IN THE ANIMAL, ORGANISM. 209 



from matter ; that the manifestations of the vital 

 force in a living part are determined by a certain 

 form of that part, and by a certain arrangement of 

 its elementary particles. If we destroy the form, or 

 alter the composition of the organ, all manifesta- 

 tions of vitality disappear. 



There is nothing to prevent us from considering 

 the vital force as a peculiar property, which is pos- 

 sessed by certain material bodies, and becomes sen- 

 sible when their elementary particles are combined 

 in a certain arrangement or form. 



This supposition takes from the vital phenomena 

 nothing of their wonderful peculiarity ; it may 

 therefore be considered as a resting point, from 

 which an investigation into these phenomena, and 

 the laws which regulate them, may be commenced ; 

 exactly as we consider the properties and laws of 

 light to be dependant on a certain luminiferous 

 matter, or ether, which has no further connection 

 with the laws ascertained by investigation. 



Considered under this form, the vital force unites 

 in its manifestations all the peculiarities of chemical 

 forces, and of the not less wonderful cause, which 

 we regard as the ultimate origin of electrical phe- 

 nomena. 



The vital force does not act, like the force of gra- 

 vitation or the magnetic force, at infinite distances, 

 but, like chemical forces, it is active only in the 

 case of immediate contact. It becomes sensible by 

 means of an aggregation of material particles. 



p 



