The Temple of Nature; or, the Origin of Society Part 13

For the purposes of nutrition these digested or decomposed recrements of dead animal or vegetable matter are absorbed by the lacteals of the stomachs of animals or of the roots of vegetables, and carried into the circulation of their blood, and these compose new organic parts to replace others which are destroyed, or to increase the growth of the plant or animal.

It is probable, that as in inanimate or chemical combinations, one of the composing materials must possess a power of attraction, and the other an apt.i.tude to be attracted; so in organic or animated compositions there must be particles with appetencies to unite, and other particles with propensities to be united with them.

Thus in the generation of the buds of trees, it is probable that two kinds of vegetable matter, as they are separated from the solid system, and float in the circulation, become arrested by two kinds of vegetable glands, and are then deposed beneath the cuticle of the tree, and there join together forming a new vegetable, the caudex of which extends from the plumula at the summit to the radicles beneath the soil, and const.i.tutes a single fibre of the bark.

These particles appear to be of two kinds; one of them possessing an appetency to unite with the other, and the latter a propensity to be united with the former; and they are probably separated from the vegetable blood by two kinds of glands, one representing those of the anthers, and the others those of the stigmas, in the s.e.xual organs of vegetables; which is spoken of at large in Phytologia, Sect. VII. and in Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. x.x.xIX. 8. of the third edition, in octavo; where it is likewise shown, that none of these parts which are deposited beneath the cuticle of the tree, is in itself a complete vegetable embryon, but that they form one by their reciprocal conjunction.

So in the s.e.xual reproduction of animals, certain parts separated from the living organs, and floating in the blood, are arrested by the s.e.xual glands of the female, and others by those of the male. Of these none are complete embryon animals, but form an embryon by their reciprocal conjunction.

There hence appears to be an a.n.a.logy between generation and nutrition, as one is the production of new organization, and the other the restoration of that which previously existed; and which may therefore be supposed to require materials somewhat similar. Now the food taken up by animal lacteals is previously prepared by the chemical process of digestion in the stomach; but that which is taken up by vegetable lacteals, is prepared by chemical dissolution of organic matter beneath the surface of the earth. Thus the particles, which form generated animal embryons, are prepared from dead organic matter by the chemico-animal processes of sanguification and of secretion; while those which form spontaneous microscopic animals or microscopic vegetables are prepared by chemical dissolutions and new combinations of organic matter in watery fluids with sufficient warmth.

It may be here added, that the production and properties of some kinds of inanimate matter, are almost as difficult to comprehend as those of the simplest degrees of animation. Thus the elastic gum, or caoutchouc, and some fossile bitumens, when drawn out to a great length, contract themselves by their elasticity, like an animal fibre by stimulus. The laws of action of these, and all other elastic bodies, are not yet understood; as the laws of the attraction of cohesion, to produce these effects, must be very different from those of general attraction, since the farther the particles of elastic bodies are drawn from each other till they separate, the stronger they seem to attract; and the nearer they are pressed together, the more they seem to repel; as in bending a spring, or in extending a piece of elastic gum; which is the reverse to what occurs in the attractions of disunited bodies; and much wants further investigation. So the spontaneous production of alcohol or of vinegar, by the vinous and acetous fermentations, as well as the production of a mucus by putrefaction which will contract when extended, seems almost as difficult to understand as the spontaneous production of a fibre from decomposing animal or vegetable substances, which will contract when stimulated, and thus const.i.tutes the primordium of life.

Some of the microscopic animals are said to remain dead for many days or weeks, when the fluid in which they existed is dried up, and quickly to recover life and motion by the fresh addition of water and warmth. Thus the chaos redivivum of Linnaeus dwells in vinegar and in bookbinders paste: it revives by water after having been dried for years, and is both oviparous and viviparous; Syst. Nat. Thus the vorticella or wheel animal, which is found in rain water that has stood some days in leaden gutters, or in hollows of lead on the tops of houses, or in the slime or sediment left by such water, though it discovers no sign of life except when in the water, yet it is capable of continuing alive for many months though kept in a dry state. In this state it is of a globulous shape, exceeds not the bigness of a grain of sand, and no signs of life appear; but being put into water, in the s.p.a.ce of half an hour a languid motion begins, the globule turns itself about, lengthens itself by slow degrees, a.s.sumes the form of a lively maggot, and most commonly in a few minutes afterwards puts out its wheels, swimming vigorously through the water as if in search of food; or else, fixing itself by the tail, works the wheels in such a manner as to bring its food to its mouth; English Encyclopedia, Art.

Animalcule.

Thus some sh.e.l.l-snails in the cabinets of the curious have been kept in a dry state for ten years or longer, and have revived on being moistened with warmish water; Philos. Transact. So eggs and seeds after many months torpor, are revived by warmth and moisture; hence it may be concluded, that even the organic particles of dead animals may, when exposed to a due degree of warmth and moisture, regain some degree of vitality, since this is done by more complicate animal organs in the instances above mentioned.

The hydra of Linnaeus, which dwells in the rivers of Europe under aquatic plants, has been observed by the curious of the present time, to revive after it has been dried, to be restored after being mutilated, to multiply by being divided, to be propagated from small portions, to live after being inverted; all which would be best explained by the doctrine of spontaneous reproduction from organic particles not yet completely decomposed.

To this should be added, that these microscopic animals are found in all solutions of vegetable or animal matter in water; as black pepper steeped in water, hay suffered to become putrid in water, and the water of dunghills, afford animalcules in astonis.h.i.+ng numbers. See Mr.

