LIVING FORMS. THE LAW OF FORM. 121 



Mr. Rainey has demonstrated the operation of phy- 

 sical laws in the production of shell and bone. By 

 causing the gradual formation of carbonate of lime in 

 a viscid fluid, such as a solution of gum, that physi- 

 ologist has succeeded in obtaining globules consisting 

 partly of organic and partly of mineral matter, which 

 correspond mdistinguishably with the forms pre- 

 sented in the development of the shells or skeletons 

 of certain animals. 



It is remarkable, also, to how great an extent the 

 power of spontaneous repair of injuries resolves itself 

 into an exhibition of the law of growth in the direc- 

 tion of least resistance. Is not a wound virtually 

 an " axil ? " and the granulations which form in it, 

 or the new member which grows in the place of a 

 lost one, do not they correspond to the buds which 

 form in axils in the growth of plants, or the develop- 

 ment of the embryo? The wound removes the 

 resistance of the external investiture of the body. 

 No special power, therefore, appears to be needed, 

 by which a living body should be enabled to recover 

 itself from accident or injury. The law of its forma- 

 tion involves also its repair. So, if the leaves of 



