ON ORGANIZATION 



of that Almighty Word which commanded matter 

 itself into existence. 



Crystallization, the next point in the Scale, is 

 a principle more precise in its operation, depending 

 chiefly on chemical affinity. Under its influence, 

 matter always assumes determinate forms. Its 

 adherence to this law, indeed, is so unbending, 

 that the ingenuity of man has not yet been able, 

 by any intermixture or management, to produce the 

 slightest change on the angle appropriate to any 

 one crystal. There is an analogy between the pe- 

 culiar angles of crystals, and the peculiar angles 

 at which the buds and branches of plants are pro- 

 truded; but in plants, the law is modified by a 

 number of circumstances. 



We now arrive on debatable ground ; for, on 

 ascending the step to Organization, we come into 

 collision with the opinions o f my distinguished 

 friends Dr Barclay and Dr Thomson ; and it is 

 with no small degree of diffidence that I venture to 

 oppugn their philosophy. Referring to Dr Bar- 

 clay's paper on Organization, the opinions expressed 

 by that learned gentleman may be stated to be, 

 That the principle of organization is a Being which 

 discriminates, which forms the organs, keeps them in 

 repair, and of design deserts them altogether, when 

 they become irreparable *„ And nearly to the same 

 effect with regard to the discriminating faculty of 

 the agent, Dr Thomson appears to have expres- 



-* W^rnerian Transactions, vol. ii. p- 543. 



