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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2921-h.zip b/2921-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..51fd109 --- /dev/null +++ b/2921-h.zip diff --git a/2921-h/2921-h.htm b/2921-h/2921-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2de5eb --- /dev/null +++ b/2921-h/2921-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1205 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Lecture to Working Men, No. 1 (of 6), The Present Condition of Organic + Nature, by Thomas H. Huxley + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Present Condition of Organic Nature, by +Thomas H. Huxley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Present Condition of Organic Nature + Lecture I. (of VI.), Lectures To Working Men, at the Museum + of Practical Geology, 1863, On Darwin's work: "Origin of + Species". + +Author: Thomas H. Huxley + +Release Date: January 4, 2009 [EBook #2921] +Last Updated: January 22, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE *** + + + + +Produced by Amy E. Zelmer, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE PRESENT CONDITION <br /> OF ORGANIC NATURE + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Lecture I. (of VI.), "Lectures To Working Men", at the Museum of Practical + Geology, 1863, On Darwin's work: "Origin of Species". + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Thomas H. Huxley + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Contents + </h3> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> EDITOR'S NOTE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> NOTICE TO THE FIRST EDITION. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + List of Illustrations + </h3> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0001"> Figure 1. (section Through a Horse.) + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0002"> Figure 2. (section Through a Cell.) + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0003"> Figure 3. (diagram Showing Material + <br />Relationship of The Vegetable, Animal <br />and Inorganic + Worlds.) </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + EDITOR'S NOTE + </h2> + <p> + Of the great thinkers of the nineteenth century, Thomas Henry Huxley, son + of an Ealing schoolmaster, was undoubtedly the most noteworthy. His + researches in biology, his contributions to scientific controversy, his + pungent criticisms of conventional beliefs and thoughts have probably had + greater influence than the work of any other English scientist. And yet he + was a "self-made" intellectualist. In spite of the fact that his father + was a schoolmaster he passed through no regular course of education. "I + had," he said, "two years of a pandemonium of a school (between eight and + ten) and after that neither help nor sympathy in any intellectual + direction till I reached manhood." When he was twelve a craving for + reading found satisfaction in Hutton's "Geology," and when fifteen in + Hamilton's "Logic." + </p> + <p> + At seventeen Huxley entered as a student at Charing Cross Hospital, and + three years later he was M.B. and the possessor of the gold medal for + anatomy and physiology. An appointment as surgeon in the navy proved to be + the entry to Huxley's great scientific career, for he was gazetted to the + "Rattlesnake", commissioned for surveying work in Torres Straits. He was + attracted by the teeming surface life of tropical seas and his study of it + was the commencement of that revolution in scientific knowledge ultimately + brought about by his researches. + </p> + <p> + Thomas Henry Huxley was born at Ealing on May 4, 1825, and died at + Eastbourne June 29, 1895. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> LECTURES AND ESSAYS BY T.H. HUXLEY ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE + CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE <a name="link2H_4_0002" + id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTICE TO THE FIRST EDITION. + </h2> + <p> + The Publisher of these interesting Lectures, having made an arrangement + for their publication with Mr. J. A. Mays, the Reporter, begs to append + the following note from Professor Huxley:— + </p> + <p> + "Mr. J. Aldous Mays, who is taking shorthand notes of my 'Lectures to + Working Men,' has asked me to allow him, on his own account, to print + those Notes for the use of my audience. I willingly accede to this + request, on the understanding that a notice is prefixed to the effect that + I have no leisure to revise the Lectures, or to make alterations in them, + beyond the correction of any important error in a matter of fact." + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + </h2> + <p> + When it was my duty to consider what subject I would select for the six + lectures [*To Working Men, at the Museum of Practical Geology, 1863.] + which I shall now have the pleasure of delivering to you, it occurred to + me that I could not do better than endeavour to put before you in a true + light, or in what I might perhaps with more modesty call, that which I + conceive myself to be the true light, the position of a book which has + been more praised and more abused, perhaps, than any book which has + appeared for some years;—I mean Mr. Darwin's work on the "Origin of + Species". That work, I doubt not, many of you have read; for I know the + inquiring spirit which is rife among you. At any rate, all of you will + have heard of it,—some by one kind of report and some by another + kind of report; the attention of all and the curiosity of all have been + probably more or less excited on the subject of that work. All I can do, + and all I shall attempt to do, is to put before you that kind of judgment + which has been formed by a man, who, of course, is liable to judge + erroneously; but, at any rate, of one whose business and profession it is + to form judgments upon questions of this nature. + </p> + <p> + And here, as it will always happen when dealing with an extensive subject, + the greater part of my course—if, indeed, so small a number of + lectures can be properly called a course—must be devoted to + preliminary matters, or rather to a statement of those facts and of those + principles which the work itself dwells upon, and brings more or less + directly before us. I have no right to suppose that all or any of you are + naturalists; and even if you were, the misconceptions and + misunderstandings prevalent even among naturalists on these matters would + make it desirable that I should take the course I now propose to take,—that + I should start from the beginning,—that I should endeavour to point + out what is the existing state of the organic world,—that I should + point out its past condition,—that I should state what is the + precise nature of the undertaking which Mr. Darwin has taken in hand; that + I should endeavour to show you what are the only methods by which that + undertaking can be brought to an issue, and to point out to you how far + the author of the work in question has satisfied those conditions, how far + he has not satisfied them, how far they are satisfiable by man, and how + far they are not satisfiable by man. + </p> + <p> + To-night, in taking up the first part of this question, I shall endeavour + to put before you a sort of broad notion of our knowledge of the condition + of the living world. There are many ways of doing this. I might deal with + it pictorially and graphically. Following the example of Humboldt in his + "Aspects of Nature", I might endeavour to point out the infinite variety + of organic life in every mode of its existence, with reference to the + variations of climate and the like; and such an attempt would be fraught + with interest to us all; but considering the subject before us, such a + course would not be that best calculated to assist us. In an argument of + this kind we must go further and dig deeper into the matter; we must + endeavour to look into the foundations of living Nature, if I may so say, + and discover the principles involved in some of her most secret + operations. I propose, therefore, in the first place, to take some + ordinary animal with which you are all familiar, and, by easily + comprehensible and obvious examples drawn from it, to show what are the + kind of problems which living beings in general lay before us; and I shall + then show you that the same problems are laid open to us by all kinds of + living beings. But first, let me say in what sense I have used the words + "organic nature." In speaking of the causes which lead to our present + knowledge of organic nature, I have used it almost as an equivalent of the + word "living," and for this reason,—that in almost all living beings + you can distinguish several distinct portions set apart to do particular + things and work in a particular way. These are termed "organs," and the + whole together is called "organic." And as it is universally + characteristic of them, this term "organic" has been very conveniently + employed to denote the whole of living nature,—the whole of the + plant world, and the whole of the animal world. + </p> + <p> + Few animals can be more familiar to you than that whose skeleton is shown + on our diagram. You need not bother yourselves with this "Equus caballus" + written under it; that is only the Latin name of it, and does not make it + any better. It simply means the common Horse. Suppose we wish to + understand all about the Horse. Our first object must be to study the + structure of the animal. The whole of his body is inclosed within a hide, + a skin covered with hair; and if that hide or skin be taken off, we find a + great mass of flesh, or what is technically called muscle, being the + substance which by its power of contraction enables the animal to move. + These muscles move the hard parts one upon the other, and so give that + strength and power of motion which renders the Horse so useful to us in + the performance of those services in which we employ him. + </p> + <p> + And then, on separating and removing the whole of this skin and flesh, you + have a great series of bones, hard structures, bound together with + ligaments, and forming the skeleton which is represented here. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/fig01.jpg" alt="Figure 1. (section Through a Horse.) " + width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/fig02.jpg" alt="Figure 2. (section Through a Cell.) " + width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + In that skeleton there are a number of parts to be recognized. The long + series of bones, beginning from the skull and ending in the tail, is + called the spine, and those in front are the ribs; and then there are two + pairs of limbs, one before and one behind; and there are what we all know + as the fore-legs and the hind-legs. If we pursue our researches into the + interior of this animal, we find within the framework of the skeleton a + great cavity, or rather, I should say, two great cavities,—one + cavity beginning in the skull and running through the neck-bones, along + the spine, and ending in the tail, containing the brain and the spinal + marrow, which are extremely important organs. The second great cavity, + commencing with the mouth, contains the gullet, the stomach, the long + intestine, and all the rest of those internal apparatus which are + essential for digestion; and then in the same great cavity, there are + lodged the heart and all the great vessels going from it; and, besides + that, the organs of respiration—the lungs: and then the kidneys, and + the organs of reproduction, and so on. Let us now endeavour to reduce this + notion of a horse that we now have, to some such kind of simple expression + as can be at once, and without difficulty, retained in the mind, apart + from all minor details. If I make a transverse section, that is, if I were + to saw a dead horse across, I should find that, if I left out the details, + and supposing I took my section through the anterior region, and through + the fore-limbs, I should have here this kind of section of the body (Fig. + 1). Here would be the upper part of the animal—that great mass of + bones that we spoke of as the spine (a, Fig. 1). Here I should have the + alimentary canal (b, Fig. 1). Here I should have the heart (c, Fig. 1); + and then you see, there would be a kind of double tube, the whole being + inclosed within the hide; the spinal marrow would be placed in the upper + tube (a, Fig. 1), and in the lower tube (d d, Fig. 1), there would be the + alimentary canal (b), and the heart (c); and here I shall have the legs + proceeding from each side. For simplicity's sake, I represent them merely + as stumps (e e, Fig. 1). Now that is a horse—as mathematicians would + say—reduced to its most simple expression. Carry that in your minds, + if you please, as a simplified idea of the structure of the Horse. The + considerations which I have now put before you belong to what we + technically call the 'Anatomy' of the Horse. Now, suppose we go to work + upon these several parts,—flesh and hair, and skin and bone, and lay + open these various organs with our scalpels, and examine them by means of + our magnifying-glasses, and see what we can make of them. We shall find + that the flesh is made up of bundles of strong fibres. The brain and + nerves, too, we shall find, are made up of fibres, and these queer-looking + things that are called ganglionic corpuscles. If we take a slice of the + bone and examine it, we shall find that it is very like this diagram of a + section of the bone of an ostrich, though differing, of course, in some + details; and if we take any part whatsoever of the tissue, and examine it, + we shall find it all has a minute structure, visible only under the + microscope. All these parts constitute microscopic anatomy or 'Histology.' + These parts are constantly being changed; every part is constantly + growing, decaying, and being replaced during the life of the animal. The + tissue is constantly replaced by new material; and if you go back to the + young state of the tissue in the case of muscle, or in the case of skin, + or any of the organs I have mentioned, you will find that they all come + under the same condition. Every one of these microscopic filaments and + fibres (I now speak merely of the general character of the whole process)—every + one of these parts—could be traced down to some modification of a + tissue which can be readily divided into little particles of fleshy + matter, of that substance which is composed of the chemical elements, + carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, having such a shape as this (Fig. + 2). These particles, into which all primitive tissues break up, are called + cells. If I were to make a section of a piece of the skin of my hand, I + should find that it was made up of these cells. If I examine the fibres + which form the various organs of all living animals, I should find that + all of them, at one time or other, had been formed out of a substance + consisting of similar elements; so that you see, just as we reduced the + whole body in the gross to that sort of simple expression given in Fig. 1, + so we may reduce the whole of the microscopic structural elements to a + form of even greater simplicity; just as the plan of the whole body may be + so represented in a sense (Fig. 1), so the primary structure of every + tissue may be represented by a mass of cells (Fig. 2). + </p> + <p> + Having thus, in this sort of general way, sketched to you what I may call, + perhaps, the architecture of the body of the Horse (what we term + technically its Morphology), I must now turn to another aspect. A horse is + not a mere dead structure: it is an active, living, working machine. + Hitherto we have, as it were, been looking at a steam-engine with the + fires out, and nothing in the boiler; but the body of the living animal is + a beautifully-formed active machine, and every part has its different work + to do in the working of that machine, which is what we call its life. The + Horse, if you see him after his day's work is done, is cropping the grass + in the fields, as it may be, or munching the oats in his stable. What is + he doing? His jaws are working as a mill—and a very complex mill too—grinding + the corn, or crushing the grass to a pulp. As soon as that operation has + taken place, the food is passed down to the stomach, and there it is mixed + with the chemical fluid called the gastric juice, a substance which has + the peculiar property of making soluble and dissolving out the nutritious + matter in the grass, and leaving behind those parts which are not + nutritious; so that you have, first, the mill, then a sort of chemical + digester; and then the food, thus partially dissolved, is carried back by + the muscular contractions of the intestines into the hinder parts of the + body, while the soluble portions are taken up into the blood. The blood is + contained in a vast system of pipes, spreading through the whole body, + connected with a force pump,—the heart,—which, by its position + and by the contractions of its valves, keeps the blood constantly + circulating in one direction, never allowing it to rest; and then, by + means of this circulation of the blood, laden as it is with the products + of digestion, the skin, the flesh, the hair, and every other part of the + body, draws from it that which it wants, and every one of these organs + derives those materials which are necessary to enable it to do its work. + </p> + <p> + The action of each of these organs, the performance of each of these + various duties, involve in their operation a continual absorption of the + matters necessary for their support, from the blood, and a constant + formation of waste products, which are returned to the blood, and conveyed + by it to the lungs and the kidneys, which are organs that have allotted to + them the office of extracting, separating, and getting rid of these waste + products; and thus the general nourishment, labour, and repair of the + whole machine is kept up with order and regularity. But not only is it a + machine which feeds and appropriates to its own support the nourishment + necessary to its existence—it is an engine for locomotive purposes. + The Horse desires to go from one place to another; and to enable it to do + this, it has those strong contractile bundles of muscles attached to the + bones of its limbs, which are put in motion by means of a sort of + telegraphic apparatus formed by the brain and the great spinal cord + running through the spine or backbone; and to this spinal cord are + attached a number of fibres termed nerves, which proceed to all parts of + the structure. By means of these the eyes, nose, tongue, and skin—all + the organs of perception—transmit impressions or sensations to the + brain, which acts as a sort of great central telegraph-office, receiving + impressions and sending messages to all parts of the body, and putting in + motion the muscles necessary to accomplish any movement that may be + desired. So that you have here an extremely complex and + beautifully-proportioned machine, with all its parts working harmoniously + together towards one common object—the preservation of the life of + the animal. + </p> + <p> + Now, note this: the Horse makes up its waste by feeding, and its food is + grass or oats, or perhaps other vegetable products; therefore, in the long + run, the source of all this complex machinery lies in the vegetable + kingdom. But where does the grass, or the oat, or any other plant, obtain + this nourishing food-producing material? At first it is a little seed, + which soon begins to draw into itself from the earth and the surrounding + air matters which in themselves contain no vital properties whatever; it + absorbs into its own substance water, an inorganic body; it draws into its + substance carbonic acid, an inorganic matter; and ammonia, another + inorganic matter, found in the air; and then, by some wonderful chemical + process, the details of which chemists do not yet understand, though they + are near foreshadowing them, it combines them into one substance, which is + known to us as 'Protein,' a complex compound of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, + and nitrogen, which alone possesses the property of manifesting vitality + and of permanently supporting animal life. So that, you see, the waste + products of the animal economy, the effete materials which are continually + being thrown off by all living beings, in the form of organic matters, are + constantly replaced by supplies of the necessary repairing and rebuilding + materials drawn from the plants, which in their turn manufacture them, so + to speak, by a mysterious combination of those same inorganic materials. + </p> + <p> + Let us trace out the history of the Horse in another direction. After a + certain time, as the result of sickness or disease, the effect of + accident, or the consequence of old age, sooner or later, the animal dies. + The multitudinous operations of this beautiful mechanism flag in their + performance, the Horse loses its vigour, and after passing through the + curious series of changes comprised in its formation and preservation, it + finally decays, and ends its life by going back into that inorganic world + from which all but an inappreciable fraction of its substance was derived. + Its bones become mere carbonate and phosphate of lime; the matter of its + flesh, and of its other parts, becomes, in the long run, converted into + carbonic acid, into water, and into ammonia. You will now, perhaps, + understand the curious relation of the animal with the plant, of the + organic with the inorganic world, which is shown in this diagram (Fig. 3). + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/fig03.jpg" + alt="Figure 3. (diagram Showing Material Relationship of The Vegetable, Animal and Inorganic Worlds.) " + width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + The plant gathers these inorganic materials together and makes them up + into its own substance. The animal eats the plant and appropriates the + nutritious portions to its own sustenance, rejects and gets rid of the + useless matters; and, finally, the animal itself dies, and its whole body + is decomposed and returned into the inorganic world. There is thus a + constant circulation from one to the other, a continual formation of + organic life from inorganic matters, and as constant a return of the + matter of living bodies to the inorganic world; so that the materials of + which our bodies are composed are largely, in all probability, the + substances which constituted the matter of long extinct creations, but + which have in the interval constituted a part of the inorganic world. + </p> + <p> + Thus we come to the conclusion, strange at first sight, that the MATTER + constituting the living world is identical with that which forms the + inorganic world. And not less true is it that, remarkable as are the + powers or, in other words, as are the FORCES which are exerted by living + beings, yet all these forces are either identical with those which exist + in the inorganic world, or they are convertible into them; I mean in just + the same sense as the researches of physical philosophers have shown that + heat is convertible into electricity, that electricity is convertible into + magnetism, magnetism into mechanical force or chemical force, and any one + of them with the other, each being measurable in terms of the other,—even + so, I say, that great law is applicable to the living world. Consider why + is the skeleton of this horse capable of supporting the masses of flesh + and the various organs forming the living body, unless it is because of + the action of the same forces of cohesion which combines together the + particles of matter composing this piece of chalk? What is there in the + muscular contractile power of the animal but the force which is + expressible, and which is in a certain sense convertible, into the force + of gravity which it overcomes? Or, if you go to more hidden processes, in + what does the process of digestion differ from those processes which are + carried on in the laboratory of the chemist? Even if we take the most + recondite and most complex operations of animal life—those of the + nervous system, these of late years have been shown to be—I do not + say identical in any sense with the electrical processes—but this + has been shown, that they are in some way or other associated with them; + that is to say, that every amount of nervous action is accompanied by a + certain amount of electrical disturbance in the particles of the nerves in + which that nervous action is carried on. In this way the nervous action is + related to electricity in the same way that heat is related to + electricity; and the same sort of argument which demonstrates the two + latter to be related to one another shows that the nervous forces are + correlated to electricity; for the experiments of M. Dubois Reymond and + others have shown that whenever a nerve is in a state of excitement, + sending a message to the muscles or conveying an impression to the brain, + there is a disturbance of the electrical condition of that nerve which + does not exist at other times; and there are a number of other facts and + phenomena of that sort; so that we come to the broad conclusion that not + only as to living matter itself, but as to the forces that matter exerts, + there is a close relationship between the organic and the inorganic world—the + difference between them arising from the diverse combination and + disposition of identical forces, and not from any primary diversity, so + far as we can see. + </p> + <p> + I said just now that the Horse eventually died and became converted into + the same inorganic substances from whence all but an inappreciable + fraction of its substance demonstrably originated, so that the actual + wanderings of matter are as remarkable as the transmigrations of the soul + fabled by Indian tradition. But before death has occurred, in the one sex + or the other, and in fact in both, certain products or parts of the + organism have been set free, certain parts of the organisms of the two + sexes have come into contact with one another, and from that conjunction, + from that union which then takes place, there results the formation of a + new being. At stated times the mare, from a particular part of the + interior of her body, called the ovary, gets rid of a minute particle of + matter comparable in all essential respects with that which we called a + cell a little while since, which cell contains a kind of nucleus in its + centre, surrounded by a clear space and by a viscid mass of protein + substance (Fig. 2); and though it is different in appearance from the eggs + which we are mostly acquainted with, it is really an egg. After a time + this minute particle of matter, which may only be a small fraction of a + grain in weight, undergoes a series of changes,—wonderful, complex + changes. Finally, upon its surface there is fashioned a little elevation, + which afterwards becomes divided and marked by a groove. The lateral + boundaries of the groove extend upwards and downwards, and at length give + rise to a double tube. In the upper smaller tube the spinal marrow and + brain are fashioned; in the lower, the alimentary canal and heart; and at + length two pairs of buds shoot out at the sides of the body, which are the + rudiments of the limbs. In fact a true drawing of a section of the embryo + in this state would in all essential respects resemble that diagram of a + horse reduced to its simplest expression, which I first placed before you + (Fig. 1). + </p> + <p> + Slowly and gradually these changes take place. The whole of the body, at + first, can be broken up into "cells," which become in one place + metamorphosed into muscle,—in another place into gristle and bone,—in + another place into fibrous tissue,—and in another into hair; every + part becoming gradually and slowly fashioned, as if there were an + artificer at work in each of these complex structures that we have + mentioned. This embryo, as it is called, then passes into other + conditions. I should tell you that there is a time when the embryos of + neither dog, nor horse, nor porpoise, nor monkey, nor man, can be + distinguished by any essential feature one from the other; there is a time + when they each and all of them resemble this one of the Dog. But as + development advances, all the parts acquire their speciality, till at + length you have the embryo converted into the form of the parent from + which it started. So that you see, this living animal, this horse, begins + its existence as a minute particle of nitrogenous matter, which, being + supplied with nutriment (derived, as I have shown, from the inorganic + world), grows up according to the special type and construction of its + parents, works and undergoes a constant waste, and that waste is made good + by nutriment derived from the inorganic world; the waste given off in this + way being directly added to the inorganic world; and eventually the animal + itself dies, and, by the process of decomposition, its whole body is + returned to those conditions of inorganic matter in which its substance + originated. + </p> + <p> + This, then, is that which is true of every living form, from the lowest + plant to the highest animal—to man himself. You might define the + life of every one in exactly the same terms as those which I have now + used; the difference between the highest and the lowest being simply in + the complexity of the developmental changes, the variety of the structural + forms, the diversity of the physiological functions which are exerted by + each. + </p> + <p> + If I were to take an oak tree as a specimen of the plant world, I should + find that it originated in an acorn, which, too, commenced in a cell; the + acorn is placed in the ground, and it very speedily begins to absorb the + inorganic matters I have named, adds enormously to its bulk, and we can + see it, year after year, extending itself upward and downward, attracting + and appropriating to itself inorganic materials, which it vivifies, and + eventually, as it ripens, gives off its own proper acorns, which again run + the same course. But I need not multiply examples,—from the highest + to the lowest the essential features of life are the same, as I have + described in each of these cases. + </p> + <p> + So much, then, for these particular features of the organic world, which + you can understand and comprehend, so long as you confine yourself to one + sort of living being, and study that only. + </p> + <p> + But, as you know, horses are not the only living creatures in the world; + and again, horses, like