Jf6 FUNCTIONS OF NUTRITION AND RELATION. 



digestion, respiration, and the circulation of the blood belong to 

 this class of functions. 



39. The functions of relation, are all thofee which place the ani- 

 mal in relation with the other beings of nature ; they are princi- 

 pally the faculties of feeling in different ways, and of moving. 

 By the aid of those functions the animal is enabled to appreciate 

 the form, the colour, and the position of objects surrounding him ; 

 to hear the sounds which they make, to advance towards or retire 

 from them, in a word, they serve to establish between him and 

 the external world a variety of relations which are as numerous 

 as they are useful. 



40. The functions of nutrition are indispensable to the main- 

 tenance of life, and they are found, in a greater or less number In 

 all living or organised beings, and for this reason thev are calied 

 thf functions of organic life, or functions of vegetative life. 



41. The functions of relation, on the contrary, do not exist in all 

 living beings; plants have them not ; animals alone possess them, 

 but, in loosing them they do not necessarily ceaseio live ; during 

 a part of their existence, they do not exercise them, and this 

 state of repose of the functions of relation, constitutes sleep. 



42. In consequence of these functions being peculiar to animals, 

 they are also called the functions of animal life. 



It is now very easy to state, in a few words, the most impor- 

 tant differences which exist between vegetables and animals. 



43. Vegetables are beings constituted for living, with the 

 power of nourishing and reproducing themselves. 



44. Animals are beings whose conformation enables them to 

 live, to be nourished, to reproduce themselves, to feel, and to move. 



The reader will now easily comprehend the difference between 

 organised beings, as plants and animals, and inorganic bodies, as 

 rocks and minerals, which do not possess the power of nourishing 

 and reproducing themselves, the first and most important effects 

 of living organization, for without these effects, death would 

 speedily leave the earth destitute of both animals and plants. 



We shall first consider those functions which belong to vege- 

 tative life, and which have nutrition for their object. 



30. What is the object of the functions of relation ? 



40. Why are Ihe functions of nutrition called the functions of organic 

 jfe ? Do the functions of nutrition exist in all organized beings ? 



41. Do the functions of relation belong to all living things ? What is with- 

 out them 1 When the functions of relation are suspended what is the state of 

 the aniwial ? 



4?. Why are these called functions of animal life ? 

 43 What are vegetables? 

 v4. What are animals? 



