20 DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS OF ORGANIZED BODIES. 
whilst that of one of the higher animals resides in the sum 
of all its organs. 
3. The very simplest Organized fabric is further dis- 
tinguished from Inorganic bodies by marked differences in 
regard to intimate structure and consistence. Inorganic sub-— 
stances can scarcely be regarded as possessing a structure, 
since their perfection consists in their homogeneousness and 
their solidity. It is the essential character of Organized 
fabrics, on the other hand, that they are formed by a com- 
bination of solid and liquid components, so intimately 
combined and arranged as to impart a heterogeneous cha-— 
racter to almost every portion of their substance ; and in all 
the parts which are most actively concerned in the vital | 
operations, softness of texture seems an essential condition,— 
those parts only being so consolidated as to acquire anything 
comparable to the density of mineral bodies, which are 
destined to possess the simply physical property of resistance, 
so as to be subservient either to support, to protection, a 
to mechanical movement. A comparison between the pulpy 
portion of the leaves of Plants and the heartwood of the stem, 
between the membranous tissues of the Coral-polypes and the 
stony masses which they form, between the firm shell of the 
Crab or the Oyster and the substance of the included body, 
or between the solid bones of Man and the flesh which clothes — 
them, will serve to illustrate this principle. It is in such 
solidified portions of the Organized fabric, that the greatest 
resemblance exists to Inorganic bodies; but even these 
portions all pass through the condition of soft tissue, the 
consolidation of which is effected by the deposit of some 
hardening material (generally carbonate or phosphate of lime), 
in its interstices.—It is by the reaction which is continually 
taking place between the solid and the liquid parts of 
Organized structures, that their integrity is maintained. For 
we shall find it to be a result of their peculiar composition, — 
that they are prone to continual decay ; and this decay would 
speedily destroy them altogether, if it were not compensated 
by new formation. The materials for their reproduction 
must always be presented to the tissues in a liquid state, and 
all the dead and decomposing matter must be reduced to i 
same form, in order that it may be carried off; so that the 
intermingling or mutual penetration of solids and liquids, in” 
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