,illustration     ,,the  ,,breath ,,of  
,,life   ,,by  ,,john ,,burroughs       
,illustration  ,,boston ,,and ,,new     
,,york ,,houghton ,,mifflin ,,company   
,the ,riverside ,press ,cambridge       
,,copyright1 #aiae1 ,,by ,,john         
,,burroughs  ,,all ,,rights ,,reserved  
,published ,may #aiae     ,,preface     
,as life nears its end with me1 ,i find 
myself meditating more and more upon the
 mystery of its nature and origin1 yet  
without the least hope that ,i can find 
out the ways of the ,eternal in this or 
in any other world4 ,in these studies ,i
 fancy ,i am about as far from mastering
 the mystery as the ant which ,i saw    
this morning industriously exploring a  
small section of the garden walk is from
 getting a clear idea of the geography  
of the ,north ,american ,continent4 ,but
 the ant was occupied and was apparently
 happy1 and she must have learned       
something about a small fraction of that
 part of the earth's surface4  ,i have  
passed many pleasant summer days in my  

hay-barn study1 or under the apple      
trees1 exploring these questions1 and   
though ,i have not solved them1 ,i am   
satisfied with the clearer view ,i have 
given myself of the mystery that        
envelops them4 ,i have set down in these
 pages all the thoughts that have come  
to me on this subject4 ,i have not aimed
 so much at consistency as at clearness 
and definiteness of statement1 letting  
my mind drift as upon a shoreless sea4  
,indeed1 what are such questions1 and   
all other ultimate questions1 but       
shoreless seas whereon the chief reward 
of the navigator is the joy of the      
adventure8  ,sir ,thomas ,browne said1  
over two hundred years ago1 that in     
philosophy truth seemed double-faced1 by
 which ,i fancy he meant that there was 
always more than one point of view of   
all great problems1 often contradictory 
points of view1 from which truth is     
revealed4 ,in the following pages ,i am 
aware that two ideas1 or principles1    
struggle in my mind for mastery4 ,one is

 the idea of the super-mechanical and   
the super-chemical character of living  
things2 the other is the idea of the    
supremacy and universality of what we   
call natural law4 ,the first probably   
springs from my inborn idealism and     
literary habit of mind2 the second from 
my love of nature and my scientific     
bent4 ,it is hard for me to reduce the  
life impulse to a level with common     
material forces that shape and control  
the world of inert matter1 and it is    
equally hard for me to reconcile my     
reason to the introduction of a new     
principle1 or to see anything in natural
 processes that savors of the ab-extra4 
,it is the working of these two         
different ideas in my mind that seems to
 give rise to the obvious contradictions
 that crop out here and there throughout
 this volume4 ,an explanation of life   
phenomena that savors of the laboratory 
and chemism repels me1 and an           
explanation that savors of the          
theological point of view is equally    

distasteful to me4 ,i crave and seek a  
natural explanation of all phenomena    
upon this earth1 but the word natural to
 me implies more than mere chemistry and
 physics4 ,the birth of a baby1 and the 
blooming of a flower1 are natural       
events1 but the laboratory methods      
forever fail to give us the key to the  
secret of either4  ,i am forced to      
conclude that my passion for nature and 
for all open-air life1 though tinged and
 stimulated by science1 is not a passion
 for pure science1 but for literature   
and philosophy4 ,my imagination and     
ingrained humanism are appealed to by   
the facts and methods of natural        
history4 ,i find something akin to      
poetry and religion 7using the latter   
word in its non-mythological sense1 as  
indicating the sum of mystery and       
reverence we feel in the presence of the
 great facts of life and death7 in the  
shows of day and night1 and in my       
excursions to fields and woods4 ,the    
love of nature is a different thing from

 the love of science1 though the two may
 go together4 ,the ,wordsworthian sense 
in nature1 of something far more deeply 
interfused than the principles of exact 
science1 is probably the source of      
nearly if not quite all that this volume
 holds4 ,to the rigid man of science    
this is frank mysticism2 but without a  
sense of the unknown and unknowable1    
life is flat and barren4 ,without the   
emotion of the beautiful1 the sublime1  
the mysterious1 there is no art1 no     
religion1 no literature4 ,how to get    
from the clod underfoot to the brain and
 consciousness of man without invoking  
something outside of1 and superior to1  
natural laws1 is the question4 ,for my  
own part ,i content myself with the     
thought of some unknown and doubtless   
unknowable tendency or power in the     
elements themselves--a kind of universal
 mind pervading living matter and the   
reason of its living1 through which the 
whole drama of evolution is brought     
about4  ,this is getting very near to   

the old teleological conception1 as it  
is also near to that of ,henri ,bergson 
and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge4 ,our minds     
easily slide into the groove of         
supernaturalism and spiritualism because
 they have long moved therein4 ,we have 
the words and they mould our thoughts4  
,but science is fast teaching us that   
the universe is complete in itself2 that
 whatever takes place in matter is by   
virtue of the force of matter2 that it  
does not defer to or borrow from some   
other universe2 that there is deep      
beneath deep in it2 that gross matter   
has its interior in the molecule1 and   
the molecule has its interior in the    
atom1 and the atom has its interior in  
the electron1 and that the electron is  
matter in its fourth or non-material    
state--the point where it touches the   
super-material4 ,the transformation of  
physical energy into vital1 and of vital
 into mental1 doubtless takes place in  
this invisible inner world of atoms and 
electrons4 ,the electric constitution of

 matter is a deduction of physics4 ,it  
seems in some degree to bridge over the 
chasm between what we call the material 
and the spiritual4 ,if we are not within
 hailing distance of life and mind1 we  
seem assuredly on the road thither4 ,the
 mystery of the transformation of the   
ethereal1 imponderable forces into the  
vital and the mental seems quite beyond 
the power of the mind to solve4 ,the    
explanation of it in the bald terms of  
chemistry and physics can never satisfy 
a mind with a trace of idealism in it4  
,the greater number of the chapters of  
this volume are variations upon a single
 theme1--what ,tyndall called the       
mystery and the miracle of              
vitality1--and ,i can only hope that the
 variations are of sufficient interest  
to justify the inevitable repetitions   
which occur4 ,i am no more inclined than
 ,tyndall was to believe in miracles    
unless we name everything a miracle1    
while at the same time ,i am deeply     
impressed with the inadequacy of all    

known material forces to account for the
 phenomena of living things4  ,that word
 of evil repute1 materialism1 is no     
longer the black sheep in the flock that
 it was before the advent of modern     
transcendental physics4 ,the            
spiritualized materialism of men like   
,huxley and ,tyndall need not trouble   
us4 ,it springs from the new conception 
of matter4 ,it stands on the threshold  
of idealism or mysticism with the door  
ajar4 ,after ,tyndall had cast out the  
term vital force1 and reduced all       
visible phenomena of life to mechanical 
attraction and repulsion1 after he had  
exhausted physics1 and reached its very 
rim1 a mighty mystery still hovered     
beyond him4 ,he recognized that he had  
made no step toward its solution1 and   
was forced to confess with the          
philosophers of all ages that           
,we are such stuff     ,as dreams are   
made on1 and our little life     ,is    
rounded with a sleep4     ,,contents    
,i4    ,,the ,,breath ,,of ,,life       

#a  ,,ii4   ,,the ,,living ,,wave       
#bd  ,,iii4  ,a ,,wonderful ,,world     
#df  ,,iv4   ,,the ,,baffling ,,problem 
#ga  ,v4    ,,scientific ,,vitalism     
#ajd  ,,vi4   ,a ,,bird ,,of ,,passage  
#aae  ,,vii4  ,,life ,,and ,,mind       
#aca  ,,viii4 ,,life ,,and ,,science    
#aei  ,,ix4   ,,the ,,journeying ,,atoms
               #ahh  ,x4    ,,the       
,,vital ,,order                    #bab 
,,xi4   ,,the ,,arrival ,,of ,,the ,,fit
             #bdd  ,,xii4  ,,the        
,,naturalist',s ,,view ,,of ,,life      
#bed        ,,index                     
#bia  ,the reproduction of the bust of  
,mr4 ,burroughs which appears as the    
frontispiece to this volume is used by  
courtesy of the sculptor1 ,c4 ,s4       
,pietro4     ,i  ,,the ,,breath ,,of    
,,life   ,i  ,when for the third or     
fourth time during the spring or summer 
,i take my hoe and go out and cut off   
the heads of the lusty burdocks that    
send out their broad leaves along the   
edge of my garden or lawn1 ,i often ask 

myself1 ,what is this thing that is so  
hard to scotch here in the grass8 ,i    
decapitate it time after time and yet it
 forthwith gets itself another head4 ,we
 call it burdock1 but what is burdock1  
and why does it not change into yellow  
dock1 or into a cabbage8 ,what is it    
that is so constant and so              
irrepressible1 and before the summer is 
ended will be lying in wait here with   
its ten thousand little hooks to attach 
itself to every skirt or bushy tail or  
furry or woolly coat that comes along1  
in order to get free transportation to  
other lawns and gardens1 to green fields
 and pastures new8  ,it is some living  
thing2 but what is a living thing1 and  
how does it differ from a mechanical and
 non-living thing8 ,if ,i smash or      
overturn the sundial with my hoe1 or    
break the hoe itself1 these things stay 
smashed and broken1 but the burdock     
mends itself1 renews itself1 and1 if ,i 
am not on my guard1 will surreptitiously
 mature some of the burs before the     

season is passed4  ,evidently a living  
thing is radically different from a     
mechanical thing2 yet modern physical   
science tells me that the burdock is    
only another kind of machine1 and       
manifests nothing but the activity of   
the mechanical and chemical principles  
that we see in operation all about us in
 dead matter2 and that a little         
different mechanical arrangement of its 
ultimate atoms would turn it into a     
yellow dock or into a cabbage1 into an  
oak or into a pine1 into an ox or into a
 man4  ,i see that it is a machine in   
this respect1 that it is set going by a 
force exterior to itself--the warmth of 
the sun acting upon it1 and upon the    
moisture in the soil2 but it is         
unmechanical in that it repairs itself  
and grows and reproduces itself1 and    
after it has ceased running can never be
 made to run again4 ,after ,i have      
reduced all its activities to mechanical
 and chemical principles1 my mind seems 
to see something that chemistry and     

mechanics do not explain--something that
 avails itself of these forces1 but is  
not of them4 ,this may be only my       
anthropomorphic way of looking at       
things1 but are not all our ways of     
looking at things anthropomorphic8 ,how 
can they be any other8 ,they cannot be  
deific since we are not gods4 ,they may 
be scientific4 ,but what is science but 
a kind of anthropomorphism8 ,kant wisely
 said1 ,it sounds at first singular1 but
 is none the less certain1 that the     
understanding does not derive its laws  
from nature1 but prescribes them to     
nature4 ,this is the anthropomorphism of
 science4  ,if ,i attribute the         
phenomenon of life to a vital force or  
principle1 am ,i any more unscientific  
than ,i am when ,i give a local         
habitation and a name to any other      
causal force1 as gravity1 chemical      
affinity1 cohesion1 osmosis1            
electricity1 and so forth8 ,these terms 
stand for certain special activities in 
nature and are as much the inventions of

 our own minds as are any of the rest of
 our ideas4  ,we can help ourselves out1
 as ,haeckel does1 by calling the       
physical forces--such as the magnet that
 attracts the iron filings1 the powder  
that explodes1 the steam that drives the
 locomotive1 and the like--living       
inorganics1 and looking upon them as    
acting by living force as much as the   
sensitive mimosa does when it contracts 
its leaves at touch4 ,but living force  
is what we are trying to differentiate  
from mechanical force1 and what do we   
gain by confounding the two8 ,we can    
only look upon a living body as a       
machine by forming new conceptions of a 
machine--a machine utterly unmechanical1
 which is a contradiction of terms4  ,a 
man may expend the same kind of force in
 thinking that he expends in chopping   
his wood1 but that fact does not put the
 two kinds of activity on the same      
level4 ,there is no question but that   
the food consumed is the source of the  
energy in both cases1 but in the one the

 energy is muscular1 and in the other it
 is nervous4 ,when we speak of mental or
 spiritual force1 we have as distinct a 
conception as when we speak of physical 
force4 ,it requires physical force to   
produce the effect that we call mental  
force1 though how the one can result in 
the other is past understanding4 ,the   
law of the correlation and conservation 
of energy requires that what goes into  
the body as physical force must come out
 in some form of physical force--heat1  
light1 electricity1 and so forth4       
,science cannot trace force into the    
mental realm and connect it with our    
states of consciousness4 ,it loses track
 of it so completely that men like      
,tyndall and ,huxley and ,spencer pause 
before it as an inscrutable mystery1    
while ,john ,fiske helps himself out    
with the conception of the soul as quite
 independent of the body1 standing      
related to it as the musician is related
 to his instrument4 ,this idea is the   
key to ,fiske's proof of the immortality

 of the soul4 ,finding himself face to  
face with an insoluble mystery1 he cuts 
the knot1 or rather1 clears the chasm1  
by this extra-scientific leap4 ,since   
the soul1 as we know it1 is inseparably 
bound up with physical conditions1 it   
seems to me that a more rational        
explanation of the phenomenon of        
mentality is the conception that the    
physical force and substance that we use
 up in a mental effort or emotional     
experience gives rise1 through some     
unknown kind of molecular activity1 to  
something which is analogous to the     
electric current in a live wire1 and    
which traverses the nerves and results  
in our changing states of consciousness4
 ,this is the mechanistic explanation of
 mind1 consciousness1 etc41 but it is   
the only one1 or kind of one1 that lends
 itself to scientific interpretation4   
,life1 spirit1 consciousness1 may be a  
mode of motion as distinct from all     
other modes of motion1 such as heat1    
light1 electricity1 as these are        

distinct from each other4  ,when we     
speak of force of mind1 force of        
character1 we of course speak in        
parables1 since the force here alluded  
to is an experience of our own minds    
entirely and would not suffice to move  
the finest dust-particle in the air4    
,there could be no vegetable or animal  
life without the sunbeam1 yet when we   
have explained or accounted for the     
growth of a tree in terms of the        
chemistry and physics of the sunbeam1 do
 we not have to figure to ourselves     
something in the tree that avails itself
 of this chemistry1 that uses it and    
profits by it8 ,after this mysterious   
something has ceased to operate1 or play
 its part1 the chemistry of the sunbeam 
is no longer effective1 and the tree is 
dead4  ,without the vibrations that we  
call light1 there would have been no    
eye4 ,but1 as ,bergson happily says1 it 
is not light passively received that    
makes the eye2 it is light meeting an   
indwelling need in the organism1 which  

amounts to an active creative principle1
 that begets the eye4 ,with fish in     
underground waters this need does not   
arise2 hence they have no sight4 ,fins  
and wings and legs are developed to meet
 some end of the organism1 but if the   
organism were not charged with an       
expansive or developing force or        
impulse1 would those needs arise8  ,why 
should the vertebrate series have risen 
through the fish1 the reptile1 the      
mammal1 to man1 unless the manward      
impulse was inherent in the first       
vertebrate2 something that struggled1   
that pushed on and up from the more     
simple to the more complex forms8 ,why  
did not unicellular life always remain  
unicellular8 ,could not the environment 
have acted upon it endlessly without    
causing it to change toward higher and  
more complex forms1 had there not been  
some indwelling aboriginal tendency     
toward these forms8 ,how could natural  
selection1 or any other process of      
selection1 work upon species to modify  

them1 if there were not something in    
species pushing out and on1 seeking new 
ways1 new forms1 in fact some active    
principle that is modifiable8  ,life has
 risen by stepping-stones of its dead   
self to higher things4 ,why has it      
risen8 ,why did it not keep on the same 
level1 and go through the cycle of      
change1 as the inorganic does1 without  
attaining to higher forms8 ,because1 it 
may be replied1 it was life1 and not    
mere matter and motion--something that  
lifts matter and motion to a new plane4 
,under the influence of the life        
impulse1 the old routine of matter--from
 compound to compound1 from solid to    
fluid1 from fluid to gaseous1 from rock 
to soil1 the cycle always ending where  
it began--is broken into1 and cycles of 
a new order are instituted4 ,from the   
stable equilibrium which dead matter is 
always seeking1 the same matter in the  
vital circuit is always seeking the     
state of unstable equilibrium1 or rather
 is forever passing between the two1 and

 evolving the myriad forms of life in   
the passage4 ,it is hard to think of the
 process as the work of the physical and
 chemical forces of inorganic nature1   
without supplementing them with a new   
and different force4  ,the forces of    
life are constructive forces1 and they  
are operative in a world of destructive 
or disintegrating forces which oppose   
them and which they overcome4 ,the      
physical and chemical forces of dead    
matter are at war with the forces of    
life1 till life overcomes and uses them4
  ,the mechanical forces go on repeating
 or dividing through the same cycles    
forever and ever1 seeking a stable      
condition1 but the vital force is       
inventive and creative and constantly   
breaks the repose that organic nature   
seeks to impose upon it4  ,external     
forces may modify a body1 but they      
cannot develop it unless there is       
something in the body waiting to be     
developed1 craving development1 as it   
were4 ,the warmth and moisture in the   

soil act alike upon the grains of sand  
and upon the seed-germs2 the germ       
changes into something else1 the sand   
does not4 ,these agents liberate a force
 in the germ that is not in the grain of
 sand4 ,the warmth of the brooding fowl 
does not spend itself upon mere passive1
 inert matter 7unless there is a china  
egg in the nest71 but upon matter       
straining upon its leash1 and in a state
 of expectancy4 ,we do not know how the 
activity of the molecules of the egg    
differs from the activity of the        
molecules of the pebble1 under the      
influence of warmth1 but we know there  
must be a difference between the        
interior movements of organized and     
unorganized matter4  ,life lifts inert  
matter up into a thousand varied and    
beautiful forms and holds it there for a
 season1--holds it against gravity and  
chemical affinity1 though you may say1  
if you please1 not without their        
aid1--and then in due course lets go of 
it1 or abandons it1 and lets it fall    

