XIIT.] 



ORGANIC SUBORDINATION. 147 



chemical ones, but life does not suspend the ordinary- 

 physical and chemical properties of the substances in the 

 organism ; on the contrary, it works through them. Con- 

 sequently, the action of life depends on the properties of 

 the materials it has to work with ; and it is impossible to 

 understand the nutritive functions of organisms, without 

 some previous knowledge of chemistry. It would have 

 been impossible, for instance, to explain the nature of 

 respiration, which is a slow combustion, unless the nature 

 of combustion had first been discovered. 

 So that we have this series : — 



1. Mathematics, or the science of the properties of space Series of 

 J ,. sciences, 



and time. 



2. Dynamics, or the science of the laws of force in 

 general. 



3. The secondary dynamical sciences, being those of 

 sound, radiance, heat, electricity, and magnetism ; all of 

 which are particular applications of dynamical theory. 



4. Chemistry, or the science of the special properties of 

 particular kinds of matter. 



5. Finally, biology, or the science of the properties of 

 living beings. 



In this series, each member is dependent on that which each 

 goes before it, but independent of that which comes after o^^tiie pre- 

 it. Biology is dependent on chemistry, because the actions ceding. 

 of life on the substances in the organism cannot be under- 

 stood, unless the properties of the substances themselves 

 are known first. Chemistry is dependent on the secondary 

 dynamical sciences, because its laws imply those of heat 

 and electricity, and could not be understood without them. 

 The secondary dynamical sciences are dependent on general 

 dynamics, of which they are but particular cases. And 

 lastly, dynamics depends on mathematics, without which 

 it cannot make a single step in reasoning. 



This dependence is not reciprocal. The truths of mathe- Depend- 

 matics do not in any way depend on those of dynamics redprocal. 

 for their proof. The truths of general dynamics are true, 

 independently of those of the secondary, or special, dyna- 

 mical sciences. The laws of the secondary dynamical 



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