all other animals, have certain limits—are + confined to a certain area on the surface of the earth on which we live,—and, + as that is the simpler matter, I may take that first. In its wild state, + and before the discovery of America, when the natural state of things was + interfered with by the Spaniards, the Horse was only to be found in parts + of the earth which are known to geographers as the Old World; that is to + say, you might meet with horses in Europe, Asia, or Africa; but there were + none in Australia, and there were none whatsoever in the whole continent + of America, from Labrador down to Cape Horn. This is an empirical fact, + and it is what is called, stated in the way I have given it you, the + 'Geographical Distribution' of the Horse. + </p> + <p> + Why horses should be found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and not in + America, is not obvious; the explanation that the conditions of life in + America are unfavourable to their existence, and that, therefore, they had + not been created there, evidently does not apply; for when the invading + Spaniards, or our own yeomen farmers, conveyed horses to these countries + for their own use, they were found to thrive well and multiply very + rapidly; and many are even now running wild in those countries, and in a + perfectly natural condition. Now, suppose we were to do for every animal + what we have here done for the Horse,—that is, to mark off and + distinguish the particular district or region to which each belonged; and + supposing we tabulated all these results, that would be called the + Geographical Distribution of animals, while a corresponding study of + plants would yield as a result the Geographical Distribution of plants. + </p> + <p> + I pass on from that now, as I merely wished to explain to you what I meant + by the use of the term 'Geographical Distribution.' As I said, there is + another aspect, and a much more important one, and that is, the relations + of the various animals to one another. The Horse is a very well-defined + matter-of-fact sort of animal, and we are all pretty familiar with its + structure. I dare say it may have struck you, that it resembles very much + no other member of the animal kingdom, except perhaps the Zebra or the + Ass. But let me ask you to look along these diagrams. Here is the skeleton + of the Horse, and here the skeleton of the Dog. You will notice that we + have in the Horse a skull, a backbone and ribs, shoulder-blades and + haunch-bones. In the fore-limb, one upper arm-bone, two fore arm-bones, + wrist-bones (wrongly called knee), and middle hand-bones, ending in the + three bones of a finger, the last of which is sheathed in the horny hoof + of the fore-foot: in the hind-limb, one thigh-bone, two leg-bones, + anklebones, and middle foot-bones, ending in the three bones of a toe, the + last of which is encased in the hoof of the hind-foot. Now turn to the + Dog's skeleton. We find identically the same bones, but more of them, + there being more toes in each foot, and hence more toe-bones. + </p> + <p> + Well, that is a very curious thing! The fact is that the Dog and the Horse—when + one gets a look at them without the outward impediments of the skin—are + found to be made in very much the same sort of fashion. And if I were to + make a transverse section of the Dog, I should find the same organs that I + have already shown you as forming parts of the Horse. Well, here is + another skeleton—that of a kind of Lemur—you see he has just + the same bones; and if I were to make a transverse section of it, it would + be just the same again. In your mind's eye turn him round, so as to put + his backbone in a position inclined obliquely upwards and forwards, just + as in the next three diagrams, which represent the skeletons of an Orang, + a Chimpanzee, a Gorilla, and you find you have no trouble in identifying + the bones throughout; and lastly turn to the end of the series, the + diagram representing a man's skeleton, and still you find no great + structural feature essentially altered. There are the same bones in the + same relations. From the Horse we pass on and on, with gradual steps, + until we arrive at last at the highest known forms. On the other hand, + take the other line of diagrams, and pass from the Horse downwards in the + scale to this fish; and still, though the modifications are vastly + greater, the essential framework of the organization remains unchanged. + Here, for instance, is a Porpoise: here is its strong backbone, with the + cavity running through it, which contains the spinal cord; here are the + ribs, here the shoulder blade; here is the little short upper-arm bone, + here are the two forearm bones, the wrist-bone, and the finger-bones. + </p> + <p> + Strange, is it not, that the Porpoise should have in this queer-looking + affair—its flapper (as it is called), the same fundamental elements + as the fore-leg of the Horse or the Dog, or the Ape or Man; and here you + will notice a very curious thing,—the hinder limbs are absent. Now, + let us make another jump. Let us go to the Codfish: here you see is the + forearm, in this large pectoral fin—carrying your mind's eye onward + from the flapper of the Porpoise. And here you have the hinder limbs + restored in the shape of these ventral fins. If I were to make a + transverse section of this, I should find just the same organs that we + have before noticed. So that, you see, there comes out this strange + conclusion as the result of our investigations, that the Horse, when + examined and compared with other animals, is found by no means to stand + alone in nature; but that there are an enormous number of other creatures + which have backbones, ribs, and legs, and other parts arranged in the same + general manner, and in all their formation exhibiting the same broad + peculiarities. + </p> + <p> + I am sure that you cannot have followed me even in this extremely + elementary exposition of the structural relations of animals, without + seeing what I have been driving at all through, which is, to show you + that, step by step, naturalists have come to the idea of a unity of plan, + or conformity of construction, among animals which appeared at first sight + to be extremely dissimilar. + </p> + <p> + And here you have evidence of such a unity of plan among all the animals + which have backbones, and which we technically call "Vertebrata". But + there are multitudes of other animals, such as crabs, lobsters, spiders, + and so on, which we term "Annulosa". In these I could not point out to you + the parts that correspond with those of the Horse,—the backbone, for + instance,—as they are constructed upon a very different principle, + which is also common to all of them; that is to say, the Lobster, the + Spider, and the Centipede, have a common plan running through their whole + arrangement, in just the same way that the Horse, the Dog, and the + Porpoise assimilate to each other. + </p> + <p> + Yet other creatures—whelks, cuttlefishes, oysters, snails, and all + their tribe ("Mollusca")—resemble one another in the same way, but + differ from both "Vertebrata" and "Annulosa"; and the like is true of the + animals called "Coelenterata" (Polypes) and "Protozoa" (animalcules and + sponges). + </p> + <p> + Now, by pursuing this sort of comparison, naturalists have arrived at the + conviction that there are,—some think five, and some seven,—but + certainly not more than the latter number—and perhaps it is simpler + to assume five—distinct plans or constructions in the whole of the + animal world; and that the hundreds of thousands of species of creatures + on the surface of the earth, are all reducible to those five, or, at most, + seven, plans of organization. + </p> + <p> + But can we go no further than that? When one has got so far, one is + tempted to go on a step and inquire whether we cannot go back yet further + and bring down the whole to modifications of one primordial unit. The + anatomist cannot do this; but if he call to his aid the study of + development, he can do it. For we shall find that, distinct as those plans + are, whether it be a porpoise or man, or lobster, or any of those other + kinds I have mentioned, every one begins its existence with one and the + same primitive form,—that of the egg, consisting, as we have seen, + of a nitrogenous substance, having a small particle or nucleus in the + centre of it. Furthermore, the earlier changes of each are substantially + the same. And it is in this that lies that true "unity of organization" of + the animal kingdom which has been guessed at and fancied for many years; + but which it has been left to the present time to be demonstrated by the + careful study of development. But is it possible to go another step + further still, and to show that in the same way the whole of the organic + world is reducible to one primitive condition of form? Is there among the + plants the same primitive form of organization, and is that identical with + that of the animal kingdom? The reply to that question, too, is not + uncertain or doubtful. It is now proved that every plant begins its + existence under the same form; that is to say, in that of a cell—a + particle of nitrogenous matter having substantially the same conditions. + So that if you trace back the oak to its first germ, or a man, or a horse, + or lobster, or oyster, or any other animal you choose to name, you shall + find each and all of these commencing their existence in forms essentially + similar to each other: and, furthermore, that the first processes of + growth, and many of the subsequent modifications, are essentially the same + in principle in almost all. + </p> + <p> + In conclusion, let me, in a few words, recapitulate the positions which I + have laid down. And you must understand that I have not been talking mere + theory; I have been speaking of matters which are as plainly demonstrable + as the commonest propositions of Euclid—of facts that must form the + basis of all speculations and beliefs in Biological science. We have + gradually traced down all organic forms, or, in other words, we have + analyzed the present condition of animated nature, until we found that + each species took its origin in a form similar to that under which all the + others commence their existence. We have found the whole of the vast array + of living forms, with which we are surrounded, constantly growing, + increasing, decaying and disappearing; the animal constantly attracting, + modifying, and applying to its sustenance the matter of the vegetable + kingdom, which derived its support from the absorption and conversion of + inorganic matter. And so constant and universal is this absorption, waste, + and reproduction, that it may be said with perfect certainty that there is + left in no one of our bodies at the present moment a millionth part of the + matter of which they were originally formed! We have seen, again, that not + only is the living matter derived from the inorganic world, but that the + forces of that matter are all of them correlative with and convertible + into those of inorganic nature. + </p> + <p> + This, for our present purposes, is the best view of the present condition + of organic nature which I can lay before you: it gives you the great + outlines of a vast picture, which you must fill up by your own study. + </p> + <p> + In the next lecture I shall endeavour in the same way to go back into the + past, and to sketch in the same broad manner the history of life in epochs + preceding our own. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Present Condition of Organic Nature, by +Thomas H. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + </body> +</html> diff --git a/2921-h/images/fig01.jpg b/2921-h/images/fig01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c42e1d --- /dev/null +++ b/2921-h/images/fig01.jpg diff --git a/2921-h/images/fig02.jpg b/2921-h/images/fig02.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..db5d094 --- /dev/null +++ b/2921-h/images/fig02.jpg diff --git a/2921-h/images/fig03.jpg b/2921-h/images/fig03.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1639724 --- /dev/null +++ b/2921-h/images/fig03.jpg diff --git a/2921.txt b/2921.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..798b7f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/2921.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1028 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Present Condition of Organic Nature, by +Thomas H. Huxley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Present Condition of Organic Nature + Lecture I. (of VI.), Lectures To Working Men, at the Museum + of Practical Geology, 1863, On Darwin's work: "Origin of + Species". + +Author: Thomas H. Huxley + +Posting Date: January 4, 2009 [EBook #2921] +Release Date: November, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE *** + + + + +Produced by Amy E. Zelmer + + + + + +THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE + +Lecture I. (of VI.), "Lectures To Working Men", at the Museum of Practical Geology, 1863, +On Darwin's work: "Origin of Species". + +By Thomas H. Huxley + + + + +EDITOR'S NOTE + +Of the great thinkers of the nineteenth century, Thomas Henry Huxley, +son of an Ealing schoolmaster, was undoubtedly the most noteworthy. His +researches in biology, his contributions to scientific controversy, his +pungent criticisms of conventional beliefs and thoughts have probably +had greater influence than the work of any other English scientist. And +yet he was a "self-made" intellectualist. In spite of the fact that +his father was a schoolmaster he passed through no regular course of +education. "I had," he said, "two years of a pandemonium of a school +(between eight and ten) and after that neither help nor sympathy in any +intellectual direction till I reached manhood." When he was twelve a +craving for reading found satisfaction in Hutton's "Geology," and when +fifteen in Hamilton's "Logic." + +At seventeen Huxley entered as a student at Charing Cross Hospital, and +three years later he was M.B. and the possessor of the gold medal for +anatomy and physiology. An appointment as surgeon in the navy proved to +be the entry to Huxley's great scientific career, for he was gazetted to +the "Rattlesnake", commissioned for surveying work in Torres Straits. He +was attracted by the teeming surface life of tropical seas and his study +of it was the commencement of that revolution in scientific knowledge +ultimately brought about by his researches. + +Thomas Henry Huxley was born at Ealing on May 4, 1825, and died at +Eastbourne June 29, 1895. + + +LECTURES AND ESSAYS BY T.H. HUXLEY + +ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE + + + + +NOTICE TO THE FIRST EDITION. + +The Publisher of these interesting Lectures, having made an arrangement +for their publication with Mr. J. A. Mays, the Reporter, begs to append +the following note from Professor Huxley:-- + +"Mr. J. Aldous Mays, who is taking shorthand notes of my 'Lectures to +Working Men,' has asked me to allow him, on his own account, to print +those Notes for the use of my audience. I willingly accede to this +request, on the understanding that a notice is prefixed to the effect +that I have no leisure to revise the Lectures, or to make alterations in +them, beyond the correction of any important error in a matter of fact." + + + + +THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + +When it was my duty to consider what subject I would select for the six +lectures [*To Working Men, at the Museum of Practical Geology, 1863.] +which I shall now have the pleasure of delivering to you, it occurred to +me that I could not do better than endeavour to put before you in a true +light, or in what I might perhaps with more modesty call, that which I +conceive myself to be the true light, the position of a book which has +been more praised and more abused, perhaps, than any book which has +appeared for some years;--I mean Mr. Darwin's work on the "Origin of +Species". That work, I doubt not, many of you have read; for I know the +inquiring spirit which is rife among you. At any rate, all of you will +have heard of it,--some by one kind of report and some by another kind +of report; the attention of all and the curiosity of all have been +probably more or less excited on the subject of that work. All I can +do, and all I shall attempt to do, is to put before you that kind of +judgment which has been formed by a man, who, of course, is liable +to judge erroneously; but, at any rate, of one whose business and +profession it is to form judgments upon questions of this nature. + +And here, as it will always happen when dealing with an extensive +subject, the greater part of my course--if, indeed, so small a number of +lectures can be properly called a course--must be devoted to preliminary +matters, or rather to a statement of those facts and of those principles +which the work itself dwells upon, and brings more or less directly +before us. I have no right to suppose that all or any of you +are naturalists; and even if you were, the misconceptions and +misunderstandings prevalent even among naturalists on these matters +would make it desirable that I should take the course I now propose to +take,--that I should start from the beginning,--that I should endeavour +to point out what is the existing state of the organic world,--that I +should point out its past condition,--that I should state what is the +precise nature of the undertaking which Mr. Darwin has taken in hand; +that I should endeavour to show you what are the only methods by which +that undertaking can be brought to an issue, and to point out to you how +far the author of the work in question has satisfied those conditions, +how far he has not satisfied them, how far they are satisfiable by man, +and how far they are not satisfiable by man. + +To-night, in taking up the first part of this question, I shall +endeavour to put before you a sort of broad notion of our knowledge of +the condition of the living world. There are many ways of doing this. I +might deal with it pictorially and graphically. Following the example of +Humboldt in his "Aspects of Nature", I might endeavour to point out the +infinite variety of organic life in every mode of its existence, with +reference to the variations of climate and the like; and such an attempt +would be fraught with interest to us all; but considering the subject +before us, such a course would not be that best calculated to assist us. +In an argument of this kind we must go further and dig deeper into the +matter; we must endeavour to look into the foundations of living Nature, +if I may so say, and discover the principles involved in some of her +most secret operations. I propose, therefore, in the first place, to +take some ordinary animal with which you are all familiar, and, by +easily comprehensible and obvious examples drawn from it, to show what +are the kind of problems which living beings in general lay before us; +and I shall then show you that the same problems are laid open to us by +all kinds of living beings. But first, let me say in what sense I have +used the words "organic nature." In speaking of the causes which lead +to our present knowledge of organic nature, I have used it almost as an +equivalent of the word "living," and for this reason,--that in almost +all living beings you can distinguish several distinct portions set +apart to do particular things and work in a particular way. These are +termed "organs," and the whole together is called "organic." And as it +is universally characteristic of them, this term "organic" has been very +conveniently employed to denote the whole of living nature,--the whole +of the plant world, and the whole of the animal world. + +Few animals can be more familiar to you than that whose skeleton is +shown on our diagram. You need not bother yourselves with this "Equus +caballus" written under it; that is only the Latin name of it, and does +not make it any better. It simply means the common Horse. Suppose we +wish to understand all about the Horse. Our first object must be to +study the structure of the animal. The whole of his body is inclosed +within a hide, a skin covered with hair; and if that hide or skin be +taken off, we find a great mass of flesh, or what is technically called +muscle, being the substance which by its power of contraction enables +the animal to move. These muscles move the hard parts one upon the +other, and so give that strength and power of motion which renders the +Horse so useful to us in the performance of those services in which we +employ him. + +And then, on separating and removing the whole of this skin and flesh, +you have a great series of bones, hard structures, bound together with +ligaments, and forming the skeleton which is represented here. + +[Illustration: FIGURE 1. (Section through a horse.)] + +[Illustration: FIGURE 2. (Section through a cell.)] + +In that skeleton there are a number of parts to be recognized. The long +series of bones, beginning from the skull and ending in the tail, is +called the spine, and those in front are the ribs; and then there are +two pairs of limbs, one before and one behind; and there are what we +all know as the fore-legs and the hind-legs. If we pursue our researches +into the interior of this animal, we find within the framework of +the skeleton a great cavity, or rather, I should say, two great +cavities,--one cavity beginning in the skull and running through the +neck-bones, along the spine, and ending in the tail, containing the +brain and the spinal marrow, which are extremely important organs. The +second great cavity, commencing with the mouth, contains the gullet, +the stomach, the long intestine, and all the rest of those internal +apparatus which are essential for digestion; and then in the same great +cavity, there are lodged the heart and all the great vessels going from +it; and, besides that, the organs of respiration--the lungs: and then +the kidneys, and the organs of reproduction, and so on. Let us now +endeavour to reduce this notion of a horse that we now have, to +some such kind of simple expression as can be at once, and without +difficulty, retained in the mind, apart from all minor details. If +I make a transverse section, that is, if I were to saw a dead horse +across, I should find that, if I left out the details, and supposing I +took my section through the anterior region, and through the fore-limbs, +I should have here this kind of section of the body (Fig. 1). Here would +be the upper part of the animal--that great mass of bones that we spoke +of as the spine (a, Fig. 1). Here I should have the alimentary canal +(b, Fig. 1). Here I should have the heart (c, Fig. 1); and then you see, +there would be a kind of double tube, the whole being inclosed within +the hide; the spinal marrow would be placed in the upper tube (a, Fig. +1), and in the lower tube (d d, Fig. 1), there would be the alimentary +canal (b), and the heart (c); and here I shall have the legs proceeding +from each side. For simplicity's sake, I represent them merely as stumps +(e e, Fig. 1). Now that is a horse--as mathematicians would say--reduced +to its most simple expression. Carry that in your minds, if you please, +as a simplified idea of the structure of the Horse. The considerations +which I have now put before you belong to what we technically call the +'Anatomy' of the Horse. Now, suppose we go to work upon these several +parts,--flesh and hair, and skin and bone, and lay open these +various organs with our scalpels, and examine them by means of our +magnifying-glasses, and see what we can make of them. We shall find that +the flesh is made up of bundles of strong fibres. The brain and nerves, +too, we shall find, are made up of fibres, and these queer-looking +things that are called ganglionic corpuscles. If we take a slice of the +bone and examine it, we shall find that it is very like this diagram +of a section of the bone of an ostrich, though differing, of course, +in some details; and if we take any part whatsoever of the tissue, and +examine it, we shall find it all has a minute structure, visible only +under the microscope. All these parts constitute microscopic anatomy +or 'Histology.' These parts are constantly being changed; every part is +constantly growing, decaying, and being replaced during the life of the +animal. The tissue is constantly replaced by new material; and if you go +back to the young state of the tissue in the case of muscle, or in the +case of skin, or any of the organs I have mentioned, you will find that +they all come under the same condition. Every one of these microscopic +filaments and fibres (I now speak merely of the general character of the +whole process)--every one of these parts--could be traced down to +some modification of a tissue which can be readily divided into little +particles of fleshy matter, of that substance which is composed of the +chemical elements, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, having such +a shape as this (Fig. 2). These particles, into which all primitive +tissues break up, are called cells. If I were to make a section of a +piece of the skin of my hand, I should find that it was made up of these +cells. If I examine the fibres which form the various organs of all +living animals, I should find that all of them, at one time or other, +had been formed out of a substance consisting of similar elements; so +that you see, just as we reduced the whole body in the gross to that +sort of simple expression given in Fig. 1, so we may reduce the whole +of the microscopic structural elements to a form of even greater +simplicity; just as the plan of the whole body may be so represented +in a sense (Fig. 1), so the primary structure of every tissue may be +represented by a mass of cells (Fig. 2). + +Having thus, in this sort of general way, sketched to you what I may +call, perhaps, the architecture of the body of the Horse (what we term +technically its Morphology), I must now turn to another aspect. A horse +is not a mere dead structure: it is an active, living, working machine. +Hitherto we have, as it were, been looking at a steam-engine with the +fires out, and nothing in the boiler; but the body of the living animal +is a beautifully-formed active machine, and every part has its different +work to do in the working of that machine, which is what we call +its life. The Horse, if you see him after his day's work is done, is +cropping the grass in the fields, as it may be, or munching the oats in +his stable. What is he doing? His jaws are working as a mill--and a very +complex mill too--grinding the corn, or crushing the grass to a pulp. As +soon as that operation has taken place, the food is passed down to +the stomach, and there it is mixed with the chemical fluid called the +gastric juice, a substance which has the peculiar property of making +soluble and dissolving out the nutritious matter in the grass, and +leaving behind those parts which are not nutritious; so that you have, +first, the mill, then a sort of chemical digester; and then the food, +thus partially dissolved, is carried back by the muscular contractions +of the intestines into the hinder parts of the body, while the soluble +portions are taken up into the blood. The blood is contained in a vast +system of pipes, spreading through the whole body, connected with a +force pump,--the heart,--which, by its position and by the contractions +of its valves, keeps the blood constantly circulating in one direction, +never allowing it to rest; and then, by means of this circulation of +the blood, laden as it is with the products of digestion, the skin, the +flesh, the hair, and every other part of the body, draws from it that +which it wants, and every one of these organs derives those materials +which are necessary to enable it to do its work. + +The action of each of these organs, the performance of each of these +various duties, involve in their operation a continual absorption of +the matters necessary for their support, from the blood, and a constant +formation of waste products, which are returned to the blood, and +conveyed by it to the lungs and the kidneys, which are organs that have +allotted to them the office of extracting, separating, and getting rid +of these waste products; and thus the general nourishment, labour, and +repair of the whole machine is kept up with order and regularity. But +not only is it a machine which feeds and appropriates to its own +support the nourishment necessary to its existence--it is an engine for +locomotive purposes. The Horse desires to go from one place to another; +and to enable it to do this, it has those strong contractile bundles of +muscles attached to the bones of its limbs, which are put in motion by +means of a sort of telegraphic apparatus formed by the brain and the +great spinal cord running through the spine or backbone; and to this +spinal cord are attached a number of fibres termed nerves, which proceed +to all parts of the structure. By means of these the eyes, nose, +tongue, and skin--all the organs of perception--transmit impressions +or sensations to the brain, which acts as a sort of great central +telegraph-office, receiving impressions and sending messages to all +parts of the body, and putting in motion the muscles necessary to +accomplish any movement that may be desired. So that you have here an +extremely complex and beautifully-proportioned machine, with all its +parts working harmoniously together towards one common object--the +preservation of the life of the animal. + +Now, note this: the Horse makes up its waste by feeding, and its food +is grass or oats, or perhaps other vegetable products; therefore, in the +long run, the source of all this complex machinery lies in the vegetable +kingdom. But where does the grass, or the oat, or any other plant, +obtain this nourishing food-producing material? At first it is a little +seed, which soon begins to draw into itself from the earth and the +surrounding air matters which in themselves contain no vital properties +whatever; it absorbs into its own substance water, an inorganic body; +it draws into its substance carbonic acid, an inorganic matter; and +ammonia, another inorganic matter, found in the air; and then, by some +wonderful chemical process, the details of which chemists do not yet +understand, though they are near foreshadowing them, it combines +them into one substance, which is known to us as 'Protein,' a complex +compound of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, which alone +possesses the property of manifesting vitality and of permanently +supporting animal life. So that, you see, the waste products of the +animal economy, the effete materials which are continually being thrown +off by all living