OHGANIZED BODIES. 7 



nic bodies can neither boast of youth nor age, parent nor 

 child ; while organized bodies have the power of reproduc- 

 tion as well as the tendency to decay. 



Such are the characters by which inorganic and organiz- 

 ed bodies may be distinguished, as constituting the two 

 great and primary classes of natural objects. Let us now 

 direct our attention to the structure of the organized king- 

 dom, for the purpose of ascertaining those subordinate di- 

 visions of which it is susceptible. 



CHAP. II. 



ON THE PECULIAR CHARACTERS OF ORGANIZED BODIES. 



JL HE infinite variety of species which constitute the orga- 

 nized kingdom, possess many common properties, indepen- 

 dent of the remarkable differences which they exhibit in 

 their structure and appearance. By attending to these com- 

 mon properties, we shall be able to discover some of the 

 qualities of that principle to which they owe their charac- 

 ter, and by which their arrangements are regulated. 



All organized bodies consist of Solids and Fluids. The 

 former exhibit the appearance of fibres or laminae, of which 

 cells and tubes are constructed, destined to contain the fluids. 

 These solids and fluids are very differently arranged in the 

 different classes of organized being, although similar in in- 

 dividuals of the same species. 



I. The Characters of the Vital Principle. When we 

 examine a plant or an animal as near to the origin of 

 its existence as possible, we witness its embryo or germ> 



