VITAL POWER. 25 



are not perceptibly joined together, and have 

 nothing of that fibrous structure which is the great 

 characteristic of the cellular membrane in beings of 

 a higher order. 



In proportion as the several organs are developed, 

 the cellular tissue acquires greater consistency, 

 and is at the same time diminished in quantity. 

 It is diffused through the whole fabric of an adult 

 animal, entering into the composition of every 

 organ, however minute, with which it is endowed. 

 So entire is its diffusion that it has been said, if 

 all the particles of other kinds of structure and 

 all the deposits in its interstices were removed, 

 there would still remain a kind of frame work, in 

 which the form and arrangement of every portion 

 of the body would be perceptible. 



Cellular tissue appears designed to unite the 

 various constituent parts of the body, and to keep 

 them in place, by the contractile force with which 

 it is marvellously endowed ; to facilitate their 

 movements by means of its lubricating fluid, thus 

 preventing the injurious effects of friction and con- 

 cussion ; and to furnish an appropriate structure 

 for their reception. It has been also supposed 

 that, being a bad conductor of heat, it tends to 

 preserve the uniform temperature of the body. How 

 many purposes are thus secured by the all-wise 

 God, by means of this exquisitely simple sub- 

 stance ! 



On minutely examining the internal organization 

 c 



