﻿388 
  professor 
  Alison's 
  defence 
  

  

  tion 
  on 
  the 
  alteration 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  qualities 
  of 
  matter 
  which 
  are 
  here 
  implied, 
  and 
  

   shew 
  that 
  the 
  Power 
  which 
  has 
  introduced 
  living 
  beings 
  upon 
  earth 
  has 
  had 
  at 
  

   its 
  command, 
  and 
  has 
  actually 
  modified, 
  all 
  the 
  lams 
  of 
  nature. 
  The 
  water, 
  car- 
  

   bonic 
  acid, 
  and 
  ammonia, 
  which 
  form 
  the 
  chief 
  and 
  essential 
  constituents 
  of 
  the 
  

   ingesta 
  of 
  vegetables, 
  are 
  there 
  thrown 
  into 
  combinations, 
  differing 
  from 
  any 
  

   which 
  they 
  form, 
  or 
  which 
  can 
  be 
  formed 
  from 
  the 
  elements 
  composing 
  them, 
  in 
  

   any 
  other 
  circumstances. 
  This 
  is 
  fairly 
  admitted 
  by 
  Dr 
  Daubeny, 
  who 
  says, 
  — 
  

   " 
  We 
  are 
  still 
  far 
  from 
  imitating 
  Nature 
  in 
  those 
  processes 
  by 
  which 
  she 
  continues 
  

   to 
  bring 
  about 
  the 
  wonderful 
  products 
  of 
  organic 
  life, 
  and 
  must 
  admit 
  that, 
  judging 
  

   from 
  what 
  is 
  yet 
  known, 
  there 
  would 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  power 
  residing 
  in 
  living 
  

   matter, 
  distinct, 
  at 
  least 
  in 
  its 
  effects, 
  from 
  ordinary 
  chemical 
  and 
  physical 
  forces* 
  

  

  Now, 
  before 
  going 
  farther, 
  let 
  us 
  observe 
  how 
  essential 
  to 
  everything 
  living, 
  

   and 
  how 
  peculiar 
  in 
  its 
  effects 
  (from 
  which 
  alone 
  it 
  is 
  known 
  to 
  us), 
  is 
  this 
  power 
  

   residing 
  in 
  living 
  matter, 
  and 
  distinct 
  from 
  ordinary 
  chemical 
  forces, 
  but 
  which 
  

   Dr 
  Daubeny 
  must 
  regard 
  as 
  producing 
  chemical 
  effects, 
  because 
  he 
  himself 
  

   ascribes 
  to 
  it 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  " 
  the 
  wonderful 
  products 
  of 
  organic 
  life." 
  

  

  Let 
  us 
  remember, 
  that 
  the 
  very 
  first 
  requisite 
  to 
  the 
  commencement 
  of 
  this 
  great 
  

   vital 
  circulation, 
  the 
  decomposition 
  of 
  the 
  carbonic 
  acid 
  of 
  the 
  atmosphere, 
  fixing 
  the 
  

   carbon 
  which 
  is 
  to 
  serve 
  as 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  all 
  organised 
  structures, 
  and 
  setting 
  free 
  

   the 
  oxygen, 
  producing 
  therefore 
  a 
  change 
  which 
  is 
  unquestionably 
  both 
  peculiar 
  

   and 
  chemical, 
  "is 
  done 
  by 
  a 
  power," 
  as 
  stated 
  by 
  Liebig, 
  ' 
  : 
  surpassing 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  

   strongest 
  galvanic 
  battery, 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  strongest 
  chemical 
  action 
  cannot 
  be 
  com- 
  

   pared.'" 
  Next, 
  let 
  us 
  observe, 
  that 
  the 
  compounds 
  formed 
  in 
  living 
  bodies 
  under 
  

   the 
  influence 
  of 
  this 
  acknowledged 
  power, 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  first 
  indications 
  are 
  so 
  

   striking, 
  possess 
  peculiarities 
  (which 
  I 
  formerly 
  noticed) 
  quite 
  sufficient 
  to 
  distin- 
  

   guish 
  them 
  from 
  all 
  compounds 
  formed 
  by 
  chemical 
  affinities, 
  under 
  any 
  other 
  

   circumstances 
  in 
  nature. 
  They 
  have 
  a 
  uniform 
  complexity 
  of 
  constitution, 
  even 
  

   in 
  the 
  minutest 
  particles, 
  not 
  seen 
  in 
  inorganic 
  solids 
  ; 
  they 
  assume 
  perfectly 
  de- 
  

   finite 
  forms, 
  varying, 
  not 
  according 
  to 
  their 
  chemical 
  constitution, 
  but 
  according 
  

   to 
  their 
  living 
  progenitors, 
  or 
  the 
  particles 
  of 
  living 
  matter 
  with 
  which 
  they 
  come 
  

   in 
  contact. 
  These 
  forms, 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  they 
  belong 
  to 
  living 
  structures, 
  never 
  be- 
  

   come 
  crystalline; 
  although 
  the 
  same 
  elements, 
  after 
  escaping 
  from 
  the 
  imme- 
  

   diate 
  contact 
  and 
  influence 
  of 
  living 
  structures, 
  even 
  within 
  the 
  excretory 
  

   ducts 
  by 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  thrown 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  body, 
  fall 
  into 
  compounds 
  

   which 
  take 
  the 
  crystalline 
  arrangement. 
  Above 
  all, 
  these 
  organic 
  compounds, 
  

   thus 
  influenced 
  by 
  place, 
  are 
  equally 
  liable 
  to 
  an 
  influence 
  of 
  time. 
  They 
  are 
  all 
  

   of 
  transient 
  duration, 
  and 
  particular^ 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  animals, 
  we 
  know 
  that 
  at 
  the 
  

   same 
  time, 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  points, 
  and 
  in 
  presence 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  agents, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  

  

  * 
  On 
  the 
  Atomic 
  Theory, 
  p. 
  370. 
  

  

  