An Introduction to Experimental Medicine
“First
causes are outside the realm of science; they forever escape us in the sciences
of living as well as those of inorganic bodies.”“Man behaves as if he were destined to reach this absolute knowledge; and the incessant why which he puts to nature proves it. Indeed, this hope, constantly disappointed, constantly reborn, sustains and always will sustain successive generations in the passionate search for truth.”
Part 2: Experimentation with Living Beings.
Chapter 1
Experimental Considerations Common to Living Things and Inorganic Bodies
I. The Spontaneity of Living Beings is No Obstacle to the Use of Experimentation.
Spontaneity of being is one of the objections against experimentation. Inorganic bodies don’t have spontaneity.
It seems that by removing or separating one part of the phenomena of the living body, you disturb the whole organism.
“I propose, to prove that the science of vital phenomena must have the same foundations as the science of the phenomena of inorganic bodies, and that there is no difference in this respect between the principles of biological science and those of physical-chemical science.”
There is also determinism with living bodies as with inorganic bodies.
II. Manifestation of Properties of Living Bodies is Connected with the Existence of Certain Physico-Chemical Phenomena which Regulate their Appearance.
Manifestations of properties of inorganic bodies is connected to the conditions of temperature and moisture; which the experimenter can govern.
But in a living body, it seems like they are animated by an inner force that rules its acts and liberates it from the influence of surrounding physic-chemical variations and disturbances.
This is what led the vitalists to believe that this force was always at war with the chemical forces.
The conditions of vital manifestations and conditions of the physic-chemical manifestations are parallel and are related.
“External influences bring about changes and disturbances in the intensity of organic functions only in so far as the protective system of the organisms internal environment becomes sufficient in given conditions.”
III. Physiological Phenomena in the Higher Animals Take Place in Perfected Internal Organic Environments Endowed with Constant Physico-Chemical Properties.
External phenomena perceived in living beings:
They are the resultant of a host of intimate properties of organic units whose manifestations are linked together with the physico-chemical conditions of the internal environment in which they are emersed.
We only see the outer environment; we can’t see the inner one.
Intimate particles of an organism:
They exhibit their vitality only through a physico-chemical reaction with the immediate environment.
Spontaneity of being is one of the objections against experimentation. Inorganic bodies don’t have spontaneity.
It seems that by removing or separating one part of the phenomena of the living body, you disturb the whole organism.
“I propose, to prove that the science of vital phenomena must have the same foundations as the science of the phenomena of inorganic bodies, and that there is no difference in this respect between the principles of biological science and those of physical-chemical science.”
There is also determinism with living bodies as with inorganic bodies.
II. Manifestation of Properties of Living Bodies is Connected with the Existence of Certain Physico-Chemical Phenomena which Regulate their Appearance.
Manifestations of properties of inorganic bodies is connected to the conditions of temperature and moisture; which the experimenter can govern.
But in a living body, it seems like they are animated by an inner force that rules its acts and liberates it from the influence of surrounding physic-chemical variations and disturbances.
This is what led the vitalists to believe that this force was always at war with the chemical forces.
The conditions of vital manifestations and conditions of the physic-chemical manifestations are parallel and are related.
“External influences bring about changes and disturbances in the intensity of organic functions only in so far as the protective system of the organisms internal environment becomes sufficient in given conditions.”
III. Physiological Phenomena in the Higher Animals Take Place in Perfected Internal Organic Environments Endowed with Constant Physico-Chemical Properties.
External phenomena perceived in living beings:
They are the resultant of a host of intimate properties of organic units whose manifestations are linked together with the physico-chemical conditions of the internal environment in which they are emersed.
We only see the outer environment; we can’t see the inner one.
Intimate particles of an organism:
They exhibit their vitality only through a physico-chemical reaction with the immediate environment.
“The
internal environment of living beings is always in direct relation with the
normal or pathological vital manifestations of organic units.”
As the animal is higher up on the scale of living beings, the organism is more complex and the organic units more delicate and require a more perfected internal environment.
In living beings: the internal environment is a product of the organism.
It preserves the necessary relations of exchange and equilibrium with the external environment.
“Absolute determinism exists indeed in every phenomenon.”
IV. The Aim of Experimentation is the Same in Study of Phenomena of Living Bodies as in Strudy of Phenomena of Inorganic Bodies.
When studying both organic and inorganic matter, we have the same final object: to get back to the immediate cause of the phenomena which they are studying.
By immediate cause, we mean the physical and material condition in which it exists or appears.
