Such is the conclusion of the first section of M. Dutrochet's latest Memoir, which was read before the Royal Academy of Sciences on the 17th of March, 1828. The section which contains the application of these discoveries to physiology—to the phenomena of animal and vegetable life, has, we believe, not yet appeared, and we look forward to its publication with high interest. In his original work, L'Agent Immédiat,' he has entered very fully into this important subject; but beautiful as are many of his explanations of some of the most important functions and condition of the animal frame, and profound and ingenious as are all his views, yet they must soon be greatly modified and extended, by his subsequent discoveries of the activity and inactivity of different solids and fluids in the production of endosmose, and of the conversion of active into inactive fluids, by the introduction of a small portion of acid.

When we consider that the organs of animal bodies consist of a congeries of vesicles composed of permeable membrane, and that the vascular systems are the channels by which those membranes are supplied with new organic matter in a fluid state,— and when we consider, also, how these fluids may be changed from active to inactive fluids, and from inactive to active fluids, either by the addition of a new ingredient, or by the abstraction of one which they already contain, and how active membranes may become inactive by a change of porosity, by the partial or complete filling up of their capillary ducts, or by a permanent change of condition,-when we consider, in short, the general structure of animal bodies, and the changes which disease superinduces upon their individual parts,-we perceive in the discoveries of M. Dutrochet the foundation of a new system of physiology, and a wide extension of the boundaries of medical science.

Since the fluids and solids which compose the human frame are actually agents, which by their mutual contact produce electricity, varying in its intensity and in its impulsive effect by the condition of these agents, and since we really find that the action of the pile is capable of supplying some of the conditions necessary to the developement of this electricity, may we not expect that the external application of electricity, supplied either by its artificial production or by the atmosphere itself, may become an important auxiliary in the healing art? When the Abbé Bertholon* maintained, that the electricity of the atmosphere had a principal share in the number of deaths, and particularly sudden deaths, and that it has a decided influence

De l'Electricité du Corps humain dans l'état de Santé et de Maladie, 2 vols. 8vo. See vol. ii. p. 435.

on

on generation, conception, and parturition, he perhaps obtained a distant glimpse of truths yet unrevealed, and in the discoveries of future times his memory may yet receive some compensation for the ridicule which has been thrown upon his opinions *.

To the science of vegetable physiology the discoveries of M. Dutrochet have a more immediate application. They form, indeed, an epoch in its history: as from a new goal, the science starts with powerful instruments of research, and with fresh prospects of success. The discovery of endosmose, and of the cause of the ascent of sap in plants, is, to vegetable physiology, what the establishment of the law of gravity was to astronomy. While it binds together the scattered elements of the science, it lays the foundation of an inductive superstructure, which can be reared only by men of varied talent, who combine the accomplishments of the chemist and the natural philosopher with the knowledge and patient observation of the botanist.

To have discovered the fact and the operation of endosmose must have immortalized any philosopher; but M. Dutrochet has placed his reputation on a still more secure basis, by discovering its origin. That electricity is the direct cause of this singular effect cannot now be doubted; and we are sanguine in the hope that means may be discovered of promoting and modifying vegetation by the stimulus of the electric fluid, obtained either by artificial means, or drawn from the atmosphere. The opinions of the Abbé Bertholon, on this subject, are extremely remarkable, and we cannot resist the temptation of laying them before our readers, not as being, in the least degree, an anticipation of the discoveries of M. Dutrochet,-but, in so far as they are correct, as a confirmation of the general principle.

In his work De l'Electricité des Végétaux,' he describes an instrument, called an electro-vegetometer, a sort of thunderrod for bringing down the electricity of the atmosphere; and he proposes to convey it to particular spots, for the purpose of enriching the soil, and renovating the healths of plants.

'By means,' says he, 'of the electro-vegetometer, we may be able at our pleasure to accumulate this wonderful fluid, however diffused in the upper regions, and conduct it to the earth's surface in those seasons when it is either scantily supplied, or its quantity is insufficient for vegetation; for though it may be, in some degree, sufficient, yet it can never produce the effects of a multiplied and highly increased vegetation. So that we shall, by these means, have an

* The influence of electricity on the pulse, and on insensible perspiration, as indicated by the experiments of M. De Boyes, M. Nollet, and Van Marum, and the curious results obtained by M. Achard respecting its influence in accelerating the putrefaction of animal bodies, may perhaps receive some explanation from M. Dutrochet's discoveries.

excellent

excellent vegetable manure or nourishment brought down, as it were, from heaven, at an easy expense; for after the construction of this instrument, it will cost nothing to maintain it. It will, besides, be the most efficacious that can be employed, as no other substance is so active, penetrating, or conducive to the germination, growth, multiplication, or reproduction of vegetables. This heavenly manure is that which nature employs over the whole habitable earth, not excepting even those regions which are esteemed barren, but which, however, are often fecundated by those agents which nature knows so well to employ to the most useful purposes. Perhaps there was nothing wanting to bring to a completion the useful discoveries that have been made in electricity, but to show the advantages of the art of employing electricity as a manure, and, consequently, that all the effects which we have already mentioned, depend on electricity alone, and that all these effects-viz. acceleration in the germination, the growth, and production of leaves, flowers, fruit, and their multiplications, &c., will be produced even at a time when secondary causes are unfavourable to it.

By multiplying these instruments, which are provided at little expense, (since iron rods of the thickness of the finger, and even less, are sufficient for the purpose,) we multiply their beneficial effects, and extend their use ad infinitum.

