528 CONDITIONS ESSENTIAL TO 



according to the observations of De la Tour, is 

 composed chiefly of organic molecules that have 

 the faculty of multiplying themselves in all fer- 

 mentable matters. 



Should it be objected that such molecules, 

 like the different species of moulds, conferva?, 

 and animalcules, can be generated only from 

 matter that has been once organized, I answer 

 that the elements of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, 

 and nitrogen, wherever they exist, are capable 

 of entering into the universal tide of life; 

 whether locked up with rocks, metals, and beds 

 of coal, in the bowels of the earth, or floating 

 over its surface in the state of air and water. 

 When once formed, the germs of plants have the 

 power of converting the binary combinations of 

 water and carbonic acid into ternary composi- 

 tions of lignin, sugar, starch, and other organic 

 products, which are thus prepared for entering 

 into the composition of more exalted species of 

 organization while it is certain, that whatever 

 the cause of vital action may be, it is incapable 

 of converting the elements of mineral bodies into 

 the sap, cambium, and solid structure of plants ; 

 or into chyme, chyle, blood, and the different 

 organs of animals. Owing to the comparative 

 inertness of their elements, mineral bodies have 

 the power of entering into binary combinations 

 only, which maintain their original state of aggre- 

 gation until destroyed by chemical agency, and 



