230 THE PHENOMENA OF MOTION 



of the heart and of the intestines, in this case, will 

 be retarded, or will entirely cease. 



From the unequal degree of conducting power in 

 the nerves, we must deduce those conditions which 

 are termed paralysis, syncope, and spasm. Para- 

 lysis of the nerves of voluntary motion may exist 

 without emaciation ; but frequently recurring at- 

 tacks of epilepsy (in which vital force is rapidly 

 wasted in producing mechanical effects) are always 

 accompanied by remarkably rapid emaciation. 



It ought to excite the highest admiration when 

 we consider with what infinite wisdom the Creator 

 has divided the means by which animals and plants 

 are qualified for their functions, for their peculiar 

 vital manifestations. 



The living part of a plant acquires the whole 

 force and direction of its vital energy from the ab- 

 sence of all conductors of force. By this means the 

 leaf is enabled to overcome the strongest chemical 

 attractions, to decompose carbonic acid, and to as- 

 similate the elements of its nourishment. 



In the flower alone does a process similar to the 

 change of matter in the animal body occur. There, 

 phenomena of motion appear ; but the mechanical 

 effects are not propagated to a distance, owing to 

 the absence of conductors of force. 



The same vital force which we recognize in the 

 plant as an almost unlimited capacity of growth, 

 is converted in the animal body into moving 

 power (into a current of vital force) ; and a most 



