AN INTRODUCTION TO THE 

 STUDY OF FOSSILS 



INTRODUCTION 

 ORGANIC AND INORGANIC MATTER 



Matter is either organic or inorganic. Organic matter is 

 arranged in the form of a plant or animal body, and is so called 

 because it is made up of various organs such as those for eat- 

 ing, breathing and reproduction. In the lowest organisms the 

 entire body forms but a single organ. When matter is not 

 thus organized, as in air, earth and water, it is called inorganic. 

 Food in the shape of lifeless matter, including many inorganic 

 substances and those organic substances in which all the organs 

 have ceased functioning, is absorbed by functioning organisms, 

 and in some manner, not understood, is transformed by them 

 into living matter, that is, into protoplasm. For protoplasm is 

 the only living matter, and through its activity is built up such 

 supporting and protecting tissues as the cellulose of plants, the 

 bone and shell of animals. 



Protoplasm, whether plant or animal, has the following 

 properties which distinguish it from lifeless matter, (i) Chemi- 

 cally it always contains proteids or albumins, — complex com- 

 pounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. It 

 contains, on the average, of carbon 52 per cent, of hydrogen 

 7 per cent, of nitrogen 16 per cent, of oxygen 23 per cent and of 

 sulfur 0.5-2.0 per cent. The nucleoproteids, found in the cell 

 nuclei, contain also a small amount of phosphorus. (The 



