Mr Carpenter on the Differences of the Laws 



extremely minute quantity) they may contribute to the pro- 

 duction of those striking differences observed among bodies 

 having essentially the same chemical combination, and whose 

 diversity appears at first sight so mysterious. And were we 

 disposed to speculate still further, we might imagine without 

 much difSculty, that the chemical changes effected by the pro- 

 cess of nutrition in the fluid contents of the capillaries, might 

 give rise to a new set of electric attractions and repulsions, by 

 which the independent circulation in these vessels might be 

 maintained. If this speculation should prove true (and Sir J. 

 Herschel has expressed his belief, that the circulation of the 

 fluid in chara is analogous in its immediate cause to the motion 

 of globules of mercury or an amalgam submitted to the poles 

 of a voltaic battery) there will be no necessity to have recourse 

 to the theory of a distinct set of vital attractions and repulsions, 

 which otherwise is necessary to account for the phenomena. It 

 can scarcely be regarded as a valid objection to it, that it puts 

 out of view the influence of mind upon the changes in the ca- 

 pillaries ; since there is no more reason for supposing that mind 

 cannot influence (through the nervous system) electrical attrac- 

 tions and repulsions, than those of a vital nature. In both 

 cases the mind acts upon the properties of matter; and the great 

 obscurity lies in the transition from the immaterial to the ma- 

 terial form of existence. 



28. We now come to consider those essentially vital pro- 

 perties to which nothing analogous is presented in the inorgaaic 

 world, which are only manifested by organized structures, and 

 whose existence necessarily involves the idea of their continued 

 communication from parent to offspring. 



The writer of this essay considers that we are fully warranted by evidence 

 in rejecting the supposition of spontaneous generation as commonly under- 

 stood, that is, the origination of organized beings by fortuitous combinations 

 of inorganic matter. He thinks, however, that there is also evidence to ren- 

 der it a question worthy of consideration, whether j)lants or animals of a low 

 degree of organization may not be developed by degenerations of the tissue 

 of those more elevated in the scale. Our belief that such should not be the 

 case is founded onl^' on a limited experience, including only the highest 

 classes in each kingdom. There is nn anatomical difference, as far as our 

 means of observation extend, between such a simple cellular plant as the 

 protococcttf, and a single vesicle from the parenchyma of a vascular plant ; and 

 recent observations on the development of the lower cryptogamia have shewn 



