38 LITE IN NATURE. 



its wants. Life is in league with universal forces, 

 and subsists by universal law. 



For the growth and nourishment of organic bodies 

 may be seen to result from well-known agencies, and 

 to be in conformity with common and all-pervading 

 laws. But, first, it is needful to limit our inquiries, 

 and to mark out distinctly the question to be con- 

 sidered. The fable of the fagot of sticks which were 

 easily broken one by one, but resisted all efforts when 

 tied together, is peculiarly applicable to the study of 

 Life, though its moral needs to be read the other 

 way. We must divide to conquer. We have dis- 

 cussed the active powers or " functions " of the body, 

 and have seen them to result from chemical changes 

 within it, 'by which (as by the relaxation of a tense 

 spring) force is set free, and the characteristic actions 

 of the various organs ensue. In living bodies chemi- 

 cal affinity has been opposed, so that they represent 

 forces in a state of tension; their elements are ar- 

 ranged in a manner from which chemical affinity 

 tends to draw them. The question we now propose 

 is By what means is this arrangement of the ele- 

 ments effected ? The actions of the body, produced 



