THEORY

 OF

 CIRCULATION BY RESPIRATION. 

 SYNOPSIS OF ITS PRINCIPLES AND HISTORY. 

 WRITTEN, BY REQUEST, FOR THE "U.  S. JOURNAL OF HOMŒOPATHY, " BY EMMA WILLARD. 

 NEW-YORK: FRANCIS HART & CO. PRINTERS AND STATIONERS, 63 CORTLANDT STREET. 1861. 

 THEORY

 OF

 CIRCULATION BY RESPIRATION. 

SECTION I. 

First step in the discovery--Animal Heat the product of Respiration. Second step--Heat evolved in the lungs by Respiration there produces Expansion. Third step--Expansion; implied motion, which from the organism must conduct the blood to the left ventricle of the Heart. Theory imperfect, until the formation of sufficient vapor or steam in the lungs is perceived and acknowledged. 

TO DR.  MARCY. --In complying with your request to write for your journalan article embodying my theory of the motive powers which produce thecirculation of the blood, together with some account of its rise andprogress, I obey what I regard as a call of duty; and thus requested, doit with pleasure. 

But my theory, with its history, cannot thus be written without egotism. Logicians say, that the way to convince others is to retrace, in order, the steps by which you yourself became convinced, which is to beegotistic. But in this case, there is a further reason: the scientificdiscoverer must speak of the apparatus by which he experiments, and minewas often my own physical frame. 

Twenty years ago, while yet my mind, laboring with this great subject, was condemned

 "to drudge Without a second and without a judge, "

you, sir, comprehended the hypothesis which has now become a theory, andyou waited not for others to speak, but you fully acknowledged itstruth; and although, in Hartford, as now in New-York, you were throngedwith practice, (then allopathic), you yet found time to furnish me withadded experiments, made in your office, confirmatory of its truth, whichby your permission were afterwards added in your name to my publishedwork. 

The first step in the theory occurred to my mind in the winter of 1822, and while I was engaged in founding the Troy Female Seminary. Being inattendance on a course of lectures on chemistry, and at the same timeteaching to a class Mrs.  Marcett's excellent work on that subject, onecold morning, as I was walking briskly up a hill, I said to myself, Whydo I grow warm? Whence comes this accession of caloric? It cannot betransmitted to me from any object without, because every thing whichcomes in contact with me is cold. Snow is under my feet, and frosty airsurrounds me; and, as to clothing, even the softest furs _impart_ nowarmth--they but keep from escaping that which comes from within. Whatother method besides transmission is there of gaining heat? There is theelimination of caloric, when, in substances chemically combining, weightis gained and bulk is lost. Is there any such combination going on inme? Yes; this atmospheric air, when I inspire it, has oxygen combinedwith nitrogen; but when I expire, the oxygen has disappeared, andheavier substances--carbonic acid gas and watery vapor--are returned inits place. Thus, it must be, animal heat is evolved. It is the productof respiration; and it is because I breathe faster and deeper, that morecarbon is oxidized or burned, and more heat is set free in my lungs; andtherefore I grow warm as I walk up this hill, though all around me iscold. 

The mind, excited by new and great thoughts, works with unwonted energy;and mine at once collected so many proofs, that I became perfectlyconvinced of the truth of the hypothesis. In searching books, I foundthat Lavoisier had taught the same; but he dying, his doctrine wasdiscarded by English chemists, Dr.  Black leading the way, and thereforeit did not then appear in English systems of chemistry. But from thattime, I cherished it with a mother's devotion, watched changes in my ownphysical frame relating to it, taught it to my pupils, and held warmdisputes with the medical faculty, who opposed and contemned it. 

In the summer of 1832, the Asiatic cholera appeared among us, appallingevery heart. This plague, I said, is a disease of coldness andobstruction; and these doctors, wrong as they are on the subject ofanimal heat, can never understand it--though, if Lavoisier were living, he might. Let me, then, as best I may, consider anew the problem of heatas produced by respiration, and see whether I cannot find out somethingwhich has a bearing on the fatal coldness of this fearful disease. It isinto the lungs, and no where else, that breathing introduces atmosphericair; and it is there that the oxidation of carbon or animal combustiontakes place. Thus must caloric be imparted to the blood in the lungs;and in them is one-fifth of the blood of the system, of whichseven-eighths is water. 

The nature of heat is to expand all fluids. The blood in the lungs must, therefore, expand; and if it expands, it must move; and if it moves, itmust, from the organism of the parts, move to the left ventricle of theheart, into which the valvular system opens to give it a freepassage--whereas the valves of the right close against it. "Eureka!" Imentally exclaimed; "I have found the _primum mobile_ of the circulationof the blood. " I had for years disbelieved that the heart's slightmechanical impulse was that cause. In teaching Paley's "NaturalTheology, " my mind had come in contact with the passage in which hedescribes the heart's more than Herculean labors; and I said, "This isaltogether too much--the heart alone cannot perform all this--there mustbe some other power, " and an abiding desire to know what that powercould be, prepared me for receiving this great idea. But my mind wasagitated by it, as the sea is, when a great rock is thrown into itswaters. 

The cholera was then raging around me; and as I prepared to flee from itto a mountain air, I confided to a scientific friend, Professor Twiss ofWest Point, my hypothesis, which I regarded as probably the incipientgerm of an important discovery. 

But there was first the former theory to be disproved; and then therewere new points to be investigated and established. In the ensuingwinters of 1833, 4, and 5, I gave much attention to the subject, andemployed professors in my school in the departments of chemistry andnatural philosophy, who assisted me, --particularly by their ingenuity inthe construction of such simple pieces of apparatus as were needed. 

