100 OSCILLATIOlfS OB VIBRATIONS 



. It has, however, been shown that the injury done to the 

 tree is soon effaced, that when branches are thus removed, 

 those less developed get the sap which they monopolized. 

 And does not precisely the same law obtain in society ? 

 If any body sufters in person or pocket, somebody is sure 

 to benefit. Hence the force of the old Scotch proverb, 

 " It's an ill wind that blaws naebody ony luck." 



But the most remarkable and interesting feature about 

 a tree is the fact that it is a body so easily impressible. All 

 its periodical changes from a state of rest to that of motion, 

 those waves of growth of which we have spoken, have left 

 an indelible impression in the solid parts of its fabric. All 

 the bright and stormy days of its life, every wind that has 

 shaken its foliage, and every rain-drop that has wetted its 

 roots, have helped to mould its physical organization, and 

 make it just what it is. We see, however, that in the 

 figure of its leaves, the form of its branches, and the color 

 of its flowers, it is governed by peculiar laws of life im- 

 pressed on the seed, and that it possesses an internal orga- 

 nizing power by which it can to a certain extent form it- 

 self, notwithstanding the indelible impressions left on its 

 organization by thfe events of its life. 



And is it not thus with the successive generations of 

 man ? Like the flowers of the field and the trees of the 

 forest, do not we all develope according to the same general 

 laws running through the same cycle of life-changes — of 

 infancy, maturity, decay, and dissolution ? Yet each indi- 

 vidual is governed by a peculiar specific law. Is there not 

 an individuality about each of us ? Hence, like the plants 

 around us, do we not possess, to a certain extent, an orga- 

 nizing power within ourselves ? Like the trees, we are in- 

 separably connected with the material world, from whence 

 our organization derives impressions. "We are a part of 

 the universe. The matter of which our bodies are com- 

 posed, like that of trees and flowers, is held together by 

 attraction, and after a while, like them, the present living 

 generation will disappear from the landscape, — dissolved 

 into earth and air. But not an atom perishes. The same 