beings, in the form of organic matters, are constantly +replaced by supplies of the necessary repairing and rebuilding materials +drawn from the plants, which in their turn manufacture them, so to +speak, by a mysterious combination of those same inorganic materials. + +Let us trace out the history of the Horse in another direction. After +a certain time, as the result of sickness or disease, the effect of +accident, or the consequence of old age, sooner or later, the animal +dies. The multitudinous operations of this beautiful mechanism flag in +their performance, the Horse loses its vigour, and after passing +through the curious series of changes comprised in its formation and +preservation, it finally decays, and ends its life by going back into +that inorganic world from which all but an inappreciable fraction of its +substance was derived. Its bones become mere carbonate and phosphate of +lime; the matter of its flesh, and of its other parts, becomes, in the +long run, converted into carbonic acid, into water, and into ammonia. +You will now, perhaps, understand the curious relation of the animal +with the plant, of the organic with the inorganic world, which is shown +in this diagram (Fig. 3). + +[Illustration: FIGURE 3. (Diagram showing material relationship of the +Vegetable, Animal and Inorganic Worlds.)] + +The plant gathers these inorganic materials together and makes them up +into its own substance. The animal eats the plant and appropriates the +nutritious portions to its own sustenance, rejects and gets rid of the +useless matters; and, finally, the animal itself dies, and its whole +body is decomposed and returned into the inorganic world. There is thus +a constant circulation from one to the other, a continual formation of +organic life from inorganic matters, and as constant a return of the +matter of living bodies to the inorganic world; so that the materials +of which our bodies are composed are largely, in all probability, the +substances which constituted the matter of long extinct creations, but +which have in the interval constituted a part of the inorganic world. + +Thus we come to the conclusion, strange at first sight, that the MATTER +constituting the living world is identical with that which forms the +inorganic world. And not less true is it that, remarkable as are the +powers or, in other words, as are the FORCES which are exerted by living +beings, yet all these forces are either identical with those which exist +in the inorganic world, or they are convertible into them; I mean in +just the same sense as the researches of physical philosophers have +shown that heat is convertible into electricity, that electricity is +convertible into magnetism, magnetism into mechanical force or chemical +force, and any one of them with the other, each being measurable in +terms of the other,--even so, I say, that great law is applicable to +the living world. Consider why is the skeleton of this horse capable of +supporting the masses of flesh and the various organs forming the living +body, unless it is because of the action of the same forces of cohesion +which combines together the particles of matter composing this piece of +chalk? What is there in the muscular contractile power of the animal +but the force which is expressible, and which is in a certain sense +convertible, into the force of gravity which it overcomes? Or, if you go +to more hidden processes, in what does the process of digestion differ +from those processes which are carried on in the laboratory of the +chemist? Even if we take the most recondite and most complex operations +of animal life--those of the nervous system, these of late years +have been shown to be--I do not say identical in any sense with the +electrical processes--but this has been shown, that they are in some +way or other associated with them; that is to say, that every amount +of nervous action is accompanied by a certain amount of electrical +disturbance in the particles of the nerves in which that nervous action +is carried on. In this way the nervous action is related to electricity +in the same way that heat is related to electricity; and the same sort +of argument which demonstrates the two latter to be related to one +another shows that the nervous forces are correlated to electricity; for +the experiments of M. Dubois Reymond and others have shown that whenever +a nerve is in a state of excitement, sending a message to the muscles +or conveying an impression to the brain, there is a disturbance of the +electrical condition of that nerve which does not exist at other times; +and there are a number of other facts and phenomena of that sort; so +that we come to the broad conclusion that not only as to living matter +itself, but as to the forces that matter exerts, there is a close +relationship between the organic and the inorganic world--the difference +between them arising from the diverse combination and disposition of +identical forces, and not from any primary diversity, so far as we can +see. + +I said just now that the Horse eventually died and became converted +into the same inorganic substances from whence all but an inappreciable +fraction of its substance demonstrably originated, so that the actual +wanderings of matter are as remarkable as the transmigrations of the +soul fabled by Indian tradition. But before death has occurred, in the +one sex or the other, and in fact in both, certain products or parts of +the organism have been set free, certain parts of the organisms of +the two sexes have come into contact with one another, and from that +conjunction, from that union which then takes place, there results the +formation of a new being. At stated times the mare, from a particular +part of the interior of her body, called the ovary, gets rid of a minute +particle of matter comparable in all essential respects with that which +we called a cell a little while since, which cell contains a kind of +nucleus in its centre, surrounded by a clear space and by a viscid mass +of protein substance (Fig. 2); and though it is different in appearance +from the eggs which we are mostly acquainted with, it is really an egg. +After a time this minute particle of matter, which may only be a +small fraction of a grain in weight, undergoes a series of +changes,--wonderful, complex changes. Finally, upon its surface there +is fashioned a little elevation, which afterwards becomes divided and +marked by a groove. The lateral boundaries of the groove extend upwards +and downwards, and at length give rise to a double tube. In the upper +smaller tube the spinal marrow and brain are fashioned; in the lower, +the alimentary canal and heart; and at length two pairs of buds shoot +out at the sides of the body, which are the rudiments of the limbs. In +fact a true drawing of a section of the embryo in this state would in +all essential respects resemble that diagram of a horse reduced to its +simplest expression, which I first placed before you (Fig. 1). + +Slowly and gradually these changes take place. The whole of the body, +at first, can be broken up into "cells," which become in one place +metamorphosed into muscle,--in another place into gristle and bone,--in +another place into fibrous tissue,--and in another into hair; every part +becoming gradually and slowly fashioned, as if there were an artificer +at work in each of these complex structures that we have mentioned. This +embryo, as it is called, then passes into other conditions. I should +tell you that there is a time when the embryos of neither dog, nor +horse, nor porpoise, nor monkey, nor man, can be distinguished by any +essential feature one from the other; there is a time when they each and +all of them resemble this one of the Dog. But as development advances, +all the parts acquire their speciality, till at length you have the +embryo converted into the form of the parent from which it started. So +that you see, this living animal, this horse, begins its existence as +a minute particle of nitrogenous matter, which, being supplied with +nutriment (derived, as I have shown, from the inorganic world), grows up +according to the special type and construction of its parents, works +and undergoes a constant waste, and that waste is made good by nutriment +derived from the inorganic world; the waste given off in this way being +directly added to the inorganic world; and eventually the animal itself +dies, and, by the process of decomposition, its whole body is returned +to those conditions of inorganic matter in which its substance +originated. + +This, then, is that which is true of every living form, from the lowest +plant to the highest animal--to man himself. You might define the life +of every one in exactly the same terms as those which I have now used; +the difference between the highest and the lowest being simply in the +complexity of the developmental changes, the variety of the structural +forms, the diversity of the physiological functions which are exerted by +each. + +If I were to take an oak tree as a specimen of the plant world, I should +find that it originated in an acorn, which, too, commenced in a cell; +the acorn is placed in the ground, and it very speedily begins to absorb +the inorganic matters I have named, adds enormously to its bulk, and +we can see it, year after year, extending itself upward and downward, +attracting and appropriating to itself inorganic materials, which it +vivifies, and eventually, as it ripens, gives off its own proper acorns, +which again run the same course. But I need not multiply examples,--from +the highest to the lowest the essential features of life are the same, +as I have described in each of these cases. + +So much, then, for these particular features of the organic world, which +you can understand and comprehend, so long as you confine yourself to +one sort of living being, and study that only. + +But, as you know, horses are not the only living creatures in the world; +and again, horses, like all other animals, have certain limits--are +confined to a certain area on the surface of the earth on which we +live,--and, as that is the simpler matter, I may take that first. In its +wild state, and before the discovery of America, when the natural state +of things was interfered with by the Spaniards, the Horse was only to +be found in parts of the earth which are known to geographers as the Old +World; that is to say, you might meet with horses in Europe, Asia, or +Africa; but there were none in Australia, and there were none whatsoever +in the whole continent of America, from Labrador down to Cape Horn. This +is an empirical fact, and it is what is called, stated in the way I have +given it you, the 'Geographical Distribution' of the Horse. + +Why horses should be found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and not in +America, is not obvious; the explanation that the conditions of life in +America are unfavourable to their existence, and that, therefore, they +had not been created there, evidently does not apply; for when the +invading Spaniards, or our own yeomen farmers, conveyed horses to these +countries for their own use, they were found to thrive well and multiply +very rapidly; and many are even now running wild in those countries, and +in a perfectly natural condition. Now, suppose we were to do for every +animal what we have here done for the Horse,--that is, to mark off and +distinguish the particular district or region to which each belonged; +and supposing we tabulated all these results, that would be called the +Geographical Distribution of animals, while a corresponding study of +plants would yield as a result the Geographical Distribution of plants. + +I pass on from that now, as I merely wished to explain to you what I +meant by the use of the term 'Geographical Distribution.' As I said, +there is another aspect, and a much more important one, and that is, +the relations of the various animals to one another. The Horse is a +very well-defined matter-of-fact sort of animal, and we are all pretty +familiar with its structure. I dare say it may have struck you, that +it resembles very much no other member of the animal kingdom, except +perhaps the Zebra or the Ass. But let me ask you to look along these +diagrams. Here is the skeleton of the Horse, and here the skeleton of +the Dog. You will notice that we have in the Horse a skull, a backbone +and ribs, shoulder-blades and haunch-bones. In the fore-limb, one upper +arm-bone, two fore arm-bones, wrist-bones (wrongly called knee), and +middle hand-bones, ending in the three bones of a finger, the last of +which is sheathed in the horny hoof of the fore-foot: in the hind-limb, +one thigh-bone, two leg-bones, anklebones, and middle foot-bones, ending +in the three bones of a toe, the last of which is encased in the hoof of +the hind-foot. Now turn to the Dog's skeleton. We find identically the +same bones, but more of them, there being more toes in each foot, and +hence more toe-bones. + +Well, that is a very curious thing! The fact is that the Dog and the +Horse--when one gets a look at them without the outward impediments of +the skin--are found to be made in very much the same sort of fashion. +And if I were to make a transverse section of the Dog, I should find the +same organs that I have already shown you as forming parts of the Horse. +Well, here is another skeleton--that of a kind of Lemur--you see he has +just the same bones; and if I were to make a transverse section of it, +it would be just the same again. In your mind's eye turn him round, +so as to put his backbone in a position inclined obliquely upwards +and forwards, just as in the next three diagrams, which represent the +skeletons of an Orang, a Chimpanzee, a Gorilla, and you find you have no +trouble in identifying the bones throughout; and lastly turn to the end +of the series, the diagram representing a man's skeleton, and still you +find no great structural feature essentially altered. There are the +same bones in the same relations. From the Horse we pass on and on, with +gradual steps, until we arrive at last at the highest known forms. On +the other hand, take the other line of diagrams, and pass from the Horse +downwards in the scale to this fish; and still, though the modifications +are vastly greater, the essential framework of the organization remains +unchanged. Here, for instance, is a Porpoise: here is its strong +backbone, with the cavity running through it, which contains the spinal +cord; here are the ribs, here the shoulder blade; here is the little +short upper-arm bone, here are the two forearm bones, the wrist-bone, +and the finger-bones. + +Strange, is it not, that the Porpoise should have in this queer-looking +affair--its flapper (as it is called), the same fundamental elements as +the fore-leg of the Horse or the Dog, or the Ape or Man; and here you +will notice a very curious thing,--the hinder limbs are absent. Now, +let us make another jump. Let us go to the Codfish: here you see is the +forearm, in this large pectoral fin--carrying your mind's eye onward +from the flapper of the Porpoise. And here you have the hinder limbs +restored in the shape of these ventral fins. If I were to make a +transverse section of this, I should find just the same organs that +we have before noticed. So that, you see, there comes out this strange +conclusion as the result of our investigations, that the Horse, when +examined and compared with