ORGANS OF THE PLANT. 221 
it derives its food from external sources, while the ingen- 
ious methods of propagation practiced in fruit and flower 
culture are only intelligible by the help of this knowledge. 
ORGANISM OF THE Piant.— We have at the outset 
spoken of organic matter, of organs and organization, 
It is in the world of life that these terms have their fittest 
application. The vegetable and animal consist of numer- 
ous parts, differing greatly from each other, but each essen- 
tial to the whole. The root, stem, leaf, flower, and seed, 
are éach instruments or organs whose co-operation is need- 
ful to the perfection of the plant. The plant (or animal), 
being thus an assemblage of organs, is called an Organism, 
it is an Organized or Organic Structure. The atmos- 
phere, the waters, the rocks and soils of the earth, are 
mineral matters; they are inorganic and lifeless. 
In inorganic nature, chemical affinity rules over the 
transformations of matter. A plant or animal that is 
dead, under ordinary circumstances, soon loses its form and 
characters; it is gradually consumed by the atmospheric 
oxygen, and virtually burned up to air and ashes. 
In the organic world a something, which we call the 
Vital Principle, resists and overcomes or modifies the af- 
finities of oxygen, and ensures the existence of a con- 
tinuous and perpetual succession of living forms. 
The organized structure is characterized and distinguish- 
ed from mineral matter by two particulars: 
1, It builds up and increases its own mass by appropri- 
ating external matter. It assimilates surrounding sub- 
stances. It grows by the absorption of food. 
2. It reproduces itself It comes from, and forms again 
a seed or germ, 
Unrmate anp CompLtex Orcans.—In our account of 
the Structure of the Plant we shall first consider the ele- 
ments of that structure—the Primary Organs or Vegetable 
Cells—which cannot be divided or wounded without ex- . 
