The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1850-07-03

tivity is so much diminished, that he can
scarcely leap over twice the distance to
which will leap the flea. Thus, if tho liv-
ing principle, or active principle be lessen
cd to SO great a degree i'll the proportion Of
the size of the flea to that Of tho elephant,
to how much more must that be diminish
cd in proportion Of the size OF tho elephant
to that Of the earth So it ceases to bo
wonder namely, that if the earth DC living
body, its life is so obscure to the senses, as
TO lead to the prevailing opinion that it has
no life al ALL
In the animal and vegetable kingdoms.
is traced high organization, which, to
a physiologist, seems to be essential to life !;
and II is contcndcd that in as much as the
earth ls not n sort Of organic matter, that
/ the implication IL, that it is lifclcss; but
who durst say that it is incrganizcd Sup
pose the demonstrators Of anatomy, had be-
fore him the liver Of the already supposed
big elephant, or any other of his organs.
for dissection would its tissues seem 10
him the same as man-lvcr or hog.livcr
BY no means; thon would his scalpel
come in contact with lime, flint, mari beds,
and fosscl shell, sand stone, aud pchhlcs.
The earth is organizcd-it is glohu!ar
regular in lorm-il has a regular success.
sion Of tmmics, or strata; it has its oceans
its lakes, i's rivers, its little creeks it has
its fifty odd, several and distinct constituent
sorts Of ,issucs-namcly, gold, iron, silver
iodine, animals and vegetables, &c. &c,
as well Is man, has his several parts, to
wit: glands, muscles, brain, dcrms epcr-
dcrmis, &c. But then, it is not contcndcd
hero, that its organization is rs that Of an
animal possessing its several different sorts
Of organs. On the other hand, if an drGafl-
IZation similar'to the Most inferior animal
i organization, TO wit: the Z.ooplite or Poly
pus, be established, it will suffice, since
that is Of the same tissue throughout, and
! each piece cnt of, or severed froln tho
lfbotly, il matters not from whereabouts, vii!
prod iatc ,hnrsap lalal oS The s ssaes sses
II Fife requires for it's existence, matter
so if the object Of matter be for the exist
cnct of life alone, it may not exist without
life; and The earth being matter, Git fol-
lows} may have life; thus then, when an
animal or tree dies, in the common mean
Jig OF the word, it is not dead, hat only
unccrgoes change, ioosng the life pcctl-
liar to itself, and retaining that, as a consli,
tucnt part Of the earth, to which il belongs.
There then can be traced a sirnli-
lmtic. howovc ambiguous it NAV appear il,
al! OF natures works, from the greatest to
'hc most insignificant: observe that, for in
stance, Gf anr) between the trunk of n
tree, and tho earth On the sarfacc OF a
tree the living principle secihs more ac-
tive. The soft vascular barl; seems to be
endowed with higher degree OF life than
any other part Of the tree, (savc the fruit, )
the sap next, and the heart Or tlcepcr parls,
exhibit no signs Of life whatever, since
'tis only necessary 10 belt h free, that is
make c:rcu!aI ihcsoh through the bark
ant! sap in order to destroy lie. And so is
It's resemblance in rcgnrd to the earth
there is stratum in the tree, to correspond
w;h stratum here, in the earth here is n
dark rich soil on tho surface, on which ami
lf!ai and vegetable life, uXnriatcs in "worm
sensible motion" there the rk-surfacc,
changed 10 softncss and porosity, ubrra-
ted with It's more lireiy socrctory junction
of bland and uutrcous gum TO carry on,
the sImlltudc still farther, there is the vc-
gCthb!c coat, or last stratuin,-iI so il NAV
be called, on the Garth; here arc the now-
cr' and fruit; now last, (and highest en-
lowed with organism, and liic) there, all
animated nature, with man here, the seed
Of the fruit, TO stand against him; and the
inference is, that inasltUciI as indcpCmNcnt
Of the lie OF the tree, which is common 10
the fruit and seed, the latter is endowed
with liic peculiar 10 itself, (to wit, the life
OF procrcation,) animals, Independent OF
the earth, being part of It.
This earth came from the hands Of God ;
it is nearly 25,0D0 miles in girth--it is
i'll harmonious concert, in all its sltblimc
motions, with lis sister planets, systems and
sub-syscms, in the vast and bound!css
domain OF heaven it is composed of some
fifty odd simple elementary constituent
parts--it is not "void'--it is not without
form" "Thc Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the watcrs," and it was no lon
ger chaos of lifccsS matter, bnt VAS now
become living thing, by the "Spiri, of
God"
1t is not in accordance with the wisdom
displayed in tl,c general plan, or dcsign OF
this mjrtby and wonanrful ,,n;,yor.o .o