corroded after death, by the same fluid, which is 

 essential, during life, to its natural and healthy 

 function. Now, inorganic substances, on the 

 contrary, are acted on by heat, or the abstraction 

 of it, by moisture and by chemical agents in ge- 

 neral, in a uniform manner, and to a uniform 

 degree ; while over organic bodies they exercise 

 no controlling influence whatever. 



Again, it seems to be a universal law, that liv- 

 ing beings alone can give origin to other living 

 beings, either by a partial division of themselves, 

 or by a peculiar process called generation ; 

 whereas the origin of inorganic substances is al- 

 ways quite independent of any pre-existing sub- 

 stance of a similar kind. 



Finally, the actions of organic substances hav- 

 ing attained their acme of intensity, gradually 

 decay, and at length, from causes which are 

 inherent in each individual, cease altogether, 

 when the substance becomes at once amenable 

 to the operations of merely chemical and me- 

 chanical agents. Such is not the case, however, 

 with inorganic substances, which maintain the 

 same state unalterably, and for any length of 

 time, provided no external agents are brought to 

 operate upon them. 



Such, then, are the principal distinctions be- 

 tween inorganic and organic substances, with 

 respect both to their structure and motions, and 

 such the principal phenomena which living beings 

 display. The question then arises, Do these 



