40 ON VEGETATION. 



causes the animal and vegetable organs to perform 

 their wonderful functions, will perhaps never be 

 known to any but the great Author of Life and Ar- 

 chitect of the Universe. 



Nature deals in simple substances, as well as simple 

 operations. All organized bodies, whether of the 

 animal or vegetable kingdom, are made up of a great 

 many compounds, which however result from a few 

 elementary principles. Animals are composed of 

 carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen; while the 

 composition of vegetables is carbon, oxygen and hy- 

 drogen, These are the component or constituent 

 parts of animals and vegetables, yet there are many 

 other substances ; but which, as they are not essen- 

 tial to organized life, are not component parts. These 

 substances are silex, sulphur, lime, phosphorus, iron, 

 &c. It is recorded as a fact, that there is sufficient 

 iron in the blood of forty-eight men, to make a 

 ploughshare weighing twenty-seven pounds. 



So long as life exists in the animal or vegetable, 

 the simple bodies which enter into their composition 

 are susceptible of only certain combinations ; but the 

 moment life ceases and death ensues, new combina- 

 tions are formed. A new order of attraction ensues, 

 the moment the old one is destroyed; and hence 

 comes putrefaction and decay. Were it not that 

 these effects are produced, the dead vegetable or ani- 

 mal would always retain its natural appearance and 

 form. But this is not the case, and though we embalm. 



