ANIMAL. 



121 



ganic world, far from existing in the integral 

 molecule as it does in the inorganic, can only 

 be said to exist in the mass of integral mo- 

 lecules united into that congeries of organs 

 which constitutes a particular being. As a 

 consequence of this independence on the 

 one hand, and dependence on the other, we 

 find, that whilst in the inorganic world the 

 several parts may be modified without the 

 others feeling the influence of the change in- 

 duced, in the organic, implication of one part 

 and modification of one action are commu- 

 nicated to and manifested in the state and 

 actions of all the other parts. 



Considered with regard to their duration, 

 the objects composing the organic and the 

 inorganic world differ essentially. In the former 

 this period is determinate and definite, and, 

 although it varies greatly, it depends in a great 

 measure on circumstances inherent in the in- 

 dividuals ; in the latter it is indeterminate and 

 indefinite, and when the objects composing it 

 cease to be, it is generally in consequence of 

 circumstances exterior to themselves. Organized 

 beings exist for a limited time and in oppo- 

 sition to many of the physico-chemical laws ; 

 unorganized beings exist indefinitely, and only 

 in harmony with the whole of these laws. 

 Organic beings continue to exist in conse- 

 quence of a kind of reciprocal action with 

 external things, and especially by virtue of an 

 incessant change and renewal in their con- 

 stituent elements. The very condition of ex- 

 istence of an unorganized body is quiescence ; 

 any new action between its molecules them- 

 selves, or between these and others external to 

 them, any addition to, or subtraction from, its 

 component parts, implies the destruction of its 

 individuality. 



In the organic world, new forms result from 

 the actions of forms already existing, which 

 have the wonderful property of producing 

 others similar to themselves ; and this in virtue 

 of no general physico-chemical law, but of 

 an especial power inhering in each organized 

 being individually. There is nothing like this 

 faculty of procreation or of generation in the in- 

 organic world. When a crystal is produced, it 

 is necessarily at the expense of one or of others 

 that have already existed, or of a combination 

 of the elements of these ; destruction is here a 

 necessary preliminary to production, and the 

 process is simply one of re-formation, not of 

 genesis or creation. Neither in the re-forma- 

 tions of the inorganic world do we find that the 

 forms are always necessarily the same as those 

 which preceded them : the crystalline form 

 doe.s not depend on the nature of the integral 

 molecules, but on their mode of aggregation 

 and number. In the organized world, again, 

 nothing is more certain and fixed than that the 

 form of the new being shall resemble that 

 which gave it birth. 



The last distinction we shall mention under 

 this head of material composition and physical 

 qualities between organic and inorganic bodies 

 is, perhaps, less striking, though not less in- 

 teresting on that account : it is this, that whilst 



in inorganic bodies the composition is quite de- 

 terminate, in organised beings, although con- 

 stituting particular species, the composition 

 may present individual differences or modifica- 

 tions. These are designated by the titles tem- 

 perament, constitution, 4 c- There is no corres- 

 ponding modification recognizable in the in- 

 organic world. 



From what has now been said, it appears 

 that organized and unorganized bodies differ 

 essentially from one another in their general 

 physical qualities and material constitution. 

 The form of the organized being is determinate, 

 and its outline is rounded or undulating; its 

 size is limited ; its duration is temporary ; its 

 composition is an assemblage of heterogeneous 

 parts, of solids and fluids, arranged so as to 

 compose a variety of fibrous and cellular 

 tissues, and aggregates of organs or parts 

 differing from one another in their form, struc- 

 ture, and functions, but all nevertheless mu- 

 tually dependent one upon the other, and con- 

 curring to a common end, the preservation 

 of the individual, which has place by virtue of 

 an internal activity denominated life, amulst 

 incessant changes and renovations of the 

 matter entering into its composition, and 

 the continuation of the species, which is a 

 genesis or creation, implying neither destruc- 

 tion nor alteration in the mode of being of 

 the individual or individuals from whom the 

 new formation springs. 



Actions of unorganized and of organized 

 objects. But form, size, material composi- 

 tion, duration, mode of origin, &c. are not 

 the only particulars in the history of or- 

 ganic and inorganic bodies which are capa- 

 ble of being contrasted, and in which differences 

 may be made to appear. 



All that exists is active; every entity performs 

 actions, or manifests forces by which its own ex- 

 istence is continued, and by which it participates 

 in the various phenomena of the universe. Of 

 these actions or forces there are two grand 

 classes, the one general, the other special : the 

 first are the physico-chemical laws which per- 

 vade space and include the universe ; the 

 second are the vital laws, which embrace within 

 their dominion plants and animals, or things 

 organized and having life. 



The most general of all the forces possessed 

 are those of attraction and repulsion, which 

 inhere in, and are manifested by, all existing 

 things, organic as well as inorganic. Every 

 object gravitates or has weight, coheres in its 

 several parts, exhibits chemical affinities, and 

 yields to the expansive influence of caloric. 

 Inorganic objects exhibit these general forces 

 alone, and are absolutely under their control. 

 Organized bodies are also subjected to the same 

 general forces; but they are often modified, 

 nay, they are sometimes even abrogated and 

 set at nought by vegetables and animals alike, 

 in virtue of the special powers inherent in 

 themselves. These special powers have, in fact, 

 the singular property of subtracting, in various 

 degrees, the beings they actuate from the in- 

 fluence of the general laws of creation. In- 



