Contrary to my custom, my dear child, I made use, in the last chapter,
of a new word, without giving an explanation of it.
I spoke to you of _our organs_, and we have not yet ascertained what an
_organ_ is.
You probably knew what I meant, because it is a word which is used in
conversation and pretty well understood by everybody. But I am bent
upon giving you a more exact idea of it, for the trouble will be well
bestowed. If I did not do this at once it was because there is a good
deal to tell about, and that would have carried me too far away from
my subject.
_Organ_, comes from the Greek word _organon_, and means _instrument_. It
was used particularly to signify instruments of music, so much so that
our word "organ" comes from it. Our bodily organs then, are
_instruments_, or _tools_ if you like it better, which have been given
to us, wherewith to perform all the acts of life; and as there is not
one part of the body which is not of use to us for some purpose or
other, our body is, in point of fact, from head to foot a compound of
_organs_. Thus the hand is the tool which we make use of to lay hold of
anything--so an _organ_; the eye is the instrument of sight--so an
_organ_; the heart is the machine which causes the blood to circulate--so
an organ; the liver fabricates the bile--it is an organ therefore;
the bones are the framework which support the weight of the body--so
organs; the muscles are the power which sets the bones in movement--organs
also, therefore; the skin is the armor which protects them--so an
organ: in fact everything within us is an organ. If there was any corner
of our body which was not an organ, it would be useless to us, and we
should not, therefore, have received it, because God makes nothing
without a use.
Here lies the secret of that great miracle which is called life. I do
not know whether you will be able to understand me thoroughly, but
open your ears, as if some one was going to explain addition to you;
this is not more difficult.
Life is in reality the total of an addition sum. Each one of our organs
is a distinct being which has its particular nature and special office;
its separate life consequently; and our individual life is the sum
total of all these lesser lives, independent one of the other, but
which nevertheless blend together by a mysterious combination, into
one common life, which is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It
follows from this, that the more organs a being has, the greater is
the sum total; the more, consequently, is life developed in him.
Remember this when we begin to study life in the lower animals. In
proportion as you find the number of _organs_ diminish, you will
find life diminishing in power, until we arrive at beings who have,
as it were, only one organ apparent, and whose life is so insignificant,
that we have some difficulty in giving an account of it, and are saying
the utmost that can be said in calling it life at all.
But this comparison of life to the total of an addition sum, is too
dry; and, although it has its appropriate side, yet it might give you
a false idea of life; which is what always happens when one tries to
solve inscrutable questions and hidden mysteries by a matter-of-fact
illustration.
Let us try for something more to the purpose.
I told you that the Greek word _organon_ was applied especially
to instruments of music. Well, let us consider our organs as so many
musical instruments. You have, probably, sometimes been at a concert.
Each of the instruments in the orchestra performs its own part, does
it not? The little flute pipes through all its holes; the double-bass
pours thunder from its chords: the violin sighs with his; the cymbals
clash; the Chinese bells dance to their own tinkling; all go at it in
their own fashion, each independently of the other. And yet, when the
orchestra is in good tune together, and well played, you hear but one
sound; and to you the result of all these various noises, each of which
would have no meaning alone, is music composed by some great artist
whom you do not see. It is no longer a flute, a double-bass, or a violin
which you hoar; it is a symphony of Beethoven's, an oratorio of Haydn's,
or Mozart's overture to _Don Juan_.
Life is just like this. All the instruments are playing together, and
there is but one music; music written by God.
But wait! when I say _life is just like this_, let us come to an
understanding. Life is _some_thing like it, that is all, for as
to telling you what life is, I shall not attempt it. I know nothing
about it, do you see, though that is a painful confession to have to
make to a pupil; but in this case it does not distress me, and you are
welcome to hunt the world through for a master, who in this matter
does know anything. I could make a hundred other comparisons, but
theywould all fail in some point or other. Shall I tell you where this
one fails? In an orchestra there is always a musician by the side of
the instrument. Now with us we see the instrument well enough, but we
cannot see the musician.
You are inclined to ask me, perhaps, why I am wasting so much paper
to-day in talking to you about organs, instead of going on tranquilly
with our little history of the circulation. But I told you just now
that the secret of life lies in the organs, and before entering upon
the history of life, I ought to have begun with them. It is there all
the books begin which treat of the subject we are studying together,
and if you had one in your hands at this moment, it would teach you
that all creatures whatsoever are divided into those which have organs
and those which have none--that is, into _organic_ and _inorganic_
beings [Footnote: A lump of iron is the same throughout. Each of its
parts has the same properties and the same uses. It has no organs, it is
an _inorganic_ being. A rose tree has flowers, which are differently
made from its leaves, and serve a different use: a root which sucks up
the precious food of the earth; a bark which is of a different nature
from the wood, and serves a different purpose. It has organs; it is an
_organic being_: all animals and vegetables are _organic beings_.] (_in_
stands here for _not_, as _in_complete means not complete).
This is, in fact, the starting point for the study of nature, and there
are many other things besides which I ought to have told you before
I began. But we went straight ahead, without looking at what we were
leaving behind, satisfied with turning aside from time to time to pay
our debts.
And while I am making my confession, I ought to tell you all. You would
probably only have listened to me with half an ear, if I had begun at
the beginning. There is a proverb which says--"The appetite comes with
eating." I do not advise you to follow this proverb too closely at
dinner, for it might mislead you sadly. But it is always true when
applied to learning; it is what one knows already that gives one a
taste for learning more. If I have been making you bite at the organs
to-day, which is rather a tough morsel, it was because I fancied that
your appetite had begun to come. Was I wrong?
Let us now return to the blood which nourishes the organs.