back into the great sea of the          
inorganic4 ,its constant tendency is to 
fall back2 indeed1 in animal life it    
does fall back every moment2 it rises on
 the one hand1 serves its purpose of    
life1 and falls back on the other4 ,in  
going through the cycle of life the     
mineral elements experience some change 
that chemical analysis does not         
disclose--they are the more readily     
absorbed again by life4 ,it is as if the
 elements had profited in some way under
 the tutelage of life4 ,their experience
 has been a unique and exceptional one4 
,only a small fraction of the sum total 
of the inert matter of the globe can    
have this experience4 ,it must first go 
through the vegetable cycle before it   
can be taken up by the animal4 ,the only
 things we can take directly from the   
inorganic world are water and air2 and  
the function of water is largely a      
mechanical one1 and the function of air 
a chemical one4  ,i think of the vital  
as flowing out of the physical1 just as 

the psychical flows out of the vital1   
and just as the higher forms of animal  
life flow out of the lower4 ,it is a far
 cry from man to the dumb brutes1 and   
from the brutes to the vegetable world1 
and from the vegetable to inert matter2 
but the germ and start of each is in the
 series below it4 ,the living came out  
of the not-living4 ,if life is of       
physico-chemical origin1 it is so by    
transformations and translations that   
physics cannot explain4 ,the butterfly  
comes out of the grub1 man came out of  
the brute1 but1 as ,darwin says1 not by 
his own efforts1 any more than the child
 becomes the man by its own efforts4    
,the push of life1 of the evolutionary  
process1 is back of all and in all4 ,we 
can account for it all by saying the    
,creative ,energy is immanent in matter1
 and this gives the mind something to   
take hold of4   ,,ii  ,according to the 
latest scientific views held on the     
question by such men as ,professor      
,loeb1 the appearance of life on the    

globe was a purely accidental           
circumstance4 ,the proper elements just 
happened to come together at the right  
time in the right proportions and under 
the right conditions1 and life was the  
result4 ,it was an accident in the      
thermal history of the globe4 ,professor
 ,loeb has lately published a volume of 
essays and addresses called ,the        
,mechanistic ,conception of ,life1      
enforcing and illustrating this view4   
,he makes war on what he terms the      
metaphysical conception of a            
life-principle as the key to the        
problem1 and urges the scientific       
conception of the adequacy of           
mechanico-chemical forces4 ,in his view1
 we are only chemical mechanisms2 and   
all our activities1 mental and physical 
alike1 are only automatic responses to  
the play of the blind1 material forces  
of external nature4 ,all forms of life1 
with all their wonderful adaptations1   
are only the chance happenings of the   
blind gropings and clashings of dead    

matter3 ,we eat1 drink1 and reproduce   
and1 of course1 think and speculate and 
write books on the problems of life1 not
 because mankind has reached an         
agreement that this is desirable1 but   
because1 machine-like1 we are compelled 
to do so6  ,he reaches the conclusion   
that all our inner subjective life is   
amenable to physico-chemical analysis1  
because many cases of simple animal     
instinct and will can be explained on   
this basis--the basis of animal tropism4
 ,certain animals creep or fly to the   
light1 others to the dark1 because they 
cannot help it4 ,this is tropism4 ,he   
believes that the origin of life can be 
traced to the same physico-chemical     
activities1 because1 in his laboratory  
experiments1 he has been able to        
dispense with the male principle1 and to
 fertilize the eggs of certain low forms
 of marine life by chemical compounds   
alone4 ,the problem of the beginning and
 end of individual life is              
physico-chemically clear--much clearer  

than the first beginnings of life4 ,all 
individual life begins with the egg1 but
 where did we get the egg8 ,when        
chemical synthesis will give us this1   
the problem is solved4 ,we can analyze  
the material elements of an organism1   
but we cannot synthesize them and       
produce the least spark of living       
matter4 ,that all forms of life have a  
mechanical and chemical basis is beyond 
question1 but when we apply our analysis
 to them1 life evaporates1 vanishes1 the
 vital processes cease4 ,but apply the  
same analysis to inert matter1 and only 
the form is changed4  ,professor ,loeb's
 artificially fathered embryo and       
starfish and sea-urchins soon die4 ,if  
his chemism could only give him the     
mother-principle also6 ,but it will not4
 ,the mother-principle is at the very   
foundations of the organic world1 and   
defies all attempts of chemical         
synthesis to reproduce it4  ,it would be
 presumptive in the extreme for me to   
question ,professor ,loeb's scientific  

conclusions2 he is one of the most      
eminent of living experimental          
biologists4 ,i would only dissent from  
some of his philosophical conclusions4  
,i dissent from his statement that only 
the mechanistic conception of life can  
throw light on the source of ethics4 ,is
 there any room for the moral law in a  
world of mechanical determinism8 ,there 
is no ethics in the physical order1 and 
if humanity is entirely in the grip of  
that order1 where do moral obligations  
come in8 ,a gun1 a steam-engine1 knows  
no ethics1 and to the extent that we are
 compelled to do things1 are we in the  
same category4 ,freedom of choice alone 
gives any validity to ethical           
consideration4 ,i dissent from the idea 
to which he apparently holds1 that      
biology is only applied physics and     
chemistry4 ,is not geology also applied 
physics and chemistry8 ,is it any more  
or any less8 ,yet what a world of       
difference between the two--between a   
rock and a tree1 between a man and the  

soil he cultivates4 ,grant that the     
physical and the chemical forces are the
 same in both1 yet they work to such    
different ends in each4 ,in one case    
they are tending always to a deadlock1  
to the slumber of a static equilibrium2 
in the other they are ceaselessly       
striving to reach a state of dynamic    
activity--to build up a body that hangs 
forever between a state of integration  
and disintegration4 ,what is it that    
determines this new mode and end of     
their activities8  ,in all his          
biological experimentation1 ,professor  
,loeb starts with living matter and1    
finding its processes capable of        
physico-chemical analysis1 he hastens to
 the conclusion that its genesis is to  
be accounted for by the action and      
interaction of these principles alone4  
,in the inorganic world1 everything is  
in its place through the operation of   
blind physical forces2 because the place
 of a dead thing1 its relation to the   
whole1 is a matter of indifference4 ,the

 rocks1 the hills1 the streams are in   
their place1 but any other place would  
do as well4 ,but in the organic world we
 strike another order--an order where   
the relation and subordination of parts 
is everything1 and to speak of human    
existence as a matter of chance in the  
sense1 let us say1 that the forms and   
positions of inanimate bodies are       
matters of chance1 is to confuse terms4 
,organic evolution upon the earth shows 
steady and regular progression2 as much 
so as the growth and development of a   
tree4 ,if the evolutionary impulse fails
 on one line1 it picks itself up and    
tries on another1 it experiments        
endlessly like an inventor1 but always  
improves on its last attempts4 ,chance  
would have kept things at a standstill2 
the principle of chance1 give it time   
enough1 must end where it began4 ,chance
 is a man lost in the woods2 he never   
arrives2 he wanders aimlessly4 ,if      
evolution pursued a course equally      
fortuitous1 would it not still be       

wandering in the wilderness of the      
chaotic nebul8   ,,iii  ,a vastly       
different and much more stimulating view
 of life is given by ,henri ,bergson in 
his ,creative ,evolution4 ,though based 
upon biological science1 it is a        
philosophical rather than a scientific  
view1 and appeals to our intuitional and
 imaginative nature more than to our    
constructive reason4 ,m4 ,bergson       
interprets the phenomena of life in     
terms of spirit1 rather than in terms of
 matter as does ,professor ,loeb4 ,the  
word creative is the key-word to his    
view4 ,life is a creative impulse or    
current which arose in matter at a      
certain time and place1 and flows       
through it from form to form1 from      
generation to generation1 augmenting in 
force as it advances4 ,it is one with   
spirit1 and is incessant creation2 the  
whole organic world is filled1 from     
bottom to top1 with one tremendous      
effort4 ,it was long ago felicitously   
stated by ,whitman in his ,leaves of    

,grass1 ,urge and urge1 always the      
procreant urge of the world4  ,this     
conception of the nature and genesis of 
life is bound to be challenged by modern
 physical science1 which1 for the most  
part1 sees in biology only a phase of   
physics2 but the philosophic mind and   
the trained literary mind will find in  
,creative ,evolution a treasure-house of
 inspiring ideas1 and engaging forms of 
original artistic expression4 ,as ,mr4  
,balfour says1 ,m4 ,bergson's           
',evolution ,cratrice' is not merely a  
philosophical treatise1 it has all the  
charm and all the audacities of a work  
of art1 and as such defies adequate     
reproduction4  ,it delivers us from the 
hard mechanical conception of           
determinism1 or of a closed universe    
which1 like a huge manufacturing plant1 
grinds out vegetables and animals1 minds
 and spirits1 as it grinds out rocks and
 soils1 gases and fluids1 and the       
inorganic compounds4  ,with ,m4         
,bergson1 life is the flowing           

metamorphosis of the poets1--an         
unceasing becoming1--and evolution is a 
wave of creative energy overflowing     
through matter upon which each visible  
organism rides during the short interval
 of time given it to live4 ,in his view1
 matter is held in the iron grip of     
necessity1 but life is freedom itself4  
,before the evolution of life 444 the   
portals of the future remain wide open4 
,it is a creation that goes on forever  
in virtue of an initial movement4 ,this 
movement constitutes the unity of the   
organized world--a prolific unity1 of an
 infinite richness1 superior to any that
 the intellect could dream of1 for the  
intellect is only one of its aspects or 
products4  ,what a contrast to ,herbert 
,spencer's view of life and evolution6  
,life1 says ,spencer1 consists of inner 
action so adjusted as to balance outer  
action4 ,true enough1 no doubt1 but not 
interesting4 ,if the philosopher could  
tell us what it is that brings about the
 adjustment1 and that profits by it1 we 

should at once prick up our ears4 ,of   
course1 it is life4 ,but what is life8  
,it is inner action so adjusted as to   
balance outer action6  ,a recent        
contemptuous critic of ,m4 ,bergson's   
book1 ,hugh ,s4 ,r4 ,elliot1 points out1
 as if he were triumphantly vindicating 
the physico-chemical theory of the      
nature and origin of life1 what a       
complete machine a cabbage is for       
converting solar energy into chemical   
and vital energy--how it takes up the   
raw material from the soil by a chemical
 and mechanical process1 how these are  
brought into contact with the light and 
air through the leaves1 and thus the    
cabbage is built up4 ,in like manner1 a 
man is a machine for converting chemical
 energy derived from the food he eats   
into motion1 and the like4 ,as if ,m4   
,bergson1 or any one else1 would dispute
 these things6 ,in the same way1 a      
steam-engine is a machine for converting
 the energy latent in coal into motion  
and power2 but what force lies back of  

the engine1 and was active in the       
construction8  ,the final question of   
the cabbage and the man still           
remains--,where did you get them8  ,you 
assume vitality to start with--how did  
you get it8 ,did it arise spontaneously 
out of dead matter8 ,mechanical and     
chemical forces do all the work of the  
living body1 but who or what controls   
and directs them1 so that one           
compounding of the elements begets a    
cabbage1 and another compounding of the 
same elements begets an oak--one mixture
 of them and we have a frog1 another and
 we have a man8 ,is there not room here 
for something besides blind1 indifferent
 forces8 ,if we make the molecules      
themselves creative1 then we are begging
 the question4 ,the creative energy by  
any other name remains the same4   ,,iv 
,if life itself is not a force or a form
 of energy1 yet behold what energy it is
 capable of exerting6 ,it seems to me   
that ,sir ,oliver ,lodge is a little    
confusing when he says in a recent essay

 that life does not exert force--not    
even the most microscopical force--and  
certainly does not supply energy4 ,sir  
,oliver is thinking of life as a        
distinct entity--something apart from   
the matter which it animates4 ,but even 
in this case can we not say that the    
mainspring of the energy of living      
bodies is the life that is in them8     
,apart from the force exerted by living 
animal bodies1 see the force exerted by 
living plant bodies4 ,i thought of the  
remark of ,sir ,oliver one day not long 
after reading it1 while ,i was walking  
in a beech wood and noted how the       
sprouting beechnuts had sent their pale 
radicles down through the dry leaves    
upon which they were lying1 often       
piercing two or three of them1 and      
forcing their way down into the mingled 
soil and leaf-mould a couple of inches4 
,force was certainly expended in doing  
this1 and if the life in the sprouting  
nut did not exert it or expend it1 what 
did8  ,when ,i drive a peg into the     

ground with my axe or mallet1 is the    
life in my arm any more strictly the    
source 7the secondary source7 of the    
energy expended than is the nut in this 
case8 ,of course1 the sun is the primal 
source of the energy in both cases1 and 
in all cases1 but does not life exert   
the force1 use it1 bring it to bear1    
which it receives from the universal    
fount of energy8  ,life cannot supply   
energy de novo1 cannot create it out of 
nothing1 but it can and must draw upon  
the store of energy in which the earth  
floats as in a sea4 ,when this energy or
 force is manifest through a living     
body1 we call it vital force2 when it is
 manifest through a mechanical          
contrivance1 we call it mechanical      
force2 when it is developed by the      
action and reaction of chemical         
compounds1 we call it chemical force2   
the same force in each case1 but        
behaving so differently in the one case 
from what it does in the other that we  
come to think of it as a new and        

distinct entity4 ,now if ,sir ,oliver or
 any one else could tell us what force  
is1 this difference between the         
vitalists and the mechanists might be   
reconciled4  ,darwin measured the force 
of the downward growth of the radicle1  
such as ,i have alluded to1 as one      
quarter of a pound1 and its lateral     
pressure as much greater4 ,we know that 
the roots of trees insert themselves    
into seams in the rocks1 and force the  
parts asunder4 ,this force is measurable
 and is often very great4 ,its seat     
seems to be in the soft1 milky substance
 called the cambium layer under the     
bark4 ,these minute cells when their    
force is combined may become regular    
rock-splitters4  ,one of the most       
remarkable exhibitions of plant force ,i
 ever saw was in a ,western city where  
,i observed a species of wild sunflower 
forcing its way up through the asphalt  
pavement2 the folded and compressed     
leaves of the plant1 like a man's fist1 
had pushed against the hard but flexible

 concrete till it had bulged up and then
 split1 and let the irrepressible plant 
through4 ,the force exerted must have   
been many pounds4 ,i think it doubtful  
if the strongest man could have pushed  
his fist through such a resisting       
medium4 ,if it was not life which       
exerted this force1 what was it8 ,life  
activities are a kind of explosion1 and 
the slow continued explosions of this   
growing plant rent the pavement as      
surely as powder would have done4 ,it is
 doubtful if any cultivated plant could 
have overcome such odds4 ,it required   
the force of the untamed hairy plant of 
the plains to accomplish this feat4     
,that life does not supply energy1 that 
is1 is not an independent source of     
energy1 seems to me obvious enough1 but 
that it does not manifest energy1 use   
energy1 or exert force1 is far from     
obvious4 ,if a growing plant or tree    
does not exert force by reason of its   
growing1 or by virtue of a specific kind
 of activity among its particles1 which 

we name life1 and which does not take   
place in a stone or in a bar of iron or 
in dead timber1 then how can we say that
 any mechanical device or explosive     
compound exerts force8 ,the steam-engine
 does not create force1 neither does the
 exploding dynamite1 but these things   
exert force4 ,we have to think of the   
sum total of the force of the universe1 
as of matter itself1 as a constant      
factor1 that can neither be increased   
nor diminished4 ,all activity1 organic  
and inorganic1 draws upon this force3   
the plant and tree1 as well as the      
engine and the explosive--the winds1 the
 tides1 the animal1 the vegetable alike4
 ,i can think of but one force1 but of  
any number of manifestations of force1  
and of two distinct kinds of            
manifestations1 the organic and the     
inorganic1 or the vital and the         
physical1--the latter divisible into the
 chemical and the mechanical1 the former
 made up of these two working in        
infinite complexity because drawn into  

new relations1 and lifted to higher ends
 by this something we call life4  ,we   
think of something in the organic that  
lifts and moves and redistributes dead  
matter1 and builds it up into the ten   
thousand new forms which it would never 
assume without this something2 it lifts 
lime and iron and silica and potash and 
carbon1 against gravity1 up into trees  
and animal forms1 not by a new force1   
but by an old force in the hands of a   
new agent4  ,the cattle move about the  
field1 the drift boulders slowly creep  
down the slopes2 there is no doubt that 
the final source of the force is in both
 cases the same2 what we call gravity1 a
 name for a mystery1 is the form it     
takes in the case of the rocks1 and what
 we call vitality1 another name for a   
mystery1 is the form it takes in the    
case of the cattle2 without the solar   
and stellar energy1 could there be any  
motion of either rock or beast8  ,force 
is universal1 it pervades all nature1   
one manifestation of it we call heat1   

another light1 another electricity1     
another cohesion1 chemical affinity1 and
 so on4 ,may not another manifestation  
of it be called life1 differing from all
 the rest more radically than they      
differ from one another2 bound up with  
all the rest and inseparable from them  
and identical with them only in its     
ultimate source in the ,creative ,energy
 that is immanent in the universe8 ,i   
have to think of the ,creative ,energy  
as immanent in all matter1 and the final
 source of all the transformations and  
transmutations we see in the organic and
 the inorganic worlds4 ,the very nature 
of our minds compels us to postulate    
some power1 or some principle1 not as   
lying back of1 but as active in1 all the
 changing forms of life and nature1 and 
their final source and cause4  ,the mind
 is satisfied when it finds a word that 
gives it a hold of a thing or a process1
 or when it can picture to itself just  
how the thing occurs4 ,thus1 for        
instance1 to account for the power      

generated by the rushing together of    
hydrogen and oxygen to produce water1 we
 have to conceive of space between the  
atoms of these elements1 and that the   
force generated comes from the immense  
velocity with which the infinitesimal   
atoms rush together across this         
infinitesimal space4 ,it is quite       
possible that this is not the true      
explanation at all1 but it satisfies the
 mind because it is an explanation in   
terms of mechanical forces that we know4
  ,the solar energy goes into the atoms 
or corpuscles one thing1 and it comes   
out another2 it goes in as inorganic    
force1 and it comes out as organic and  
psychic4 ,the change or transformation  
takes place in those invisible          
laboratories of the infinitesimal atoms4
 ,it helps my mental processes to give  
that change a name--vitality--and to    
recognize it as a supra-mechanical      
force4 ,pasteur wanted a name for it and
 called it dissymmetric force4  ,we are 
all made of one stuff undoubtedly1      

