INORGANIC BODIES. 5 



When we pull off a branch from a tree, the stem itself 

 is injured, while the detached portion speedily exhibits a 

 change in every sensible quality. The leaves wither and 

 drop off, the pliant twig stiffens, and the fresh bark as- 

 sumes the appearance of a shrivelled crust. Changes 

 equally obvious present themselves when a limb is sepa- 

 rated from the body of an animal. Putrefaction soon re- 

 duces part of it to earth, and disengages the remainder in 

 air. 



In all these circumstances we find, that the "instant the 

 parts of an organized being are separated, a destructive 

 process commences, to which there is nothing analogous iu 

 the mineral kingdom. The bodies which formerly at- 

 tracted one another, and in their combinations exhibited to 

 us the finest forms, and executed the most complicated 

 movements, now appear to repel one another, and hasten 

 to have the bond of union dissolved. This character, 

 therefore, which we have now stated, independent of any 

 other, is sufficient to point out the magnitude of that inter- 

 val which separates the inorganic from the organized king- 

 dom, and divides the living from the dead. 



II. Permanence of Inorganic Bodies. If we take a sa- 

 line mixture, and induce crystallisation, symmetrical bodies 

 are obtained, which are considered as the most per- 

 fect models of inorganic existence. These crystals, of 

 whatever size, would continue to exhibit the same form 

 and structure, unless acted upon by some external force of 

 a * chemical or mechanical kind. Within, every particle is 

 in its proper place, nor does there exist any power to alter, 

 increase or diminish. But the case is widely different with 

 organized bodies. They acquire definite forms and struc- 

 tures, which are capable of resisting for a time, the ordi- 

 nary laws by which the changes of inorganic matter are n- 



