2 VEGETABLE AND 



guished mineralogists, we consider atmospherical 

 air and certain other gases as minerals, it may be 

 said that the vital process in vegetables accom- 

 plishes the transformation of mineral substances into 

 an organism endued with life ; that the mineral be- 

 comes part of an organ possessing vital force. 



The increase of mass in a living plant implies that 

 certain component parts of its nourishment become 

 component parts of the plant ; and a comparison of 

 the chemical composition of the plant with that of 

 its nourishment makes known to us, with positive 

 certainty, which of the component parts of the latter 

 have been assimilated, and which have been rejected. 



The observations of vegetable physiologists and 

 the researches of chemists have mutually contri- 

 buted to establish the fact, that the growth and 

 developement of vegetables depend on the elimi- 

 nation of oxygen, which is separated from the other 

 component parts of their nourishment. 



In contradistinction to vegetable life, the life of 

 animals exhibits itself in the continual absorption 

 of the oxygen of the air, and its combination with 

 certain component parts of the animal body. 



While no part of an organised being can serve as 

 food to vegetables, until, by the processes of putre- 

 faction and decay, it has assumed the form of 

 inorganic matter, the animal organism requires, 

 for its support and developement, highly organised 

 atoms. The food of all animals, in all circum- 

 stances, consists of parts of organisms. 