“The object of the experimental method… consists in finding the relations which connect any phenomenon with its immediate cause, or putting it differently, it consists in defining the conditions necessary to the appearance of the phenomenon.”
By knowing this the experimenter can now predict its course and promote it or prevent it.
Physiology:
The science whose object it is to study the phenomenon of living being and to determine the material conditions in which they appear.
It only studies the phenomena, no spirit or matter.
“First causes are outside the realm of science; they forever escape us in the sciences of living as well as those of inorganic bodies.”
Force = relation of a movement to its cause.
Properties of living things are revealed by organic relations.
V. The Necessary Conditions of Natural Phenomena are Absolutely Determined in Living Bodies as well as Inorganic Bodies.In living beings as well as in inorganic bodies the necessary conditions of every phenomenon are determined.
Once we know the conditions the experimenter can reproduce it at will.
As soon as the conditions change, the phenomenon is no longer identical.
Absolute determinism leads to real science.
“In living bodies, as in inorganic bodies, laws are immutable, and the phenomena governed by these laws are bound to the conditions on which they exist, by a necessary and absolute determinism.”
By determining, they exclude all supernatural intervention from the explanations; including only the fixed laws that govern biological science.
If we find that the results of an experiment are different, we HAVE to attribute it to a change in the conditions. Otherwise it would be unscientific. No exceptions exist; an exception really is just another phenomenon, with unknown conditions.
“The certainty with which phenomena are determined should also be the foundation of experimental criticism.”
A phenomenon appears:
VI. To Have Determinism for Phenomena, in Biological as in Physico-Chemical Sciences, We Must Reduce the Phenomena to Experimental Conditions as Definite and Simple as Possible.
Natural phenomena: expression of ratios and relations and connections.
Two bodies are necessary (at least):
A body isolated in nature:
How to learn the properties of living matter? By their relation to the properties of inorganic matter.
By experimental analysis we can know the definite conditions of the phenomena. Analysis reduces the phenomena into more simple phenomena.
“When we come to analyze the complex manifestations of any organism, we should therefore separate the complex phenomena and reduce them to a certain number of simple properties belonging to elementary organisms.”
VII. In Living Bodies, Just as in Inorganic Bodies, the Existence of Phenomena is Always Doubly Conditioned.
All natural phenomena result from the reaction of bodies against each other.
For the phenomena to appear we need the body, in which it takes place, and the environment. The phenomena of life is thus doubly conditioned: by the body and the environment.
“The conditions necessary to life are found neither in the organism nor in the outer environment, but in both at once.” They are the results between a body and an environment.
The outer environment is the sane for every living and inorganic body; but the inner environment is special to each living being.
Bernard believes that he is the first to express the idea that the inner environment as well as the outer environment, is important for the explanation for the application of experimentation in living beings.
VIII. In Biological as in Physico-Chemical Science, Determinism is Possible, Because Matter in Living as in Inorganic Bodies can Posses no Spontaneity.
As the animal is higher up on the scale of living beings, the organism is more complex and the organic units more delicate and require a more perfected internal environment.
In living beings: the internal environment is a product of the organism.
It preserves the necessary relations of exchange and equilibrium with the external environment.
“Absolute determinism exists indeed in every phenomenon.”
IV. The Aim of Experimentation is the Same in Study of Phenomena of Living Bodies as in Strudy of Phenomena of Inorganic Bodies.
When studying both organic and inorganic matter, we have the same final object: to get back to the immediate cause of the phenomena which they are studying.
By immediate cause, we mean the physical and material condition in which it exists or appears.
“The object of the experimental method… consists in finding the relations which connect any phenomenon with its immediate cause, or putting it differently, it consists in defining the conditions necessary to the appearance of the phenomenon.”
By knowing this the experimenter can now predict its course and promote it or prevent it.
Physiology:
The science whose object it is to study the phenomenon of living being and to determine the material conditions in which they appear.
It only studies the phenomena, no spirit or matter.
“First causes are outside the realm of science; they forever escape us in the sciences of living as well as those of inorganic bodies.”
Force = relation of a movement to its cause.
Properties of living things are revealed by organic relations.
V. The Necessary Conditions of Natural Phenomena are Absolutely Determined in Living Bodies as well as Inorganic Bodies.In living beings as well as in inorganic bodies the necessary conditions of every phenomenon are determined.
Once we know the conditions the experimenter can reproduce it at will.
As soon as the conditions change, the phenomenon is no longer identical.
Absolute determinism leads to real science.
“In living bodies, as in inorganic bodies, laws are immutable, and the phenomena governed by these laws are bound to the conditions on which they exist, by a necessary and absolute determinism.”
