Zoonomia, Vol. I - Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Erasmus Darwin
page 21 of 633 (03%)
page 21 of 633 (03%)
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for the goad of a spur on the skin of a horse shall induce him to move a
load of hay. They differ from the gravitating motions there mentioned as they are exerted with equal facility in all directions, and they differ from the chemical class of motions, because no apparent decompositions or new combinations are produced in the moving materials. Hence, when we say animal motion is excited by irritation, we do not mean that the motion bears any proportion to the mechanical impulse of the stimulus; nor that it is affected by the general gravitation of the two bodies; nor by their chemical properties, but solely that certain animal fibres are excited into action by something external to the moving organ. In this sense the stimulus of the blood produces the contractions of the heart; and the substances we take into our stomach and bowels stimulate them to perform their necessary functions. The rays of light excite the retina into animal motion by their stimulus; at the same time that those rays of light themselves are physically converged to a focus by the inactive humours of the eye. The vibrations of the air stimulate the auditory nerve into animal action; while it is probable that the tympanum of the ear at the same time undergoes a mechanical vibration. To render this circumstance more easy to be comprehended, _motion may be defined to be a variation of figure_; for the whole universe may be considered as one thing possessing a certain figure; the motions of any of its parts are a variation of this figure of the whole: this definition of motion will be further explained in Section XIV. 2. 2. on the production of ideas. Now the motions of an organ of sense are a succession of configurations of that organ; these configurations succeed each other quicker or slower; and |
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