Thus we proved that, although the heart's action gives pulsation, itdoes not necessarily give circulation. By an endless india-rubber tube, filled with water, coiled upon a table and struck repeatedly at onepoint, a pulsation was produced throughout, but no circulation. Byaffixing the tube to a vessel of water, and laying it on an inclinedplane, the water ran through it in an equable current, makingcirculation with pulsation. Clasping the hand upon the tube insuccessive contractions, the fluid passed on _per saltem_, producingcirculation and pulsation united, but no acceleration of the current. Now, add valves to the tube on each side of the opening hand, and youwill have the current--which is moving by gravitation, accelerated bythe hand's impulse, as the blood's current, first moved by respiration, undoubtedly is by the heart's beat. 

The heart we regard as the grand regulator of the blood's flow; and itis admirably situated for measuring out a regular portion of blood atevery contraction. John Bell, believing in the Harveian theory, said, "It is awful to think of the unfixed position of the heart;" andDr.  Arnott declared that "the heart, the heart alone, is the raggedanomaly in the laws of fitness in mechanics. " The heart was now seen tohave a right position; for it should swing loose that its moorings benot endangered; and, as whatever impugns the Creator's unerring wisdommust be wrong, so the presumption is, that whatever vindicates it mustbe right. 

My hypothesis assumed the principle, that, if an endless hollow tube befilled with a liquid, the liquid can be made to circulate perpetually, if it be heated at one point and cooled before its return. A drawing ofthe simple apparatus by which this problem was proved, is given in mypublished work on "the Motive Powers, &c. " The figure which representsthis apparatus gives the learner the most simple idea possible of theconnection of the respiratory and circulatory systems, and of thecombination of the two motive powers; the first, or chemical, comingfrom the lungs, and the second, or mechanical, from the heart. 

Suppose the heart divided into right and left hearts by dissection atthe septum: the circulatory system might then be represented by anendless tube. Let such an one, nine or ten feet in length, and of oneinch bore (to be filled with water) be placed upon a horizontal table. Let an enlargement of the tube be made by a tin vessel to represent thelungs, which shall contain about one-fifth part of the water. Let thetube connected with the right side of the vessel have, at a littledistance from the vessel, a smaller enlargement, composed ofindia-rubber, which can be grasped by the hand, to represent the heart'sright ventricle, with a valve on each side opening towards the tinvessel, the two to represent the tricuspid and semi-lunar valves. Letthe whole be made nearly full of water; then, under the tin vessel(representing the lungs), let a fire be made. As the water heats, itwill expand; and as the valve closes to the right, it will go off to theleft side of the vessel. But, as no water will come in from the right, on account of the valves, there will be no current. Now let the handgrasp the india-rubber, and the fluid between the valves being displacedby its pressure, all the water will go towards the tin vessel, because, while the valve representing the tricuspid would close, thatrepresenting the semi-lunar (between the mimic heart and lungs) wouldopen--and very freely; because the expansion made by the heat under thetin vessel had created a vacuum, and thus made a suction power to drawit forward, while there is a driving power behind to force it onwardinto the tin vessel. Then relaxing the hand, a vacuum will exist betweenthe two valves; and the valve in the rear of the current now begun (thetricuspid) would open, and the water rush in to fill the vacuum in theindia-rubber ventricle, to be again pressed forward by the next grasp ofthe hand; and thus--the fire (representing respiration) being kept up, and the alternate grasping and relaxing of the hand (representing theheart's regular impulse)--a perpetual circulation might be made to goon;[1] but not without another condition of the problem. 

And it was in performing this experiment that a truth was discovered, which, had it been known, many who have ignorantly lost their livesmight have preserved them. When the fluid in the apparatus becameequally, or nearly as much, heated at the extreme parts of thecirculating tube as at the heating vessel, then the motive power ofexpansion ceased, and (the hand's impulse being too weak of itself tocarry it on) circulation failed; but it was restored by putting snow orice around the extreme parts of the tube. How often have we heard ofladies who, having gone into warm baths, have been found dead by theirfriends, or too nearly so, to be restored. [2] Through ignorance of thecause, no right means would be taken to restore them, such as dashingcold water upon the exterior, with simultaneous efforts to produce, infresh air and in proper position, such artificial respiration as leadsto the natural. Where no internal lesions have occurred, there is everyreason to believe that such measures might produce restoration. 

My imperfect machines gave me to see how much might be done for thisimportant part of physiology by a more perfect apparatus. Mine wasmerely horizontal--but one might be made to take as many positions asare natural to the human frame; and how many facts might such an oneelicit concerning the effects of position on the circulation, by whichlives might every day be saved! But skilful mechanicians, not ordinarymechanics, are needed, who are men of intellectual capacity, and arefurnished with _carte-blanche_ for time and expense. [3]

The years 1836-'7-'8 witnessed, on my part, several extraordinary andfruitless efforts to get before the public the theory, of whose truthand importance I was then fully convinced. In 1839, Dr.  C. Smith, thenof Troy, an able medical lecturer, became a convert to the theory; andshowed me, in post mortem dissections, the organs of respiration andcirculation. At the close of that year, having carefully corrected andmade out copies of my manuscript theory, which I had before written, Isent two to Paris--one to the two brothers, Drs.  Edwards, members of theFrench Institute, and one to my friend, Madame Belloc. I also sent oneto Edinburgh, to Dr.  Abercrombie. Dr.  Milne Edwards soon after wrote abook, in which he made it a point to show that animals could liveseveral minutes without breathing; and Dr. Frederic Edwards wrote me ashort letter of objections to my theory, and adherence to that ofHarvey. This letter was copied and answered in my work published in1846. 

