THE LIKENESS OF ALL LIVING THINGS 7 



Difference from Inorganic Things. The points, in which all 

 living or organic things are alike, are also the points in which they 

 differ from inorganic things. A stone and a piece of iron are 

 familiar examples of inorganic matter. We cannot imagine a stone 

 taking food or growing, or a piece of iron moving or reproducing 

 its kind. Our study of biology is thus sharply separated from 

 inorganic things. 



To be sure, plants can take inorganic matter and by certain 

 wonderful processes make it into the living plant as we have 

 mentioned. But it then ceases to be inorganic and becomes a 

 part of the plant. Plant and animal are alike in all essential ways 

 and they also differ in these ways from all inorganic substances. 



SUMMARY 

 Organic things (Plant and Animal). 



1. Live, grow, and move. 



2. Obtain food. 



3. Digest and absorb food. 



4. Assimilate food as part of themselves. 



5. Excrete waste. 



6. Reproduce. 



Inorganic things can perform none of the above processes. 



Organic and Inorganic things resemble each other in the following points: 



1. They are composed of similar elements. 



2. They contain, use and produce similar compounds, such as carbon 



dioxide, water, etc. 



3. They have characteristic shapes and weights. 



4. They undergo chemical changes. 



5. They liberate energy. 



Organic things differ from Inorganic, in the following points: 



1. They have organs for various functions. 



2. They are composed of cells. 



3. They always contain protoplasm. 



4. Their growth is from within. 



5. They respond to their surroundings (irritability). 



6. They follow a " life cycle." 



7. They depend upon oxidation for life. 



