The New York herald., 1851-08-29

ell Of which act In designed relations Functions OF
various kinds are performed in harmonious concur
renee. exhibiting partial semblsnce to vitality.
Mans history proves, that his intellect hun
dred fold greater than it is machines might be de-
yised which would perform unim sgined wonders:
Every increase of intellect would give increased
capacity to work ideas into material forms. A
comparative machinist might, from o machine,
infer the mental character and pro iciency
of its design, just as comparative anato-
mist makes out from the bones of animal all its
habits. Any designed material structure reflects
the intellect of its designer, and becomes higher in
character with eacn exaltation of the designing
mind. Were mans intellect to grow towards an
infinite stature, where could we draw limit to his
capacity for giving material embodiment to his
most advanced ideas Would not his ever enlarg-
ing mind still cothe itself in material forms Of pro-
portionate subtety in structure, function, and de-
sign!
But man, in erecting material structures, deals
only with masses He has no power to build up
his forms, by using at will and in succession, single
molecules Of each chemical element. Were mans
perceptions and capacities so microscopic that he
could work with single molecules and were his in
tellect sufficiently exalted, he might build up, in
purely mechanical mode, the exact smtude of
any existing organic form, even that Of his own
body. Infinite intellect having wrought out the
ideal Of mans body, might thus naturalize that
ideal by simple arrangement OF molecules, without
the least change in any one moecule, or the intro
duction Of any pew mechanical element To such
a structure, the forces constitutional in matter
wOuli give conference and stability. What more
is required for conceiving the physical character of
an organism, at given instant of time!
Another step remains to complete our conception
OF the whole life of organic structures What,
then, is growth, and how is it to be conceivedo or
explained
tire cycle of being The ideal of an ik is not
the mere form Of day, but that aggregate of for
NAL progressions inclnded between the acorn aud
the decaying oak. 1t includes provision for every
thing needed to ensure its normal perpetuty. The
history Of an organic individual or species must
always contain the two great elements Of original
constitution and circumstantial position. The spe
cfc ideal is unwrought and fOrmalized in its
sttution, while physical circumstances mar exalt
the development of this IDEAL Unless al ideal
were framed with foresight Of crcumstantal
influences, il must soon be frustrated. Now it is
very possible to conceive how structures, intelli-
gently composed from simple Ordin Try MOLECULES,
may be made to empody both ssalic and dyna ME
ideals. The forces appertaining to the ultimate
units Of matter ale quite adequate to work out
ideals extending over the changes OF lifetime. In
all organisms, the normal changes are pro yressive
and exemplify the law of continuity. This cont-
nuty extends unbroken through countless genera
tions, always exhibiting strict conformity to me-
chanical acquisitions. The wheel of specific life
rolls steadily on, while its points describe the
eycloids of individual life A present structure
may be SO composed that the molecular forces;
acting between its constituent molecules, will
OF themselves work out long train of pre-
determined changes. No matter how complicated
the system of molecules may be, the determination
street problem in mathematical mechanics, exactly
the same in principle as that of planetary or pro.
jectile motion. The vast intellectual difficulty of
the discussion does not affect It's principle, nor
would it obstruct full predctive insight By mind
of sufficient grasp. Those dferential worlds,
whose integral is seen in organic masses, move on
planet like, in the round of their mechanically de-
tel mine orbits
That intellect which was large enough to idealize
man. was, doubtless large enough so to construct
his body that the constituent forces of its compo-
pent atter should operate the observed renovation
aud progression of its parts. In framing the de al
of which man is the embodiment, not only is it
conceivable that the designing intelligence in
wrought every mechanical essental for the physical
functions of u full grown man, but that definite
physical provision for all the changes in the whole
cycle of his being incorporated in the struc-
ture Of his body. The individual cycle of growth,
and the ply sica history Of our race from its begin
ming far into the unenacted future, may have been
structurally embodied in the frames OF our created
progenitors and in the circumstances Of existence
surrounding them ana their posterity. Thus, too,
by direct design, may the body have been made the
structural depository Of all those harmonies which
alone can fit 1t to become the physical home of the
spirit which inhabts it.
This mode of viewing organisms furnishes a hint
as to instinct A divine ideal would contain pro-
vision for all stages in the development of the ind
vidual. ThN activity Of animal faculties Is closely
onnected with, and mainly controlled by, physical
tru;ture, which, in all stages Of developemeut,
must embody the necessary conditions for continued
lxistence. In designing and framing animal
tructure, the means for stimulating all the fa
les required At each stage Of its existence would
be introduced in its bodily constitution Thus the
opera lions, usually called nstinctive, would
rom undetermined structure, specially designed
to stimulate the particular faculties exercised The
materialized ideals would determine which faculties
would be most active Mt each stage Of growth and
in each species Of animals.
The views now presented are based entirely on
the conceptions Of matter AMI its constitutional
forces, which inorganic masses constrain u,
al. hA tAx Itstts I'D
that every mechanical idea is outraged by the
common conceptions Of a peculiar "vital force"
or ''organic force" The term "force" has
definite meaning when used in mechanics, bat no
one can define vital force. IL is too mysterious,
tickle, evasive, and illegitimate to permit q clear
concep pton definition When an organic process
is not understood, avita force is usually summoned
to remove our ignorance out Of sight. Never was
anything more purely hypothetical. It's parent Is
ignorance, smotherins truth and investigation its
Office. Until some shadow OF evidence is presented,
that q special unmechancal force, peculiar TO or
ganic bodies realty exists We are IN duty bound to
abjure this convenient, this elastic bgurant Of a
vital force, which, "bavng no law, Is u law unto
ITSELF Though the complication Of org mic struc
ture may forever prevent strict mechanical ana
lysis Of organitms, we are not thus authorized TO
ypothecate ne for SO for convenience cloaking
igDoIancs % far as we know, no molecule Is ever
moved, except by real mechanical forse, nor
iIceed can be, ON account oil It's inertia. lh,ugn
muscles move In obedience TO nervous im pulses,
the agencies applied are doubtless wholly physical
below that point, so wholly mysterious, where the
Ierves ccIsiize INTO one subtle thread OF connec-
ton between the spiritual and material part of
This glancIpg into the depths Of organic struc-
ture Is ho transcendenial fight beyond the a,tual.
Our appeal Is only to tnat intelligence actually ex
bibited IN ioimaiizIDg the masses which compose
organic studies. Let cut conceptions out extend
the n here of this intelligence, TO the intimate coo-
stuutJn OF each organ, mass, and we shall had a
rev light thrown ON tue whole nature of organic
structure IL is true that every organism, on this
view, is an embodiment 9i more subtle intelligence
than all msikBd eau boast But ne must have
studied nature quite Ia VAIN, VINO has Lot Seen
compulsory eyio,Lce that the organic architect rs
n nc,ed great
on 1Hk IMEkY AND ASSOCIATED MINERALS OF
AsA MlSoh; nv PKOFE.s }. LAwREScE Sara.
This conn municatIVn Is meant simpiy Tor the
IuIose OF IbtiVGucBg n series OF specimens de-
IA loLstIatipg the geology OF that important mi-
neral emery The mass Of observations made by
he IN ASIA Minor, nave already bCen made public,
80 that only su,h saoi,ioIa observation mas been