About this time, Dr.  Aikin, of Baltimore, wrote to me on the subject;and showed, by calculations, that the mere gradual expansion of thewater of the blood was not sufficient, of itself, to produce a currentas rapid as that of the blood was proved to be, even on the lowestestimate of its velocity. This did not shake my faith in the great factthat circulation was created by respiration. It must be so; for in life, such respiration as produces heat is the invariable antecedent ofcirculation, and nothing else is. There was something, then, whichremained to be discovered. Again, I placed before me the conditions ofthe great problem, and set myself intently to its study; and I soonfound what I thus sought, and then discerned for the first time that theblood moves, as does the railroad car, by steam. John Bell, my favoriteauthor, had shown that the lungs work _in vacuo_. A great proportion ofthe blood is water, which, in a vacuum, springs into vapor at 67°, andthe temperature of the blood in the lungs is 101°. Its expansion, then, was not merely the gradual increase of bulk by transmitted heat, butalso that of instantaneous expansion, by the vaporization of so much ofit as is needed; and what expanded water could not do, steam certainlycould. At once, a throng of proofs came to my mind. The most apparent ofthese was the vapor _expired_ breathing. I recollected how, in formertimes, the stage horses, driven rapidly into my native village of awinter morning, had clouds of vapor wreathing upward from theirnostrils, while the icicles of condensation were hanging below. Thenurse, who stands over the dying, holds a mirror before the mouth andnose, and considers that life is only extinct when vapor ceases to beformed. Then came to mind the solution of that great mystery ofphysiology, why the arteries are empty at death, which so long hinderedthe discovery finally made by Harvey. 

In the state in which chemistry was, even as late as the time of JohnBell, the chemical power of the heat produced by respiration at thelungs could not have been understood. 

SECTION II. 

Publication of the Theory, in 1846, in "A treatise on the Motive Powers which produce the Circulation of the Blood. " Its Reception: Critique in the New York "Journal of Medicine, " September, 1846. My Reply, in the same Journal, March, 1847. 

TO DR.  MARCY. --In the years immediately succeeding 1840, (in which year, as you will recollect, I had the honor to receive your countenance andadvice respecting my theory, ) I was almost exclusively devoted to therevision and enlargement of my historical works; but early is 1846, having determined on making the tour of the United States, I resolvedfirst to prepare my theory for the press. In the introduction, Iremarked, "The house of clay in which the mind dwells must receive aportion of its care; and that which I have bestowed on mine hasproceeded on a belief in the truth of the theory herein advocated, asundoubting as that in the laws of gravitation; and when any new fact, orany remark of an author, relating to my theory came under myobservation, I noted it down and laid it by with its kindred. About toset out on a long journey, and aware that my field of vision had thusenlarged, I felt it my duty to put together the principal of my remarks, that I might so leave the subject, that, in case anything should preventmy return, it would be in a form equal to the present slate in which thetheory exists in my own mind. "

The time I had spent in devotion to this theory, the many rebuffs I hadmet in seeking to promulgate it--sometimes, unhappily, affecting mysocial life--had made painful the duty of publishing it. My historicalworks had been received with favor; but I believed that, in publishingthis, it would be charged against me that I chose a subject unsuited tomy sex. I therefore said, in my preface, "This is not so much a subjectwhich I chose, as one which chooses me; and if the Father of Lights hasbeen pleased to reveal to me from the book of his physical truth asentence before unread, is it for me to suppose that it is for myindividual benefit? or is it for you, my reader, to turn away your earfrom hearing this truth, and charge its great Author with havingill-chosen his instrument to communicate it?"

As I passed southward on my journey, I left, March, 1846, mymanuscript in the hands of Wiley & Putnam, in N. York:[4] to bepublished at my expense. During the six months in which I was absenton my travels, my book was published; and the publishers sent copies, as directed by me, to many of my personal friends, and to severalphysicians. They sent other copies, which procured notices, some ofwhich were favorable, particularly one from the _London Critic_, andothers, the reverse. As few copies of the book sold, I was notremunerated for the cost of publication. The copies sent to physicianswere mostly unacknowledged--received in cold, if not contemptuous, silence. But my family physician, the worthy and learned Dr.  Robbins, to whom I dedicated the work, ever upheld me. He answered my questions, gave me instructions, and showed me post-mortem dissections; and tothose who asked him if he believed in my theory, he wisely replied, "Mrs.  Willard is right as far as she goes. " He knew that I made nopretensions to understand the vast variety of medical subjects notconnected with the circulation, and that I never doubted his skill ordisputed his prescriptions. An honest man, and a skilful physician, hedeserved and had my unfailing confidence. And if, by reason of what Iknew, I had prolonged my life, he had the longer kept a good andfaithful patient. Lady-friends, to whom I had sent my work, hadsometimes referred it to their medical advisers; and thus Dr.  Hiester, an eminent physician of Reading, Pa. , became a believer. And in the sameway, the eminent Dr.  Cartwright, then of Natchez, and President of theState Medical Association of Mississippi, came to a knowledge of thoseprinciples, which, as we shall hereafter show, he so remarkablyelucidated. 

In September, 1846, the _New York Journal of Medicine_, then edited byDr. Charles A. Lee, contained a review or critique on my work, which, ifthe history of the theory shall hereafter become a matter of specialinterest, may, with my reply, contained in the March number of 1847, furnish any examiner with the full state of the question at that period. 

The learned reviewer showed himself acquainted with the subject as itthen stood, and with its history in the past. He held that the heart'saction, "the contractile power of the cardiac walls, " is the main springor _primum mobile_, from which the circulating force proceeds, notwithstanding the great discrepancies as to what that force is; andwhile he objected to my theory, that it did not show any distinctmeasure of force, he said that, while Borelli estimated the contractivepower of the heart at 180, 000 pounds, Keill stated it at five ounces, Sir Charles Bell at 51 pounds, Carpenter at 51½, and Hales at 50. Heabandoned, however, Harvey's idea that the heart was the only organ ofcirculation. He believed that it was assisted by the contractile powerof the arteries, by the movement of the ribs and chest in respiration, by capillary attraction, muscular contraction in exercise, and severalother forces; one of which, the attraction of the venous blood for thepulmonary cells, had been recently pointed out by Dr.  Draper. The authordid not suppose he was bringing forward any new truths; "but, " said he, as an introduction to his account of my theory, "are we not sometimes indanger of forsaking old truths for new theories?"

