N. 



36 OFREPRODUCTION 



I* 



which Is not fufceptlble of organization ; and 

 this is a full demonftration that fhe has no ten- 

 dency to increafe brute matter: that her fole ob- 

 ject is the mukiplication of organized beings ; 

 and that, in this operation, fhe never ftops but 

 when irrefidible obftacles occur. What we have 

 remarked concerning the feed of an elm may be 

 extended to any other germ ; and it would be 

 eafy to fhov\r, that, by hatching all the eggs which 

 are produced by hens for a courfe of 30 years, 

 the number of fowls would befo great as to co- 

 ver the whole furface of the earth. 



^ Calculations of this kind evince the tenden- 

 cy of Nature towards the produdion of orga- 

 nized bodies, and the facihty with which flie 

 performs the operation. But I v/ill not (lop 

 here. Inftead of dividing matter into Qv^a- 

 nized and brute jnatter^ the general diviiion 

 ought to be into living and dead matter. That 

 brute mutter is nothing but matter produced by 

 the death of animals and vegetables, might 

 be proven rroin tlie enormous quantities 

 of fhell% and other rellcks of living bodies, 

 which conilitute the principal parts of itones, 

 marbles, clays, marls, earths, turfs, and o'-hei* 

 fubOinnces that are commonly reckoned bruts 

 matter^ hut are, in reality, compofed of decayed 

 animals and vegetables. This dodrine will be 

 farther illuftrated bv the fubfequent remarks, 



which appear to be well founded. 



The 



