136 Prof. LeConte on the Correlation of Forces. 
fore satisfied, is suddenly left unsatisfied. There is an attraction 
set free which was before disguised—a force liberated which was 
before latent. If conditions favourable are present, this force may 
preserve the form of chemical affinity, and expend itself in form- 
ing other chemical compounds, or even, as we shall see here- 
after, in organizing matter. But if favourable conditions are not 
present, then it may take some other form of force, e. g., heat or 
electricity, and therefore no longer exist as chemical affinity: the 
chemical affinity is said to be lost. Toreturn to the mechanical 
illustration used above. Matter falling from plane No. 2 to 
plane No. 1, developes force sufficient to raise other matter from 
plane No. 1 to No. 2, but which in the absence of such matter 
may expend itself in heat or electricity, or some other form of 
physical force. 
2nd. It is a fact, now well established, that the seed in germi- 
nation forms carbonic acid, and in doing so loses weight: that 
is, the organized matter of the seed is partially decomposed, a 
portion of its carbon uniting with the oxygen of the air to form 
carbonic acid. Now it is this decomposition which developes the 
force by which germination is effected. A portion of the organic 
matter of the seed is decomposed. This decomposition sets 
free a force which suffices to organize the rest. The force neces- 
sary, and therefore the amount of decomposition necessary in this 
case is small, because the work to be accomplished is simply the 
change from one form of organic matter to another, or rather 
from organic to organized matter—to recur again to the former 
illustration, merely shifting a certain quantity of matter from 
one place to another upon the plane No. 3.“ But how,” it may 
be asked, “is this decomposition brought about??? This seems 
to be effected by the heat, and perhaps (according to Hunt) by 
the actinic rays of the sun*, Heat and actinic rays have been 
spoken of by many writers, e. g. by Carpenter and by Robert 
Hunt, as the physical force which is changed into organizing . 
force by means of the “ substratum of an organized structure :” 
but the peculiarity of the view which I now present is that this 
conversion does not take place immediately, but only through the 
mediation of another force more nearly allied to the vital, viz. che- 
mical force. The food is laid up in the seed mostly in the form 
of starch. In the act of germination this starch is changed into 
sugar. Starch, as is well known, differs from sugar in two im- 
portant respects, viz. it is insoluble, and it is more highly car- 
bonized+. Now, according to the ordinary view, the only object 
* See Report by Robert Hunt on the Growth of Plants, Rep. Brit. 
Assoc. 1846, p. 33; 1847, p. 30. 
t Robert Hunt, Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1847, pp. 20-22. Carpenter, Comp. 
Phys. p. 288. Mulder, Physiological Chemistry. pp. 208, 230, 