Of my theory, he says: "The mere statement of it must satisfy ourreaders that it is wholly untenable. It is well known that heat isgenerated in every part of the system as well as the lungs. Wheneveroxygen and carbon unite, there it is developed; but it is imparted tothe _solids_ equally with the fluids; it maintains the temperature ofthe whole body by radiations from the points where it is generated. " ... "It is believed that all those functions of the organism which arenecessary for the preservation of life, contribute directly orindirectly to the production of animal heat; so that it is developed atevery point at which metamorphosis is occurring, and therefore notmerely in the lungs, but in the whole peripheral system. "

The writer then observes, that "the heat of the venous blood as itreaches the right side of the heart (according to Davy), varies only twoor three degrees from that of the aorta. Granting, then, that the bloodreceives three degrees in the lungs, it is very evident that theexpansion produced by it would be too small to be appreciable. Thecause, then, is insufficient to produce the effects. " The writer givesme credit for having ingeniously supported my theory, and then politelybows me out of the department of physiology into my more appropriatesphere of educating girls. 

In my reply, this sentence from Cuvier was chosen as a motto:"Respiration is the function essential to the constitution of an animalbody; it is that which, in a manner, animalizes it; and we shall seethat animals exercise their peculiar functions more completely accordingas they enjoy greater powers of respiration. "[5] My reasoning was tothis effect: "It is in vain to say that cannot be, which is. " Whentwo events are so conjoined in nature that one is the only invariableantecedent of the other, then, according to all logic, we are bound toconclude that the first is the physical cause of the second, even thoughwe cannot understand how it should be. Of the circulation, such livingrespiration as produces heat is the invariable antecedent, and nothingelse is. The heart's action, as stated by our reviewer himself, is nottherefore respiration, and not the heart's action or anything else, isthe cause of the circulation. This argument is upheld by the fact thatcirculation, varies not only as respiration, but as its productsdigestion, strength, and, according to Cuvier, animal vitality vary. Allbegin with respiration, end with it, and are as it is. If respirationceases, restore it before the organism is deranged, and they are allrestored. We must conclude, then, that respiration is the cause ofcirculation, although we could not see how it should be. Much more, whenwe discern a mighty power, that of expansion, and see how the Almightyhas made our frame in reference to its production by caloric--the lungsallowing of heat within them like wet cloth, and the nerves, bones andmuscles all made and arranged, so that oxygen shall be brought to themby respiration on the one hand, and carbon by the numerous digestive andcirculatory organs on the other. 

As to any deficiency of power, my reviewer had omitted to notice thatnot only the ordinary expansion of the water of the blood by calorie hadbeen assumed, but also its vaporization, or the change of such a portionas was needed into steam, the lungs being _in vacuo_; so that naturehere had not failed of her usual abundance. And had not this power beenkept in check by the pressure of the surrounding air hindering theperfect vacuum of the lungs, there was reason to fear, rather its excessthan its deficiency. As to the reviewer's assertion that heat isgenerated in every part of the system, and imparted to the _solids_equally with the fluids--that I positively denied, in the name of commonsense. For who does not know that, although there may be some heatelaborated in the stomach, and some during the processes by which thefluids change to solids, that the great source of heat to the system, isin the fluid blood, and not in solid flesh or bone? Our senses of sightand feeling show us, in the case of blushing, that heat comes and goeswith the blood. No one believes that the solid parts of his leg warm theblood as much as it warms them. Finally, it discredited the old theory, that it showed no adequate use for the great primary function ofrespiration, and its constant attendant, animal heat. Breathing andwarmth are not ultimate ends. Man breathes to live; he does not live tobreathe. He is warm to live; he does not live merely to be warm. Ourtheory shows that it is these primary agencies which sustain his being;and it sets forth the manner in which they operate for this end. Andthus, while it indicates the wisdom of the Almighty in the formation ofthe animal frame, it shows itself to be His true interpreter. 

SECTION III. 

Uses of the Theory--Proofs. --Publication of a Work, in 1849, entitled "Respiration and its Effects, more, especially in relation to Asiatic Cholera and other Sinking Diseases. "--Examples. 

TO DR.  MARCY. --The theory of the two chief motive powers which operateat the centre was, we conceive, completed by the addition of steamformed in the vacuum of the lungs, as available to give to the blood itsdue velocity. We also believe that complete proof _a priori_ had beenadduced of the fallacy of the theory that the _primum mobile_ is in theheart; and, also, that proof _a priori_ had been given that it begins atthe lungs, and is the product of respiration. It remained to apply thistheory to use, and to find proofs _a posteriori_. 

Although some of my friends regarded my theory as an _ignis fatuus_which led me into nothing but evil, yet it has enabled me, by plans ofexercise, to endure for many years, in-door sedentary labor--and yetenjoy health; and in unusual emergencies, more than once to save my ownlife and that of others. 

In the cold winter of 1835, I took, at Troy, the old summer stage, atmidnight, to cross the Green Mountains. I was alone in the large andill-closed vehicle; the thermometer was sinking as I proceeded on myway, until it had reached 25° below zero, a degree of cold to which Ihad never before been subjected. When I had traveled alone twenty miles, I found myself in imminent danger of perishing. Ordinary expedients toget warmth were no longer availing; numbness and cold at the vitals wereovercoming me; and I knew that to give way to them was to die. I thoughtof my theory; but I was fearful that I should commit sin if I tamperedwith the sacred "breath of life. " But my necessity was urgent, and Iaroused, stood up, and breathed that dense air with violence. It feltfor the moment cold to my lungs, but soon came heat with a rush, andwith it pain, as if the whole surface of the throat and lungs wereblistered; and my first thought was that I should die, justly punishedfor my temerity. But soon I was restored to genial warmth; and rejoicedin having successfully made an important physiological experiment. 

