ORGANIC AND INORGANIC BODIES. 15 



In animals, we find the same simple elements uniting, each 

 with all the others, forming the peculiar principles of organic 

 bodies, such as fibrin, gelatine, &c. 



8. Organized bodies contain small particles of matter of 

 a round or oval shape, both among their solid and fluid parts. 

 These are supposed, according to their different arrangement, 

 to make up all the elementary forms of organized bodies ; as 

 when arranged in lines, they form nerves, tendons, and 

 muscles ; in sheets, the various membranes and coats of ves- 

 sels ; and in masses, the solid substance of the glands, as the 

 liver, kidneys, and pancreas. 



9. There are but few changes in inorganic bodies. The 

 elements of which they are composed remain at rest. Rocks 

 and mountains are the same now, as they were five thousand 

 years ago. But in organized bodies, compounds are con- 

 tinually forming to be again separated ; animals feed on 

 vegetables, and vegetables on animals ; 



" See dying vegetables life sustain; 

 See life dissolving, vegetate again ; 

 All forms that perish, other forms supply- 

 By turns we catch the vital breath and die." 



10. In organized bodies the parts are mutually dependen 

 on each other for support. If we cut off the limb of a tree, 

 it dies, because it can receive no sap ; if we amputate a 

 finger, it mortifies, because the circulation of the blood has 

 ceased ; but if we break off a piece of marble, it will remain 

 unchanged as long as the original mass. 



11. Inorganic substances exist either in solid, liquid, or 

 gaseous forms. They are wholly solid, liquid, or gaseous. 

 But organic matter always presents a combination of solid 

 and fluid parts. We find fluids circulating in regular ves- 

 sels, and the solids and fluids mutually dependent on each 

 other for support. In vegetables, we discover various parts, 



