UNITY OF SCIENCE. 513 



their turn become the appropriate nourishment 

 of animals. It was justly observed by Sir Charles 

 Morgan, that " the distinctions which the subtil- 

 izing genius of man has invented to separate 

 and to isolate, are contradicted and deranged at 

 every new step of successful investigation." (Phi- 

 losophy of Life, p. 62.) 



Ultimate Elements of Organized Bodies. 



Among the fifty four undecompounded bodies, 

 independent of the imponderables, that form the 

 crust of the earth, nineteen have been found in 

 plants and animals, ten of which are non-me- 

 tallic, and nine metallic; viz. oxygen, hydrogen, 

 nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus, sulphur, chlorine, 

 iodine, bromine, fluorine, potassium, sodium, cal- 

 cium, magnesium, silicium, aluminum, with the 

 more ponderous metals, iron, manganese, and 

 copper. But the most remarkable circumstance 

 connected with the chemical constitution of orga- 

 nized bodies is, that they are composed chiefly of 

 the most light, active, and mobile species of 'matter, 

 such as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon, 

 the three first of which are always found in the 

 gaseous state, when not united chemically with 

 other bodies ; ivhile their elasticity is such that no 

 mechanical pressure has ever yet been sufficient to 

 overcome it. Hence it is that the atmosphere, 

 and the waters that are elevated from the ocean, 

 which are composed of these elements, are in a 