Afterwards, having been instrumental in relieving a woman who wasperishing from having breathed the fumes of charcoal, I was led toreflect that in such cases there was something to be taken away from thelungs, as well as warmth to be added. This woman's extreme coldness, andfeeble, fluttering pulse, showed that she was dying for want of rightbreathing; and in her case there was no doubt that the cause was thesame as that of death by drowning. The carbonic acid gas which she hadinspired, being heavier than atmospheric air, settled as water in herlungs, and in the same manner prevented the access of oxygen to theirliving tissues. And hence arose the reflection that the ordinarycarbonic acid gas, which is always the residuum of respiration, might, from weakness, settle in the lungs, and thus become the cause of diseaseand death. The presence of carbonic acid in the lower bronchial tubesand cells, existing in quantities sufficient to prevent the naturalcombustion by breathing, was brought to my mind in March, 1847, whilesearching for the cause of an agonizing paroxysm of sick headache. Thedistressed feelings of obstructed life with which I was tossing andstruggling, together with the agonizing pain in the head and pressure onthe stomach, might well arise from such a cause. Standing (for positionis important) in a full current of air from an open window, I commenceda species of violent artificial breathing, for the purpose of ejectingthe supposed heavy gas, and filling my lungs with pure air. This wasdone by contracting the chest on every side to its smallest possibledimensions, and at the same time throwing out the air violently and fromthe bottom of the thorax, as if under the operation of an emetic; thenalternating by opening the chest to its greatest capacity, and drawingin, by successive inhalations, all the fresh air possible, and pressingit down to the lowest depths of the lungs. This process at first gavesuch intensity and sharpness to the pain in the head, that it requiredmuch resolution to continue it; nevertheless it was persevered in. Aftera few minutes, the pain diminished, and soon entirely ceased. This wasfollowed by free perspiration, and equalized, warmth and circulation. Perfect repose and quiet sleep ensued. Friends, who a short time beforehad seen a countenance like that of a dying person, and knew how slowwas ordinary cure, were astonished, an hour afterwards, to behold, on myawaking, the full glow of restored health. [6]

On the re-appearance of cholera, during the summer of 1849, my mind waspeculiarly affected, from the belief that a false theory of circulationprevailed, although there was a true theory, which, if generallybelieved, might lead to the knowledge of the cause and cure of thisterrific malady; and thus thousands of lives be saved which wouldotherwise be lost. This thought almost distracted me; and believing thatmy sex stood in the way of my theory's being acknowledged, I sometimeswished that it might please God to take me out of the world. Then comingto better thoughts; I cast away despondency as unworthy of me; anddetermined to proceed to the further investigation and development ofthe great truth, of which I had, as I believed, been made the unworthyrecipient. I studied my theory anew, while I read the most approvedworks on cholera; and I came to the belief that imperfect respiration, caused by the want of due oxygen in the air, was the principalpredisposing cause of the premonitory symptoms; while the death thatsupervened was often caused by the settling of carbonic acid gas, theresiduum of animal combustion, in the lower air-cells of the lungs. Thesymptoms of the cholera, as treated by the best writers, were full ofnew proofs of the truth of my theory, especially of its last step, theformation of steam or vapor in the lungs. Without that, the collapse ofcholera was a fearful mystery; with it, everything was plain. With acoldness that would collapse the lungs, the bowels must naturally bedrawn up (and with dreadful pains) to supply their place. The ghastlychange in the face must occur when cold has condensed its arterialvapor. If respiration could restore heat, before any lesions had takenplace in the organism, the patient might recover. Then I began rewritingmy theory in a work afterwards published, with the title, "Respirationand its Effects, especially in relation to Asiatic Cholera and otherSinking Diseases. "

While thus occupied, the debilitating air of the season weighed upon myhealth and spirits. I had been affected for about three days with what Iregarded as the ordinary complaints of the season, when one night, aftermy family had retired, I found myself suddenly very ill--my symptomsbeing coldness, debility, and spasmodic pains. I believed myself to beattacked with cholera. I efficiently practised the artificialrespiration in fresh air as before described. Gaining strength as Iproceeded, I soon found a death-like coldness giving place to genialwarmth. Violent exercise, with artificial breathing, was kept up sometime, with such rests and full free breathings as nature required; afterwhich, I slept, perspired profusely, and was well in the morning. 

This was an occurrence which sunk deep into my mind; and the more so, asI could not speak much of it, for the truth was too improbable to bebelieved. But the successful issue of this, my first experiment upon thedreaded disease, prepared me to act with boldness and efficiency in acase which occurred in my own house about a week after. 