other animals, is found by no means to +stand alone in nature; but that there are an enormous number of other +creatures which have backbones, ribs, and legs, and other parts arranged +in the same general manner, and in all their formation exhibiting the +same broad peculiarities. + +I am sure that you cannot have followed me even in this extremely +elementary exposition of the structural relations of animals, without +seeing what I have been driving at all through, which is, to show you +that, step by step, naturalists have come to the idea of a unity of +plan, or conformity of construction, among animals which appeared at +first sight to be extremely dissimilar. + +And here you have evidence of such a unity of plan among all the animals +which have backbones, and which we technically call "Vertebrata". But +there are multitudes of other animals, such as crabs, lobsters, spiders, +and so on, which we term "Annulosa". In these I could not point out to +you the parts that correspond with those of the Horse,--the backbone, +for instance,--as they are constructed upon a very different principle, +which is also common to all of them; that is to say, the Lobster, the +Spider, and the Centipede, have a common plan running through their +whole arrangement, in just the same way that the Horse, the Dog, and the +Porpoise assimilate to each other. + +Yet other creatures--whelks, cuttlefishes, oysters, snails, and all +their tribe ("Mollusca")--resemble one another in the same way, but +differ from both "Vertebrata" and "Annulosa"; and the like is true of +the animals called "Coelenterata" (Polypes) and "Protozoa" (animalcules +and sponges). + +Now, by pursuing this sort of comparison, naturalists have arrived at +the conviction that there are,--some think five, and some seven,--but +certainly not more than the latter number--and perhaps it is simpler to +assume five--distinct plans or constructions in the whole of the animal +world; and that the hundreds of thousands of species of creatures on +the surface of the earth, are all reducible to those five, or, at most, +seven, plans of organization. + +But can we go no further than that? When one has got so far, one is +tempted to go on a step and inquire whether we cannot go back yet +further and bring down the whole to modifications of one primordial +unit. The anatomist cannot do this; but if he call to his aid the study +of development, he can do it. For we shall find that, distinct as those +plans are, whether it be a porpoise or man, or lobster, or any of those +other kinds I have mentioned, every one begins its existence with one +and the same primitive form,--that of the egg, consisting, as we have +seen, of a nitrogenous substance, having a small particle or nucleus +in the centre of it. Furthermore, the earlier changes of each are +substantially the same. And it is in this that lies that true "unity +of organization" of the animal kingdom which has been guessed at and +fancied for many years; but which it has been left to the present +time to be demonstrated by the careful study of development. But is it +possible to go another step further still, and to show that in the +same way the whole of the organic world is reducible to one primitive +condition of form? Is there among the plants the same primitive form of +organization, and is that identical with that of the animal kingdom? +The reply to that question, too, is not uncertain or doubtful. It is now +proved that every plant begins its existence under the same form; that +is to say, in that of a cell--a particle of nitrogenous matter having +substantially the same conditions. So that if you trace back the oak +to its first germ, or a man, or a horse, or lobster, or oyster, or any +other animal you choose to name, you shall find each and all of these +commencing their existence in forms essentially similar to each other: +and, furthermore, that the first processes of growth, and many of the +subsequent modifications, are essentially the same in principle in +almost all. + +In conclusion, let me, in a few words, recapitulate the positions which +I have laid down. And you must understand that I have not been talking +mere theory; I have been speaking of matters which are as plainly +demonstrable as the commonest propositions of Euclid--of facts that must +form the basis of all speculations and beliefs in Biological science. +We have gradually traced down all organic forms, or, in other words, we +have analyzed the present condition of animated nature, until we found +that each species took its origin in a form similar to that under which +all the others commence their existence. We have found the whole of the +vast array of living forms, with which we are surrounded, constantly +growing, increasing, decaying and disappearing; the animal constantly +attracting, modifying, and applying to its sustenance the matter of the +vegetable kingdom, which derived its support from the absorption and +conversion of inorganic matter. And so constant and universal is this +absorption, waste, and reproduction, that it may be said with perfect +certainty that there is left in no one of our bodies at the present +moment a millionth part of the matter of which they were originally +formed! We have seen, again, that not only is the living matter derived +from the inorganic world, but that the forces of that matter are all of +them correlative with and convertible into those of inorganic nature. + +This, for our present purposes, is the best view of the present +condition of organic nature which I can lay before you: it gives you +the great outlines of a vast picture, which you must fill up by your own +study. + +In the next lecture I shall endeavour in the same way to go back into +the past, and to sketch in the same broad manner the history of life in +epochs preceding our own. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Present Condition of Organic Nature, by +Thomas H. 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His + +researches in biology, his contributions to scientific controversy, his + +pungent criticisms of conventional beliefs and thoughts have probably + +had greater influence than the work of any other English scientist. And + +yet he was a "self-made" intellectualist. In spite of the fact that his + +father was a schoolmaster he passed through no regular course of + +education. "I had," he said, "two years of a pandemonium of a school + +(between eight and ten) and after that neither help nor sympathy in any + +intellectual direction till I reached manhood." When he was twelve a + +craving for reading found satisfaction in Hutton's "Geology," and when + +fifteen in Hamilton's "Logic." + + + +At seventeen Huxley entered as a student at Charing Cross Hospital, and + +three years later he was M.B. and the possessor of the gold medal for + +anatomy and physiology. An appointment as surgeon in the navy proved + +to be the entry to Huxley's great scientific career, for he was + +gazetted to the "Rattlesnake", commissioned for surveying work in + +Torres Straits. He was attracted by the teeming surface life of + +tropical seas and his study of it was the commencement of that + +revolution in scientific knowledge ultimately brought about by his + +researches. + + + +Thomas Henry Huxley was born at Ealing on May 4, 1825, and died at + +Eastbourne June 29, 1895. + + + + + + + +LECTURES AND ESSAYS BY T.H. HUXLEY + + + + + + + + + +ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE + + + + + + + + + +NOTICE TO THE FIRST EDITION. + + + +The Publisher of these interesting Lectures, having made an arrangement + +for their publication with Mr. J. A. Mays, the Reporter, begs to append + +the following note from Professor Huxley:-- + + + +"Mr. J. Aldous Mays, who is taking shorthand notes of my 'Lectures to + +Working Men,' has asked me to allow him, on his own account, to print + +those Notes for the use of my audience. I willingly accede to this + +request, on the understanding that a notice is prefixed to the effect + +that I have no leisure to revise the Lectures, or to make alterations + +in them, beyond the correction of any important error in a matter of + +fact." + + + + + + + + + +THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + + + +When it was my duty to consider what subject I would select for the six + +lectures [*To Working Men, at the Museum of Practical Geology, 1863.] + +which I shall now have the pleasure of delivering to you, it occurred + +to me that I could not do better than endeavour to put before you in a + +true light, or in what I might perhaps with more modesty call, that + +which I conceive myself to be the true light, the position of a book + +which has been more praised and more abused, perhaps, than any book + +which has appeared for some years;--I mean Mr. Darwin's work on the + +"Origin of Species". That work, I doubt not, many of you have read; + +for I know the inquiring spirit which is rife among you. At any rate, + +all of you will have heard of it,--some by one kind of report and some + +by another kind of report; the attention of all and the curiosity of + +all have been probably more or less excited on the subject of that + +work. All I can do, and all I shall attempt to do, is to put before + +you that kind of judgment which has been formed by a man, who, of + +course, is liable to judge erroneously; but, at any rate, of one whose + +business and profession it is to form judgments upon questions of this + +nature. + + + +And here, as it will always happen when dealing with an extensive + +subject, the greater part of my course--if, indeed, so small a number + +of lectures can be properly called a course--must be devoted to + +preliminary matters, or rather to a statement of those facts and of + +those principles which the work itself dwells upon, and brings more or + +less directly before us. I have no right to suppose that all or any of + +you are naturalists; and even if you were, the misconceptions and + +misunderstandings prevalent even among naturalists on these matters + +would make it desirable that I should take the course I now propose to + +take,--that I should start from the beginning,--that I should endeavour + +to point out what is the existing state of the organic world,--that I + +should point out its past condition,--that I should state what is the + +precise nature of the undertaking which Mr. Darwin has taken in hand; + +that I should endeavour to show you what are the only methods by which + +that undertaking can be brought to an issue, and to point out to you + +how far the author of the work in question has satisfied those + +conditions, how far he has not satisfied them, how far they are + +satisfiable by man, and how far they are not satisfiable by man. + + + +To-night, in taking up the first part of this question, I shall + +endeavour to put before you a sort of broad notion of our knowledge of + +the condition of the living world. There are many ways of doing this. + +I might deal with it pictorially and graphically. Following the + +example of Humboldt in his "Aspects of Nature", I might endeavour to + +point out the infinite variety of organic life in every mode of its + +existence, with reference to the variations of climate and the like; + +and such an attempt would be fraught with interest to us all; but + +considering the subject before us, such a course would not be that best + +calculated to assist us. In an argument of this kind we must go + +further and dig deeper into the matter; we must endeavour to look into + +the foundations of living Nature, if I may so say, and discover the + +principles involved in some of her most secret operations. I propose, + +therefore, in the first place, to take some ordinary animal with which + +you are all familiar, and, by easily comprehensible and obvious + +examples drawn from it, to show what are the kind of problems which + +living beings in general lay before us; and I shall then show you that + +the same problems are laid open to us by all kinds of living beings. + +But first, let me say in what sense I have used the words "organic + +nature." In speaking of the causes which lead to our present knowledge + +of organic nature, I have used it almost as an equivalent of the word + +"living," and for this reason,--that in almost all living beings you + +can distinguish several distinct portions set apart to do particular + +things and work in a particular way. These are termed "organs," and + +the whole together is called "organic." And as it is universally + +characteristic of them, this term "organic" has been very conveniently + +employed to denote the whole of living nature,--the whole of the plant + +world, and the whole of the animal world. + + + +Few animals can be more familiar to you than that whose skeleton is + +shown on our diagram. You need not bother yourselves with this "Equus + +caballus" written under it; that is only the Latin name of it, and does + +not make it any better. It simply means the common Horse. Suppose we + +wish to understand all about the Horse. Our first object must be to + +study the structure of the animal. The whole of his body is inclosed + +within a hide, a skin covered with hair; and if that hide or skin be + +taken off, we find a great mass of flesh, or what is technically called + +muscle, being the substance which by its power of contraction enables + +the animal to move. These muscles move the hard parts one upon the + +other, and so give that strength and power of motion which renders the + +Horse so useful to us in the performance of those services in which we + +employ him. + + + +And then, on separating and removing the whole of this skin and flesh, + +you have a great series of bones, hard structures, bound together with + +ligaments, and forming the skeleton which is represented here. + + + +[FIGURE 1. (Section through a horse.) + + + +FIGURE 2. (Section through a cell.)] + + + +In that skeleton there are a number of parts to be recognized. The + +long series of bones, beginning from the skull and ending in the tail, + +is called the spine, and those in front are the ribs; and then there + +are two pairs of limbs, one before and one behind; and there are what + +we all know as the fore-legs and the hind-legs. If we pursue our + +researches into the interior of this animal, we find within the + +framework of the skeleton a great cavity, or rather, I should say, two + +great cavities,--one cavity beginning in the skull and running through + +the neck-bones, along the spine, and ending in the tail, containing the + +brain and the spinal marrow, which are extremely important organs. The + +second great cavity, commencing with the mouth, contains the gullet, + +the stomach, the long intestine, and all the rest of those internal + +apparatus which are essential for digestion; and then in the same great + +cavity, there are lodged the heart and all the great vessels going from + +it; and, besides that, the organs of respiration-- the lungs: and then + +the kidneys, and the organs of reproduction, and so on. Let us now + +endeavour to reduce this notion of a horse that we now have, to some + +such kind of simple expression as can be at once, and without + +difficulty, retained in the mind, apart from all minor details. If I + +make a transverse section, that is, if I were to saw a dead horse + +across, I should find that, if I left out the details, and supposing I + +took my section through the