72 WONDERS OF ORGANIC LIFE. 



internal vital powers, involving chemical phe- 

 nomena, that the endogenous plant coats itself 

 with silex. May not this process be called 

 vitali- chemical? 



All organic beings, after a certain period, 

 begin to lose a portion of their vital energy. 

 Animal heat is then maintained with diffi- 

 culty, and the nervous system loses its func- 

 tional delicacy ; the system flags, the arterial 

 pulse is no longer bounding, and the black 

 blood overladen with carbon creeps torpidly 

 through the veins. What applies to the con- 

 dition of animals applies also to vegetables, hi 

 these organic forms, whether destined for a 

 brief or an extended life, the circulation of the 

 sap (their blood) first begins to flow lan- 

 guidly, till at length the conclusion is death. 

 This observation applies to the death of a tree 

 in its integrity, or to the death of every leaf 

 which has unfolded in spring, seeing that every 

 leaf is a distinct being, dying not before a suc- 

 cessor is prepared, while at the same time every 

 leaf is in vital union with the living bark 

 through which the circulation of the vital fluid 

 is maintained. How closely the tree and the 

 compound zoophite assimilate ! 



Another interesting peculiarity connected 

 with the energy of the vital principle now de- 

 mands our attention. A superficial survey of 

 the animal kingdom leads many persons to 

 believe that an individual of any given specie* 

 is an isolated being, or rather, a being in itself 

 independent, whether it be male or female. 



