14 THE PRESENT CONDITION 



soou begins to draw into itself from the earth and the 

 surrounding air matters which in themselves contain no 

 vital properties whatever; it absorbs into its own sub- 

 stance water, an inorganic body; it draws into its sub- 

 stance carbonic acid, an inorganic matter; and ammonia, 

 another inorganic matter, found in the air ; and then, 

 by some wonderful chemical process, the details of 

 which chemists do not yet understand, though they are 

 near foreshadowing them, it combines them into one 

 substance, which is known to us as ' Protein,' a 

 complex compound of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and 

 nitrogen, M'hich alone possesses the property of mani- 

 festing vitality and of permanently supporting animal 

 life. So that, you see, the waste products of the 

 animal economy, the effete materials which are con- 

 tinually being thrown off by all living beings, in 

 the form of organic matters, are constantly replaced 

 by supplies of the necessary repairing and rebuilding 

 materials drawn from the plants, which in their turn 

 manufacture them, so to speak, by a mysterious com- 

 bination of those same inorganic materials. 



Let us trace out the history of the Horse in another 

 direction. After a certain time, as the result of sick- 

 ness or disease, the eflFect of accident, or the consequence 

 of old age, sooner or later, the animal dies. The mul- 

 titudinous operations of this beautiful mechanism flag 

 in their performance, the Horse loses its vigour, and 

 after passing through the curious series of changes 

 comprised in its formation and preservation, it finally 

 decays, and ends its life by going back into that inor- 

 ganic world from which all but an inappreciable frac- 

 tion of its substance was derived. Its bones become 



