organic matter

(See extract.) "There is no elementary or self-subsistent organic mat. ter , as Buffon taught: the inorganic elements into which the particles of organic matter pa by their final decomposition are organically recomposed, and fitted for the sustenance of animals, through the operations of the vegetable kingdom. No animal can subsist on inorganic matter."-Owen: Anat. Invertebrates (1843), p. 28. organic-radical, s. Chem.: A group of atoms containing one or more atoms of carbon, of which one or more bonds are unsatisfied. It may be a monad, dyad, or triad radical, according to the number of monad atoms required to complete its active atomicity. organic-remains, s. pl. Palæont.: The remains of organized bodies (animals and plants) found in a fo il state. [FosSIL, B. 1. 1, 2.]