ABSOLUTION ABSORPTION 35 lieve, as zero is from being something. Hence, though for another reason, they refuse to con- cede with Sir William Hamilton that we have intuition of the absolute, the infinite, or the unconditioned, but assert, in opposition to him, that we have immediate intuition of that which in reality is absolute, infinite, and uncondi- tioned. To suppose that we have intuition of being, or God as the" absolute, would be to suppose that we know the abstract before the concrete, the possible before the real, and therefore that reflection or reasoning precedes instead of following intuition. They dissent, therefore, from Schelling, Hegel, and Cousin, and deny that we have immediate intuition of the absolute, that is of God, real and necessary being, as the absolute ; and maintain that while we have immediate intuition of that which is absolute, infinite, unconditioned, we conceive the intuitive object as such only by a process of reflective reason the process by which the human mind demonstrates that the object of its intuition is God. ABSOLUTION, in the Eoman Catholic church, the act of the priest in pronouncing the pardon and remission of the sins of a penitent. Abso- lution in foro interne is a part of the sacra- ment of penance, in which the guilt of mortal and venial sin is remitted. Absolution in foro externo is the remission of certain ecclesiasti- cal penalties, for example, excommunication. There are also precatory forms of absolution, which are used during the divine service. Short prayers at the end of each nocturn in the office of matins are also called absolution. In the morning and evening prayers of the English and American Episcopal churches, ab- solution is a formula of publicly praying for or declaring the remission of the sins of the penitent, used only by a priest; also, in the " Office for the Visitation of the Sick " of the church of England, an authoritative declaration of the pardon of sin, pronounced over a peni- tent after private confession. Similar forms of absolution are used in the Lutheran church. ABSORPTION (Lat. absorbere, to suck up). I. The process by which nutritious and other fluids are imbibed by animal and vege- table tissues, to be appropriated for their growth, activity, or modification. All the or- ganized membranes and tissues of the living body have the property of absorbing, to a cer- tain extent and under favorable circumstances, the fluids which are brought in contact with them. This property continues to belong to the tissues in question even after the death of the body, or after they have been separated from all connection with the neighboring parts, until their natural structure and composition have begun to be altered by the effects of de- composition. Thus a dried ox bladder will absorb water in which it is immersed, and again become moist and supple ; and even mi- croscopic cells and fibres will absorb coloring matters with which the vessels of the tissue have been injected. This shows that the power of absorption resides in the substance of the animal tissue or membrane itself, and not in any property communicated to it from the rest of the system. Nevertheless, al- though the capacity for absorption still exists in a separated membrane, it is much less .ac- tive than in the same tissue during life, for the reason that after death it soon comes to an end by the saturation of the membrane by the ab- sorbed fluid; while during life it is kept in a constant state of activity by the incessant re- newal of the fluids and the movement of the circulating blood. In the process of absorp- tion, as it takes place in animal organizations, the fluid does not penetrate the tissues me- chanically, by openings or orifices, however minute. The existence of such orifices, or open absorbent mouths, was formerly taken for granted, as the most convenient way of ex- plaining the phenomenon ; but later and more complete microscopic examination has failed to show their existence, and takes away all reasonable grounds for the assumption. So far as we can decide upon a question of such delicacy, absorption consists in the imbibition of a fluid by the solid tissue in such a manner that the fluid and its ingredients unite, or com- bine directly with the substance of the tissue ; so that the union which results is not simply a mechanical entanglement, but rather an inti- mate and complete molecular combination of the two. It is found that different animal sub- stances have the power of absorbing different liquids in different proportions. Thus an ani- mal membrane which will absorb in a given time 100 parts by weight of pure water, will absorb only 65 parts of a saline solution ; and this difference will be greater, within certain limits, the stronger the saline solution is made. A tissue which will absorb 100 parts of a sa- line solution will take up under the same cir- cumstances only 24 parts of an oily liquid. Thus the activity of absorption varies with the same membrane for different liquids, and with the same liquid for different membranes. Chevreul found the following results by measuring the exact quantities of different liquids absorbed by different membranes and tissues in the same time : 100 PAKT8 OP Cartilage Tendon Elastic ligament . Cartilaginous do. Cornea Dried fibrine absorb 178 in J 148 24 ] 819 hours 461 [801 WATEK. SALINE 8OLU'N. OIL. f 281 parts. 125 parts. 114 30 870 154 8-6 parts. 7-2 " 8-2 " 9-1 " Thus, if the same membrane be brought in contact with a liquid containing at the same time a variety of different substances in solu- tion, some of these substances will be taken up in greater abundance than the others ; and the membrane accordingly will appear to exercise a kind of discriminative power or selection be- tween these different substances. This power of selection, however, is simply the property, dependent on the natural structure and con- stitution of the membrane, of absorbing par-