vegetable and animal1 man and woman1 dog
 and donkey1 and the secret of the      
difference between us1 and of the       
passing along of the difference from    
generation to generation with but slight
 variations1 may be1 so to speak1 in the
 way the molecules and atoms of our     
bodies take hold of hands and perform   
their mystic dances in the inner temple 
of life4 ,but one would like to know who
 or what pipes the tune and directs the 
figures of the dance4  ,in the case of  
the beechnuts1 what is it that lies     
dormant in the substance of the nuts and
 becomes alive1 under the influence of  
the warmth and moisture of spring1 and  
puts out a radicle that pierces the dry 
leaves like an awl8 ,the pebbles1 though
 they contain the same chemical         
elements1 do not become active and put  
out a radicle4  ,the chemico-physical   
explanation of the universe goes but a  
little way4 ,these are the tools of the 
creative process1 but they are not that 
process1 nor its prime cause4 ,start the

 flame of life going1 and the rest may  
be explained in terms of chemistry2     
start the human body developing1 and    
physiological processes explain its     
growth2 but why it becomes a man and not
 a monkey--what explains that8     ,,ii 
,,the ,,living ,,wave   ,i  ,if one     
attempts to reach any rational          
conclusion on the question of the nature
 and origin of life on this planet1 he  
soon finds himself in close quarters    
with two difficulties4 ,he must either  
admit of a break in the course of nature
 and the introduction of a new          
principle1 the vital principle1 which1  
if he is a man of science1 he finds it  
hard to do2 or he must accept the theory
 of the physico-chemical origin of life1
 which1 as a being with a soul1 he finds
 it equally hard to do4 ,in other words1
 he must either draw an arbitrary line  
between the inorganic and the organic   
when he knows that drawing arbitrary    
lines in nature1 and fencing off one    
part from another1 is an unscientific   

procedure1 and one that often leads to  
bewildering contradictions2 or he must  
look upon himself with all his high     
thoughts and aspirations1 and upon all  
other manifestations of life1 as merely 
a chance product of the blind mechanical
 and chemical action and interaction of 
the inorganic forces4  ,either          
conclusion is distasteful4 ,one does not
 like to think of himself as a chance   
hit of the irrational physical elements2
 neither does he feel at ease with the  
thought that he is the result of any    
break or discontinuity in natural law4  
,he likes to see himself as vitally and 
inevitably related to the physical order
 as is the fruit to the tree that bore  
it1 or the child to the mother that     
carried it in her womb1 and yet1 if only
 mechanical and chemical forces entered 
into his genesis1 he does not feel      
himself well fathered and mothered4     
,one may evade the difficulty1 as       
,helmholtz did1 by regarding life as    
eternal--that it had no beginning in    

time2 or1 as some other ,german         
biologists have done1 that the entire   
cosmos is alive and the earth a living  
organism4  ,if biogenesis is true1 and  
always has been true1--no life without  
antecedent life1--then the question of a
 beginning is unthinkable4 ,it is just  
as easy to think of a stick with only   
one end4  ,such stanch materialists and 
mechanists as ,haeckel and ,verworn seem
 to have felt compelled1 as a last      
resort1 to postulate a psychic principle
 in nature1 though of a low order4      
,haeckel says that most chemists and    
physicists will not hear a word about a 
soul in the atom4 ,in my opinion1       
however1 he says1 in order to explain   
the simplest physical and chemical      
processes1 we must necessarily assume a 
low order of psychical activity among   
the homogeneous particles of plasm1     
rising a very little above that of the  
crystal4 ,in crystallization he sees a  
low degree of sensation and a little    
higher degree in the plasm4  ,have we   

not in this rudimentary psychic         
principle which ,haeckel ascribes to the
 atom a germ to start with that will    
ultimately give us the mind of man8     
,with this spark1 it seems to me1 we can
 kindle a flame that will consume       
,haeckel's whole mechanical theory of   
creation4 ,physical science is clear    
that the non-living or inorganic world  
was before the living or organic world1 
but that the latter in some mysterious  
way lay folded in the former4 ,science  
has for many years been making desperate
 efforts to awaken this slumbering life 
in its laboratories1 but has not yet    
succeeded1 and probably never will      
succeed4 ,life without antecedent life  
seems a biological impossibility4 ,the  
theory of spontaneous generation is     
rejected by the philosophical mind1     
because our experience tells us that    
everything has its antecedent1 and that 
there is and can be no end to the causal
 sequences4  ,spencer believes that the 
organic and inorganic fade into each    

other by insensible gradations--that no 
line can be drawn between them so that  
one can say1 on this side is the        
organic1 on that the inorganic4 ,in     
other words1 he says it is not necessary
 for us to think of an absolute         
commencement of organic life1 or of a   
first organism--organic matter was not  
produced all at once1 but was reached   
through steps or gradations4 ,yet it    
puzzles one to see how there can be any 
gradations or degrees between being and 
not being4 ,can there be any halfway    
house between something and nothing8    
,,ii  ,there is another way out of the  
difficulty that besets our rational     
faculties in their efforts to solve this
 question1 and that is the audacious way
 of ,henri ,bergson in his ,creative    
,evolution4 ,it is to deny any validity 
to the conclusion of our logical        
faculties upon this subject4 ,our       
intellect1 ,bergson says1 cannot grasp  
the true nature of life1 nor the meaning
 of the evolutionary movement4 ,with the

 emphasis of italics he repeats that the
 intellect is characterized by a natural
 inability to comprehend life4 ,he says 
this in a good many pages and in a good 
many different ways2 the idea is one of 
the main conclusions of his book4 ,our  
intuitions1 our spiritual nature1       
according to this philosopher1 are more 
en rapport with the secrets of the      
creative energy than are our            
intellectual faculties2 the key to the  
problem is to be found here1 rather than
 in the mechanics and chemistry of the  
latter4 ,our intellectual faculties can 
grasp the physical order because they   
are formed by a world of solids and     
fluids and give us the power to deal    
with them and act upon them4 ,but they  
cannot grasp the nature and the meaning 
of the vital order4  ,we treat the      
living like the lifeless1 and think all 
reality1 however fluid1 under the form  
of the sharply defined solid4 ,we are at
 ease only in the discontinuous1 in the 
immobile1 in the dead4 ,perceiving in an

 organism only parts external to parts1 
the understanding has the choice between
 two systems of explanation only3 either
 to regard the infinitely complex 7and  
thereby infinitely well contrived7      
organization as a fortuitous            
concatenation of atoms1 or to relate it 
to the incomprehensible influence of an 
external force that has grouped its     
elements together4  ,everything is      
obscure in the idea of creation1 if we  
think of things which are created and a 
thing which creates4 ,if we follow the  
lead of our logical1 scientific         
faculties1 then1 we shall all be        
mechanists and materialists4 ,science   
can make no other solution of the       
problem because it sees from the        
outside4 ,but if we look from the       
inside1 with the spirit or with that    
faculty of seeing which is immanent in  
the faculty of acting1 we shall escape  
from the bondage of the mechanistic view
 into the freedom of the larger truth of
 the ceaseless creative view2 we shall  

see the unity of the creative impulse   
which is immanent in life and which1    
passing through generations1 links      
individuals with individuals1 species   
with species1 and makes of the whole    
series of the living one single immense 
wave flowing over matter4  ,i recall    
that ,tyndall1 who was as much poet as  
scientist1 speaks of life as a wave     
which at no two consecutive moments of  
its existence is composed of the same   
particles4 ,in his more sober scientific
 mood ,tyndall would doubtless have     
rejected ,m4 ,bergson's view of life1   
yet his image of the wave is very       
,bergsonian4 ,but what different        
meanings the two writers aim to convey3 
,tyndall is thinking of the fact that a 
living body is constantly taking up new 
material on the one side and dropping   
dead or outworn material on the other4  
,m4 ,bergson's mind is occupied with the
 thought of the primal push or impulsion
 of matter which travels through it as  
the force in the wave traverses the     

water4 ,the wave embodies a force which 
lifts the water up in opposition to its 
tendency to seek and keep a level1 and  
travels on1 leaving the water behind4   
,so does this something we call life    
break the deadlock of inert matter and  
lift it into a thousand curious and     
beautiful forms1 and then1 passing on1  
lets it fall back again into a state of 
dead equilibrium4  ,tyndall was one of  
the most eloquent exponents of the      
materialistic theory of the origin of   
life1 and were he living now would      
probably feel little or no sympathy with
 the ,bergsonian view of a primordial   
life impulse4 ,he found the key to all  
life phenomena in the hidden world of   
molecular attraction and repulsion4 ,he 
says3 ,molecular forces determine the   
form which the solar energy will assume4
 ,what a world of mystery lies in that  
determinism of the hidden molecular     
forces6 ,in the separation of the carbon
 and oxygen this energy may be so       
conditioned as to result in one case in 

the formation of a cabbage and in       
another case in the formation of an oak4
 ,so also as regards the reunion of the 
carbon and the oxygen in the animal     
organism the molecular machinery through
 which the combining energy acts may in 
one case weave the texture of a frog1   
while in another it may weave the       
texture of a man4  ,but is not this     
molecular force itself a form of solar  
energy1 and can it differ in kind from  
any other form of physical force8 ,if   
molecular forces determine whether the  
solar energy shall weave a head of a    
cabbage or a head of a ,plato or a      
,shakespeare1 does it not meet all the  
requirements of our conception of       
creative will8  ,tyndall thinks that a  
living man--,socrates1 ,aristotle1      
,goethe1 ,darwin1 ,i suppose--could be  
produced directly from inorganic nature 
in the laboratory if 7and note what a   
momentous if this is7 we could put      
together the elements of such a man in  
the same relative positions as those    

which they occupy in his body1 with the 
selfsame forces and distribution of     
forces1 the selfsame motions and        
distribution of motions4 ,do this and   
you have a ,st4 ,paul or a ,luther or a 
,lincoln4 ,dr4 ,verworn said essentially
 the same thing in a lecture before one 
of our colleges while in this country a 
few years ago--easy enough to           
manufacture a living being of any order 
of intellect if you can reproduce in the
 laboratory his internal and external   
vital conditions4 7,the italics are     
mine47 ,to produce those vital          
conditions is where the rub comes4      
,those vital conditions1 as regards the 
minutest bit of protoplasm1 science1    
with all her tremendous resources1 has  
not yet been able to produce4 ,the      
raising of ,lazarus from the dead seems 
no more a miracle than evoking vital    
conditions in dead matter4 ,external and
 internal vital conditions are no doubt 
inseparably correlated1 and when we can 
produce them we shall have life4 ,life1 

says ,verworn1 is like fire1 and is a   
phenomenon of nature which appears as   
soon as the complex of its conditions is
 fulfilled4 ,we can easily produce fire 
by mechanical and chemical means1 but   
not life4 ,fire is a chemical process1  
it is rapid oxidation1 and oxidation is 
a disintegrating process1 while life is 
an integrating process1 or a balance    
maintained between the two by what we   
call the vital force4 ,life is evidently
 a much higher form of molecular        
activity than combustion4 ,the old      
,greek ,heraclitus saw1 and the modern  
scientist sees1 very superficially in   
comparing the two4  ,i have no doubt    
that ,huxley was right in his inference 
that if the properties of matter result 
from the nature and disposition of its  
component molecules1 then there is no   
intelligible ground for refusing to say 
that the properties of protoplasm result
 from the nature and disposition of its 
molecules4 ,it is undoubtedly in that   
nature and disposition of the biological

 molecules that ,tyndall's whole mystery
 and miracle of vitality is wrapped up4 
,if we could only grasp what it is that 
transforms the molecule of dead matter  
into the living molecule6 ,pasteur      
called it dissymmetric force1 which is  
only a new name for the mystery4 ,he    
believed there was an irrefragable      
physical barrier between organic and    
inorganic nature--that the molecules of 
an organism differed from those of a    
mineral1 and for this difference he     
found a name4   ,,iii  ,there seems to  
have been of late years a marked        
reaction1 even among men of science1    
from the mechanistic conception of life 
as held by the band of scientists to    
which ,i have referred4 ,something like 
a new vitalism is making headway both on
 the ,continent and in ,great ,britain4 
,its exponents urge that biological     
problems defy any attempt at a          
mechanical explanation4 ,these men stand
 for the idea of the creative           
individuality of organisms and that the 

main factors in organic evolution cannot
 be accounted for by the forces already 
operative in the inorganic world4       
,there is1 of course1 a mathematical    
chance that in the endless changes and  
permutations of inert matter the four   
principal elements that make up a living
 body may fall or run together in just  
that order and number that the kindling 
of the flame of life requires1 but it is
 a disquieting proposition4 ,one atom   
too much or too little of any of        
them1--three of oxygen where two were   
required1 or two of nitrogen where only 
one was wanted1--and the face of the    
world might have been vastly different4 
,not only did much depend on their      
coming together1 but upon the order of  
their coming2 they must unite in just   
such an order4 ,insinuate an atom or    
corpuscle of hydrogen or carbon at the  
wrong point in the ranks1 and the trick 
is a failure4 ,is there any chance that 
they will hit upon a combination of     
things and forces that will make a      

machine--a watch1 a gun1 or even a row  
of pins8  ,when we regard all the       
phenomena of life and the spell it seems
 to put upon inert matter1 so that it   
behaves so differently from the same    
matter before it is drawn into the life 
circuit1 when we see how it lifts up a  
world of dead particles out of the soil 
against gravity into trees and animals2 
how it changes the face of the earth2   
how it comes and goes while matter      
stays2 how it defies chemistry and      
physics to evoke it from the non-living2
 how its departure1 or cessation1 lets  
the matter fall back to the             
inorganic--when we consider these and   
others like them1 we seem compelled to  
think of life as something1 some force  
or principle in itself1 as ,m4 ,bergson 
and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge do1 existing    
apart from the matter it animates4  ,sir
 ,oliver ,lodge1 famous physicist that  
he is1 yet has a vein of mysticism and  
idealism in him which sometimes makes   
him recoil from the hard-and-fast       

interpretations of natural phenomena by 
physical science4 ,like ,m4 ,bergson1 he
 sees in life some tendency or impetus  
which arose in matter at a definite time
 and place1 and which has continued to  
interact with and incarnate itself in   
matter ever since4  ,if a living body is
 a machine1 then we behold a new kind of
 machine with new kinds of mechanical   
principles--a machine that repairs      
itself1 that reproduces itself1 a clock 
that winds itself up1 an engine that    
stokes itself1 a gun that aims itself1 a
 machine that divides and makes two1 two
 unite and make four1 a million or more 
unite and make a man or a tree--a       
machine that is nine tenths water1 a    
machine that feeds on other machines1 a 
machine that grows stronger with use2 in
 fact1 a machine that does all sorts of 
unmechanical things and that no known   
combination of mechanical and chemical  
principles can reproduce--a vital       
machine4 ,the idea of the vital as      
something different from and opposed to 

the mechanical must come in4 ,something 
had to be added to the mechanical and   
chemical to make the vital4  ,spencer   
explains in terms of physics why an ox  
is larger than the sheep1 but he throws 
no light upon the subject of the        
individuality of these animals--what it 
is that makes an ox an ox or a sheep a  
sheep4 ,these animals are built up out  
of the same elements by the same        
processes1 and they may both have had   
the same stem form in remote biologic   
time4 ,if so1 what made them diverge and
 develop into such totally different    
forms8 ,after the living body is once   
launched many1 if not all1 of its       
operations and economies can be         
explained on principles of mechanics and
 chemistry1 but the something that      
avails itself of these principles and   
develops an ox in the one case and a    
sheep in the other--what of that8       
,spencer is forced into using the terms 
amount of vital capital4 ,how much more 
of it some men1 some animals1 some      

plants have than others6 ,what is it8   
,what did ,spencer mean by it8 ,this    
capital augments from youth to manhood1 
and then after a short or long state of 
equilibrium slowly declines to the      
vanishing-point4  ,again1 what a man    
does depends upon what he is1 and what  
he is depends upon what he does4        
,structure determines function1 and     
function reacts upon structure4 ,this   
interaction goes on throughout life2    
cause and effect interchange or play    
into each other's hands4 ,the more power
 we spend within limits the more power  
we have4 ,this is another respect in    
which life is utterly unmechanical4 ,a  
machine does not grow stronger by use as
 our muscles do2 it does not store up or
 conserve the energy it expends4 ,the   
gun is weaker by every ball it hurls2   
not so the baseball pitcher2 he is made 
stronger up to the limit of his capacity
 for strength4  ,it is plain enough that
 all living beings are machines in this 
respect--they are kept going by the     

reactions between their interior and    
their exterior2 these reactions are     
either mechanical1 as in flying1        
swimming1 walking1 and involve          
gravitation1 or they are chemical and   
assimilative1 as in breathing and       
eating4 ,to that extent all living      
things are machines--some force exterior
 to themselves must aid in keeping them 
going2 there is no spontaneous or       
uncaused movement in them2 and yet what 
a difference between a machine and a    
living thing6  ,true it is that a man   
cannot live and function without heat   
and oxygen1 nor long without food1 and  
yet his relation to his medium and      
environment is as radically different   
from that of the steam-engine as it is  
possible to express4 ,his driving-wheel1
 the heart1 acts in response to some    
stimulus as truly as does the piston of 
the engine1 and the principles involved 
in circulation are all mechanical2 and  
yet the main thing is not mechanical1   
but vital4 ,analyze the vital activities

 into principles of mechanics and of    
chemistry1 if you will1 yet there is    
something involved that is neither      
mechanical nor chemical1 though it may  
be that only the imagination can grasp  
it4  ,the type that prints the book is  
set up and again distributed by a purely
 mechanical process1 but that which the 
printed page signifies involves         
something not mechanical4 ,the          
mechanical and chemical principles      
operative in men's bodies are all the   
same2 the cell structure is the same1   
and yet behold the difference between   
men in size1 in strength1 in appearance1
 in temperament1 in disposition1 in     
capacities6 ,all the processes of       
respiration1 circulation1 and nutrition 
in our bodies involve well-known        
mechanical principles1 and the body is  
accurately described as a machine2 and  
yet if there were not something in it   
that transcends mechanics and chemistry 
would you and ,i be here8 ,a machine is 
the same whether it is in action or     