On the 14th of August, 1849, Jane Phayre, an Irish woman in my service, of about twenty-five years of age, having been ill for four days withdiarrhœa, was suddenly struck with what the French call cholera_foudroyant_--from fright. Alarmed by unwonted sounds near her window ina basement room, she mounted the window-seat to look out at the topsash, and found her face close to that of a man dying of cholera, who inhis death-cramps was brought from a steamboat on a litter, and thusrested upon the pavement. The cover was lifted from his face, and thesight and the smell struck her with faintness and trembling; and withdifficulty she reached her bed. I was called to go to her quickly byEliza Fagan, who said that Jane was very bad. She had a clay-colddeath-look, and a frightful blackness around her eyes. Her face, as Isaw it, was livid, pinched in features, and corpse-like, and her pulsebut a feeble flutter; and she seemed only to breathe from the top of herlungs. She tried, as she afterwards told me, to say, "I am dying, " buther speech was husky and inarticulate. She says her sight and hearingwere gone; and while Eliza and I were dragging her out of doors, shecould not see the window, and did not feel her feet. We placed her in anupright position, with her back resting against a board-wall, a freshbreeze blowing full in her face. Her senses were now partially restored. I told her to breathe violently, for she must get the bad air out of herlungs and the good air in; and I showed her how she must do it. At firstshe said, "I can't, for something rises up in the inside. " When I toldher, sternly, that her life depended on it, and she must, she tried toobey me. At first, it gave her severe headache, but as soon as deepbreathing was fairly begun, while I was watching her face with intenseanxiety, the color changed from the clay-cold death-look to the fullflush of the warm hue of life, and she joyfully exclaimed, "Oh! I feelwell!"

When the removal of carbonic acid gas had made way for oxygen to bebrought to the yet uninjured lungs, the carbon of the venous bloodignited, the motive power was furnished, the blood was again movedforward into the arterial system, and the dammed up venous current, receiving the suction force, rushed on so violently as at times nearlyto produce suffocation; but the struggle was soon over, and the lungs, free both from carbonic acid gas and an unnatural quantity of venousblood, once more received pure air--and to the relieved suffererrespiration became delightful--the circulation passed freely through anunbroken system--and THE CHOLERA WAS CURED. 

Was there, in the whole wide world, another person besides myself whowould have taken such a living corpse, dragged it out of doors, and setit upright, on feet which could not feel, with the expectation that itmight breathe out death, breathe in life, and be restored? The result isa proof, _a posteriori_; that the theory on which the experiment wasmade is true. 

Other cases occurred, where, under different circumstances, cures ofcholera were effected. One, as instantaneous, and in some respects asremarkable as that of Jane Phayre, was that of my friend and formerpupil, Mrs.  Gen. Gould, of Rochester, who sent for me, believing herselfto be dying of cholera. I have her letter, which, by permission, ispublished in my work on Respiration; and also a letter from herphysician, Dr.  Bloss, of Troy, testifying that her disease was cholera, and that he had little hope of her restoration. This letter is publishedin the appendix of a report on my theory, read in Buffalo, August 8th, 1851, to a convention of the New York State Association of Teachers. 

In my journeying to New York city, to attend their previous conventionin August, 1850, an accident obliged me to walk for some distance, inthe middle of a hot day. The convention sat in Hope Chapel, which waspoorly ventilated; and in the evening, I sat under a large gas-burner. On entering my room at the New-York Hotel, which was on the groundfloor, situated where the only air was from a confined, centralenclosure, I perceived at the only window a strong smell of fresh paintfrom the outer walls, so that I was obliged to close it. Beingexcessively fatigued, I slept heavily--till at early dawn I awaked tofind myself in a dying state. Attempting to move my arms, they were likelead by my side--and my breath was but a feeble gasp. Without theknowledge of my theory--my bane, as many of my friends have thought--Ishould then have had no antidote. But I knew where was the destroyingagent, and what was the only means by which I had a chance of removingit; and I used the little strength I had left to breathe deeper, andthen to strive for a better position. Long and doubtful was thestruggle. It was ten o'clock when, with tottering steps, I got into acarriage, and sought the free fresh air, which enabled me to take alittle food. In the evening, I went into the Teacher's Convention, having first ordered from my publisher a sufficient number of my bookson Respiration to present one to each member; and then, at my request, aCommittee of Investigation was appointed by the convention to report onmy theory. They reported favorably to the succeeding convention atBuffalo, which adopted the report, and I published and circulated it. This committee I had been allowed to choose, and it consisted of myfriend, Prof. Twiss--the first believer in the theory--and Mr.  Fellows, that Professor of Natural Philosophy, who formerly assisted in making myapparatus. 

Mr.  Fellows carried the report to Buffalo, and when he read it in theconvention, editors immediately came to him to request copies for thepress. But, by the influence of physicians, they afterwards declined itwhen offered. It seemed to be the general plan of the regular faculty(in the Eastern, not the Western, States) to put the theory into acondition resembling the algide state of cholera, where it would die ofcoldness; but, by the aid of Divine Providence, it will, like itsauthor, restore itself by its own inherent vitality--the vitality ofimmortal truth. 

SECTION IV. 

Proofs from Dr.  Cartwright's Great Experiments on Alligators--Resuscitation of Dr.  Ely's Child--Dr.  Bowling, Editor of the Nashville Medical Journal, endorses Dr.  Washington, who, in that journal, "crushes out" all Opposition to the Theory--Dr.  Draper's Acknowledgment of it in New York--Homœopathists--Conclusion. 

TO DR.  MARCY. Thus, for thirty years, had I maintained, not only withoutpublic support, but against discouragements, these great truths, ofwhich I had been allowed for myself such life-giving evidence. But earlyin December, 1851, Dr.  Cartwright, then of New Orleans, announced in aletter to me that he had publicly become my advocate. His name will everbe connected with the theory, on account of the remarkable experimentsby which he demonstrated its truth. In the presence of eminentphysicians, and other scientific persons, he resuscitated an alligatorwhich had been killed by tying the trachea. After an hour, when neitherfire nor the dissecting knife produced signs of pain, Dr.  Dowler[7] laidbare the lungs and the heart. Then a hole was cut in the trachea, belowthe ligature, and a blow-pipe was introduced, which Professor Forshey[7]worked with violence. At length, a faint quivering of moving blood wasseen in the diaphanous veins of the lungs. The inflating process beingcontinued, the blood next began to run in streams from the lungs intothe quiescent heart. The heart began first to quiver, then to pulsate;and signs of life elsewhere appearing, the animal began to move; andsoon, strong men could not hold him. Again they bound him to the table, and kept the trachea tied until life was apparently extinct; when, againinflating his lungs, he so thoroughly revived that he became dangerous, snapping at everything, and breaking his cords. For the third time, thetrachea was ligatured--the animal expired, and was resuscitated. 

