22 VITAL POWER. 



exert their full influence. Death is, in fact, the 

 conquest of the vital forces by the physical. 



Another fact demanding attention is, that every 

 animated being is the product of an antecedent, 

 called its parent, which it essentially resembles, as 

 like produces like, according to a law unknown to 

 inorganic matter. The lily does not aspire to the 

 magnitude of the cedar, or the lamb to the stature 

 of the giraffe. Life springs from life, which has been 

 transmitted through an unbroken chain of being, 

 since the fiat of the Creator, whose exclusive prero- 

 gative it is to call any creature into existence. But 

 the offspring, whether of the plant or animal, is not 

 produced at once, with all its parts and powers 

 developed in full maturity; on the contrary, its first 

 state is that of a germ, often astonishingly mi- 

 nute, and most marvellously prepared, according to 

 its circumstances, by the great Author of life, for 

 its subsequent and complete development. 



Were we asked, What is that microscopic object 

 which we cannot but regard as the most simple and 

 wonderful ? we should answer, A vesicle, or cell. The 

 cell is the elementary organ of organic bodies. This 

 statement requires illustration ; but it may be abun- 

 dantly given from all the circumstances in which 

 life can be traced. 



One of the simplest forms of vegetation may 

 be observed, for example, in yeast. Let a small 

 portion of it be examined at intervals, under the 

 microscope, and it will prove to be one congeries 



