ce may be, the
_dimensions_ of space are real, and the works of Galileo, in more than one
elegant passage, prove with what awe and amazement they fill the mind that
worthily contemplates them. Dismissing, therefore, all facts of degrees,
as introduced merely for the purposes of illustration, I would make as
little reference as possible to the magnet, the charged phial, or the
processes of the laboratory, and designate the three powers in the process
of our animal life, each by two co-relative terms, the one expressing the
_form_, and the other the _object_ and _product_ of the power. My
hypothesis will, therefore, be thus expressed, that the constituent forces
of life in the human living body are--first, the power of length, or
REPRODUCTION; second, the power of surface (that is, length and breadth),
or IRRITABILITY; third, the power of depth, or SENSIBILITY. With this
observation I may conclude these remarks, only reminding the reader that
Life itself is neither of these separately, but the copula of all
three--that Life, _as_ Life, supposes a positive or universal principle in
Nature, with a negative principle in every particular animal, the latter,
or limitative power, constantly acting to individualize, and, as it were,
_figure_ the former. _Thus_, then, Life itself is not a _thing_--a
self-subsistent _hypostasis_--but an _act_ and _process_; which, pitiable
as the prejudice will appear to the _forts esprits_, is a great deal more
than either my reason would authorise or my conscience allow me to
assert--concerning the Soul, as the principle both of Reason and
Conscience.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

_October, 1848._ Works on Medicine and Science
Published by John Churchill.

* * * * *

Dr. Golding Bird, F.R.S. The Diagnosis, Pathological Indications And
Treatment of Urinary Deposits. With Engravings on Wood. Second Edition.
Post 8vo. cloth, 8_s._ 6_d._ By The Same Author. Elements of Natural
Philosophy; being an Experimental Introduction to the Study of the
Physical Sciences. Illustrated with several Hundred Wood-cuts. Third
Edition. Fcap. 8vo. cloth, 12_s._ 6_d._

* * * * *

Mr. Beasley. The Pocket Formulary and Synopsis of The British And Foreign
Pharmacopoeias; comprising Standard and Improved Formulae for the
Preparations and Compounds employed in Medical Practice. Fourth Edition,
corrected and enlarged. 18mo. cloth, 6_s._