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THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



109 



^^^ions of I 

 "^portion; 



' is the wi 

 ith by daoiE 

 Its. Thr 



" the neni 



most maritt 

 t the Life : 

 rhole, or f 

 ■idelyasit; 

 ;t animals »! 

 the otte 



Dn 



ent. 

 ^rhaps 



W. 





n\ 



'hat we* 



higher 



J I 



n 



this 4' 



gn:bers 







% A 



in 



gerP 

 the 



amongst different 



re- 



vegetable kingdom. In man we find a fully developed 

 and almost inconceivably complex organism; in the 

 working of which, as in that of any ordinary but ex- 

 tremely complex piece of machinery, there is seen to 

 be the closest interdependence between the actions of 

 the several parts. Destined as a whole to perform 

 a certain work, we may constantly see, for instance, 

 in the wool-factories of our manufacturing districts 

 a piece of machinery in which the sum total of work 

 to be done is parcelled out 

 lated and interdependent parts — wheels of every de- 

 scription, large and small, plain and toothed; combs of 

 various kinds; rhythmically acting knives, reels and 

 thread twisters, all combine simultaneously or suc- 

 cessively to elaborate the woof out of which our gar- 

 ments are woven. The action of some parts are 

 more essential, that of others less essential to the 

 action of the machine as a whole. An interference 

 with the revolution of some central wheel may suffice 

 instantly to interrupt the working of the entire mechan- 

 ism, just as the functional workings in the body of 

 a highly organized vertebrate animal may be as sud- 

 denly arrested by a puncture in a particular part of its 

 nervous system. In both instances the first result is 



t 



a simple cessation in the action of a complex machine ; 

 and, in the case of the animal-^seeing that its body 

 has been gradually built up in a given manner under 

 the influence of certain definite actions or functions, 

 the continuance of which is absolutely necessary — it 



