MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



2. Differences between Dead and Living Bodies. 



In determining this somewhat difficult point, it will be best 

 to examine the differences between organised and unorganised 

 bodies seriatim, and to compare them together systematically 

 under the following heads :— 



a. Chemical Composition. — Unorganised bodies are composed 

 of many elements, which may be either simple or combined ; 

 but the combinations are mostly limited to a small number of 

 elements (forming binary and ternary compounds), and these 

 are united in low combining proportions. Thus, carbonate of 

 lime, or common limestone, is an excellent example of an in- 

 organic body,* being a ternary compound composed of one 

 atom of the metal calcium, three of oxygen, and one of carbon. 



Organised bodies, on the other hand, are composed of few 

 chemical elements, and these are almost always combined. 

 Furthermore, the combinations are always complex (ternary 

 and quaternary compounds), and the elements enter into union 

 in high combining proportions. Finally, the combinations are 

 invariably characterised by the presence of water, and are 

 prone to spontaneous decomposition. Thus, the great organic 

 compound, albumen, is composed of 144 atoms of carbon, no 

 of hydrogen, 18 of nitrogen, 2 atoms of sulphur, and 42 of 

 oxygen. Iron, however, exists in the blood, very proba,bly in 

 its elemental condition ; and copper has been detected in the 

 liver of certain Mammalia, and largely in the red colouring- 

 matter of the feathers of certain birds. 



b. Arrangetnent of Parts. — Unorganised bodies are composed 

 of an aggregation of homogeneous parts (when unmixed) which 

 bear no definite and fixed relations to one another. 



Organised bodies are composed of heterogeneous parts, the 

 relations of which dmongst themselves are more or less definite. 



c. Form. — Unorganised bodies are either of no definite shape 

 — when they are said to be " amorphous" — or they are crystal- 

 line, in which case they are almost invariably bounded by 

 plane surfaces and straight lines. Organised bodies are always 

 more or less definite in shape, presenting convex and concave 

 surfaces, and being bounded by curved lines. 



be "organised" in the proper sense of the term; still organisation is in 

 such a vast proportion of cases the concomitant of vitality, that the pur- 

 pose here in view will be fully served by assuming that all living bodies 

 are organised, and all dead bodies are unorganised. 



* In another sense limestone may be said to be organic — namely, when 

 it has been produced by the operations of living beings; but this does not 

 affect the above definition. 



