This is the fourth, revised and expanded 1850 edition of an influential two-volume work originally published in 1830 by the German scientist and philosopher Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert (1780–1860). Schubert studied theology and medicine, and taught natural history at Erlangen and Munich, specialising in botany, forestry and mineralogy. He also lectured on topics including animal magnetism, clairvoyance and dreams, and attempted to reconcile Enlightenment philosophy with Christian faith. This book presents Schubert's views on human nature as body, soul and spirit, and on humankind's place in the natural order. Volume 1 introduces Schubert's ideal of a harmonious balance between opposing forces, contrasting the animate and the inanimate and describing the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms and their interactions. It then focuses on human anatomy and physiology, and discusses the senses, heredity, sleep and death, and the differences between humans and other animals.