Dr.  Cartwright says in his letter to me, published in the Boston MedicalJournal, January 7th, 1852, "By this resuscitation, your theory of themotive power of the circulation of the blood was established beyond alldoubt or dispute. " "This vivisection clearly proved that the _primummobile_ of the circulation, and the chief motive powers of the blood, are in the lungs, and not in the heart. " Dr.  Cartwright mentioned, inthe same letter, a case in which his faith in my theory had saved thelife of a breathless infant--inducing him to unwonted perseverance ininflating its lungs. 

Able opposers to the theory, however, arose in New Orleans, some of whombelieved that the resuscitation might have been effected by applicationsto the nerves. Dr.  Cartwright procured, from Gen. Jackson's battleground, another alligator, which was publicly killed and vivisected. Thedoctor's opponents first tried their means to bring the animal to life, and failed. Then he, by artificial respiration, restored the hugereptile as before;--thus proving that artificial respiration couldrestore suspended animation when nothing else could. 

Dr.  Ely was one who had opposed and written against the theory. In themeantime, his infant son had cholera, and expired. His medical friendshad left him, and crape was tied to the handle of the front door. Standing by the side of his lifeless babe, Dr.  Ely said to himself, "Ifthis theory should be true, I might yet save my child. " And profiting bythe example of Dr.  Cartwright in restoring the dead alligator, herestored his child to life. Remitting his efforts too soon--again theinfant ceased to breathe. And again, and yet the third time, the fatherrestored him--when the resuscitation proved complete; and months after, the child was living and in perfect health. Dr.  Ely then came promptlyforward, and, like a nobly honest man, reported the case as convincingevidence of a truth which he had formerly opposed. [8]

Whoever wishes to know the history of theories concerning the motivepowers of the blood as they then stood, may learn them by looking overfiles of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, edited by Dr.  J.  V.  C. Smith, for the years 1852-'53, and a part of 1854. Dr.  Cartwright wrotefor it during those years; and, encouraged by his protection, Ifrequently answered objections, which flowed in from various medicalopponents. The objection derived from the fœtal circulation, I answeredthus, in the Journal, of May, 1852: "The change occurring at birth, sofar from falsifying this theory, affords presumptive proof of its truth. When first the air enters the trachea of a new born infant, and animalcombustion begins, the inflation of the lungs must open the vessels andvesicles prepared to receive the venous blood. To fill the new-madevacuum, the whole of the blood from the right ventricle rushes throughthe pulmonary tube, leaving none to go through the _ductus arteriosus_, thus made useless, and henceforth to be abolished. But what is to movethe blood from the capillaries of the lungs? The heart's force, insufficient before without aid from the mother's respiration, is nowdivided, while its work is doubled. A new power must then be generatedby the meeting of the air with the carbon of the blood, enkindled by thepeculiar functional vitality of the lungs. Without such a power, noperceptible cause exists sufficient to move the blood onward to the leftventricle. But it is moved thither, and with a power which presses downand closes the valve of the _foramen ovale_, thus clearly manifestingthat this current exceeds in force that in the right ventricle. Grantthat the new function of respiration has furnished a new power, and thisastonishing instantaneous metamorphosis from amphibious to mammalianlife becomes perfectly intelligible, and the wisdom of the Creator isfully vindicated; showing that His work has been truly interpreted. "

In the _Boston Journal_, of April 21st, 1852, is an article fromDr.  Cartwright, entitled "Confirmation of the Willardian, or ImportantAmerican Discovery, " in which the author endeavors to remove whatdoubtless has been one cause of the delay in acknowledging its truth. "Those members of the profession, " he says, "whom science has only_perfumed_, are the most apt 'to look down with proud disdain' on anydiscovery originating 'with individuals not indoctrinated. ' They do notmake the proper distinction between selfish quacks who seek publicity'to line the pocket, ' and those 'who, prompted by some mysteriouspower, ' come forward against their interest, and at the risk of theirreputation. 'Rather than to contemn and ridicule, it were better tostudy the manifestations of that mysterious power. ' They do not considerthat the truth thus brought to light, while they fail to acknowledge it, is affording 'to selfish quackery' a capital to trade on. "

To the same effect is the advice given to the profession by Dr.  B.  F. Washington, of Hannibal, Mo. He says, in the Nashville _Journal ofMedicine_, July, 1854, "it is time for us to be acting; the honor of theprofession is in danger. The theory of respiration is a truth which willcut its way; and if we do not take it up and teach it, in a few years wemay see the mortifying spectacle of the community teaching theprofession scientific truths. Quacks have already taken it up, and wehave inhalers and air cures of various kinds. "[9]

The first appearance of Dr.  Washington as the advocate of my theory wasin the _Nashville Journal_, March, 1854; and his fertile genius hadthere brought a new illustration of its truth. It had, he said, openedhis eyes to the explanation of a fact which had puzzled him from hisboyhood. "In slaughtering animals, if the trachea was cut, scarcely anyhæmorrhage resulted; while, if that was left untouched, full hæmorrhageoccurred. By the Willardian theory, the fact is readily susceptible ofexplanation. The blood, filling the trachea, suspended respiration, andof course the impelling power of the blood was suspended, and thehæmorrhage ceased. The engine could not work without steam. When thetrachea was not cut, respiration went on, and kept up the circulation, until the animal was nearly exsanguineous, and the powers of life gaveway. " This fact was clearly ascertained by Dr.  W.  K. Bowling, thewell-known editor of the _Nashville Journal_, and able professor of thetheory and practice of medicine in the university of that place. He sentme the Journal containing this welcome endorsement of my theory from onewho was, as Dr.  Bowling assured me, "an observer of superior tact andlearning, " known by his medical compositions as well in Europe asAmerica. Since that time (March, 1854), that Journal, though notexcluding articles which oppose, has been understood to be in favor ofthe theory. Dr.  Washington has written repeatedly, answering allobjections;[10] and he has, in the Journal (as I have been assured byone of the Editors), "crushed out all that would take up his glove, andis left in undisputed possession of the field--looking in vain for anopponent. "