By determining, they exclude all supernatural intervention from the explanations; including only the fixed laws that govern biological science.
If we find that the results of an experiment are different, we HAVE to attribute it to a change in the conditions. Otherwise it would be unscientific. No exceptions exist; an exception really is just another phenomenon, with unknown conditions.
“The certainty with which phenomena are determined should also be the foundation of experimental criticism.”
A phenomenon appears:
- In the same way when the conditions are similar.
- Never fails if the conditions are present.
- It fails if the conditions are absent.
VI. To Have Determinism for Phenomena, in Biological as in Physico-Chemical Sciences, We Must Reduce the Phenomena to Experimental Conditions as Definite and Simple as Possible.
Natural phenomena: expression of ratios and relations and connections.
Two bodies are necessary (at least):
- A body that reacts or manifests the phenomenon
- A body that acts and plays the part of the environment in relation to the first
A body isolated in nature:
- Impossible to imagine
- Wouldn’t be real because it wouldn’t have relation with which it manifests its existence.
How to learn the properties of living matter? By their relation to the properties of inorganic matter.
By experimental analysis we can know the definite conditions of the phenomena. Analysis reduces the phenomena into more simple phenomena.
“When we come to analyze the complex manifestations of any organism, we should therefore separate the complex phenomena and reduce them to a certain number of simple properties belonging to elementary organisms.”
VII. In Living Bodies, Just as in Inorganic Bodies, the Existence of Phenomena is Always Doubly Conditioned.
All natural phenomena result from the reaction of bodies against each other.
For the phenomena to appear we need the body, in which it takes place, and the environment. The phenomena of life is thus doubly conditioned: by the body and the environment.
“The conditions necessary to life are found neither in the organism nor in the outer environment, but in both at once.” They are the results between a body and an environment.
The outer environment is the sane for every living and inorganic body; but the inner environment is special to each living being.
Bernard believes that he is the first to express the idea that the inner environment as well as the outer environment, is important for the explanation for the application of experimentation in living beings.
VIII. In Biological as in Physico-Chemical Science, Determinism is Possible, Because Matter in Living as in Inorganic Bodies can Posses no Spontaneity.
In inorganic
individuals the elements are borrowed from the outer world.
In organic individuals they are made by the vegetable or the animal.
Every definite substance (inorganic, organic, organized) is autonomous: it has characteristic properties and has independent action.
But to have action it must relate to another body, a stimuli.
“Every change in matter implies intervention of a new relation, i,e., an outside condition or influence.”
IX. The Limits of Our Knowledge are the Same in the Phenomena of Living Bodies and in the Phenomena of Inorganic Bodies
“The nature of our mind leads us to seek the essence or the why of things”
But we discover that we can’t get past the how (the intermediate cause or conditions).
This is why our limits of our knowledge are the same in biological as in physic-chemical sciences.
We know nothing about the nature of things, and it will always remain unknown.
“Man behaves as if he were destined to reach this absolute knowledge; and the incessant why which he puts to nature proves it. Indeed, this hope, constantly disappointed, constantly reborn, sustains and always will sustain successive generations in the passionate search for truth.”
Science helps us know what we don’t know by replacing feeling with reason and experience and teaching us the boundaries of our knowledge.
The difference between living bodies and inorganic bodies is that it is harder to find the conditions in the living.
“If our feeling constantly puts the question why, our reason shows us that only the answer how is within our range.”
In organic individuals they are made by the vegetable or the animal.
Every definite substance (inorganic, organic, organized) is autonomous: it has characteristic properties and has independent action.
But to have action it must relate to another body, a stimuli.
“Every change in matter implies intervention of a new relation, i,e., an outside condition or influence.”
IX. The Limits of Our Knowledge are the Same in the Phenomena of Living Bodies and in the Phenomena of Inorganic Bodies
“The nature of our mind leads us to seek the essence or the why of things”
But we discover that we can’t get past the how (the intermediate cause or conditions).
This is why our limits of our knowledge are the same in biological as in physic-chemical sciences.
We know nothing about the nature of things, and it will always remain unknown.
“Man behaves as if he were destined to reach this absolute knowledge; and the incessant why which he puts to nature proves it. Indeed, this hope, constantly disappointed, constantly reborn, sustains and always will sustain successive generations in the passionate search for truth.”
Science helps us know what we don’t know by replacing feeling with reason and experience and teaching us the boundaries of our knowledge.
The difference between living bodies and inorganic bodies is that it is harder to find the conditions in the living.
“If our feeling constantly puts the question why, our reason shows us that only the answer how is within our range.”