THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MAN; DESIGNED TO REPRESENT THE EXISTING STATE OF PHYSIOLOGICAL SCIENCE, AS APPLIED TO THE FUNCTIONS OF THE HUMAN BODY. BY AUSTIN FLINT, JR., M. D., PROFESSOR OF PHYSIOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY IN THE BELLEVUE HOSPITAL REAU OF MEDICAL AND SURGICAL RELIEF FOR OUT-DOOR POOR, BELLEVUE HOSPITAL FELLOW OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE; MEMBER OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE COUNTY OF NEW YORK, ETC., ETC. NERVOUS SYSTEM. H NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 549 & 551 BROADWAY. 1873. Med 1058.66 1875, Spil 3. 3 ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. PREFACE. THERE is, probably, no subject connected with human physiology, which has engaged the attention of experimentalists and philosophic writers so much as the nervous system, especially within the last few years. The author has, from the first, looked upon this division of the work as the most important and the most difficult of all, and feels that this volume will be regarded with more . critical interest than any one of the series; and if he has succeeded, even in a measure, in giving, in it, a satisfactory representation of our present positive knowledge, no apology is necessary for the length of time occupied in its preparation. For two and a half years, he has been almost unremittingly engaged in writing this volume, and has endeavored to overcome, rather than avoid, the difficulties which have presented themselves in the investiga tion of important questions, which are as yet regarded by many as unsettled. A great part of the inevitable delay which has attended the publication of this part of the work has been due to the difficulty in this country of consulting rare and important memoirs. When it is stated that every citation |