In the meantime, in 1856, Dr.  J.  N. Draper, Professor of Chemistry andPhysiology in the University of New-York, in an elaborate work on "HumanPhysiology, " has agreed that Harvey's theory of the paramount power ofthe heart's action in the circulation must be abandoned; and that torespiration must be assigned "the great duty of originating the blood'scirculation. "[11]

Dr.  Washington has not only defended me in every important positionwhich I have taken, and added new illustrations--but he has made thetheory available to showing new proofs of the wisdom of God in thecreation of man. Thus--steam is formed in the vacuum of the lungs at thelow temperature of 67°, while, if there were no vacuum, 212° of heatwould be required to produce it, --an impossible quantity, since it wouldcoagulate the albumen of the blood. But form the vacuum, and the boilingof the blood with any degree of heat less than 101° could not cause anysuch disaster, while the steam going off from the lungs through thearterial system to the capillaries, gradually condenses, warming thebody by giving off its latent heat; and the latent heat of vapor is thesame however it is formed, and is always 1, 114°. What divine wisdom andeconomy are thus displayed!

Homœopathy has, we believe, never found any difficulty in receiving thistheory. We know that, at one of its conventions held in Providence, itwas ably supported; and Dr.  Marcy, whom I have the honor to address, was, as we have seen, one of its earliest defenders. He has never, whether allopathist or homœopathist, been known to hesitate when his ownmind brought him clear conclusions;--the distinguishing mark, accordingto Dugald Stewart, of intrepidity of character. 

 With profound respect, EMMA WILLARD. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1] It is here seen what an important work this theory does for thevenous circulation, and why the blood moves into the lungs. We have readof a theory which maintains that it goes there because there is a mutualattraction between it and the capillaries of the lungs. But there isnone between the water in our tube and that in the tin vessel wherewater is boiling; but it goes into it with a rush notwithstanding. Because there is a strong suction power produced by expansion, no otherattraction is needed. The apparatus, as here described, goes no fartherthan to represent the circulation in single-hearted animals. But in mywork is a drawing which shows the left heart on the opposite of themimic lungs from the right; and then how the same tube, by being foldedin the form of a figure eight (8), shows the two hearts united into one, and both ventricles working by the same contractions to perform theirdifferent tasks. 

[2] Mrs.  B. Ogle Taylor, of Washington, formerly Miss Julia Dickinson, of Troy, was thus found dead; and the late Mrs.  Cass thus lost her life. "She was seized, " says a newspaper account, "in a hot bath, which shehad taken soon after eating. " She lived an hour, unconscious, and thephysician said she died of congestion of the brain. How easily couldthese highly intelligent ladies have kept themselves from danger, orsaved themselves when they felt it approaching, had they known andunderstood these principles. For two reasons, in case of the failure ofthe motive power from keeping the body too long in hot water, the bloodwould be congested in the head. First, the head would not be immersed, and, second, the last blood which the lungs sent forth would go to it. 

[3] What can the Smithsonian Institute do better to carry out the viewswith which the benevolent Smithson gave his fortune, than thus to teachmankind when life may, by free circulation, be made to conferenjoyment--how it may be inadvertently destroyed--and how it may berestored, when, by drowning or otherwise, it is suspended? Sudden deathsoften occur by mal-position. That of the late Secretary Marcy isdoubtless an example. After his blood was heated and his circulationquickened, he laid himself down on his back, his head not raised. Attention to the workings of such a piece of apparatus as might be made, would have shown the fatal effects of such a position at such a time. 

[4] A young physician, whom I paid for correcting the proofs, was notsuccessful in preventing mistakes, especially in regard to numbers. 

[5] I had just been reading Cuvier, to see whether he believed in theHarveian theory of the circulation. I found he did not. "The circulationvortex, " says he, "is sometimes simple, sometimes double and even triple(including that of the vena porta); the rapidity of its movements isoften _aided_ by the contraction of a certain fleshy apparatusdenominated hearts. " Thus showing that my theory gave to the heart allthe prominence that was given to it by this great philosopher, who hadnot, however, advanced any opinion as to the cause of the circulation. 

[6] One of them, my lamented niece, Jane Porter Lincoln, at my request, immediately wrote an account of the experiment, which is now in mypossession. 

[7] These physicians gave certificates of their witnessing and assistingat this memorable experiment, which were published in the _BostonMedical Journal_, February 1852. 

[8] Dr.  Cartwright also reported the case in a letter which waspublished in the _Boston Medical Journal_, September, 1852. Thisresuscitation was more wonderful than those detailed in my publishedwork on "Respiration. " All cases of life thus restored are proofs _aposteriori_ of the truth of this theory of the arterial circulation. 

[9] Good systems of exercise have been made in some respectableinstitutions for health, openly formed on the principles of this theory. Such is that by Dr.  Hamilton, of Saratoga. 

[10] When the time shall come that, the truth of my discovery being nolonger denied, its originality shall be contested, it will be asignificant fact that, in the _Nashville Journal_, of September, 1854, is an article against it from a physician signing himself "Justicia, "which he thus heads, "The Willardian Notion. " In evil report, it wasindisputably mine. This article also shows, that the Harveian theory isstill maintained by the opposers of mine. 

[11] See Draper's Physiology, p.  142.