CHAPTER SECOND. 



GENERAL PROPERTIES OF ORGANIZED BODIES 

 SECTION I. 



ORGANIZED AND UNORGANIZED BODIES. 



30. NATURAL HISTORY, in its broadest sense, embraces 

 the study of all the bodies which compose the crust of the 

 earth, or which are dispersed over its surface. 



31. These bodies may be divided into two great groups ; 

 inorganic bodies, (minerals and rocks,) and living or organ- 

 ized bodies, (vegetables and animals.) These two groups 

 have nothing in common, save the universal properties of 

 matter, such as weight, extension, &c. They differ at the 

 same time as to their form, their structure, their chemical 

 composition, and their mode of existence. 



32. The distinctive characteristic of inorganic bodies is 

 est ; the distinctive trait of organized bodies is independent 



motion, LIFE. The rock or the crystal, once formed, nevei 

 changes from internal causes ; its constituent parts or mole- 

 cules invariably preserve the position which they have once 

 taken in respect to each other. Organized bodies, on the 

 contrary, are continually in act '.on. The sap circulates in 