anterior region, and through the + +fore-limbs, I should have here this kind of section of the body (Fig. + +1). Here would be the upper part of the animal--that great mass of + +bones that we spoke of as the spine (a, Fig. 1). Here I should have + +the alimentary canal (b, Fig. 1). Here I should have the heart (c, + +Fig. 1); and then you see, there would be a kind of double tube, the + +whole being inclosed within the hide; the spinal marrow would be placed + +in the upper tube (a, Fig. 1), and in the lower tube (d d, Fig. 1), + +there would be the alimentary canal (b), and the heart (c); and here I + +shall have the legs proceeding from each side. For simplicity's sake, + +I represent them merely as stumps (e e, Fig. 1). Now that is a + +horse--as mathematicians would say--reduced to its most simple + +expression. Carry that in your minds, if you please, as a simplified + +idea of the structure of the Horse. The considerations which I have + +now put before you belong to what we technically call the 'Anatomy' of + +the Horse. Now, suppose we go to work upon these several parts,--flesh + +and hair, and skin and bone, and lay open these various organs with our + +scalpels, and examine them by means of our magnifying- glasses, and see + +what we can make of them. We shall find that the flesh is made up of + +bundles of strong fibres. The brain and nerves, too, we shall find, + +are made up of fibres, and these queer-looking things that are called + +ganglionic corpuscles. If we take a slice of the bone and examine it, + +we shall find that it is very like this diagram of a section of the + +bone of an ostrich, though differing, of course, in some details; and + +if we take any part whatsoever of the tissue, and examine it, we shall + +find it all has a minute structure, visible only under the microscope. + +All these parts constitute microscopic anatomy or 'Histology.' These + +parts are constantly being changed; every part is constantly growing, + +decaying, and being replaced during the life of the animal. The tissue + +is constantly replaced by new material; and if you go back to the young + +state of the tissue in the case of muscle, or in the case of skin, or + +any of the organs I have mentioned, you will find that they all come + +under the same condition. Every one of these microscopic filaments and + +fibres (I now speak merely of the general character of the whole + +process)-- every one of these parts--could be traced down to some + +modification of a tissue which can be readily divided into little + +particles of fleshy matter, of that substance which is composed of the + +chemical elements, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, having such + +a shape as this (Fig. 2). These particles, into which all primitive + +tissues break up, are called cells. If I were to make a section of a + +piece of the skin of my hand, I should find that it was made up of + +these cells. If I examine the fibres which form the various organs of + +all living animals, I should find that all of them, at one time or + +other, had been formed out of a substance consisting of similar + +elements; so that you see, just as we reduced the whole body in the + +gross to that sort of simple expression given in Fig. 1, so we may + +reduce the whole of the microscopic structural elements to a form of + +even greater simplicity; just as the plan of the whole body may be so + +represented in a sense (Fig. 1), so the primary structure of every + +tissue may be represented by a mass of cells (Fig. 2). + + + +Having thus, in this sort of general way, sketched to you what I may + +call, perhaps, the architecture of the body of the Horse (what we term + +technically its Morphology), I must now turn to another aspect. A + +horse is not a mere dead structure: it is an active, living, working + +machine. Hitherto we have, as it were, been looking at a steam-engine + +with the fires out, and nothing in the boiler; but the body of the + +living animal is a beautifully-formed active machine, and every part + +has its different work to do in the working of that machine, which is + +what we call its life. The Horse, if you see him after his day's work + +is done, is cropping the grass in the fields, as it may be, or munching + +the oats in his stable. What is he doing? His jaws are working as a + +mill--and a very complex mill too--grinding the corn, or crushing the + +grass to a pulp. As soon as that operation has taken place, the food + +is passed down to the stomach, and there it is mixed with the chemical + +fluid called the gastric juice, a substance which has the peculiar + +property of making soluble and dissolving out the nutritious matter in + +the grass, and leaving behind those parts which are not nutritious; so + +that you have, first, the mill, then a sort of chemical digester; and + +then the food, thus partially dissolved, is carried back by the + +muscular contractions of the intestines into the hinder parts of the + +body, while the soluble portions are taken up into the blood. The + +blood is contained in a vast system of pipes, spreading through the + +whole body, connected with a force pump,--the heart,--which, by its + +position and by the contractions of its valves, keeps the blood + +constantly circulating in one direction, never allowing it to rest; and + +then, by means of this circulation of the blood, laden as it is with + +the products of digestion, the skin, the flesh, the hair, and every + +other part of the body, draws from it that which it wants, and every + +one of these organs derives those materials which are necessary to + +enable it to do its work. + + + +The action of each of these organs, the performance of each of these + +various duties, involve in their operation a continual absorption of + +the matters necessary for their support, from the blood, and a constant + +formation of waste products, which are returned to the blood, and + +conveyed by it to the lungs and the kidneys, which are organs that have + +allotted to them the office of extracting, separating, and getting rid + +of these waste products; and thus the general nourishment, labour, and + +repair of the whole machine is kept up with order and regularity. But + +not only is it a machine which feeds and appropriates to its own + +support the nourishment necessary to its existence--it is an engine for + +locomotive purposes. The Horse desires to go from one place to + +another; and to enable it to do this, it has those strong contractile + +bundles of muscles attached to the bones of its limbs, which are put in + +motion by means of a sort of telegraphic apparatus formed by the brain + +and the great spinal cord running through the spine or backbone; and to + +this spinal cord are attached a number of fibres termed nerves, which + +proceed to all parts of the structure. By means of these the eyes, + +nose, tongue, and skin--all the organs of perception--transmit + +impressions or sensations to the brain, which acts as a sort of great + +central telegraph-office, receiving impressions and sending messages to + +all parts of the body, and putting in motion the muscles necessary to + +accomplish any movement that may be desired. So that you have here an + +extremely complex and beautifully-proportioned machine, with all its + +parts working harmoniously together towards one common object--the + +preservation of the life of the animal. + + + +Now, note this: the Horse makes up its waste by feeding, and its food + +is grass or oats, or perhaps other vegetable products; therefore, in + +the long run, the source of all this complex machinery lies in the + +vegetable kingdom. But where does the grass, or the oat, or any other + +plant, obtain this nourishing food-producing material? At first it is + +a little seed, which soon begins to draw into itself from the earth and + +the surrounding air matters which in themselves contain no vital + +properties whatever; it absorbs into its own substance water, an + +inorganic body; it draws into its substance carbonic acid, an inorganic + +matter; and ammonia, another inorganic matter, found in the air; and + +then, by some wonderful chemical process, the details of which chemists + +do not yet understand, though they are near foreshadowing them, it + +combines them into one substance, which is known to us as 'Protein,' a + +complex compound of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, which alone + +possesses the property of manifesting vitality and of permanently + +supporting animal life. So that, you see, the waste products of the + +animal economy, the effete materials which are continually being thrown + +off by all living beings, in the form of organic matters, are + +constantly replaced by supplies of the necessary repairing and + +rebuilding materials drawn from the plants, which in their turn + +manufacture them, so to speak, by a mysterious combination of those + +same inorganic materials. + + + +Let us trace out the history of the Horse in another direction. After + +a certain time, as the result of sickness or disease, the effect of + +accident, or the consequence of old age, sooner or later, the animal + +dies. The multitudinous operations of this beautiful mechanism flag in + +their performance, the Horse loses its vigour, and after passing + +through the curious series of changes comprised in its formation and + +preservation, it finally decays, and ends its life by going back into + +that inorganic world from which all but an inappreciable fraction of + +its substance was derived. Its bones become mere carbonate and + +phosphate of lime; the matter of its flesh, and of its other parts, + +becomes, in the long run, converted into carbonic acid, into water, and + +into ammonia. You will now, perhaps, understand the curious relation + +of the animal with the plant, of the organic with the inorganic world, + +which is shown in this diagram (Fig. 3). + + + +[FIGURE 3. (Diagram showing material relationship of the Vegetable, + +Animal and Inorganic Worlds.)] + + + +The plant gathers these inorganic materials together and makes them up + +into its own substance. The animal eats the plant and appropriates the + +nutritious portions to its own sustenance, rejects and gets rid of the + +useless matters; and, finally, the animal itself dies, and its whole + +body is decomposed and returned into the inorganic world. There is + +thus a constant circulation from one to the other, a continual + +formation of organic life from inorganic matters, and as constant a + +return of the matter of living bodies to the inorganic world; so that + +the materials of which our bodies are composed are largely, in all + +probability, the substances which constituted the matter of long + +extinct creations, but which have in the interval constituted a part of + +the inorganic world. + + + +Thus we come to the conclusion, strange at first sight, that the MATTER + +constituting the living world is identical with that which forms the + +inorganic world. And not less true is it that, remarkable as are the + +powers or, in other words, as are the FORCES which are exerted by + +living beings, yet all these forces are either identical with those + +which exist in the inorganic world, or they are convertible into them; + +I mean in just the same sense as the researches of physical + +philosophers have shown that heat is convertible into electricity, that + +electricity is convertible into magnetism, magnetism into mechanical + +force or chemical force, and any one of them with the other, each being + +measurable in terms of the other,--even so, I say, that great law is + +applicable to the living world. Consider why is the skeleton of this + +horse capable of supporting the masses of flesh and the various organs + +forming the living body, unless it is because of the action of the same + +forces of cohesion which combines together the particles of matter + +composing this piece of chalk? What is there in the muscular + +contractile power of the animal but the force which is expressible, and + +which is in a certain sense convertible, into the force of gravity + +which it overcomes? Or, if you go to more hidden processes, in what + +does the process of digestion differ from those processes which are + +carried on in the laboratory of the chemist? Even if we take the most + +recondite and most complex operations of animal life--those of the + +nervous system, these of late years have been shown to be--I do not say + +identical in any sense with the electrical processes--but this has been + +shown, that they are in some way or other associated with them; that is + +to say, that every amount of nervous action is accompanied by a certain + +amount of electrical disturbance in the particles of the nerves in + +which that nervous action is carried on. In this way the nervous action + +is related to electricity in the same way that heat is related to + +electricity; and the same sort of argument which demonstrates the two + +latter to be related to one another shows that the nervous forces are + +correlated to electricity; for the experiments of M. Dubois Reymond and + +others have shown that whenever a nerve is in a state of excitement, + +sending a message to the muscles or conveying an impression to the + +brain, there is a disturbance of the electrical condition of that nerve + +which does not exist at other times; and there are a number of other + +facts and phenomena of that sort; so that we come to the broad + +conclusion that not only as to living matter itself, but as to the + +forces that matter exerts, there is a close relationship between the + +organic and the inorganic world--the difference between them arising + +from the diverse combination and disposition of identical forces, and + +not from any primary diversity, so far as we can see. + + + +I said just now that the Horse eventually died and became converted + +into the same inorganic substances from whence all but an inappreciable + +fraction of its substance demonstrably originated, so that the actual + +wanderings of matter are as remarkable as the transmigrations of the + +soul fabled by Indian tradition. But before death has occurred, in the + +one sex or the other, and in fact in both, certain products or parts of + +the organism have been set free, certain parts of the organisms of the + +two sexes have come into contact with one another, and from that + +conjunction, from that union which then takes place, there results the + +formation of a new being. At stated times the mare, from a particular + +part of the interior of her body, called the ovary, gets rid of a + +minute particle of matter comparable in all essential respects with + +that which we called a cell a little while since, which cell contains a + +kind of nucleus in its centre, surrounded by a clear space and by a + +viscid mass of protein substance (Fig. 2); and though it is different + +in appearance from the eggs which we are mostly acquainted with, it is + +really an egg. After a time this minute particle of matter, which may + +only be a small fraction of a grain in weight, undergoes a series of + +changes,--wonderful, complex changes. Finally, upon its surface there + +is fashioned a little elevation, which afterwards becomes divided and + +marked by a groove. The lateral boundaries of the groove extend upwards + +and downwards, and at length give rise to a double tube. In the upper + +smaller tube the spinal marrow