VEGETABLE SOIL. 93 



of animal and vegetable bodies. The soil is 

 that reservoir from whence men and animals 

 indirectly, and vegetables more directly, derive 

 their sustenance. From hence proceed, by 

 virtue of the beautiful laws of vital chemis- 

 try, the pleasant fruit for man's refreshment, 

 the valuable grain for his support, the medicinal 

 herb for the relief of his sufferings, the root for 

 the colouring of his garments, and that large 

 list of useful products, which manifest by their 

 very number and variety, the benevolence and 

 wisdom of God. While the depths of the earth 

 supply man with materials for his utensils, for 

 his luxury, or for his bodily comfort, the soil 

 yields to all the animate creation, as well to 

 the meanest animal as to man, as well to the 

 humble violet as to the lofty tree, almost all 

 that they require for the support of life. The 

 phrase, then, " Mother-earth," is, even in a 

 literal sense, correct. 



We have in the last chapter drawn the very 

 necessary distinction between the " mineral " 

 and the " vegetable " soil. The chemical 

 processes concerned in the formation of these 

 two important layers of material are very 

 different. The mineral soil consists of the 

 waste of rocks, &c. ; the " vegetable" of the 

 debris, or waste of plants, with organic remains 

 superadded. And though in nature the one 