repose1 but when a body ceases to       
function1 it is not the same4 ,it cannot
 be set going like a machine2 the motor 
power has ceased to be4 ,but if the life
 of the body were no more than the sum  
of the reactions existing between the   
body and the medium in which it lives1  
this were not so4 ,a body lives as long 
as there is a proper renewal of the     
interior medium through exchanges with  
its environment4  ,mechanical principles
 are operative in every part of the     
body--in the heart1 in the arteries1 in 
the limbs1 in the joints1 in the bowels1
 in the muscles2 and chemical principles
 are operative in the lungs1 in the     
stomach1 in the liver1 in the kidneys2  
but to all these things do we not have  
to add something that is not mechanical 
or chemical to make the man1 to make the
 plant8 ,a higher mechanics1 a higher   
chemistry1 if you prefer1 a force1 but a
 force differing in kind from the       
physical forces4  ,the forces of life   
are constructive forces1 and work in a  

world of disintegrating or destructive  
forces which oppose them and which they 
overcome4 ,the mechanical and the       
chemical forces of dead matter are the  
enemies of the forces of life till life 
overcomes and uses them2 as much so as  
gravity1 fire1 frost1 water are man's   
enemies till he has learned how to      
subdue and use them4   ,,iv  ,it is a   
significant fact that the four chief    
elements which in various combinations  
make up living bodies are by their      
extreme mobility well suited to their   
purpose4 ,three of these are gaseous2   
only the carbon is a solid4 ,this       
renders them facile and adaptive in the 
ever-changing conditions of organic     
evolution4 ,the solid carbon forms the  
vessel in which the precious essence of 
life is carried4 ,without carbon we     
should evaporate or flow away and       
escape4 ,much of the oxygen and hydrogen
 enters into living bodies as water2    
nine tenths of the human body is water2 
a little nitrogen and a few mineral     

salts make up the rest4 ,so that our    
life in its final elements is little    
more than a stream of water holding in  
solution carbonaceous and other matter  
and flowing1 forever flowing1 a stream  
of fluid and solid matter plus something
 else that scientific analysis cannot   
reach--some force or principle that     
combines and organizes these elements   
into the living body4  ,if a man could  
be reduced instantly into his           
constituent elements we should see a    
pail or two of turbid fluid that would  
flow down the bank and soon be lost in  
the soil4 ,that which gives us our form 
and stability and prevents us from      
slowly spilling down the slope at all   
times is the mysterious vital principle 
or force which knits and marries these  
unstable elements together and raises up
 a mobile but more or less stable form  
out of the world of fluids4 ,venus      
rising from the sea is a symbol of the  
genesis of every living thing4          
,inorganic matter seeks only rest4 ,let 

me alone1 it says2 do not break my      
slumbers4 ,but as soon as life awakens  
in it1 it says3 ,give me room1 get out  
of my way4 ,ceaseless activity1         
ceaseless change1 a thousand new forms  
are what ,i crave4 ,as soon as life     
enters matter1 matter meets with a      
change of heart4 ,it is lifted to       
another plane1 the supermechanical      
plane2 it behaves in a new way2 its     
movements from being calculable become  
incalculable4 ,a straight line has      
direction1 that is mechanics2 what      
direction has the circle8 ,that is life1
 a change of direction every instant4   
,an aeroplane is built entirely on      
mechanical principles1 but something not
 so built has to sit in it and guide it2
 in fact1 had to build it and adjust it 
to its end4  ,mechanical forces seek an 
equilibrium or a state of rest4 ,the    
whole inorganic world under the         
influence of gravity would flow as water
 flows1 if it could1 till it reached a  
state of absolute repose4 ,but vital    

forces struggle against a state of      
repose1 which to them means death4 ,they
 are vital by virtue of their tendency  
to resist the repose of inert matter2   
chemical activity disintegrates a stone 
or other metal1 but the decay of        
organized matter is different in kind2  
living organisms decompose it and       
resolve it into its original compounds4 
,vital connections and mechanical       
connections differ in kind4 ,you can    
treat mechanical principles             
mathematically1 but can you treat life  
mathematically8 ,will your formulas and 
equations apply here8 ,you can figure   
out the eclipses of the sun and moon for
 centuries to come1 but who can figure  
out the eclipses of nations or the      
overthrow of parties or the failures of 
great men8 ,and it is not simply because
 the problem is so vastly more complex2 
it is because you are in a world where  
mathematical principles do not apply4   
,mechanical forces will determine the   
place and shape of every particle of    

inert matter any number of years or     
centuries hence1 but they will not      
determine the place and condition of    
matter imbued with the principle of     
life4  ,we can graft living matter1 we  
can even graft a part of one animal's   
body into another animal's body1 but the
 mechanical union which we bring about  
must be changed into vital union to be a
 success1 the spirit of the body has to 
second our efforts4 ,the same in        
grafting a tree or anything else3 the   
mechanical union which we effect must   
become a vital union2 and this will not 
take place without some degree of       
consanguinity1 the live scion must be   
recognized and adapted by the stock in  
which we introduce it4  ,living matter  
may be symbolized by a stream2 it is    
ever and never the same2 life is a      
constant becoming2 our minds and our    
bodies are never the same at any two    
moments of time2 life is ceaseless      
change4  ,no doubt it is between the    
stable and the unstable condition of the

 molecules of matter that life is born4 
,the static condition to which all      
things tend is death4 ,matter in an     
unstable condition tends either to      
explode or to grow or to disintegrate4  
,so that an explosion bears some analogy
 to life1 only it is quickly over and   
the static state of the elements is     
restored4 ,life is an infinitely slower 
explosion1 or a prolonged explosion1    
during which some matter of the organism
 is being constantly burned up1 and thus
 returned to a state of inorganic       
repose1 while new matter is taken in and
 kindled and consumed by the fires of   
life4 ,one can visualize all this and   
make it tangible to the intellect4 ,get 
your fire of life started and all is    
easy1 but how to start it is the rub4   
,get your explosive compound1 and       
something must break the deadlock of the
 elements before it will explode4 ,so in
 life1 what is it that sets up this slow
 gentle explosion that makes the        
machinery of our vital economies        

go--that draws new matter into the      
vortex and casts the used-up material   
out--in short1 that creates and keeps up
 the unstable condition1 the seesaw upon
 which life depends8 ,to enable the mind
 to grasp it we have to invent or posit 
some principle1 call it the vital force1
 as so many have done and still do1 or  
call it molecular force1 as ,tyndall    
does1 or the power of ,god1 as our      
orthodox brethren do1 it matters not4   
,we are on the border-land between the  
knowable and the unknowable1 where the  
mind can take no further step4 ,there is
 no life without carbon and oxygen1     
hydrogen and nitrogen1 but there is a   
world of these elements without life4   
,what must be added to them to set up   
the reaction we call life8 ,nothing that
 chemistry can disclose4  ,new          
tendencies and activities are set up    
among these elements1 but the elements  
themselves are not changed2 oxygen is   
still oxygen and carbon still carbon1   
yet behold the wonder of their new      

workmanship under the tutelage of life6 
,life only appears when the stable      
passes into the unstable1 yet this      
change takes place all about us in our  
laboratories1 and no life appears4 ,we  
can send an electric spark through a    
room full of oxygen and hydrogen gas1   
and with a tremendous explosion we have 
water--an element of life1 but not life4
  ,some of the elements seem nearer life
 than others4 ,water is near life2 heat1
 light1 the colloid state are near life2
 osmosis1 oxidation1 chemical reactions 
are near life2 the ashes of inorganic   
bodies are nearer life than the same    
minerals in the rocks and soil2 but none
 of these things is life4  ,the chemical
 mixture of some of the elements gives  
us our high explosives--gunpowder1      
guncotton1 and the like2 their organic  
mixture gives a slower kind of          
explosive--bread1 meat1 milk1 fruit1    
which1 when acted upon by the vital     
forces of the body1 yield the force that
 is the equivalent of the work the body 

does4 ,but to combine them in the       
laboratory so as to produce the         
compounds out of which the body can     
extract force is impossible4 ,we can    
make an unstable compound that will hurl
 a ton of iron ten miles1 but not one   
that when exploded in the digestive     
tract of the human body will lift a     
hair4  ,we may follow life down to the  
ground1 yes1 under the ground1 into the 
very roots of matter and motion1 yea1   
beyond the roots1 into the imaginary    
world of molecules and atoms1 and their 
attractions and repulsions and not find 
its secret4 ,indeed1 science--the new   
science--pursues matter to the          
vanishing-point1 where it ceases to     
become matter and becomes pure force or 
spirit4 ,what takes place in that       
imaginary world where ponderable matter 
ends and becomes disembodied force1 and 
where the hypothetical atoms are no     
longer divisible1 we may conjecture but 
may never know4 ,we may fancy the       
infinitely little going through a cycle 

of evolution like that of the infinitely
 great1 and solar systems developing and
 revolving inside of the ultimate atoms1
 but the ,copernicus or the ,laplace of 
the atomic astronomy has not yet        
appeared4 ,the atom itself is an        
invention of science4 ,to get the       
mystery of vitality reduced to the atom 
is getting it in very close quarters1   
but it is a very big mystery still4     
,just how the dead becomes alive1 even  
in the atom1 is mystery enough to       
stagger any scientific mind4 ,it is not 
the volume of the change2 it is the     
quality or kind4 ,chemistry and         
mechanics we have always known1 and they
 always remain chemistry and mechanics4 
,they go into our laboratories and      
through our devices chemistry and       
mechanics1 and they come out chemistry  
and mechanics4 ,they will never come out
 life1 conjure with them as we will1 and
 we can get no other result4 ,we cannot 
inaugurate the mystic dance among the   
atoms that will give us the least throb 

of life4  ,the psychic arises out of the
 organic and the organic arises out of  
the inorganic1 and the inorganic arises 
out of--what8 ,the relation of each to  
the other is as intimate as that of the 
soul to the body2 we cannot get between 
them even in thought1 but the difference
 is one of kind and not of degree4 ,the 
vital transcends the mechanical1 and the
 psychic transcends the vital--is on    
another plane1 and yet without the sun's
 energy there could be neither4 ,thus   
are things knit together2 thus does one 
thing flow out of or bloom out of       
another4 ,we date from the rocks1 and   
the rocks date from the fiery nebul1 and
 the loom in which the texture of our   
lives was woven is the great loom of    
vital energy about us and in us2 but    
what hand guided the shuttle and        
invented the pattern--who knows8        
,,iii  ,a ,,wonderful ,,world   ,i      
,science recognizes a more fundamental  
world than that of matter4 ,this is the 
electro-magnetic world which underlies  

the material world and which1 as        
,professor ,soddy says1 probably        
completely embraces it1 and has no      
mechanical analogy4 ,to those accustomed
 only to the grosser ideas of matter and
 its motions1 says the ,british         
scientist1 this electro-magnetic world  
is as difficult to conceive of as it    
would be for us to walk upon air4 ,yet  
many times in our lives is this world in
 overwhelming evidence before us4       
,during a thunderstorm we get an inkling
 of how fearfully and wonderfully the   
universe in which we live is made1 and  
what energy and activity its apparent   
passivity and opacity mark4 ,a flash of 
lightning out of a storm-cloud seems    
instantly to transform the whole passive
 universe into a terrible living power4 
,this slow1 opaque1 indifferent matter  
about us and above us1 going its silent 
or noisy round of mechanical and        
chemical change1 ponderable1 insensate1 
obstructive1 slumbering in the rocks1   
quietly active in the soil1 gently      

rustling in the trees1 sweetly purling  
in the brooks1 slowly1 invisibly        
building and shaping our bodies--how    
could we ever dream that it held in     
leash such a terrible1 ubiquitous1      
spectacular thing as this of the forked 
lightning8 ,if we were to see and hear  
it for the first time1 should we not    
think that the ,judgment ,day had really
 come8 that the great seals of the ,book
 of ,fate were being broken8  ,what an  
awakening it is6 what a revelation6 what
 a fearfully dramatic actor suddenly    
leaps upon the stage6 ,had we been      
permitted to look behind the scenes1 we 
could not have found him2 he was not    
there1 except potentially2 he was born  
and equipped in a twinkling4 ,one       
stride1 and one word which shakes the   
house1 and he is gone2 gone as quickly  
as he came4 ,look behind the curtain and
 he is not there4 ,he has vanished more 
completely than any stage ghost ever    
vanished--he has withdrawn into the     
innermost recesses of the atomic        

structure of matter1 and is diffused    
through the clouds1 to be called back   
again1 as the elemental drama proceeds1 
as suddenly as before4  ,all matter is  
charged with electricity1 either actual 
or potential2 the sun is hot with it1   
and doubtless our own heart-beats1 our  
own thinking brains1 are intimately     
related to it2 yet it is palpable and   
visible only in this sudden and         
extraordinary way4 ,it defies our       
analysis1 it defies our definitions2 it 
is inscrutable and incomprehensible1 yet
 it will do our errands1 light our      
houses1 cook our dinners1 and pull our  
loads4  ,how humdrum and constant and   
prosaic the other forces--gravity1      
cohesion1 chemical affinity1 and        
capillary attraction--seem when compared
 with this force of forces1 electricity6
 ,how deep and prolonged it slumbers at 
one time1 how terribly active and       
threatening at another1 bellowing       
through the heavens like an infuriated  
god seeking whom he may destroy6  ,the  

warring of the elements at such times is
 no figure of speech4 ,what has so      
disturbed the peace in the electric     
equilibrium1 as to make possible this   
sudden outburst1 this steep incline in  
the stream of energy1 this ethereal     
,niagara pouring from heaven to earth8  
,is a thunderstorm a display of the     
atomic energy of which the physicists   
speak1 and which1 were it available for 
our use1 would do all the work of the   
world many times over8  ,how marvelous  
that the softest summer breeze1 or the  
impalpable currents of the calmest day1 
can be torn asunder with such suddenness
 and violence1 by the accumulated energy
 that slumbers in the imaginary atoms1  
as to give forth a sound like the       
rending of mountains or the detonations 
of earthquakes6  ,electricity is the    
soul of matter4 ,if ,whitman's paradox  
is true1 that the soul and body are one1
 in the same sense the scientific       
paradox is true3 that matter and        
electricity are one1 and both are       

doubtless a phase of the universal      
ether--a reality which can be described 
only in terms of the negation of matter4
 ,in a flash of lightning we see pure   
disembodied energy--probably that which 
is the main-spring of the universe4     
,modern science is more and more        
inclined to find the explanation of all 
vital phenomena in electrical stress and
 change4 ,we know that an electric      
current will bring about chemical       
changes otherwise impracticable4 ,nerve 
force1 if not a form of electricity1 is 
probably inseparable from it4 ,chemical 
changes equivalent to the combustion of 
fuel and the corresponding amount of    
available energy released have not yet  
been achieved outside of the living body
 without great loss4 ,the living body   
makes a short cut from fuel to energy1  
and this avoids the wasteful process of 
the engine4 ,what part electricity plays
 in this process is1 of course1 only    
conjectural4   ,,ii  ,our daily lives go
 on for the most part in two worlds1 the

 world of mechanical transposition and  
the world of chemical transformations1  
but we are usually conscious only of the
 former4 ,this is the visible1 palpable 
world of motion and change that rushes  
and roars around us in the winds1 the   
storms1 the floods1 the moving and      
falling bodies1 and the whole panorama  
of our material civilization2 the latter
 is the world of silent1 invisible1     
unsleeping1 and all-potent chemical     
reactions that take place all about us  
and is confined to the atoms and        
molecules of matter1 as the former is   
confined to its visible aggregates4     
,mechanical forces and chemical         
affinities rule our physical lives1 and 
indirectly our psychic lives as well4   
,when we come into the world and draw   
our first breath1 mechanics and         
chemistry start us on our career4       
,breathing is a mechanical1 or a        
mechanico-vital1 act2 the mechanical    
principle involved is the same as that  
involved in the working of a bellows1   

but the oxidation of the blood when the 
air enters the lungs is a chemical act1 
or a chemico-vital act4 ,the air gives  
up a part of its oxygen1 which goes into
 the arterial circulation1 and its place
 is taken by carbonic-acid gas and      
watery vapor4 ,the oxygen feeds and     
keeps going the flame of life1 as       
literally as it feeds and keeps going   
the fires in our stoves and furnaces4   
,hence our most constant and vital      
relation to the world without is a      
chemical one4 ,we can go without food   
for some days1 but we can exist without 
breathing only a few moments4 ,through  
these spongy lungs of ours we lay hold  
upon the outward world in the most      
intimate and constant way4 ,through them
 we are rooted to the air4 ,the air is a
 mechanical mixture of two very unlike  
gases--nitrogen and oxygen2 one very    
inert1 the other very active4 ,nitrogen 
is like a cold-blooded1 lethargic       
person--it combines with other          
substances very reluctantly and with but

 little energy4 ,oxygen is just its     
opposite in this respect3 it gives      
itself freely2 it is ,hail1 fellow2 well
 met6 with most substances1 and it      
enters into co-partnership with them on 
such a large scale that it forms nearly 
one half of the material of the earth's 
crust4 ,this invisible gas1 this breath 
of air1 through the magic of chemical   
combination1 forms nearly half the      
substance of the solid rocks4 ,deprive  
it of its affinity for carbon1 or       
substitute nitrogen or hydrogen in its  
place1 and the air would quickly        
suffocate us4 ,that changing of the dark
 venous blood in our lungs into the     
bright1 red1 arterial blood would       
instantly cease4 ,fancy the sensation of
 inhaling an odorless1 non-poisonous    
atmosphere that would make one gasp for 
breath6 ,we should be quickly poisoned  
by the waste of our own bodies4 ,all    
things that live must have oxygen1 and  
all things that burn must have oxygen4  
,oxygen does not burn1 but it supports  

combustion4  ,and herein is one of the  
mysteries of chemistry again4 ,this     
support which the oxygen gives is       
utterly unlike any support we are       
acquainted with in the world of         
mechanical forces4 ,oxygen supports     
combustion by combining chemically with 
carbon1 and the evolution of heat and   
light is the result4 ,and this is       
another mystery--this chemical union    
which takes place in the ultimate       
particles of matter and which is so     
radically different from a mechanical   
mixture4 ,in a chemical union the atoms 
are not simply in juxtaposition2 they   
are1 so to speak1 inside of one         
another--each has swallowed another and 
lost its identity1 an impossible feat1  
surely1 viewed in the light of our      
experiences with tangible bodies4 ,in   
the visible1 mechanical world no two    
bodies can occupy the same place at the 
same time1 but apparently in chemistry  
they can and do4 ,an atom of oxygen and 
one of carbon1 or of hydrogen1 unite and

