94 OSCILLATIONS OR VIBRATIONS 



no perceptible vital movement ; for there is no chemical 

 decomposition or separation of their parts. Alexander 

 von Humboldt defines the power of life as that inward 

 force which dissolves the fetters of the chemical affinities, 

 and prevents the union of the elements or original com- 

 ponents of organized bodies. Therefore, there cannot be 

 a more infallible mark of death than corruption. It indi- 

 cates that the elementary principles or raw material of 

 what was once a plant or an animal, are beginning to obey 

 their pristine laws, and to arrange themselves in accord- 

 ance with their chemical relations to each other. There- 

 fore, so long as the parts of the organism hold together, 



" Before decay's effacing fingers 

 Have swept the lines where beauty lingers," 



the functions of life, like those of the seed or the tree, may 

 be only suspended for a season, notwithstanding the pre- 

 sence of all the other distressing indications of disease. 



Reader, blame me not for this apparent digression. My 

 object in this book is to show " What may be learned from 

 a tree." The above lesson is an important one, and may 

 perhaps be of service some day ; for it is a sad truth, that 

 inevitable separations await us all, and " hours of desola- 

 tion are on the wing, coming swiftly and straight toward 

 us, soon to overshadow us, and hide us from the light of 

 the sun."* 



But Winter has gone with its cold, darkness, and storms, 

 and Spring has come with its w^arm, bright sun and gentle 

 breezes. The stage of rest is passed. Reinvigorated Na- 

 ture awakens from repose. Slowly emerges the plant out 

 of the seed, and the tree begins to grow. There is again 

 continual motion and activity amongst all the parts of the 

 growing organs, the same cycle of appendages, of leaves, 

 flowers, and fruits, until both arrive again, in the fall, at 

 the stage of rest. The tree is deprived of the leaves and 

 flowers of Spring, and of the fruits of Autumn. Another 

 ring of wood and bark has been formed, and additions 



* Discourses by W. H. FURNESS, Pastor of the First Congregational Unita- 

 rian Church, Philadelphia. 