and brain are fashioned; in the lower, + +the alimentary canal and heart; and at length two pairs of buds shoot + +out at the sides of the body, which are the rudiments of the limbs. In + +fact a true drawing of a section of the embryo in this state would in + +all essential respects resemble that diagram of a horse reduced to its + +simplest expression, which I first placed before you (Fig. 1). + + + +Slowly and gradually these changes take place. The whole of the body, + +at first, can be broken up into "cells," which become in one place + +metamorphosed into muscle,--in another place into gristle and bone,--in + +another place into fibrous tissue,--and in another into hair; every + +part becoming gradually and slowly fashioned, as if there were an + +artificer at work in each of these complex structures that we have + +mentioned. This embryo, as it is called, then passes into other + +conditions. I should tell you that there is a time when the embryos of + +neither dog, nor horse, nor porpoise, nor monkey, nor man, can be + +distinguished by any essential feature one from the other; there is a + +time when they each and all of them resemble this one of the Dog. But + +as development advances, all the parts acquire their speciality, till + +at length you have the embryo converted into the form of the parent + +from which it started. So that you see, this living animal, this + +horse, begins its existence as a minute particle of nitrogenous matter, + +which, being supplied with nutriment (derived, as I have shown, from + +the inorganic world), grows up according to the special type and + +construction of its parents, works and undergoes a constant waste, and + +that waste is made good by nutriment derived from the inorganic world; + +the waste given off in this way being directly added to the inorganic + +world; and eventually the animal itself dies, and, by the process of + +decomposition, its whole body is returned to those conditions of + +inorganic matter in which its substance originated. + + + +This, then, is that which is true of every living form, from the lowest + +plant to the highest animal--to man himself. You might define the life + +of every one in exactly the same terms as those which I have now used; + +the difference between the highest and the lowest being simply in the + +complexity of the developmental changes, the variety of the structural + +forms, the diversity of the physiological functions which are exerted + +by each. + + + +If I were to take an oak tree as a specimen of the plant world, I + +should find that it originated in an acorn, which, too, commenced in a + +cell; the acorn is placed in the ground, and it very speedily begins to + +absorb the inorganic matters I have named, adds enormously to its bulk, + +and we can see it, year after year, extending itself upward and + +downward, attracting and appropriating to itself inorganic materials, + +which it vivifies, and eventually, as it ripens, gives off its own + +proper acorns, which again run the same course. But I need not + +multiply examples,--from the highest to the lowest the essential + +features of life are the same, as I have described in each of these + +cases. + + + +So much, then, for these particular features of the organic world, + +which you can understand and comprehend, so long as you confine + +yourself to one sort of living being, and study that only. + + + +But, as you know, horses are not the only living creatures in the + +world; and again, horses, like all other animals, have certain + +limits--are confined to a certain area on the surface of the earth on + +which we live,--and, as that is the simpler matter, I may take that + +first. In its wild state, and before the discovery of America, when + +the natural state of things was interfered with by the Spaniards, the + +Horse was only to be found in parts of the earth which are known to + +geographers as the Old World; that is to say, you might meet with + +horses in Europe, Asia, or Africa; but there were none in Australia, + +and there were none whatsoever in the whole continent of America, from + +Labrador down to Cape Horn. This is an empirical fact, and it is what + +is called, stated in the way I have given it you, the 'Geographical + +Distribution' of the Horse. + + + +Why horses should be found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and not in + +America, is not obvious; the explanation that the conditions of life in + +America are unfavourable to their existence, and that, therefore, they + +had not been created there, evidently does not apply; for when the + +invading Spaniards, or our own yeomen farmers, conveyed horses to these + +countries for their own use, they were found to thrive well and + +multiply very rapidly; and many are even now running wild in those + +countries, and in a perfectly natural condition. Now, suppose we were + +to do for every animal what we have here done for the Horse,--that is, + +to mark off and distinguish the particular district or region to which + +each belonged; and supposing we tabulated all these results, that would + +be called the Geographical Distribution of animals, while a + +corresponding study of plants would yield as a result the Geographical + +Distribution of plants. + + + +I pass on from that now, as I merely wished to explain to you what I + +meant by the use of the term 'Geographical Distribution.' As I said, + +there is another aspect, and a much more important one, and that is, + +the relations of the various animals to one another. The Horse is a + +very well-defined matter-of-fact sort of animal, and we are all pretty + +familiar with its structure. I dare say it may have struck you, that + +it resembles very much no other member of the animal kingdom, except + +perhaps the Zebra or the Ass. But let me ask you to look along these + +diagrams. Here is the skeleton of the Horse, and here the skeleton of + +the Dog. You will notice that we have in the Horse a skull, a backbone + +and ribs, shoulder-blades and haunch-bones. In the fore-limb, one + +upper arm-bone, two fore arm-bones, wrist-bones (wrongly called knee), + +and middle hand-bones, ending in the three bones of a finger, the last + +of which is sheathed in the horny hoof of the fore-foot: in the + +hind-limb, one thigh-bone, two leg-bones, anklebones, and middle + +foot-bones, ending in the three bones of a toe, the last of which is + +encased in the hoof of the hind-foot. Now turn to the Dog's skeleton. + +We find identically the same bones, but more of them, there being more + +toes in each foot, and hence more toe-bones. + + + +Well, that is a very curious thing! The fact is that the Dog and the + +Horse--when one gets a look at them without the outward impediments of + +the skin--are found to be made in very much the same sort of fashion. + +And if I were to make a transverse section of the Dog, I should find + +the same organs that I have already shown you as forming parts of the + +Horse. Well, here is another skeleton--that of a kind of Lemur--you + +see he has just the same bones; and if I were to make a transverse + +section of it, it would be just the same again. In your mind's eye + +turn him round, so as to put his backbone in a position inclined + +obliquely upwards and forwards, just as in the next three diagrams, + +which represent the skeletons of an Orang, a Chimpanzee, a Gorilla, and + +you find you have no trouble in identifying the bones throughout; and + +lastly turn to the end of the series, the diagram representing a man's + +skeleton, and still you find no great structural feature essentially + +altered. There are the same bones in the same relations. From the + +Horse we pass on and on, with gradual steps, until we arrive at last at + +the highest known forms. On the other hand, take the other line of + +diagrams, and pass from the Horse downwards in the scale to this fish; + +and still, though the modifications are vastly greater, the essential + +framework of the organization remains unchanged. Here, for instance, + +is a Porpoise: here is its strong backbone, with the cavity running + +through it, which contains the spinal cord; here are the ribs, here the + +shoulder blade; here is the little short upper-arm bone, here are the + +two forearm bones, the wrist-bone, and the finger-bones. + + + +Strange, is it not, that the Porpoise should have in this queer- + +looking affair--its flapper (as it is called), the same fundamental + +elements as the fore-leg of the Horse or the Dog, or the Ape or Man; + +and here you will notice a very curious thing,--the hinder limbs are + +absent. Now, let us make another jump. Let us go to the Codfish: + +here you see is the forearm, in this large pectoral fin--carrying your + +mind's eye onward from the flapper of the Porpoise. And here you have + +the hinder limbs restored in the shape of these ventral fins. If I + +were to make a transverse section of this, I should find just the same + +organs that we have before noticed. So that, you see, there comes out + +this strange conclusion as the result of our investigations, that the + +Horse, when examined and compared with other animals, is found by no + +means to stand alone in nature; but that there are an enormous number + +of other creatures which have backbones, ribs, and legs, and other + +parts arranged in the same general manner, and in all their formation + +exhibiting the same broad peculiarities. + + + +I am sure that you cannot have followed me even in this extremely + +elementary exposition of the structural relations of animals, without + +seeing what I have been driving at all through, which is, to show you + +that, step by step, naturalists have come to the idea of a unity of + +plan, or conformity of construction, among animals which appeared at + +first sight to be extremely dissimilar. + + + +And here you have evidence of such a unity of plan among all the + +animals which have backbones, and which we technically call + +"Vertebrata". But there are multitudes of other animals, such as + +crabs, lobsters, spiders, and so on, which we term "Annulosa". In + +these I could not point out to you the parts that correspond with those + +of the Horse,--the backbone, for instance,--as they are constructed + +upon a very different principle, which is also common to all of them; + +that is to say, the Lobster, the Spider, and the Centipede, have a + +common plan running through their whole arrangement, in just the same + +way that the Horse, the Dog, and the Porpoise assimilate to each other. + + + +Yet other creatures--whelks, cuttlefishes, oysters, snails, and all + +their tribe ("Mollusca")--resemble one another in the same way, but + +differ from both "Vertebrata" and "Annulosa"; and the like is true of + +the animals called "Coelenterata" (Polypes) and "Protozoa" (animalcules + +and sponges). + + + +Now, by pursuing this sort of comparison, naturalists have arrived at + +the conviction that there are,--some think five, and some seven,--but + +certainly not more than the latter number--and perhaps it is simpler to + +assume five--distinct plans or constructions in the whole of the animal + +world; and that the hundreds of thousands of species of creatures on + +the surface of the earth, are all reducible to those five, or, at most, + +seven, plans of organization. + + + +But can we go no further than that? When one has got so far, one is + +tempted to go on a step and inquire whether we cannot go back yet + +further and bring down the whole to modifications of one primordial + +unit. The anatomist cannot do this; but if he call to his aid the + +study of development, he can do it. For we shall find that, distinct + +as those plans are, whether it be a porpoise or man, or lobster, or any + +of those other kinds I have mentioned, every one begins its existence + +with one and the same primitive form,--that of the egg, consisting, as + +we have seen, of a nitrogenous substance, having a small particle or + +nucleus in the centre of it. Furthermore, the earlier changes of each + +are substantially the same. And it is in this that lies that true + +"unity of organization" of the animal kingdom which has been guessed at + +and fancied for many years; but which it has been left to the present + +time to be demonstrated by the careful study of development. But is it + +possible to go another step further still, and to show that in the same + +way the whole of the organic world is reducible to one primitive + +condition of form? Is there among the plants the same primitive form + +of organization, and is that identical with that of the animal + +kingdom? The reply to that question, too, is not uncertain or + +doubtful. It is now proved that every plant begins its existence under + +the same form; that is to say, in that of a cell--a particle of + +nitrogenous matter having substantially the same conditions. So that + +if you trace back the oak to its first germ, or a man, or a horse, or + +lobster, or oyster, or any other animal you choose to name, you shall + +find each and all of these commencing their existence in forms + +essentially similar to each other: and, furthermore, that the first + +processes of growth, and many of the subsequent modifications, are + +essentially the same in principle in almost all. + + + +In conclusion, let me, in a few words, recapitulate the positions which + +I have laid down. And you must understand that I have not been talking + +mere theory; I have been speaking of matters which are as plainly + +demonstrable as the commonest propositions of Euclid--of facts that + +must form the basis of all speculations and beliefs in Biological + +science. We have gradually traced down all organic forms, or, in other + +words, we have analyzed the present condition of animated nature, until + +we found that each species took its origin in a form similar to that + +under which all the others commence their existence. We have found the + +whole of the vast array of living forms, with which we are surrounded, + +constantly growing, increasing, decaying and disappearing; the animal + +constantly attracting, modifying, and applying to its sustenance the + +matter of the vegetable kingdom, which derived its support from the + +absorption and conversion of inorganic matter. And so constant and + +universal is this absorption, waste, and reproduction, that it may be + +said with perfect certainty that there is left in no one of our bodies + +at the present moment a millionth part of the matter of which they were + +originally formed! We have seen, again, that not only is the living + +matter derived from the inorganic world, but that the forces of that + +matter are all of them correlative with and convertible into those of + +inorganic nature. + + + +This, for our present purposes, is the best view of the present + +condition of organic nature which I can lay before you: it gives you + +the great outlines of a vast picture, which you must fill up by your + +own study. + + + +In the next lecture I shall endeavour in the same way to go back into + +the past, and to sketch in the same broad manner the history of life in + +epochs preceding our own. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of + +The Present Condition of Organic Nature by Thomas H. Huxley + + + diff --git a/old/thx0110.zip b/old/thx0110.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..718f283 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/thx0110.zip |
