THE LIVING ORGANISM 199 



which together constitute a living man or 

 woman, are, in a state of health, so co-ordin- 

 ated and regulated as to excel, in goodness 

 of government and co-adaptation to one 

 another's wants, any social system which has 

 ever regulated a body corporate in human 

 history. There is just as much division of 

 labour and mutual assistance and governance 

 as in a state or vast empire, and, moreover, 

 there are scarcely any of the defects of a bad 

 government in the affairs of men in a social 

 community, which may not find their parallel 

 in the organic happenings in a single human 

 body when invaded by disease. Similar 

 types of cell are aggregated together into 

 formations, called tissues, designed for serving 

 some common office of the body, and at 

 times two or three tissues are blended together 

 to form what is termed an organ for carrying 

 out some special task. The stomach may 

 be taken as an example of such an organ. 

 Internally it possesses a layer in which are 

 millions of cells formed into little tube-like 

 glands, which secrete a digestive fluid and 

 pour it out by millions of minute ducts or 

 pores upon the food contained in the cavity 

 of the stomach. Outside this glandular 

 layer there is a series of layers of contractile 

 substance called muscle, beautifully designed 



