62 



THE planter's GUIDE. 



universal and connected plan. By His incompreliensible 

 power, every organised production is adapted to tlie 

 place wliich it is destined to occupy in the world of life ; 

 and every organ of every living whole is curiously modi- 

 fied to the circumstances which affect the exercise of its 

 functions, and to the conditions which regulate the devel- 

 opment of its energies. Every organised is necessarily 

 a living production. Every living production, whether 

 animal or vegetable, tends naturally to perfect existence ; 

 and perfect existence is contained in the full develop- 

 ment of all the parts or organs tlirough which action 

 is evolved, and, consequently, in which life is realised: 

 for life is manifested by action ; and living vigour must 

 be proportionate to spontaneous energy in every being 

 endowed with life. 



But while every organic creation tends to full develop- 

 ment, that is, to absolute energy, or the perfection of its 

 species, still we find that the organs of which it is com- 

 posed are each reciprocally dependent on every other, 

 for tlie possibility and degree of their peculiar action. At 

 the same time, as these internal conditions of animated 

 existence are severally dependent on certain external 

 conditions, which again are not always fully and equally 

 supplied; so it follows that the life of every organised 

 being is determined in its amount, and in the direction of 

 its development, by the outward circumstances of its 

 individual situation. For this reason we see that every 

 animal, and every plant, is dependent for its existence, 

 and also for its perfect existence, on conditions both 

 internal and external. 



From this reasoning it may be conceived how the 

 several parts of the living whole reciprocally act and react. 

 They are, in fact, cause and effect mutually ; and no one 

 can precede another, either in the order of nature or of 



