| Summary: | The development of conceptions of the mechanism of absorption from the intestinal tract, as well as absorption in other parts of the organism, can almost be followed by the development of terminology used to describe this process. It is of interest to note that from the start the interpretations of the principles, varied as they were, centred around physical or physicochemical causes. Explanations of various biological phenomena in physical terms came about in the first half of the nineteenth century, when efforts were directed toward solving problems that were attributed to "vital forces" bound up with the living cell protoplasm.
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