 are lost in each other2 it is a        
marriage wherein the two or three become
 one4 ,in dealing with the molecules and
 atoms of matter we are in a world      
wherein the laws of solid bodies do not 
apply2 friction is abolished1 elasticity
 is perfect1 and place and form play no 
part4 ,we have escaped from matter as we
 know it1 the solid1 fluid1 or gaseous  
forms1 and are dealing with it in its   
fourth or ethereal estate4 ,in          
breathing1 the oxygen goes into the     
blood1 not to stay there1 but to unite  
with and bring away the waste of the    
system in the shape of carbon1 and      
re-enter the air again as one of the    
elements of carbonic-acid gas1 ,,co#b4  
,then the reverse process takes place in
 the vegetable world1 the leaves breathe
 this poisonous gas1 release the oxygen 
under the chemistry of the sun's rays1  
and appropriate and store up the carbon4
 ,thus do the animal and vegetable      
worlds play into each other's hands4    
,the animal is dependent upon the       

vegetable for its carbon1 which it      
releases again1 through the life        
processes1 as carbonic-acid gas1 to be  
again drawn into the cycle of vegetable 
life4  ,the act of breathing well       
illustrates our mysterious relations to 
,nature--the cunning way in which she   
plays the principal part in our lives   
without our knowledge4 ,how certain we  
are that we draw the air into our       
lungs--that we seize hold of it in some 
way as if it were a continuous          
substance1 and pull it into our bodies6 
,are we not also certain that the pump  
sucks the water up through the pipe1 and
 that we suck our iced drinks through a 
straw8 ,we are quite unconscious of the 
fact that the weight of the             
superincumbent air does it all1 that    
breathing is only to a very limited     
extent a voluntary act4 ,it is          
controlled by muscular machinery1 but   
that machinery would not act in a       
vacuum4 ,we contract the diaphragm1 or  
the diaphragm contracts under stimuli   

received through the medulla oblongata  
from those parts of the body which      
constantly demand oxygen1 and a vacuum  
tends to form in the chest1 which is    
constantly prevented by the air rushing 
in to fill it4 ,the expansive force of  
the air under its own weight causes the 
lungs to fill1 just as it causes the    
bellows of the blacksmith to fill when  
he works the lever1 and the water to    
rise in the pump when we force out the  
air by working the handle4 ,another     
unconscious muscular effort under the   
influence of nerve stimulus1 and the air
 is forced out of the lungs1 charged    
with the bodily waste which it is the   
function to relieve4 ,but the wonder of 
it all is how slight a part our wills   
play in the process1 and how our lives  
are kept going by a mechanical force    
from without1 seconded or supplemented  
by chemical and vital forces from       
within4  ,the one chemical process with 
which we are familiar all our lives1 but
 which we never think of as such1 is    

fire4 ,here on our own hearthstones goes
 on this wonderful spectacular and      
beneficent transformation of matter and 
energy1 and yet we are grown so familiar
 with it that it moves us not4 ,we can  
describe combustion in terms of         
chemistry1 just as we can describe the  
life-processes in similar terms1 yet the
 mystery is no more cleared up in the   
one case than in the other4 ,indeed1 it 
seems to me that next to the mystery of 
life is the mystery of fire4 ,the       
oxidizing processes are identical1 only 
one is a building up or integrating     
process1 and the other is a pulling down
 or disintegrating process4 ,more than  
that1 we can evoke fire any time1 by    
both mechanical and chemical means1 from
 the combustible matter about us2 but we
 cannot evoke life4 ,the equivalents of 
life do not slumber in our tools as do  
the equivalents of fire4 ,hence life is 
the deeper mystery4 ,the ancients       
thought of a spirit of fire as they did 
of a spirit of health and of disease1   

and of good and bad spirits all about   
them1 and as we think of a spirit of    
life1 or of a creative life principle4  
,are we as wide of the mark as they     
were8 ,so think many earnest students of
 living things4 ,when we do not have to 
pass the torch of life along1 but can   
kindle it in our laboratories1 then this
 charge will assume a different aspect4 
,,iii  ,nature works with such simple   
means6 ,a little more or a little less  
of this or that1 and behold the         
difference6 ,a little more or a little  
less heat1 and the face of the world is 
changed4      ,and the little more1 and 
how much it is1     ,and the little     
less1 and what worlds away6  ,at one    
temperature water is solid1 at another  
it is fluid1 at another it is a visible 
vapor1 at a still higher it is an       
invisible vapor that burns like a flame4
 ,all possible shades of color lurk in a
 colorless ray of light4 ,a little more 
or a little less heat makes all the     
difference between a nebula and a sun1  

and between a sun and a planet4 ,at one 
degree of heat the elements are         
dissociated2 at a lower degree they are 
united4 ,at one point in the scale of   
temperatures life appears2 at another it
 disappears4 ,with heat enough the earth
 would melt like a snowball in a        
furnace1 with still more it would become
 a vapor and float away like a cloud4   
,more or less heat only makes the       
difference between the fluidity of water
 and the solidity of the rocks that it  
beats against1 or of the banks that hold
 it4  ,the physical history of the      
universe is written in terms of heat and
 motion4 ,astronomy is the story of     
cooling suns and worlds4 ,at a low      
enough temperature all chemical activity
 ceases4 ,in our own experience we find 
that frost will blister like flame4 ,in 
the one case heat passes into the       
tissues so quickly and in such quantity 
that a blister ensues2 in the other1    
heat is abstracted so quickly and in    
such quantity that a like effect is     

produced4 ,in one sense1 life is a      
thermal phenomenon2 so are all          
conditions of fluids and solids thermal 
phenomena4  ,great wonders ,nature seems
 to achieve by varying the arrangement  
of the same particles4 ,arrange or unite
 the atoms of carbon in one way and you 
have charcoal2 assemble the same atoms  
in another order1 and you have the      
diamond4 ,the difference between the    
pearl and the oyster-shell that holds it
 is one of structure or arrangement of  
the same particles of matter4 ,arrange  
the atoms of silica in one way and you  
have a quartz pebble1 in another way and
 you have a precious stone4 ,the        
chemical constituents of alcohol and    
ether are the same2 the difference in   
their qualities and properties arises   
from the way the elements are           
compounded--the way they take hold of   
hands1 so to speak1 in that marriage    
ceremony which constitutes a chemical   
compound4 ,compounds identical in       
composition and in molecular formul may 

yet differ widely in physical           
properties2 the elements are probably   
grouped in different ways1 the atoms of 
carbon or of hydrogen probably carry    
different amounts of potential energy1  
so that the order in which they stand   
related to one another accounts for the 
different properties of the same        
chemical compounds4 ,different groupings
 of the same atoms of any of the        
elements result in a like difference of 
physical properties4  ,the physicists   
tell us that what we call the qualities 
of things1 and their structure and      
composition1 are but the expressions of 
internal atomic movements4 ,a complex   
substance simply means a whirl1 an      
intricate dance1 of which chemical      
composition1 histological structure1 and
 gross configuration are the figures4   
,how the atoms take hold of hands1 as it
 were1 the way they face1 the poses they
 assume1 the speed of their gyrations1  
the partners they exchange1 determine   
the kinds of phenomena we are dealing   

with4  ,there is a striking analogy     
between the letters of our alphabet and 
their relation to the language of the   
vast volume of printed books1 and the   
eighty or more primary elements and     
their relation to the vast universe of  
material things4 ,the analogy may not be
 in all respects a strictly true one1   
but it is an illuminating one4 ,our     
twenty-six letters combined and repeated
 in different orders give us the many   
thousand words our language possesses1  
and these words combined and repeated in
 different orders give us the vast body 
of printed books in our libraries4 ,the 
ultimate parts--the atoms and molecules 
of all literature1 so to speak--are the 
letters of the alphabet4 ,how often by  
changing a letter in a word1 by         
reversing their order1 or by            
substituting one letter for another1 we 
get a word of an entirely different     
meaning1 as in umpire and empire1       
petrifaction and putrefaction1 malt and 
salt1 tool and fool4 ,and by changing   

the order of the words in a sentence we 
express all the infinite variety of     
ideas and meanings that the books of the
 world hold4  ,the eighty or more       
primordial elements are ,nature's       
alphabet with which she writes her      
infinite book of secrecy4 ,science shows
 pretty conclusively that the character 
of the different substances1 their      
diverse qualities and properties1 depend
 upon the order in which the atoms and  
molecules are combined4 ,change the     
order in which the molecules of the     
carbon and oxygen are combined in       
alcohol1 and we get ether--the chemical 
formula remaining the same4 ,or take    
ordinary spirits of wine and add four   
more atoms of carbon to the carbon      
molecules1 and we have the poison1      
carbolic acid4 ,pure alcohol is turned  
into a deadly poison by taking from it  
one atom of carbon and two of hydrogen4 
,with the atoms of carbon1 hydrogen1 and
 oxygen1 by combining them in different 
proportions and in different orders1    

,nature produces such diverse bodies as 
acetic acid1 alcohol1 sugar1 starch1    
animal fats1 vegetable oils1 glycerine1 
and the like4 ,so with the long list of 
hydrocarbons--gaseous1 liquid1 and      
solid--called paraffins1 that are       
obtained from petroleum and that are all
 composed of hydrogen and carbon1 but   
with a different number of atoms of     
each1 like a different number of a's or 
b's or c's in a word4  ,what an enormous
 number of bodies ,nature forms out of  
oxygen by uniting it chemically with    
other primary elements6 ,thus by uniting
 it with the element silica she forms   
half of the solid crust of the globe2 by
 uniting it with hydrogen in the        
proportion of two to one she forms all  
the water of the globe4 ,with one atom  
of nitrogen united chemically with three
 atoms of hydrogen she forms ammonia4   
,with one atom of carbon united with    
four atoms of hydrogen she spells marsh 
gas2 and so on4 ,carbon occurs in       
inorganic nature in two crystalline     

forms1--the diamond and black lead1 or  
graphite1--their physical differences   
evidently being the result of their     
different molecular structure4 ,graphite
 is a good conductor of heat and        
electricity1 and the diamond is not4    
,carbon in the organic world1 where it  
plays such an important part1 is        
non-crystalline4 ,under the influence of
 life its molecules are differently put 
together1 as in sugar1 starch1 wood1    
charcoal1 etc4 ,there are also two forms
 of phosphorus1 but not two kinds2 the  
same atoms are probably united          
differently in each4 ,the yellow waxy   
variety has such an affinity for oxygen 
that it will burn in water1 and it is   
poisonous4 ,bring this variety to a high
 temperature away from the air1 and its 
molecular structure seems to change1 and
 we have the red variety1 which is      
tasteless1 odorless1 and non-poisonous1 
and is not affected by contact with the 
air4 ,such is the mystery of chemical   
change4   ,,iv  ,science has developed  

methods and implements of incredible    
delicacy4 ,its microbalance can estimate
 the difference of weight of the order  
of the millionth of a milligram4 ,light 
travels at the speed of #ahf1jjj miles a
 second1 yet science can follow it with 
its methods1 and finds that it travels  
faster with the current of running water
 than against it4 ,science has perfected
 a thermal instrument by which it can   
detect the heat of a lighted candle six 
miles away1 and the warmth of the human 
face several miles distant4 ,it has     
devised a method by which it can count  
the particles in the alpha rays of      
radium that move at a velocity of twenty
 thousand kilometers a second1 and a    
method by which1 through the use of a   
screen of zinc-sulphide1 it can see the 
flashes produced by the alpha atoms when
 they strike this screen4 ,it weighs and
 counts and calculates the motions of   
particles of matter so infinitely small 
that only the imagination can grasp     
them4 ,its theories require it to treat 

the ultimate particles into which it    
resolves matter1 and which are so small 
that they are no longer divisible1 as if
 they were solid bodies with weight and 
form1 with centre and circumference1    
colliding with one another like         
billiard-balls1 or like cosmic bodies in
 the depths of space1 striking one      
another squarely1 and1 for aught ,i     
know1 each going through another1 or    
else grazing one another and glancing   
off4 ,to particles of matter so small   
that they can no longer be divided or   
made smaller1 the impossible feat of    
each going through the centre of        
another1 or of each enveloping the      
other1 might be affirmed of them without
 adding to their unthinkableness4 ,the  
theory is that if we divide a molecule  
of water the parts are no longer water1 
but atoms of hydrogen and oxygen--real  
bodies with weight and form1 and        
storehouses of energy1 but no longer    
divisible4  ,indeed1 the atomic theory  
of matter leads us into a non-material  

world1 or a world the inverse of the    
solid1 three-dimensioned world that our 
senses reveal to us1 or to matter in a  
fourth estate4 ,we know solids and      
fluids and gases2 but emanations which  
are neither we know only as we know     
spirits and ghosts--by dreams or        
hearsay4 ,yet this fourth or ethereal   
estate of matter seems to be the final1 
real1 and fundamental condition4  ,how  
it differs from spirit is not easy to   
define4 ,the beta ray of radium will    
penetrate solid iron a foot thick1 a    
feat that would give a spirit pause4    
,the ether of space1 which science is   
coming more and more to look upon as the
 mother-stuff of all things1 has many of
 the attributes of ,deity4 ,it is       
omnipresent and all-powerful4 ,neither  
time nor space has dominion over it4 ,it
 is the one immutable and immeasurable  
thing in the universe4 ,from it all     
things arise and to it they return4 ,it 
is everywhere and nowhere4 ,it has none 
of the finite properties of             

matter--neither parts1 form1 nor        
dimension2 neither density nor tenuity2 
it cannot be compressed nor expanded nor
 moved2 it has no inertia nor mass1 and 
offers no resistance2 it is subject to  
no mechanical laws1 and no instrument or
 experiment that science has yet devised
 can detect its presence2 it has neither
 centre nor circumference1 neither      
extension nor boundary4 ,and yet science
 is as convinced of its existence as of 
the solid ground beneath our feet4 ,it  
is the one final reality in the         
universe1 if we may not say that it is  
the universe4 ,tremors or vibrations in 
it reach the eye and make an impression 
that we call light2 electrical          
oscillations in it are the source of    
other phenomena4 ,it is the             
fountain-head of all potential energy4  
,the ether is an invention of the       
scientific imagination4 ,we had to have 
it to account for light1 gravity1 and   
the action of one body upon another at a
 distance1 as well as to account for    

other phenomena4 ,the ether is not a    
body1 it is a medium4 ,all bodies are in
 motion2 matter moves2 the ether is in a
 state of absolute rest4 ,says ,sir     
,oliver ,lodge1 ,the ether is strained1 
and has the property of exerting strain 
and recoil4 ,an electron is like a knot 
in the ether4 ,the ether is the fluid of
 fluids1 yet its tension or strain is so
 great that it is immeasurably more     
dense than anything else--a phenomenon  
that may be paralleled by a jet of water
 at such speed that it cannot be cut    
with a sword or severed by a hammer4 ,it
 is so subtle or imponderable that solid
 bodies are as vacuums to it1 and so    
pervasive that all conceivable space is 
filled with it2 so full1 says ,clerk    
,maxwell1 that no human power can remove
 it from the smallest portion of space1 
or produce the slightest flaw in its    
infinite continuity4  ,the scientific   
imagination1 in its attempts to master  
the workings of the material universe1  
has thus given us a creation which in   

many of its attributes rivals           
,omnipotence4 ,it is the sum of all     
contradictions1 and the source of all   
reality4 ,the gross matter which we see 
and feel is one state of it2            
electricity1 which is without form and  
void1 is another state of it2 and our   
minds and souls1 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge    
intimates1 may be still another state of
 it4 ,but all these theories of physical
 science are justified by their fruits4 
,the atomic theory of matter1 and the   
kinetic theory of gases1 are            
mathematically demonstrated4 ,however   
unreal and fantastic they may appear to 
our practical faculties1 conversant only
 with ponderable bodies1 they bear the  
test of the most rigid and exact        
experimentation4   ,v  ,after we have   
marveled over all these hidden things1  
and been impressed by the world within  
world of the material universe1 do we   
get any nearer to the mystery of life8  
,can we see where the tremendous change 
from the non-living to the living takes 

place8 ,can we evoke life from the      
omnipotent ether1 or see it arise in the
 whirling stream of atoms and electrons8
 ,molecular science opens up to us a    
world where the infinitely little       
matches the infinitely great1 where     
matter is dematerialized and answers to 
many of the conceptions of spirit2 but  
does it bring us any nearer the origin  
of life8 ,is radio-active matter any    
nearer living matter than is the clod   
under foot8 ,are the darting electrons  
any more vital than the shooting-stars8 
,can a flash of radium emanations on a  
zinc-sulphide plate kindle the precious 
spark8 ,it is probably just as possible 
to evoke vitality out of the clash of   
billiard-balls as out of the clash of   
atoms and electrons4 ,this allusion to  
billiard-balls recalls to my mind a     
striking passage from ,tyndall's famous 
,belfast ,address which he puts in the  
mouth of ,bishop ,butler in his         
imaginary argument with ,lucretius1 and 
which shows how thoroughly ,tyndall     

appreciated the difficulties of his own 
position in advocating the theory of the
 physico-chemical origin of life4  ,the 
atomic and electronic theory of matter  
admits one to a world that does indeed  
seem unreal and fantastic4 ,if my bark  
sinks1 says the poet1 't is to another  
sea4 ,if the mind breaks through what we
 call gross matter1 and explores its    
interior1 it finds itself indeed in a   
vast under or hidden world--a world     
almost as much a creation of the        
imagination as that visited by ,alice in
 ,wonderland1 except that the existence 
of this world is capable of             
demonstration4 ,it is a world of the    
infinitely little which science         
interprets in terms of the infinitely   
large4 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge sees the     
molecular spaces that separate the      
particles of any material body          
relatively like the interstellar spaces 
that separate the heavenly bodies4 ,just
 as all the so-called solid matter      
revealed by our astronomy is almost     

