Organic beings are those which have in themselves a source of activity that produces the phenomena of life. They are born, grow, reproduce their own species, and die. They are provided with organs specially adapted to the accomplishment of the different acts of their life, to the satisfaction of their needs, and to their preservation. They include men, animals, and plants.

Inorganic beings are those which possess neither vitality nor the power of spontaneous movement, and are formed by the mere aggregation of matter; as minerals, water, air, etc.

60. Is the force which unites the elements of matter in organic and inorganic bodies the same?

"Yes; the law of attraction is the same for all."

61. Is there any difference between the matter of organic and inorganic bodies?

"The matter of both classes of bodies is the same, but in organic bodies it is animalised."

62. What is the cause of the animalisation of matter?

"Its union with the vital principle."

63. Does the vital principle reside in a special agent, or is it only a property of organised matter; in other words, is it an effect or a cause?

"It is both. Life is an effect produced by the action of an agent upon matter; this agent, without matter, is not life, just as matter cannot become alive without this agent. It gives life to all beings that absorb and assimilate it."

64. We have seen that spirit and matter are two constituent elements of the universe. Does the vital principle constitute a third element?

"It is, undoubtedly, one of the elements necessary to the constitution of the universe; but it has its source in a special modification of the universal matter, modified to that end. For you, it is an elementary body, like oxygen or hydrogen, which, nevertheless, are not primitive elements; for all the bodies known to you, though appearing to you to be simple, are modifications of the primal fluid."

– This statement seems to imply that vitality is not due to a distinct primitive agent, but is a special property of the universal matter, resulting from certain modifications of the latter.

"Your conclusion is the natural consequence of what we have stated."

65. Does the vital principle reside in any one of the bodies known to us?

"It has its source in the universal fluid; it is what you call the magnetic fluid, or the electric fluid, animalised. It is the intermediary, the link between spirit and matter."

66. Is the vital principle the same for all organic beings?

"Yes; but modified according to species. It is that principle which gives them the power of originating movement and activity, and distinguishes them from inert matter; for the movement of matter is not spontaneous. Matter is moved; it does not originate movement.'

67. Is vitality a permanent attribute of the vital principle, or is vitality only developed by the play of the organs in which it is manifested?

"It is only developed in connection with a body. Have we not said that this agent, without matter, is not life? The union of the two is necessary to the production of life."

– Would it be correct to say that vitality is latent when the vital agent is not united with a body?

"Yes; that is the case."

The totality of the organs of a body constitutes a sort of mechanism which receives its impulsion from the active or vital principle that resides in them. The vital principle is the motive power of organised bodies. And while the vital principle gives impulsion to the organs in which it resides, the play of those organs develops and keeps up the activity of the vital principle, somewhat as friction develops heat.