TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal signs=. THE PHILOSOPHY OF HEALTH; OR, AN EXPOSITION OF THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF MAN, WITH A VIEW TO THE PROMOTION OF HUMAN LONGEVITY AND HAPPINESS. BY SOUTHWOOD SMITH, M.D., _Physician to the London Fever Hospital, to the Eastern Dispensary, and to the Jews' Hospital._ IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. _THIRD EDITION._ LONDON: C. COX, 12, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND. 1847. London: Printed by W. CLOWES and SONS, Stamford Street. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. INTRODUCTION Page 1 CHAPTER I. Characters by which living beings are distinguished from inorganic bodies—Characters by which animals are distinguished from plants—Actions common to plants and animals—Actions peculiar to animals—Actions included in the ORGANIC circle—Actions included in the ANIMAL circle—Organs and functions defined—Action of physical agents on organized structures—Processes of supply, and processes of waste—Reasons why the structure of the animal is more complex than that of the plant 13 CHAPTER II. Two distinct lives combined in the animal—Characters of the apparatus of the organic life—Characters of the apparatus of the animal life—Characteristic differences in the action of each—Progress of life—Progress of death 51 CHAPTER III. Ultimate object of organization and life—Sources of pleasure—Special provision by which the organic organs influence consciousness and afford pleasure—Point at which the organic organs cease to affect consciousness and why—The animal appetites: the senses: the intellectual faculties: the selfish and sympathetic affections: the moral faculty—Pleasure the direct, the ordinary, and the gratuitous result of the action of the organs—Pleasure conducive to the development of the organs, and to the continuance of their action—Progress of human knowledge—Progress of human happiness 73 CHAPTER IV. Relation between the physical condition and happiness, and between happiness and longevity—Longevity a good, and why—Epochs of life—The age of maturity the only one that admits of extension—Proof of this from physiology—Proof from statistics—Explanation of terms—Life a fluctuating quantity—Amount of it possessed in ancient Rome: in modern Europe: at present in England among the mass of the people and among the higher classes 106 CHAPTER V.