infinitesimal compared with the space   
through which it is distributed1 so the 
electrons which compose the matter with 
which we deal are comparable to the     
bodies of the solar system moving in    
vast spaces4 ,it is indeed a fantastic  
world where science conceives of bodies 
a thousand times smaller than the       
hydrogen atom--the smallest body known  
to science2 where it conceives of       
vibrations in the ether millions of     
millions times a second2 where we are   
bombarded by a shower of corpuscles from
 a burning candle1 or a gas-jet1 or a   
red-hot iron surface1 moving at the     
speed of one hundred thousand miles a   
second6 ,but this almost omnipotent     
ether has1 after all1 some of the       
limitations of the finite4 ,it takes    
time to transmit the waves of light from
 the sun and the stars4 ,this measurable
 speed1 says ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 gives 
the ether away1 and shows its finite    
character4  ,it seems as if the theory  
of the ether must be true1 because it   

fits in so well with the enigmatic1     
contradictory1 incomprehensible         
character of the universe as revealed to
 our minds4 ,we can affirm and deny     
almost anything of the ether--that it is
 immaterial1 and yet the source of all  
material2 that it is absolutely         
motionless1 yet the cause of all motion2
 that it is the densest body in nature1 
and yet the most rarified2 that it is   
everywhere1 but defies detection2 that  
it is as undiscoverable as the ,infinite
 itself2 that our physics cannot prove  
it1 though they cannot get along without
 it4 ,the ether inside a mass of iron or
 of lead is just as dense as the ether  
outside of it--which means that it is   
not dense at all1 in our ordinary use of
 the term4   ,,vi  ,there are physical  
changes in matter1 there are chemical   
changes1 and there is a third change1 as
 unlike either of these as they are     
unlike each other4 ,i refer to atomic   
change1 as in radio-activity1 which     
gives us lead from helium--a spontaneous

 change of the atoms4 ,the energy that  
keeps the earth going1 says ,soddy1 is  
to be sought for in the individual      
atoms2 not in the great heaven-shaking  
voice of thunder1 but in the still small
 voice of the atoms4 ,radio-activity is 
the mainspring of the universe4 ,the    
only elements so far known that undergo 
spontaneous change are uranium and      
thorium4 ,one pound of uranium contains 
and slowly gives out the same amount of 
energy that a hundred tons of coal      
evolves in its combustion1 but only one 
ten-billionth part of this amount is    
given out every year4  ,man1 of course1 
reaps where he has not sown4 ,how could 
it be otherwise8 ,it takes energy to sow
 or plant energy4 ,we are exhausting the
 coal1 the natural gas1 the petroleum of
 the rocks1 the fertility of the soil4  
,but we cannot exhaust the energy of the
 winds or the tides1 or of falling      
water1 because this energy is ever      
renewed by gravity and the sun4 ,there  
can be no exhaustion of our natural     

mechanical and chemical resources1 as   
some seem to fear4  ,i recently visited 
a noted waterfall in the ,south where   
electric power is being developed on a  
large scale4 ,a great column of water   
makes a vertical fall of six hundred    
feet through a steel tube1 and in the   
fall develops two hundred and fifty     
thousand horse-power4 ,the water comes  
out of the tunnel at the bottom1        
precisely the same water that went in at
 the top2 no change whatever has        
occurred in it1 yet a vast amount of    
power has been taken out of it1 or1     
rather1 generated by its fall4 ,another 
drop of six hundred feet would develop  
as much more2 in fact1 the process may  
be repeated indefinitely1 the same      
amount of power resulting each time1    
without effecting any change in the     
character of the water4 ,the pull of    
gravity is the source of the power which
 is distributed hundreds of miles across
 the country as electricity4 ,two       
hundred and fifty thousand invisible1   

immaterial1 noiseless horses are        
streaming along these wires with        
incredible speed to do the work of men  
and horses in widely separated parts of 
the country4 ,a river of sand falling   
down those tubes1 if its particles moved
 among themselves with the same freedom 
that those of the water do1 would       
develop the same power4 ,the attraction 
of gravitation is not supposed to be    
electricity1 and yet here out of its    
pull upon the water comes this enormous 
voltage6 ,the fact that such a          
mysterious and ubiquitous power as      
electricity can be developed from the   
action of matter without any alteration 
in its particles1 suggests the question 
whether or not this something that we   
call life1 or life-force1 may not       
slumber in matter in the same way2 but  
the secret of its development we have   
not yet learned1 as we have that of     
electricity4  ,radio-activity is        
uninfluenced by external conditions2    
hence we are thus far unable to control 

it4 ,nothing that is known will effect  
the transmutation of one element into   
another4 ,it is spontaneous and         
uncontrollable4 ,may not life be        
spontaneous in the same sense8  ,the    
release of the energy associated with   
the structure of the atoms is not       
available by any of our mechanical      
appliances4 ,the process of             
radio-activity involves the expulsion of
 atoms of helium with a velocity three  
hundred times greater than that ever    
previously known for any material mass  
or particle1 and this power we are      
incompetent to use4 ,the atoms remain   
unchanged amid the heat and pressure of 
the laboratory of nature4 ,iron and     
oxygen and so forth remain the same in  
the sun as here on the earth4  ,science 
strips gross matter of its grossness4   
,when it is done with it1 it is no      
longer the obstructive something we know
 and handle2 it is reduced to pure      
energy--the line between it and spirit  
does not exist4 ,we have found that     

bodies are opaque only to certain rays2 
the ,x-ray sees through this too too    
solid flesh4 ,bodies are ponderable only
 to our dull senses2 to a finer hand    
than this the door or the wall might    
offer no obstruction2 a finer eye than  
this might see the emanations from the  
living body2 a finer ear might hear the 
clash of electrons in the air4 ,who can 
doubt1 in view of what we already know1 
that forces and influences from out the 
heavens above1 and from the earth       
beneath1 that are beyond our ken1 play  
upon us constantly8  ,the final mystery 
of life is no doubt involved in         
conditions and forces that are quite    
outside of or beyond our conscious life 
activities1 in forces that play about us
 and upon and through us1 that we know  
not of1 because a knowledge of them is  
not necessary to our well-being4 ,our   
eye takes in only an octave of the      
vibrations we call light1 because no    
more is necessary for our action or our 
dealing with things4 ,the invisible rays

 of the spectrum are potent1 but they   
are beyond the ken of our senses4 ,there
 are sounds or sound vibrations that we 
do not hear2 our sense of touch cannot  
recognize a gossamer1 or the gentler air
 movements4  ,i began with the          
contemplation of the beauty and terror  
of the thunderbolt--,god's autograph1 as
 one of our poets 7,joel ,benton7 said1 
written upon the sky4 ,let me end with  
an allusion to another aspect of the    
storm that has no terror in it--the bow 
in the clouds3 a sudden apparition1 a   
cosmic phenomenon no less wonderful and 
startling than the lightning's flash4   
,the storm with terror and threatened   
destruction on one side of it1 and peace
 and promise on the other6 ,the bow     
appears like a miracle1 but it is a     
commonplace of nature2 unstable as life1
 and beautiful as youth4 ,the raindrops 
are not changed1 the light is not       
changed1 the laws of the storms are not 
changed2 and yet1 behold this wonder6   
,but all these strange and beautiful    

phenomena springing up in a world of    
inert matter are but faint symbols of   
the mystery and the miracle of the      
change of matter from the non-living to 
the living1 from the elements in the    
clod to the same elements in the brain  
and heart of man4     ,,iv  ,,the       
,,baffling ,,problem   ,i  ,still the   
problem of living things haunts my mind 
and1 let me warn my reader1 will        
continue to haunt it throughout the     
greater part of this volume4 ,the final 
truth about it refuses to be spoken4    
,every effort to do so but gives one new
 evidence of how insoluble the problem  
is4  ,in this world of change is there  
any other change to be compared with    
that in matter1 from the dead to the    
living8--a change so great that most    
minds feel compelled to go outside of   
matter and invoke some super-material   
force or agent to account for it4 ,the  
least of living things is so wonderful1 
the phenomena it exhibits are so        
fundamentally unlike those of inert     

matter1 that we invent a word for it1   
vitality2 and having got the word1 we   
conceive of a vital force or principle  
to explain vital phenomena4 ,hence      
vitalism--a philosophy of living things1
 more or less current in the world from 
,aristotle's time down to our own4 ,it  
conceives of something in nature        
super-mechanical and super-chemical1    
though inseparably bound up with these  
things4 ,there is no life without       
material and chemical forces1 but       
material and chemical forces do not hold
 the secret of life4 ,this is vitalism  
as opposed to mechanism1 or scientific  
materialism1 which is the doctrine of   
the all-sufficiency of the physical     
forces operating in the inorganic world 
to give rise to all the phenomena of the
 organic world--a doctrine coming more  
and more in vogue with the progress of  
physical science4 ,without holding to   
any belief in the supernatural or the   
teleological1 and while adhering to the 
idea that there has been1 and can be1 no

 break in the causal sequence in this   
world1 may one still hold to some form  
of vitalism1 and see in life something  
more than applied physics and chemistry8
  ,is biology to be interpreted in the  
same physical and chemical terms as     
geology8 ,are biophysics and geophysics 
one and the same8 ,one may freely admit 
that there cannot be two kinds of       
physics1 nor two kinds of chemistry--not
 one kind for a rock1 and another kind  
for a tree1 or a man4 ,there are not two
 species of oxygen1 nor two of carbon1  
nor two of hydrogen and nitrogen--one   
for living and one for dead matter4 ,the
 water in the human body is precisely   
the same as the water that flows by in  
the creek or that comes down when it    
rains2 and the sulphur and the lime and 
the iron and the phosphorus and the     
magnesium are identical1 so far as      
chemical analysis can reveal1 in the    
organic and the inorganic worlds4 ,but  
are we not compelled to think of a kind 
of difference between a living and a    

non-living body that we cannot fit into 
any of the mechanical or chemical       
concepts that we apply to the latter8   
,professor ,loeb1 with his ,mechanistic 
,conception of ,life2 ,professor        
,henderson1 of ,harvard1 with his       
,fitness of the ,environment2 ,professor
 ,le ,dantec1 of the ,sorbonne in       
,paris1 with his volume on ,the ,nature 
and ,origin of ,life1 published a few   
years since2 ,professor ,schfer1        
,president of the ,british ,association1
 ,professor ,verworn of ,bonn1 and many 
others find in the laws and properties  
of matter itself a sufficient           
explanation of all the phenomena of     
life4 ,they look upon the living body as
 only the sum of its physical and       
chemical activities2 they do not seem to
 feel the need of accounting for life   
itself--for that something which confers
 vitality upon the heretofore non-vital 
elements4 ,that there is new behavior1  
that there are new chemical compounds   
called organic1--tens of thousands of   

them not found in inorganic             
nature1--that there are new processes   
set up in aggregates of matter1--growth1
 assimilation1 metabolism1 reproduction1
 thought1 emotion1 science1             
civilization1--no one denies4  ,how are 
we going to get these things out of the 
old physics and chemistry without some  
new factor or agent or force8 ,to help  
ourselves out here with a vital         
principle1 or with spirit1 or a creative
 impulse1 as ,bergson does1 seems to be 
the only course open to certain types of
 mind4 ,positive science cannot follow  
us in this step1 because science is     
limited to the verifiable4 ,the stream  
of forces with which it deals is        
continuous2 it must find the physical   
equivalents of all the forces that go   
into the body in the output of the body1
 and it cannot admit of a life force    
which it cannot trace to the physical   
forces4  ,what has science done to clear
 up this mystery of vitality8 ,professor
 ,loeb1 our most eminent experimental   

biologist1 has succeeded in fertilizing 
the eggs of some low forms of sea life  
by artificial means2 and in one         
instance1 at least1 it is reported that 
the fatherless form grew to maturity4   
,this is certainly an interesting fact1 
but takes us no nearer the solution of  
the mystery of vitality than the fact   
that certain chemical compounds may     
stimulate the organs of reproduction    
helps to clear up the mystery of        
generation2 or the fact that certain    
other chemical compounds help the       
digestive and assimilative processes and
 further the metabolism of the body     
assists in clearing up the mystery that 
attaches to these things4 ,in all such  
cases we have the living body to begin  
with4 ,the egg of the sea-urchin and the
 egg of the jelly-fish are living beings
 that responded to certain chemical     
substances1 so that a process is set    
going in their cell life that is        
equivalent to fertilization4 ,it seems  
to me that the result of all ,professor 

,loeb's valuable inquiries is only to   
give us a more intimate sense of how    
closely mechanical and chemical         
principles are associated and identified
 with all the phenomena of life and with
 all animal behavior4 ,given a living   
organism1 mechanics and chemistry will  
then explain much of its                
behavior--practically all the behavior  
of the lower organisms1 and much of that
 of the higher4 ,even when we reach man1
 our reactions to the environment and to
 circumstances play a great part in our 
lives2 but dare we say that will1       
liberty of choice1 ideation1 do not play
 a part also8 ,how much reality there is
 in the so-called animal will1 is a     
problem2 but that there is a foundation 
for our belief in the reality of the    
human will1 ,i1 for one1 do not for a   
moment doubt4 ,the discontinuity here is
 only apparent and not real4 ,we meet   
with the same break when we try to get  
our mental states1 our power of         
thought--a poem1 a drama1 a work of art1

 a great oration--out of the food we    
eat2 but life does it1 though our       
science is none the wiser for it4 ,our  
physical life forms a closed circle1    
science says1 and what goes into our    
bodies as physical force1 must come out 
in physical force1 or as some of its    
equivalents4 ,well1 one of the          
equivalents1 transformed by some unknown
 chemism within us1 is our psychic      
force1 or states of consciousness4 ,the 
two circles1 the physical and the       
psychical1 are not concentric1 as ,fiske
 fancied1 but are linked in some        
mysterious way4  ,professor ,loeb is a  
master critic of the life processes2 he 
and his compeers analyze them as they   
have never been analyzed before2 but the
 solution of the great problem of life  
that we are awaiting does not come4 ,a  
critic may resolve all of ,shakespeare's
 plays into their historic and other    
elements1 but that will not account for 
,shakespeare4 ,nature's synthesis       
furnishes occasions for our analysis4   

,most assuredly all psychic phenomena   
have a physical basis2 we know the soul 
only through the body2 but that they are
 all of physico-chemical origin1 is     
another matter4   ,,ii  ,biological     
science has hunted the secret of        
vitality like a detective2 and it has   
done some famous work2 but it has not   
yet unraveled the mystery4 ,it knows    
well the part played by carbon1 oxygen1 
and hydrogen in organic chemistry1 that 
without water and carbon dioxide there  
could be no life2 it knows the part     
played by light1 air1 heat1 gravity1    
osmosis1 chemical affinity1 and all the 
hundreds or thousands of organic        
compounds2 it knows the part played by  
what are called the enzymes1 or         
ferments1 in all living bodies1 but it  
does not know the secret of these       
ferments2 it knows the part played by   
colloids1 or jelly-like compounds1 that 
there is no living body without         
colloids1 though there are colloid      
bodies that are not living2 it knows the

 part played by oxidation1 that without 
it a living body ceases to function1    
though everywhere all about us is       
oxidation without life2 it knows the    
part played by chlorophyll in the       
vegetable kingdom1 and yet how          
chlorophyll works such magic upon the   
sun's rays1 using the solar energy to   
fix the carbon of carbonic acid in the  
air1 and thereby storing this energy as 
it is stored in wood and coal and in    
much of the food we consume1 is a       
mystery4 ,chemistry cannot repeat the   
process in its laboratories4 ,the fungi 
do not possess this wonderful           
chlorophyllian power1 and hence cannot  
use the sunbeam to snatch their carbon  
from the air2 they must get it from     
decomposed vegetable matter2 they feed1 
as the animals do1 upon elements that   
have gone through the cycle of vegetable
 life4 ,the secret of vegetable life1   
then1 is in the green substance of the  
leaf where science is powerless to      
unlock it4 ,conjure with the elements as

 it may1 it cannot produce the least    
speck of living matter4 ,it can by      
synthesis produce many of the organic   
compounds1 but only from matter that has
 already been through the organic cycle4
 ,it has lately produced rubber1 but    
from other products of vegetable life4  
,as soon as the four principal elements1
 carbon1 oxygen1 hydrogen1 and nitrogen1
 that make up the living body1 have     
entered the world of living matter1     
their activities and possible           
combinations enormously increase2 they  
enter into new relations with one       
another and form compounds of great     
variety and complexity1 characterized by
 the instability which life requires4   
,the organic compounds are vastly more  
sensitive to light and heat and air than
 are the same elements in the inorganic 
world4 ,what has happened to them8      
,chemistry cannot tell us4 ,oxidation1  
which is only slow combustion1 is the   
main source of energy in the body1 as it
 is in the steam-engine4 ,the storing of

 the solar energy1 which occurs only in 
the vegetable1 is by a process of       
reduction1 that is1 the separation of   
the carbon and oxygen in carbonic acid  
and water4 ,the chemical reactions which
 liberate energy in the body are slow2  
in dead matter they are rapid and       
violent1 or explosive and destructive4  
,it is the chemistry in the leaf of the 
plant that diverts or draws the solar   
energy into the stream of life1 and how 
it does it is a mystery4  ,the          
scientific explanations of life         
phenomena are all after the fact2 they  
do not account for the fact2 they start 
with the ready-made organism and then   
reduce its activities and processes to  
their physical equivalents4 ,vitality is
 given1 and then the vital processes are
 fitted into mechanical and chemical    
concepts1 or into moulds derived from   
inert matter--not a difficult thing to  
do1 but no more an explanation of the   
mystery of vitality than a painting or a
 marble bust of ,tyndall would be an    

explanation of that great scientist4    
,all ,professor ,loeb's experiments and 
criticisms throw light upon the life    
processes1 or upon the factors that take
 part in them1 but not upon the secret  
of the genesis of the processes         
themselves4 ,amid all the activities of 
his mechanical and chemical factors1    
there is ever present a factor which he 
ignores1 which his analytical method    
cannot seize2 namely1 what ,verworn     
calls the specific energy of living     
substance4 ,without this1 chemism and   
mechanism would work together to quite  
other ends4 ,the water in the wave1 and 
the laws that govern it1 do not differ  
at all from the water and its laws that 
surround it2 but unless one takes into  
account the force that makes the wave1  
an analysis of the phenomena will leave 
one where he began4  ,professor ,le     
,dantec leaves the subject where he took
 it up1 with the origin of life and the 
life processes unaccounted for4 ,his    
work is a description1 and not an       