Ellis's curious account of Animalcules produced from an infusion of Potatoes and Hempseed; Philos. Transact. Vol. LIX. from all which it would appear, that organic particles of dead vegetables and animals during their usual chemical changes into putridity or acidity, do not lose all their organization or vitality, but retain so much of it as to unite with the parts of living animals in the process of nutrition, or unite and produce new complicate animals by secretion as in generation, or produce very simple microscopic animals or microscopic vegetables, by their new combinations in warmth and moisture.

And finally, that these microscopic organic bodies are multiplied and enlarged by solitary reproduction without s.e.xual intercourse till they acquire greater perfection or new properties. Lewenhoek observed in rain-water which had stood a few days, the smallest scarcely visible microscopic animalcules, and in a few more days he observed others eight times as large; English Encyclop. Art. Animalcule.

_Conclusion._

There is therefore no absurdity in believing that the most simple animals and vegetables may be produced by the congress of the parts of decomposing organic matter, without what can properly be termed generation, as the genus did not previously exist; which accounts for the endless varieties, as well as for the immense numbers of microscopic animals.

The green vegetable matter of Dr. Priestley, which is universally produced in stagnant water, and the mucor, or mouldiness, which is seen on the surface of all putrid vegetable and animal matter, have probably no parents, but a spontaneous origin from the congress of the decomposing organic particles, and afterwards propagate themselves.

Some other fungi, as those growing in close wine-vaults, or others which arise from decaying trees, or rotten timber, may perhaps be owing to a similar spontaneous production, and not previously exist as perfect organic beings in the juices of the wood, as some have supposed. In the same manner it would seem, that the common esculent mushroom is produced from horse dung at any time and in any place, as is the common practice of many gardeners; Kennedy on Gardening.

_Appendix._

The knowledge of microscopic animals is still in its infancy: those already known are arranged by Mr. Muller into the following cla.s.ses; but it is probable, that many more cla.s.ses, as well as innumerable individuals, may be discovered by improvements of the microscope, as Mr. Hersch.e.l.l has discovered so many thousand stars, which were before invisible, by improvements of the telescope.

Mr. Muller's cla.s.ses consist of

I. _Such as have no External Organs._

1. Monas: Punctiformis. A mere point.

2. Proteus: Mutabilis. Mutable.

3. Volvox: Sphaeric.u.m. Spherical.

4. Enchelis: Cylindracea. Cylindrical.

5. Vibrio: Elongatum. Long.

*Membranaceous.

6. Cyclidium: Ovale. Oval.

7. Paramecium: Oblongum. Oblong.

8. Kolpoda: Sinuatum. Sinuous.

9. Gonium: Angulatum. With angles.

10. Bursaria. Hollow like a purse.

II. _Those that have External Organs._

*Naked, or not enclosed in a sh.e.l.l.

1. Cercaria: Caudatum. With a tail.

2. Trichoda: Crinitum. Hairy.

3. Kerona: Corniculatum. With horns.

4. Himantopus: Cirratum. Cirrated.

5. Leucophra: Ciliatum undique. Every part ciliated.

6. Vorticella: Ciliatum apice. The apex ciliated.

*Covered with a sh.e.l.l.

7. Brachionus: Ciliatum apice. The apex ciliated.

1. These animalcules are discovered in two or three days in all decompositions of organic matter, whether vegetable or animal, in moderate degrees of warmth with sufficient moisture.

2. They appear to enlarge in a few days, and some to change their form; which are probably converted from more simple into more complicate animalcules by repeated reproductions. See Note VIII.

3. In their early state they seem to multiply by viviparous solitary reproduction, either by external division, as the smaller ones, or by an internal progeny, as the eels in paste or vinegar; and lastly, in their more mature state, the larger ones are said to appear to have s.e.xual connexion. Engl. Encyclop.

4. Those animalcules discovered in pustules of the itch, in the feces of dysenteric patients, and in semine masculino, I suppose to be produced by the stagnation and incipient decomposition of those materials in their receptacles, and not to exist in the living blood or recent secretions; as none, I believe, have been discovered in blood when first drawn from the arm, or in fluids newly secreted from the glands, which have not previously stagnated in their reservoirs.

5. They are observed to move in all directions with ease and rapidity, and to avoid obstacles, and not to interfere with each other in their motions. When the water is in part evaporated, they are seen to flock towards the remaining part, and show great agitation. They sustain a great degree of cold, as some insects, and perish in much the same degree of heat as destroys insects; all which evince that they are living animals.

And it is probable, that other or similar animalcules may be produced in the air, or near the surface of the earth, but it is not so easy to view them as in water; which as it is transparent, the creatures produced in it can easily be observed by applying a drop to a microscope. I hope that microscopic researches may again excite the attention of philosophers, as unforeseen advantages may probably be derived from them, like the discovery of a new world.

ADDITIONAL NOTES. II.

THE FACULTIES OF THE SENSORIUM.

Next the long nerves unite their silver train, And young Sensation permeates the brain.

CANT. I. l. 250.

I. The fibres, which const.i.tute the muscles and organs of sense, possess a power of contraction. The circ.u.mstances attending the exertion of this power of contraction const.i.tute the laws of animal motion, as the circ.u.mstances attending the exertion of the power of attraction const.i.tute the laws of motion of inanimate matter.

II. The spirit of animation is the immediate cause of the contraction of animal fibres, it resides in the brain and nerves, and is liable to general or partial diminution or acc.u.mulation.

III. The stimulus of bodies external to the moving organ is the remote cause of the original contractions of animal fibres.