33 



elements, supplied by the blood, in the lungs, unites with them, 

 producing that moderate degree of warmth, arising from the slow 

 combustion which continues through life. Thus, a power first 

 received from another being becomes the cause of a second pow- 

 er the union of elements chemical action, and thirdly, con- 

 sequent continued evolution of animal heat the blood having 

 received its hydrogeneous properties from the food in the stom- 

 ach passes to the lungs receives an amount of oxygen, a 

 part of which unites in producing the necessary degree of com- 

 bustion, and a part unites with the globules of the blood passes 

 to the heart excites mechanical movement, which re-acts upon 

 the fluid, and becomes a secondary cause in aiding the general 

 circulation the blood still retaining its oxygen, passes to the 

 brain, where it comes in contact with and forms a part of the ner- 

 vous aperatus ; and here another union of elements takes place in 

 consequence of the oxygen carried there by the blood, and thus 

 evolving a sufficient quantity of galvanic force to produce all the 

 powers of corporeal sensation. 



It has been observed that the mineral kingdom is organic. Our 

 earth in its general properties presents to view an organized body, 

 the first divisions of which are solid, liquid and aeriform. The 

 aeriform, or gaseous, is the first in the order of. creation. Our 

 atmosphere is a vast ocean surrounding the earth, and extending 

 50 or 60 miles from its surface. At the bottom of this ocean, we 

 live, move and have our being, like submarine animals at the 

 bottom of the aqueous ocean ; so that we live in, instead of being 

 on, our planet. The liquid state is the next in order of creation. 

 It is beneath and around us in the form of water and vapor. 

 The solid state is the last in the order of creation, and is beneath 

 our feet. 



All the primary operations of nature are carried on by the 

 effects of calorific motion through the medium of size, form and 

 arrangement of atoms of matter. 



Hence we may infer that the vis vitcc, the highest principle of 

 life, that power by which man and all other animals live, is pro- 

 duced by Thermo-galvanic force ; and that the vegetative princi- 