explanation4 ,all our ideas about       
vitality1 or an unknown factor in the   
organic world1 he calls mystic and      
unscientific4 ,a sharp line of          
demarcation between living and          
non-living bodies is not permissible4   
,this1 he says1 is the anthropomorphic  
error which puts some mysterious quality
 or force in all bodies considered to be
 living4 ,to ,le ,dantec1 the difference
 between the quick and the dead is of   
the same order as the difference which  
exists between two chemical             
compounds--for example1 as that which   
exists between alcohol and an aldehyde1 
a liquid that has two less atoms of     
hydrogen in its composition4 ,modify    
your chemistry a little1 add or subtract
 an atom or two1 more or less1 of this  
or that gas1 and dead matter thrills    
into life1 or living matter sinks to the
 inert4 ,in other words1 life is the    
gift of chemistry1 its particular       
essence is of the chemical order--a bold
 inference from the fact that there is  

no life without chemical reactions1 no  
life without oxidation4 ,yet chemical   
reactions in the laboratory cannot      
produce life4 ,with ,le ,dantec1        
biology1 like geology and astronomy1 is 
only applied mechanics and chemistry4   
,,iii  ,such is the result of the       
rigidly objective study of life--the    
only method analytical science can      
pursue4 ,the conception of vitality as a
 factor in itself answers to nothing    
that the objective study of life can    
disclose2 such a study reveals a closed 
circle of physical forces1 chemical and 
mechanical1 into which no immaterial    
force or principle can find entrance4   
,the fact of being conscious1 ,le       
,dantec says with emphasis1 does not    
intervene in the slightest degree in    
directing vital movements4 ,but common  
sense and everyday observation tell us  
that states of consciousness do         
influence the bodily                    
processes--influence the circulation1   
the digestion1 the secretions1 the      

respiration4  ,an objective scientific  
study of a living body yields results   
not unlike those which we might get from
 an objective study of a book considered
 as something fabricated--its materials1
 its construction1 its typography1 its  
binding1 the number of its chapters and 
pages1 and so on--without giving any    
heed to the meaning of the book--its    
ideas1 the human soul and personality   
that it embodies1 the occasion that gave
 rise to it1 indeed all its subjective  
and immaterial aspects4 ,all these      
things1 the whole significance of the   
volume1 would elude scientific analysis4
 ,it would seem to be a manufactured    
article1 representing only so much      
mechanics and chemistry4 ,it is the same
 with the living body4 ,unless we permit
 ourselves to go behind the mere facts1 
the mere mechanics and chemistry of life
 phenomena1 and interpret them in the   
light of immaterial principles1 in      
short1 unless we apply some sort of     
philosophy to them1 the result of our   

analysis will be but dust in our eyes1  
and ashes in our mouths4 ,unless there  
is something like mind or intelligence  
pervading nature1 some creative and     
transforming impulse that cannot be     
defined by our mechanical concepts1     
then1 to me1 the whole organic world is 
meaningless4 ,if man is not more than an
 accident in the history of the thermic 
evolution of the globe1 or the result of
 the fortuitous juxtaposition and       
combination of carbonic acid gas and    
water and a few other elements1 what    
shall we say8 ,it is at least a         
bewildering proposition4  ,could one by 
analyzing a hive of bees find out the   
secret of its organization--its unity as
 an aggregate of living insects8 ,behold
 its wonderful economics1 its division  
of labor1 its complex social            
structure1--the queen1 the workers1 the 
drones1--thousands of bees without any  
head or code of laws or directing agent1
 all acting as one individual1 all      
living and working for the common good4 

,there is no confusion or cross-purpose 
in the hive4 ,when the time of swarming 
comes1 they are all of one mind and the 
swarm comes forth4 ,who or what decides 
who shall stay and who shall go8 ,when  
the honey supply fails1 or if it fail   
prematurely1 on account of a drought1   
the swarming instinct is inhibited1 and 
the unhatched queens are killed in their
 cells4 ,who or what issues the regicide
 order8 ,we can do no better than to    
call it the ,spirit of the ,hive1 as    
,maeterlinck has done4 ,it is a         
community of mind4 ,what one bee knows  
and feels1 they all know and feel at the
 same instant4 ,something like that is  
true of a living body2 the cells are    
like the bees3 they work together1 they 
build up the tissues and organs1 some   
are for one thing and some for another1 
each community of cells plays its own   
part1 and they all pull together for the
 good of the whole4 ,we can introduce   
cells and even whole organs1 for example
 a kidney from another living body1 and 

all goes well2 and yet we cannot find   
the seat of the organization4 ,can we do
 any better than to call it the ,spirit 
of the ,body8   ,,iv  ,our ,french      
biologist is of the opinion that the    
artificial production of that marvel of 
marvels1 the living cell1 will yet take 
place in the laboratory4 ,but the       
enlightened mind1 he says1 does not need
 such proof to be convinced that there  
is no essential difference between      
living and non-living matter4           
,professor ,henderson1 though an        
expounder of the mechanistic theory of  
the origin of life1 admits that he does 
not know of a biological chemist to whom
 the mechanistic origin of a cell is    
scientifically imaginable4 ,like        
,professor ,loeb1 he starts with the    
vital2 how he came by it we get no      
inkling2 he confesses frankly that the  
biological chemist cannot even face the 
problem of the origin of life4 ,he      
quotes with approval a remark of        
,liebig's1 as reported by ,lord ,kelvin1

 that he 7,liebig7 could no more believe
 that a leaf or a flower could be formed
 or could grow by chemical forces than a
 book on chemistry1 or on botany1 could 
grow out of dead matter4 ,is not this   
conceding to the vitalists all that they
 claim8 ,the cell is the unit of life2  
all living bodies are but vast          
confraternities of cells1 some billions 
or trillions of them in the human body2 
the cell builds up the tissues1 the     
tissues build up the organs1 the organs 
build up the body4 ,now if it is not    
thinkable that chemism could beget a    
cell1 is it any more thinkable that it  
could build a living tissue1 and then an
 organ1 and then the body as a whole8   
,if there is an inscrutable something at
 work at the start1 which organizes that
 wonderful piece of vital mechanism1 the
 cell1 is it any the less operative ever
 after1 in all life processes1 in all   
living bodies and their functions1--the 
vital as distinguished from the         
mechanical and chemical8 ,given the     

cell1 and you have only to multiply it1 
and organize these products into        
industrial communities1 and direct them 
to specific ends1--certainly a task     
which we would not assign to chemistry  
or physics any more than we would assign
 to them the production of a work on    
chemistry or botany1--and you have all  
the myriad forms of terrestrial life4   
,the cell is the parent of every living 
thing on the globe2 and if it is        
unthinkable that the material and       
irrational forces of inert matter could 
produce it1 then mechanics and chemistry
 must play second fiddle in all that    
whirl and dance of the atoms that make  
up life4 ,and that is all the vitalists 
claim4 ,the physico-chemical forces do  
play second fiddle2 that inexplicable   
something that we call vitality         
dominates and leads them4 ,true it is   
that a living organism yields to        
scientific analysis only mechanical and 
chemical forces--a fact which only      
limits the range of scientific analysis1

 and which by no means exhausts the     
possibilities of the living organism4   
,the properties of matter and the laws  
of matter are intimately related to     
life1 yea1 are inseparable from it1 but 
they are by no means the whole story4   
,professor ,henderson repudiates the    
idea of any extra-physical influence as 
being involved in the processes of life1
 and yet concedes that the very         
foundation of all living matter1 yea1   
the whole living universe in embryo--the
 cell--is beyond the possibilities of   
physics and chemistry alone4 ,mechanism 
and chemism are adequate to account for 
astronomy and geology1 and therefore1 he
 thinks1 are sufficient to account for  
biology1 without calling in the aid of  
any ,bergsonian life impulse4 ,still    
these forces stand impotent before that 
microscopic world1 the cell1 the        
foundation of all life4  ,our professor 
makes the provisional statement1 not in 
obedience to his science1 but in        
obedience to his philosophy1 that       

something more than mechanics and       
chemistry may have had a hand in shaping
 the universe1 some primordial tendency 
impressed upon or working in matter just
 before mechanism begins to act--a      
necessary and prestablished associate of
 mechanism4 ,so that if we start with   
the universe1 with life1 and with this  
tendency1 mechanism will do all the     
rest4 ,but this is not science1 of      
course1 because it is not verifiable2 it
 is practically the philosophy of       
,bergson4  ,the cast-iron conclusions of
 physical science do pinch the ,harvard 
professor a bit1 and he pads them with a
 little of the ,bergsonian philosophy4  
,bergson himself is not pinched at all  
by the conclusions of positive science4 
,he sees that we1 as human beings1      
cannot live in this universe without    
supplementing our science with some sort
 of philosophy that will help us to     
escape from the fatalism of matter and  
force into the freedom of the spiritual 
life4 ,if we are merely mechanical and  

chemical accidents1 all the glory of    
life1 all the meaning of our moral and  
spiritual natures1 go by the board4     
,professor ,henderson shows us how well 
this planet1 with its oceans and        
continents1 and its mechanical and      
chemical forces and elements1 is suited 
to sustain life1 but he brings us no    
nearer the solution of the mystery than 
we were before4 ,his title1 to begin    
with1 is rather bewildering4 ,has the   
fitness of the environment ever been    
questioned8 ,the environment is fit1 of 
course1 else living bodies would not be 
here4 ,we are used to taking hold of the
 other end of the problem4 ,in living   
nature the foot is made to fit the shoe1
 and not the shoe the foot4 ,the        
environment is the mould in which the   
living organism is cast4 ,hence1 it     
seems to me1 that seeking to prove the  
fitness of the environment is very much 
like seeking to prove the fitness of    
water for fish to swim in1 or the       
fitness of the air for birds to fly in4 

,the implication seems to be made that  
the environment anticipates the         
organism1 or meets it half way4 ,but the
 environment is rather uncompromising4  
,man alone modifies his environment by  
the weapon of science2 but not          
radically2 in the end he has to fit     
himself to it4 ,life has been able to   
adjust itself to the universal forces   
and so go along with them2 otherwise we 
should not be here4 ,we may say1 humanly
 speaking1 that the water is friendly to
 the swimmer1 if he knows how to use it2
 if not1 it is his deadly enemy4 ,the   
same is true of all the elements and    
forces of nature4 ,whether they be for  
or against us1 depends upon ourselves4  
,the wind is never tempered to the shorn
 lamb1 the shorn lamb must clothe itself
 against the wind4 ,life is adaptive1   
and this faculty of adaptation to the   
environment1 of itself takes it out of  
the category of the physico-chemical4   
,the rivers and seas favor navigation1  
if we have gumption enough to use and   

master their forces4 ,the air is good to
 breathe1 and food to eat1 for those    
creatures that are adapted to them4     
,bergson thinks1 not without reason1    
that life on other planets may be quite 
different from what it is on our own1   
owing to a difference in chemical and   
physical conditions4 ,change the        
chemical constituents of sea water1 and 
you radically change the lower          
organisms4 ,with an atmosphere entirely 
of oxygen1 the processes of life would  
go on more rapidly and perhaps reach a  
higher form of development4 ,life on    
this planet is limited to a certain     
rather narrow range of temperature2 the 
span may be the same in other worlds1   
but farther up or farther down the      
scale4 ,had the air been differently    
constituted1 would not our lungs have   
been different8 ,the lungs of the fish  
are in his gills3 he has to filter his  
air from a much heavier medium4 ,the    
nose of the pig is fitted for rooting2  
shall we say1 then1 that the soil was   

made friable that pigs might root in it8
 ,the webbed foot is fitted to the      
water2 shall we say1 then1 that water is
 liquid in order that geese and ducks   
may swim in it8 ,one more atom of oxygen
 united to the two atoms that go to make
 the molecule of air1 and we should have
 had ozone instead of the air we now    
breathe4 ,how unsuited this would have  
made the air for life as we know it6    
,oxidation would have consumed us       
rapidly4 ,life would have met this extra
 atom by some new device4  ,one wishes  
,professor ,henderson had told us more  
about how life fits itself to the       
environment--how matter1 moved and      
moulded only by mechanical and chemical 
forces1 yet has some power of choice    
that a machine does not have1 and can   
and does select the environment best    
suited to its well-being4 ,in fact1 that
 it should have1 or be capable of1 any  
condition of well-being1 if it is only a
 complex of physical and chemical       
forces1 is a problem to wrestle with4   

,the ground we walk on is such a        
complex1 but only the living bodies it  
supports have conditions of well-being4 
,professor ,henderson concedes very     
little to the vitalists or the          
teleologists4 ,he is a thorough         
mechanist4 ,matter and energy1 he says1 
have an original property1 assuredly not
 by chance1 which organizes the universe
 in space and time4 ,where or how matter
 got this organizing property1 he offers
 no opinion4 ,given the universe1 life1 
and the tendency the tendency to        
organize1 mechanism is inductively      
proved sufficient to account for all    
phenomena4 ,biology1 then1 is only      
mechanics and chemistry engaged in a new
 rle without any change of character2   
but what put them up to this new rle8   
,the whole evolutionary process1 both   
cosmic and organic1 is one1 and the     
biologist may now rightly regard the    
universe in its very essence as         
biocentric4   ,v  ,another ,harvard     
voice is less pronounced in favor of the

 mechanistic conception of life4        
,professor ,rand thinks that in a       
mechanically determined universe1 our   
conscious life becomes a meaningless    
replica of an inexorable physical       
concatenation--the soul the result of a 
fortuitous concourse of atoms4 ,hence   
all the science and art and literature  
and religion of the world are merely the
 result of a molecular accident4  ,dr4  
,rand himself1 in wrestling with the    
problem of organization in a late number
 of ,science1 seems to hesitate whether 
or not to regard man as a molecular     
accident1 an appearance presented to us 
by the results of the curious accidents 
of molecules--which is essentially      
,professor ,loeb's view2 or whether to  
look upon the living body as the result 
of a specific something that organizes1 
that is1 of dominating organic agencies1
 be they psychic or super-mundane1 which
 dominate and determine the organization
 of the different parts of the body into
 a whole4 ,yet he is troubled with the  

idea that this specific something may be
 nothing more than accidental chemical  
peculiarities of cells4 ,but would these
 accidental peculiarities be constant8  
,do accidents happen millions of times  
in the same way8 ,the cell is without   
variableness or shadow of turning4 ,the 
cells are the minute people that build  
up all living forms1 and what prompts   
them to build a man in the one case1 and
 the man's dog in another1 is the       
mystery that puzzles ,professor ,rand4  
,tissue cells1 he says1 are not         
structures like stone blocks laboriously
 carved and immovably cemented in place4
 ,they are rather like the local eddies 
in an ever-flowing and ever-changing    
stream of fluids4 ,substance which was  
at one moment a part of a cell1 passes  
out and a new substance enters4 ,what is
 it that prevents the local whirl in    
this unstable stream from changing its  
form8 ,how is it that a million muscle  
cells remain alike1 collectively ready  
to respond to a nerve impulse8          

,according to one view1 expressed by    
,professor ,rand1 ,organization is      
something that we read into natural     
phenomena4 ,it is in itself nothing4    
,the alternative view holds that there  
is a specific organizing agent that     
brings about the harmonious operation of
 all the organs and parts of the        
system--a superior dynamic force        
controlling and guiding all the         
individual parts4  ,a most determined   
and thorough-going attempt to hunt down 
the secret of vitality1 and to determine
 how far its phenomena can be           
interpreted in terms of mechanics and   
chemistry1 is to be found in ,professor 
,h4 ,w4 ,conn's volume entitled ,the    
,living ,machine4 ,professor ,conn      
justifies his title by defining a       
machine as a piece of apparatus so      
designed that it can change one kind of 
energy into another for a definite      
purpose4 ,of course the adjective living
 takes it out of the category of all    
mere mechanical devices and makes it    

super-mechanical1 just as ,haeckel's    
application of the word living to his   
inorganics 7living inorganics71 takes   
them out of the category of the         
inorganic4 ,in every machine1 properly  
so called1 all the factors are known2   
but do we know all the factors in a     
living body8 ,professor ,conn applies   
his searching analysis to most of the   
functions of the human body1 to         
digestion1 to assimilation1 to          
circulation1 to respiration1 to         
metabolism1 and so on1 and he finds in  
every function something that does not  
fall within his category--some force not
 mechanical nor chemical1 which he names
 vital4  ,in following the processes of 
digestion1 all goes well with his       
chemistry and his mechanics till he     
comes to the absorption of              
food-particles1 or their passage through
 the walls of the intestines into the   
blood4 ,here1 the ordinary physical     
forces fail him1 and living matter comes
 to his aid4 ,the inner wall of the     

intestine is not a lifeless membrane1   
and osmosis will not solve the mystery4 
,there is something there that seizes   
hold of the droplets of oil by means of 
little extruded processes1 and then     
passes them through its own body to     
excrete them on an inner surface into   
the blood-vessels4 ,this fat absorption 
thus appears to be a vital process and  
not one simply controlled by physical   
forces like osmosis4 ,here our          
explanation runs against what we call   
'vital power' of the ultimate elements  
of the body4 ,professor ,conn next      
analyzes the processes of circulation1  
and his ready-made mechanical concepts  
carry him along swimmingly1 till he     
tries to explain by them the beating of 
the heart1 and the contraction of the   
small blood-vessels which regulate the  
blood-supply4 ,here comes in play the   
mysterious vital power again4 ,he comes 
upon the same power when he tries to    
determine what it is that enables the   
muscle-fibre to take from the lymph the 

material needed for its use1 and to     
discard the rest4 ,the fibre acts as if 
it knew what it wanted--a very          
unmechanical attribute4  ,then          
,professor ,conn applies his mechanics  
and chemistry to the respiratory process
 and1 of course1 makes out a very clear 
case till he comes to the removal of the
 waste1 or ash4 ,the steam-engine cannot
 remove its own ash2 the living machine 
can4 ,much of this ash takes the form of
 urea1 and the seizing upon the urea by 
the kidney cells is a vital phenomenon4 
,is not the peristaltic movement of the 
bowels1 by which the solid matter is    
removed1 also a vital phenomenon8 ,is   
not the conception of a pipe or a tube  
that forces semi-fluid matter along its 
hollow interior1 by the contraction of  
its walls1 quite beyond the reach of    
mechanics8 ,the force is as mechanical  
as the squeezing of the bulb of a       
syringe by the hand1 but in the case of 
the intestines1 what does the squeezing8
 ,the vital force8  ,when the mechanical

