OF LIVING BEINGS. 



PART II. DEMONSTRATIVE. 



I. OF THE BODIES OF LIVING BEINGS, AND 

 OF THE LIVING MATTER OR BIOPLASM AND 

 FORMED MATTER. 



[OTHING that lives is alive in every part. Al- 

 though probably no one would maintain that the 

 shell of an oyster or mussel, for example, was, like 

 the living moving mollusk itself, in a living state, it is often 

 asserted that an animal is alive, while, in truth, only a com- 

 paratively small portion of the matter of which its body is 

 composed is actually living at the time. As regards a 

 mollusk, it is true that the shell has grown, and during the 

 creature's life continues to grow, but upon careful examina- 

 tion it will be found that this growth is restricted to cer- 

 tain parts. The shell grows at the free edge, and it grows 

 upon the inner surface, and thus increases in extent and in 

 thickness. The new matter which is added to it by the 

 living creature is prepared and formed through the instru- 

 mentality of living matter. By far the greater part of the 

 shell, however, is as lifeless while it yet remains connected 

 with the living animal as after it has been preserved in our 

 cabinet. 



