OF ORGANIC NATURE. 15 



contractile bundles of muscles attached to the bones of 

 its limbs, which are put in motion by means of a sort 

 of telegraphic apparatus formed by the brain and the 

 great spinal cord running through the spine or back- 

 bone ; and to this spinal cord are attached a number 

 of fibres termed nerves, which proceed to all parts 

 of the structure. By means of these the eyes, nose, 

 tongue, and skin — all the organs of perception — trans- 

 mit impressions or sensations to the brain, which acts 

 as a sort of great central telegraph-office, receiving 

 impressions and sending messages to all parts of the 

 body, and putting in motion the muscles necessary to 

 accomplish any movement that may be desired. So 

 that here you have an extremely complex and beauti- 

 fully-proportioned machine, with all its parts working 

 harmoniously together towards one common object — 

 the preservation of the life of the animal. 



JSTow, note this : the Horse makes up its waste by 

 feeding, and its food is grass or oats, or perhaps other 

 vegetable products ; therefore, in the long run, the 

 source of all this complex machinery lies in the vege- 

 table kingdom. But where does the grass, or the oat, 

 or any other plant, obtain this nourishing food-pro- 

 ducing material ? At first it is a little seed, which 

 soon begins to draw into itself from the earth and the 

 surrounding air matters which in themselves contain 

 no vital properties whatever ; it absorbs into its own 

 substance water, an inorganic body ; it draws into its 

 substance carbonic acid, an inorganic matter ; and am- 

 monia, another inorganic matter, found in the air ; and 

 then, by some wonderful chemical process, the details 

 of which chemists do not yet understand, though they 

 are near foreshadowing them, it combines them into 



