast at a late hour of the day, and directed his steps to the house of a friend. Is religion the subject of conversation? Then you cannot avoid thinking yourself in a cathedral, and that you see the spirit of orthodoxy in palpable form, chasing away the remonstrances of unconvinced opposition. We know that such a man could not live without influence. The elements of his mind possessed energy sufficient to transmute others, to whom were allotted less natural decision, and who willingly resigned the trouble and responsibility of judging for themselves. Sophistry melted before the heat of his penetration; and it rarely happened, that evident truth, which must generally, and will at last prevail, courted his friendship in vain, and was compelled to retire chagrined at the refusal. His intellectual powers met those who denied revelation, with stern and uncompromising firmness; the snails of infidelity drew in their boasted and terrible horns, and hid their slime at the slightest touch of his honest rebuke. He was indeed fol

Hom. Od. Lib. 9. c. 2.

6. I will conclude with a few remarks on the effect which intellectual causes may have on piety, as a particular medium through which they influence the human character.

The noblest principles that can regulate the intelligent mind, are, the love and fear of God. If these principles exercise continual sway over our affections, rendering our hearts at all moments obedient to their holy impulses, affording strength of resolution to abstain from impurity, and imparting unconquerable energy in carrying to their results "all holy desires, and all good counsels," then indeed are we renewed, exalted, and useful. The love of God has a delightful effect on the aspect of human life, on the prospects which anticipation paints, and fond hope believes, and even on those fearful accidents of mortality at which the heart would melt; as the sun in the firmanient, whilst spreading a garment of light over nature's scenery, gives a winning charm to every visible object.

Now, he whose enlightened understanding has been often engaged in an inquiry into the works of that Being whom it is so important to love and fear; in scrutinizing the uses to which those works were destined by that great Eternal; in discovering their connexion with each other; and in admiring the superintending care which perfects and harmonizes the whole,-will see the radiance of each grand, wise, and merciful attribute, beaming from all the creation of God. Thus, those principles may be strengthened in him, if he have them; or they may be generated, if he have them not: his own hallowed impressions will give testimony to the words of sacred writ, in reference to Jehovah For that thy name is near, thy wondrous works declare. Whatever excellencies may be derived to the mind from the richness of nature's diversified scenes and operations, wondrous as they are to human understanding, and demonstrating, as they do, the invisible power and godhead of Him who made them all; in a Christian, those excellencies

converge to a focus of piety, as rays of moral light, controlled by the medium of spiritual religion: you shall know a pious man almost as well by hearing him discourse on philosophy, as by hearing from his lips accents of thanksgiving and adoration.

X. Y. Z.

ESSAYS ON PHYSIOLOGY, OR THE LAWS OF

ORGANIC LIFE.

(Continued from col. 255.)

appears impossible to form a true estimate of the force which the heart exerts on the blood, it is to the arteries themselves that we must direct our attention, in order to ascertain the truth of the question, viz. whether they assist in propelling the blood, or not?

The following is a brief exposition of the principal arguments upon which physiologists have founded their respective opinions. To each argument, as we proceed, we shall state the most forcible objection, either as it has occurred to others, or to ourselves,

Blood.

WHETHER the heart be the sole power by which the circulation of the blood is effected, or whether the arteries do conjointly assist? is a question which has remained undecided since the days of Harvey; and the experiments of physiologists seem to throw but a dubious light upon the subject.

The arguments appear to turn principally upon the following proposition,-Are the fibres which compose the middle coat of the arteries, muscular, or not? If muscular, it is clear that they must aid in propelling the blood onwards by their contraction, which the stimulus of the blood would occasion; if not, then can the arteries have no action on the blood beyond what their acknowledged elasticity would permit. To this, however, we can hardly assent, until it be proved that they possess another power besides mere elasticity, granting that they do not possess muscularity.

When we reflect for a moment, it appears almost impossible for the heart, however considerable its force may be, to propel the blood, divided as it is into so many thousand channels, through every part of the system, while its course is changed by each ramification, and often indeed retroverted. From this view we should be certainly led to suppose that the arteries possessed an independent power of action; but that the capillaries do, cannot I think be denied, for experiments seem to prove that this system of vessels, at least, is beyond the heart's influence.

Borelli, by whom the doctrine of the sole agency of the heart is favoured, estimates its power as high as 180,000 pounds, while Keil, running equally into the other extreme, considers it equal only to five or eight ounces. Did its force correspond to the assertion of Borelli, it would be more than equal to the purpose; but this cannot be granted and the estimate of Keil is equally without foundation. Since then it

be rendered more easy of comprehension to our readers.

Dr. Hastings, of Worcester, performed a series of experiments on the arteries, with a view to prove their muscularity. These consisted in the application of stimuli, both chemical and mechanical, to the denuded arteries of various animals; and if the experiments are to be relied on, their irritability, or disposition to contract on the application of a stimulus, (which is the property of muscular fibre,) is established. All experiments of this nature, it is true, are liable to error; and the physiologist, from that circumstance, often founds his doctrine on a false basis. But this objection can hardly be brought forward against the experiments of Dr. Hastings; they were performed with care, and judiciously varied, yet attended uniformly by the same results. Granting then the irritability of arteries to be proved, is it clear from thence, that their muscularity is proved likewise? For although irritability be one of the peculiarities of muscles, yet it does not seem improbable that it may be imparted also to other modes of animal organization.