This apparatus having been raised with care in the middle of a garden, the happiest effects were perceived-viz. different plants, herbs, and fruits, in greater forwardness than usual, were multiplied, and of superior quality. These facts are analogous to an observation which I have often made,-that plants grow fast and are most vigorous near thunder-rods, where their situation favours their developement. They likewise serve to explain why vegetation is so vigorous in lofty forests, and where the trees raise their heads far from the surface of the earth, so that they seek, as it were, the electric fluid at a far greater height than plants less elevated, while the sharp extremities of their leaves, boughs, and branches, serve as so many points, granted them by the munificent hand of Nature, to draw down from the atmosphere that electric fluid which is so powerful an agent in forwarding vegetation, and in promoting the different functions of plants.'

It would have been very desirable that the Abbé Bertholon had mentioned the specific facts upon which he has founded these very vague and general, though, at the same time, curious views. That they are not entirely speculative, is proved by the facts previously discovered by Mr. Maimbray of Edinburgh, and the Abbé Nollet. The first of these experimentalists found that two myrtle trees, electrified during the month of October, 1746, put forth small branches and blossomed much earlier than other shrubs that were not electrified; and the Abbé Nollet having sowed seeds in two pots filled with the samne mould, and kept in the same place, found that the seeds in one of the pots

which had been electrified two or three hours a day for fifteen days, exhibited sprouts two or three days sooner than those in the unelectrified pots, and threw out larger shoots, and a greater number of them, in a given time.

Having, thus, given as distinct an account as we can of the great discovery of endosmose, which the Royal Academy of Sciences has honoured with a gold medal, we cannot take leave of M. Dutrochet without expressing our anxious hope that we shall soon have an opportunity of announcing the successful continuation of his labours, and that he will not allow the subject to pass into other hands, till he has brought within the dominion of his general principles the leading phenomena of vegetable life.

The science of vegetable physiology is now arrived at a point where great discoveries may be soon expected. The extraordinary fact discovered by Dr. Brewster, that innumerable crystals of silex, possessing distinctly the property of double refraction, form an essential part of the siliceous grasses, and that all the separate crystals have their axes arranged, not in parallel lines, but so as to form geometrical figures by the light which they depolarise, points out a new relation between the laws which govern the crystallization of inanimate matter, and those which regulate the operations of vegetable life.

The recent observations, too, of our distinguished countryman, Mr. Robert Brown, respecting what appear to be the active molecules of bodies, whether of mineral or vegetable origin, promise a rich harvest of discovery. He has announced the singular fact, that active spherical molecules exist in the grain and pollen of most plants along with its proper particles, and that these molecules have a spontaneous or inherent motion when immersed in water. Even when the pollen has been immersed in weak spirits for nearly a year, the apparent vitality of the particles still exists, nay, it remains in plants which have been dead for more than a century, and survives even the most intense heat to which animal and vegetable fibre can be exposed. These primary molecules exist in almost all minerals, and even in pounded glass. They occur, not only in their simple state, but also in a compound form. Oval particles, equal to about two molecules, and supposed to be primary combinations of these, often appeared, and were in general more vivid in their movements than the simple molecules, revolving most commonly on their longer axis, and frequently exhibiting a flattened form. Other compound molecules were seen resembling short fibres, and somewhat moniliform, and having their transverse diameter equal to that of the primary molecule.

These

These fibrils, whether composed of two or three molecules, or of four or five, were generally in motion. This motion was, at least, as vivid as that of the simple molecules, and might be said to be somewhat vermicular. Whatever be the substance in which they occur, Mr. Brown considers the simple molecules to be of uniform size, and, from various measurements, he regards them as about the twenty thousandth part of an inch in diameter.

The same curious subject is occupying the attention of the French botanists; and M. Adolphe Brongniart has published the results of some of his observations in his Recherches sur la Génération et le Developpement de l'Embryon dans les Végétaux Phanérogames,' which was read before the Academy of Sciences, and has been published in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles.'

From the talents and activity of these two botanists, we may expect with confidence some highly important results, and we trust we shall soon have an opportunity of again calling the attention of our readers to so curious a subject.

In consequence of observations which we have ourselves. made on the statements of these microscopic bodies, we have no doubt that they are all occasioned by chemical and physical changes in the molecules themselves, and by other illusory motions, which it is difficult to exclude in the employment of high magnifying powers.

ART. IV.-1. Die Ahnfrau. (The Ancestress.) A Tragedy, in five Acts. By F. GRILLPARZER. Fourth Edition. Vienna. 1823. König Ottokars Glück und Ende. (King Ottocar's Fortune and End.) A Tragedy, in five Acts. By F. GRILLPARZER, Vienna. 1825.

Sappho. A Tragedy, in five Acts. By F. GRILLPARZER. Third Edition. Vienna. 1822.

2. Faust. A Tragedy, in five Acts. By AUGUST KLINGEMANN. Leipzig and Altenburg. 1815.

Ahasuer. A Tragedy, in five Acts. By AUGUST KLINGEMANN, Brunswick. 1827.

3. MÜLLNER'S Dramatische Werke. Erste rechtmässige, vollständige und vom Verfasser verbesserte Gesammt-Ausgabe, (Müllner's Dramatic Works. First legal collective Edition, complete and revised by the Author.) 7 vols. Brunswick. 1828.

IN this stage of society, the playwright is as essential and acknowledged a character as the millwright, or cartwright,

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