"The thing," fays he, "is very easy when known," and ENVY itself was abafhed. Thus attraction, the weight, and elafticity of the air, fhewed themselves to the fenfes every day; but it required a TORRICELLI and a NEWTON to illuftrate them.

The discovery of the next importance is irritability, a property effential to all animals, likewife to all plants, and which henceforth will justly be ranked amongst the principal qualities of all organized animated beings. This discovery confirms the more honour on Baron de HALLER, as it was made in an enlightened period, and upon a fubject fo much fearched after as the human. body. This discovery also, like the other, met at first with violent oppofition, and from fimilar motives: INDOLENCE, to avoid the trouble of an examination; VANITY, to fhun the imputation of ignorance; and ENVY, to deprive the discoverer of his praife. Hence its existence was first flatly denied; and after it was confirmed by the strongest facts, so that it was impoffible for the moft ftubborn prepoffeffion to challenge the truth of it, the merit of the difcovery was then attempted to be wrefled from the author.

In like manner the science of chemistry has had its revolutions, and one error fucceeded to another until La

VOISIER established a system, which being founded upon truth is eternal.

Upon the broad bafis of the difcovery of HALLER*, and the new chemistry of LAVOISIER,-Dr. BEDDOES, -Dr. DARWIN,-and the Rev. Mr. TowNSEND +, have raised a new and beautiful fuperftructure, such as wẹ fhall endeavour to describe in this work, and it is hoped that foon, inftead of a proverbial difagreement, the fame confent among practitioners will be established as at prefent exifts among aftronomers and chemifts.

But to return to the object of this work

DEF. I.

Baron de HALLER calls that a SENSIBLE PART of the human body, which, upon being hurt transmits the impreffion to the foul; or which, in other words, occafions evident figns of pain and difquiet in the

animal.

* Dr. BROWN appears by his writings to have been the first who formed a fyftem of Phyfic on the irritability of the Fibre; this system, vulgerly called the BRUNONIAN SYSTEM, AS IMPROVED BY THE NEW DISCOVERIES IN CHEMISTRY, is the object of the prefent work.

It is to the writings of these gentlemen that the Author of MEDICAL EXTRACTS Owes his chief obligations. Other works, however, have been confulted, and in the illustration of this new System, it is attempted, as much as poffible, to obtain the voice of every one,

DELECTANDO pariterque MONENDO

HOR.

DEF.

DEF. II.

On the contrary, he calls that INSENSIBLE, which being burnt, tore, pricked, or cut till it is quite destroyed, occafions no fign of pain or convulfion, nor any fort of change in the fituation of the body:

DEF. III.

And he calls that an IRRITABLE PART, which becomes fhorter upon being touched; very irritable if it contracts upon a flight touch, and the contrary, if by a violent touch it contracts but little. We have therefore a threefold divifion of the human body into PARTS,

1. SENSIBLE;

2. INSENSIBLE; and

3. IRRITABLE.

FABLES

7

FABLES relate that VENUS was wedded to VULCAN, the Goddess of beauty to the God of deformity. The tale, as fome explain it, gives a double reprefentation of art; VULCAN fhewing us the progreffions of art, and VENUS the completion. The progressions, such as the hewing of stone, the grinding of colours, the fufion of metals, these all of them are laborious, and many times difguftful: the completions, fuch as the temple, the palace, the picture, the ftatue, these all of them are beauties, and juftly call for admiration. Now if Anatomy and Phyfiology be arts not ending in themselves, but have a view to fomething farther, they must neceffarily be arts of the progressive character. If then, in treating on them, the fubject should appear dry rather than elegant, fevere rather than pleafing, let it plead, by way of defence, that, though its importance may be great, it partakes from its very nature, which cannot be changed, more of the deformed God, than of the beautiful Goddess.

HARRIS.

THE APOLOGY.

Ir is with fome reluctance that I present to the humane Reader this useful detail of experiments on animals, though I think a better apology may be given for these, than for the diverfions of hunting, fishing, and shooting, which are univerfally tolerated in civilized focieties:and, perhaps, the compaffionate Reader, like those who do not object to the enjoyment of the fruits of these sports and pastimes, as they are improperly called, fo may he perufe with fome pleasure the conclufions drawn from the fufferings of nature, inflicted by man on animals, from the more exalted motive of philanthrophy.