7 



the animal requires organized matter in a solid 

 state, which is received by a mouth into a 

 stomach, where it is reduced to a semifluid mass ; 

 and not till then does the process of assimilation 

 begin. The distinction is broad and clear, and 

 our inquirer will now go on to admire the beau- 

 tiful mechanism by which the rock, disintegrated 

 by the action of the air, and dissolved by the 

 rain, passes into the vessels of the plant, and 

 there becomes organized, so as to fit it for the 

 stomach of the animal ; where it undergoes still 

 farther changes ; and finally, produces an organ 

 fitted for the use of a higher order of beings : 

 for it cannot now be doubted that the brain, 

 which is the finest product of animal organi- 

 zation, never is fully called into action till it 

 becomes part of an individual of a yet higher 

 grade. The potass, &c. of the volcanic rock is 

 in great measure inert till it passes into the 

 absorbent vessels of the plant, and the plant is 

 of no use in creation further than it supplies the 

 nourishment for sentient organism, and the use 

 of the sentient organism, finally, is only demon- 

 strated when a fresh agent is introduced, and 

 the intellectual Will crowns the fair work of 

 Creation. 



To an observer such as is above described, 