Bichât, in his writings, makes this striking remark, "How could the pulsations of all the arteries be uniform and synchronous, if one central power did not preside over this pulsation?" or, in other words, if every inch of artery throughout the frame had the motion of the blood in its own power, and was capable of contracting, or not, at its own will. To this it may be answered, that the correspondence of the arterial pulsation with the contraction of the heart, does not prove the want of muscularity in the arteries, but merely their uniform action at the same time. Besides, it is not asserted by any, as far as I know, that the arteries are endued with a voluntary power; for the heart is an acknowledged muscle, and yet it has not such power to suspend its action, but uniformly contracts, upon the stimulus of the blood.

Again, if a ligature be fastened round

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an artery, all pulsation below it stops immediately; this perhaps merely proves, that, in consequence of the ligature, the passage of the blood any further is prevented, and the pulsation of the artery ceases from the loss of its usual stimulus. The pulse is affected by diseases of the heart; that is, every derangement of the frame, which increases or diminishes the action of the heart, increases or diminishes also the arterial pulsation; whereas the pulse is not increased by local affections, as it would be, did the arteries possess an independent power.

In answer to this, the following remark of Richeraud may be adduced; viz. that in a common whitlow of the finger he has observed the radial artery to pulsate a hundred times a minute, while on the unaffected side its beats were only 70, and corresponding to the pulsations of the heart. Besides, Spallanzani, who denies the existence of a muscular power in the arteries, allows, that after he had taken away the heart of frogs and other animals, the blood continued still to flow in the vessels till the death of the animal. These experiments of Spallanzani were all made on cold-blooded animals, and in them the laws of the circulation certainly differ in many respects from those of animals possessing warm blood; and for this reason, the experiments, as relative to the point in question, would, we think, lose considerable weight. In addition to this, we rather imagine that the capillaries were the vessels upon which he made his observations, and they are generally allowed to possess in a great degree an independent power.

But there is one great objection to the muscularity of the fibrous coat of arteries, which has never yet been surmounted, namely, the difference in the chemical composition between it and acknowledged muscles, in other parts of the body. It is certainly reasonable to suppose, that parts performing a similar function should have a chemical composition at least not very dissimilar; but Berzelius, a chemist of great celebrity, has proved that there exists a total dissimilarity between them. The following is a translation of a passage in his work :"In consequence (says he) of the experiments thus made, it is beyond all doubt, that the fibrous membrane of arteries cannot be a muscle; for while the latter is soft and flaccid, and contains more than three-fourths of its weight of water, the artery is dry and very elastic. The muscular fibre possesses the same chemical properties as the fibre of the blood, viz. that of being soluble in acetic acid, and of forming scarcely soluble compounds with sulphuric,

352

nitric, and muriatic acids; but the arterial fibre has altogether opposite qualities, viz. that of not being soluble in acetic acid, but pretty easily soluble in mineral acids, diluted to a certain degree; from which solution it cannot be precipitated by means of alkali, or alkaline prussiates, which are the tests for the acid solution of fibrine. Consequently, as the arterial fibre has neither the structure of a muscle, nor its chemical properties and composition, it cannot be a muscle, nor perform the functions of a muscle; which is, besides, sufficiently evident from its elasticity." Thus much from Berzelius.

We may also observe another fact on this side of the argument, viz. that the circulation continues, perhaps, not indeed very vigorously, in subjects where the whole of the arterial system has been completely ossified, and is consequently incapable of the least contraction. The same also occurs in paralysis of the limbs, where their power is often completely lost, and yet the circulation still remains unimpeded.

We have thus briefly stated some of the chief arguments advanced against, and in favour of, the muscularity of the arterial fibres. To ourselves indeed it appears, that if the arterial fibre be not strictly muscular, it at least possesses many of the powers peculiar to muscles; and of this Bichât seems to be aware, who, not allowing the arteries to be muscular, and yet perceiving, from the laws of the circulation, that they cannot be inert tubes, considers them as endued with a power similar to elasticity, but differing from it in being an animal power, while elasticity is merely the property of inert or unorganized matter, and this he calls" organic contractility." Dr. Parry also, with the same view, has termed it "tonicity," or "vital force." This organic contractility accounts for the various phænomena of the circulation, as well as the muscularity of the arteries.

When we lay bare an artery in the living body, and examine it ever so carefully, no alternate contraction and dilatation, corresponding with the pulse, is in the least perceptible, either to the eye or to the touch. Now, if we cannot either feel or perceive this action, it is not unreasonable to conclude that it does not exist. It will, perhaps, be asked, "Has then this vital contractility no influence on the circulation?" Far from it-many phænomena are performed by its means, which could not be accounted for on the principle of mere elasticity. The arteries, resembling in this respect acknowledged muscles, are, to a certain degree, under the influence of the nerves.