COALESCENCE OF TAHTS. 397 



the general organization. The like is seen on a larger scale 

 in the fusion of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland; and, 

 on the Continent, in the coalescence of provinces into king 

 doms. Even in the disappearance of law-made divisions, 

 the process is analogous. Among the Anglo-Saxons, Eng 

 land was divided into tithings, hundreds, and counties; 

 there were county courts, courts of hundred, and courts of 

 tithing. The courts of tithing disappeared first ; then the 

 courts of hundred, which have, however, left traces; -while 

 the county-jurisdiction still exists. 



But chiefly it is to be noted, that there eventually grows 

 up an organization which has no reference to these original 

 divisions, but traverses them in various directions, as is the 

 case in creatures belonging to the sub-kingdom just named ; 

 and, further, that in both cases it is the sustaining organiza 

 tion which thus traverses old boundaries, while in both 

 cases it is the governmental, or co-ordinating organization 

 in which the original boundaries continue traceable. Thus, 

 in the highest Annulosa^ the exo-skeleton and the muscu 

 lar system, never lose all traces of their primitive segmen 

 tation ; but throughout a great part of the body, the con 

 tained viscera do not in the least conform, to the external 

 divisions. Similarly, with a nation, we see that while, for 

 governmental purposes, such divisions as counties and par 

 ishes still exist, the structure developed for carrying on the 

 nutrition of society, wholly ignores these boundaries : our 

 great cotton-manufacture spreads out of Lancashire into 

 North Derbyshire ; Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire 

 have long divided the stocking-trade between them ; one 

 great centre for the production of iron and iron-goods, in 

 cludes parts of Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire ; 

 and those various specializations of agriculture which have 

 made different parts of England noted for different pro 

 ducts, show no more respect to county-boundaries than 

 do our growing towns to the boundaries of parishes. 



