Between 1833 and 1844, Johannes Peter Müller wrote a book on physiology called Handbuch der Physiologie, which became the leading textbook in the field for much of the nineteenth century. The book showed Müller's commitments to vitalism; he questioned why organic matter differs from inorganic, then proceeded to chemical analyses of the blood and lymph. He describes in detail the circulatory, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, endocrine, nervous, and sensory systems in a wide variety of animals but explains that the presence of a soul makes each organism an indivisible whole. He claimed that the behaviour of light and sound waves showed that living organisms possessed a life-energy for which physical laws could never fully account.
between 1833 and 1844 johannes peter müller wrote a book on physiology called handbuch der physiologie which became the leading textbook in the field for much of the nineteenth century the book showed müller's commitments to vitalism; he questioned why organic matter differs from inorganic then proceeded to chemical analyses of the blood and lymph he describes in detail the circulatory lymphatic respiratory digestive endocrine nervous and sensory systems in a wide variety of animals but explains that the presence of a soul makes each organism an indivisible whole he claimed that the behaviour of light and sound waves showed that living organisms possessed a life-energy for which physical laws could never fully account