ple elements by the combination of
which Nature spells out successively tissues, which are her syllables,
organs which are her words, systems which are her chapters, and so goes
on from the simple to the complex, until she binds up in one living
whole that wondrous volume of power and wisdom which we call the human
body.

The alphabet of the organization is so short and simple, that I will
risk fatiguing your attention by repeating it, according to the plan I
have long adopted.

A. Cells, either floating, as in the blood, or fixed, like those in the
cancellated structure of bone, already referred to. Very commonly they
have undergone a change of figure, most frequently a flattening which
reduces them to scales, as in the epidermis and the epithelium.

B. Simple, translucent, homogeneous solid, such as is found at the back
of the cornea, or forming the intercellular substance of cartilage.

C. The white fibrous element, consisting of very delicate, tenacious
threads. This is the long staple textile substance of the body. It is to
the organism what cotton is pretended to be to our Southern States.
It pervades the whole animal fabric as areolar tissue, which is the
universal packing and wrapping material. It forms the ligaments which
bind the whole frame-work together. It furnishes the sinews, which are
the channels of power. It enfolds every muscle. It wraps the brain in
its hard, insensible folds, and the heart itself beats in a purse that
is made of it.

D. The yellow elastic, fibrous element, the caoutchouc of the animal
mechanism, which pulls things back into place, as the India-rubber band
shuts the door we have opened.

E. The striped muscular fibre,--the red flesh, which shortens itself in
obedience to the will, and thus produces all voluntary active motion.

F. The unstriped muscular fibre, more properly the fusiform-cell fibre,
which carries on the involuntary internal movements.

G. The nerve-cylinder, a glassy tube, with a pith of some firmness,
which conveys sensation to the brain and the principle which induces
motion from it.

H. The nerve-corpuscle, the centre of nervous power.

I. The mucous tissue, as Virchow calls it, common in embryonic
structures, seen in the vitreous humor of the adult.

To these add X, granules, of indeterminate shape and size, Y, for
inorganic matters, such as the salts of bone and teeth, and Z, to stand
as a symbol of the fluids, and you have the letters of what I have