 and chemical concepts are applied to   
the phenomena of the nervous system1    
they work very well till we come to     
mental phenomena4 ,when we try to       
correlate physical energy with thought  
or consciousness1 we are at the end of  
our tether4 ,here is a gulf we cannot   
span4 ,the theory of the machine breaks 
down4 ,some other force than material   
force is demanded here1 namely1         
psychical1--a force or principle quite  
beyond the sphere of the analytic       
method4  ,hence ,professor ,conn        
concludes that there are vital factors  
and that they are the primal factors in 
the organism4 ,the mechanical and       
chemical forces are the secondary       
factors4 ,it is the primal factors that 
elude scientific analysis4 ,why a muscle
 contracts1 or why a gland secretes1 or 
why the oxidation of starch in the      
living machine gives rise to motion1    
growth1 and reproduction1 while if the  
oxidation occurs in the chemist's       
laboratory 444 it simply gives rise to  

heat1 are questions he cannot answer4   
,in all his inquiries into the parts    
played by mechanical and chemical laws  
in the organism1 he is compelled to     
assume as their foundation the simple   
vital properties of living phenomena4   
,,vi  ,it should not surprise nor       
disturb us that the scientific          
interpretation of life leads to         
materialism1 or to the conviction of the
 all-sufficiency of the mechanical and  
chemical forces of dead matter to       
account for all living phenomena4 ,it   
need not surprise us because positive   
science1 as such1 can deal only with    
physical and chemical forces4 ,if there 
is anything in this universe besides    
physical and chemical force1 science    
does not know it4 ,it does not know it  
because it is absolutely beyond the     
reach of its analysis4 ,when we go      
beyond the sphere of the concrete1 the  
experimental1 the verifiable1 only our  
philosophy can help us4 ,the world      
within us1 the world of psychic forces1 

is beyond the ken of science4 ,it can   
analyze the living body1 trace all its  
vital processes1 resolve them into their
 mechanical and chemical equivalents1   
show us the parts played by the primary 
elements1 the part played by the        
enzymes1 or ferments1 and the like1 and 
yet it cannot tell us the secret of     
life--of that which makes organic       
chemistry so vastly different from      
inorganic4 ,it discloses to us the      
wonders of the cell--a world of mystery 
by itself2 it analyzes the animal body  
into organs1 and the organs into        
tissues1 and the tissues into cells1 but
 the secret of organization utterly     
baffles it4 ,after ,professor ,wilson   
had concluded his masterly work on the  
cell1 he was forced to admit that the   
final mystery of the cell eluded him1   
and that his investigation on the whole 
seemed to widen rather than to narrow   
the enormous gap that separates even the
 lowest forms of life from the inorganic
 world4  ,all there is outside the      

sphere of physical science belongs to   
religion1 to philosophy1 to art1 to     
literature4 ,huxley spoke strictly and  
honestly as a man of science1 when he   
related consciousness to the body1 as   
the sound of a clock when it strikes is 
related to the machinery of the clock4  
,the scientific analysis of a living    
body reveals nothing but the action of  
the mechanical and chemical principles4 
,if you analyze it by fire or by        
cremation1 you get gases and vapors and 
mineral ash1 that is all2 the main thing
 about the live body--its organization1 
its life--you do not get4 ,of course    
science knows this2 and to account for  
this missing something1 it              
philosophizes1 and relegates it to the  
interior world of molecular physics--it 
is all in the way the ultimate particles
 of matter were joined or compounded1   
were held together in the bonds of      
molecular matrimony4 ,what factor or    
agent or intelligence is active or      
directive in this molecular marriage of 

the atoms1 science does not inquire4    
,only philosophy can deal with that     
problem4  ,what can science see or find 
in the brain of man that answers to the 
soul8 ,only certain movements of matter 
in the brain cortex4 ,what difference   
does it find between inert matter and a 
living organism8 ,only a vastly more    
complex mechanics and chemistry in the  
latter4 ,a wide difference1 not of kind1
 but of degree4 ,the something we call  
vitality1 that a child recognizes1      
science does not find2 vitality is      
something sui generis4 ,scientific      
analysis cannot show us the difference  
between the germ cell of a starfish and 
the germ cell of a man2 and yet think of
 what a world of difference is hidden in
 those microscopic germs6 ,what force is
 there in inert matter that can build a 
machine by the adjustment of parts to   
each other8 ,we can explain the most    
complex chemical compounds by the action
 of chemical forces and chemical        
affinity1 but they cannot explain that  

adjustment of parts to each other1 the  
cordination of their activities that    
makes a living machine4  ,in organized  
matter there is something that          
organizes4 ,the cell itself is an       
organization of smaller units1 and to   
drive or follow the organizing principle
 into the last hiding-place is past the 
power of biological chemistry4 ,what    
constitutes the guiding force or        
principle of a living body1 adjusting   
all its parts1 making them pull         
together1 making of the circulation one 
system in which the heart1 the veins1   
the arteries1 the lungs1 all work to one
 common end1 cordinating several        
different organs into a digestive       
system1 and other parts into the nervous
 system1 is a mystery that no objective 
analysis of the body can disclose4  ,to 
refer vitality to complexity alone1 is  
to dodge the question4 ,multiplying the 
complexity of a machine1 say of a watch1
 any conceivable number of times would  
not make it any the less a machine1 or  

change it from the automatic order to   
the vital order4 ,a motor-car is a      
vastly more complex mechanism than a    
wheelbarrow1 and yet it is not the less 
a machine4 ,on the other hand1 an amoeba
 is a far simpler animal than a man1 and
 yet it is just as truly living4 ,to    
refer life to complexity does not help  
us2 we want to know what lies back of   
the complexity--what makes it a new     
species of complexity4  ,we cannot      
explain the origin of living matter by  
the properties which living matter      
possesses4 ,there are three things that 
mechanics and chemistry cannot explain3 
the relation of the psychical to the    
physical through the law of the         
conservation and correlation of forces2 
the agent or principle that guides the  
blind chemical and physical forces so as
 to produce the living body2 and the    
kind of forces that have contributed to 
the origin of that morphological        
unit--the cell4  ,a ,western university 
professor in a recent essay sounds quite

 a different note on this subject from  
the one that comes to us from ,harvard4 
,says ,professor ,otto ,c4 ,glaser1 of  
the ,university of ,michigan1 in a      
recent issue of the ,popular ,science   
,monthly3 ,does not the fitness of      
living things2 the fact that they       
perform acts useful to themselves in an 
environment which is constantly         
shifting1 and often very harsh2 the fact
 that in general everything during      
development1 during digestion1 during   
any of the complicated chains of        
processes which we find1 happens at the 
right time1 in the right place1 and to  
the proper extent2 does not all this    
force us to believe that there is       
involved something more than mere       
chemistry and physics8--something1 not  
consciousness necessarily1 yet its      
analogue--a vital x8  ,there is this    
suggestive fact about these recent      
biological experiments of ,dr4 ,carrel1 
of the ,rockefeller ,institute3 they    
seem to prove that the life of a man is 

not merely the sum of the life of the   
myriad cells of his body4 ,stab the man 
to death1 and the cells of his body     
still live and will continue to live if 
grafted upon another live man4 ,probably
 every part of the body would continue  
to live and grow indefinitely1 in the   
proper medium4 ,that the cell life      
should continue after the soul life has 
ceased is very significant4 ,it seems a 
legitimate inference from this fact that
 the human body is the organ or         
instrument of some agent that is not of 
the body4 ,the functional or            
physiological life of the body as a     
whole1 also seems quite independent of  
our conscious volitional or psychic     
life4 ,that which repairs and renews the
 body1 heals its wounds1 controls and   
coordinates its parts1 adapts it to its 
environment1 carries on its processes   
during sleep1 in fact in all our        
involuntary life1 seems quite           
independent of the man himself4 ,is the 
spirit of a race or a nation1 or of the 

times in which we live1 another         
illustration of the same mysterious     
entity8  ,if the vital principle1 or    
vital force1 is a fiction1 invented to  
give the mind something to take hold of1
 we are in no worse case than we are in 
some other matters4 ,science tells us   
that there is no such thing as heat1 or 
light2 these are only modes of activity 
in matter4  ,in the same way we seem    
forced to think of life1 vitality1 as an
 entity--a fact as real as electricity  
or light1 though it may be only a mode  
of motion4 ,it may be of                
physico-chemical origin1 as much so as  
heat1 or light2 and yet it is something 
as distinctive as they are among        
material things1 and is involved in the 
same mystery4 ,is magnetism or          
gravitation a real thing8 or1 in the    
moral world1 is love1 charity1 or       
consciousness itself8 ,the world seems  
to be run by nonentities4 ,heat1 light1 
life1 seem nonentities4 ,that which     
organizes the different parts or organs 

of the human body into a unit1 and makes
 of the many organs one organism1 is a  
nonentity4 ,that which makes an oak an  
oak1 and a pine a pine1 is a nonentity4 
,that which makes a sheep a sheep1 and  
an ox an ox1 is to science a nonentity4 
,to physical science the soul is a      
nonentity4  ,there is something in the  
cells of the muscles that makes them    
contract1 and in the cells of the heart 
that makes it beat2 that something is   
not active in the other cells of the    
body4 ,but it is a nonentity4 ,the body 
is a machine and a laboratory combined1 
but that which cordinates them and makes
 them work together--what is that8      
,another nonentity4 ,that which         
distinguishes a living machine from a   
dead machine1 science has no name for1  
except molecular attraction and         
repulsion1 and these are names merely2  
they are nonentities4 ,is there not     
molecular attraction and repulsion in a 
steam-engine also8 ,and yet it is not   
alive4 ,what has to supplement the      

mechanical and the chemical to make     
matter alive8 ,we have no name for it   
but the vital1 be it an entity or a     
nonentity4 ,we have no name for a flash 
of lightning but electricity1 be it an  
entity or a nonentity4 ,we have no name 
for that which distinguishes a man from 
a brute1 but mind1 soul1 be it an entity
 or a nonentity4 ,we have no name for   
that which distinguishes the organic    
from the inorganic but vitality1 be it  
an entity or a nonentity4   ,,vii       
,without metaphysics we can do nothing2 
without mental concepts1 where are we8  
,natural selection is as much a         
metaphysical phrase as is consciousness1
 or the subjective and the objective4   
,natural selection is not an entity1 it 
is a name for what we conceive of as a  
process4 ,it is natural rejection as    
well4 ,the vital principle is a         
metaphysical concept2 so is instinct2 so
 is reason2 so is the soul2 so is ,god4 
,many of our concepts have been wrong4  
,the concept of witches1 of disease as  

the work of evil spirits1 of famine and 
pestilence as the visitation of the     
wrath of ,god1 and the like1 were       
unfounded4 ,science sets us right about 
all such matters4 ,it corrects our      
philosophy1 but it cannot dispense with 
the philosophical attitude of mind4 ,the
 philosophical must supplement the      
experimental4  ,in fact1 in considering 
this question of life1 it is about as   
difficult for the unscientific mind to  
get along without postulating a vital   
principle or force--which1 ,huxley says1
 is analogous to the idea of a principle
 of aquosity in water--as it is to walk 
upon the air1 or to hang one's coat upon
 a sunbeam4 ,it seems as if something   
must breathe upon the dead matter1 as at
 the first1 to make it live4 ,yet if    
there is a distinct vital force it must 
be correlated with physical force1 it   
must be related causally to the rest4   
,the idea of a vital force as something 
new and distinct and injected into      
matter from without at a given time and 

place in the earth's history1 must      
undoubtedly be given up4 ,instead of    
escaping from mechanism1 this notion    
surrenders one into the hands of        
mechanism1 since to supplement or       
reinforce a principle with some other   
principle from without1 is strictly a   
mechanical procedure4 ,but the          
conception of vitality as potential in  
matter1 or of the whole universe as     
permeated with spirit1 which to me is   
the same thing1 is a conception that    
takes life out of the categories of the 
fortuitous and the automatic4  ,no doubt
 but that all things in the material    
world are causally related1 no doubt of 
the constancy of matter and force1 no   
doubt but that all phenomena are the    
result of natural principles1 no doubt  
that the living arose from the          
non-living1 no doubt that the evolution 
process was inherent in the constitution
 of the world2 and yet there is a       
mystery about it all that is insoluble4 
,the miracle of vitality takes place    

behind a veil that we cannot penetrate1 
in the inmost sanctuary of the molecules
 of matter1 in that invisible1 imaginary
 world on the borderland between the    
material and the immaterial4 ,we may    
fancy that it is here that the psychical
 effects its entrance into the          
physical--that spirit weds matter--that 
the creative energy kindles the spark we
 call vitality4 ,at any rate1 vitality  
evidently begins in that inner world of 
atoms and molecules2 but whether as the 
result of their peculiar and very       
complex compounding or as the cause of  
the compounding--how are we ever to     
know8 ,is it not just as scientific to  
postulate a new principle1 the principle
 of vitality1 as to postulate a new     
process1 or a new behavior of an old    
principle8 ,in either case1 we are in   
the world of the unverifiable2 we take a
 step in the dark4 ,most of us1 ,i      
fancy1 will sympathize with ,george     
,eliot1 who says in one of her letters3 
,to me the ,development ,theory1 and all

 other explanations of processes by     
which things came to be1 produce a      
feeble impression compared with the     
mystery that lies under the processes4  
,v  ,,scientific ,,vitalism  ,i   ,all  
living bodies1 when life leaves them1 go
 back to the earth from whence they     
came4 ,what was it in the first instance
 that gathered their elements from the  
earth and built them up into such       
wonderful mechanisms8 ,if we say it was 
nature1 do we mean by nature a physical 
force or an immaterial principle8 ,did  
the earth itself bring forth a man1 or  
did something breathe upon the inert    
clay till it became a living spirit8    
,as life is a physical phenomenon1      
appearing in a concrete physical world1 
it is1 to that extent1 within the domain
 of physical science1 and appeals to the
 scientific mind4 ,physical science is  
at home only in the experimental1 the   
verifiable4 ,its domain ends where that 
of philosophy begins4  ,the question of 
how life arose in a universe of dead    

matter is just as baffling a question to
 the ordinary mind1 as how the universe 
itself arose4 ,if we assume that the    
germs of life drifted to us from other  
spheres1 propelled by the rays of the   
sun1 or some other celestial agency1 as 
certain modern scientific philosophers  
have assumed1 we have only removed the  
mystery farther away from us4 ,if we    
assume that it came by spontaneous      
generation1 as ,haeckel and others      
assume1 then we are only cutting a knot 
which we cannot untie4 ,the god of      
spontaneous generation is as miraculous 
as any other god4 ,we cannot break the  
causal sequence without a miracle4 ,if  
something came from nothing1 then there 
is not only the end of the problem1 but 
also the end of our boasted science4    
,science is at home in discussing all   
the material manifestations of life--the
 parts played by colloids and ferments1 
by fluids and gases1 and all the organic
 compounds1 and by mechanical and       
chemical principles2 it may analyze and 

tabulate all life processes1 and show   
the living body as a most wonderful and 
complex piece of mechanism1 but before  
the question of the origin of life      
itself it stands dumb1 and1 when        
speaking through such a man as ,tyndall1
 it also stands humble and reverent4    
,after ,tyndall had1 to his own         
satisfaction1 reduced all like phenomena
 to mechanical attraction and repulsion1
 he stood with uncovered head before    
what he called the mystery and miracle  
of vitality4 ,the mystery and miracle   
lie in the fact that in the organic     
world the same elements combine with    
results so different from those of the  
inorganic world4 ,something seems to    
have inspired them with a new purpose4  
,in the inorganic world1 the primary    
elements go their ceaseless round from  
compound to compound1 from solid to     
fluid or gaseous1 and back again1       
forming the world of inert matter as we 
know it1 but in the organic world the   
same elements form thousands of new     

combinations unknown to them before1 and
 thus give rise to the myriad forms of  
life that inhabit the earth4  ,the      
much-debated life question has lately   
found an interesting exponent in        
,professor ,benjamin ,moore1 of the     
,university of ,liverpool4 ,his volume  
on the subject in the ,home ,university 
,library is very readable1 and1 in many 
respects1 convincing4 ,at least1 so far 
as it is the word of exact science on   
the subject it is convincing2 so far as 
it is speculative1 or philosophical1 it 
is or is not convincing1 according to   
the type of mind of the reader4         
,professor ,moore is not a bald         
mechanist or materialist like ,professor
 ,loeb1 or ,ernst ,haeckel1 nor is he an
 idealist or spiritualist1 like ,henri  
,bergson or ,sir ,oliver ,lodge4 ,he may
 be called a scientific vitalist4 ,he   
keeps close to lines of scientific      
research as these lines lead him through
 the maze of the primordial elements of 
matter1 from electron to atom1 from atom

 to molecule1 from molecule to colloid1 
and so up to the border of the living   
world4 ,his analysis of the processes of
 molecular physics as they appear in the
 organism leads him to recognize and to 
name a new force1 or a new manifestation
 of force1 which he hesitates to call   
vital1 because of the associations of   
this term with a prescientific age1 but 
which he calls biotic energy4  ,biotic  
energy is peculiar to living bodies1 and
 there are precisely the same criteria  
for its existence1 says ,professor      
,moore1 as for the existence of any one 
of the inorganic energy types1 viz41 a  
set of discrete phenomena2 and its      
nature is as mysterious to us as the    
cause of any one of these inorganic     
forms about which also we know so       
little4 ,it is biotic energy which      
guides the development of the ovum1     
which regulates the exchanges of the    
cell1 and causes such phenomena as nerve
 impulse1 muscular contraction1 and     
gland secretion1 and it is a form of    

energy which arises in colloidal        
structures1 just as magnetism appears in
 iron1 or radio-activity in uranium or  
radium1 and in its manifestations it    
undergoes exchanges with other forms of 
energy1 in the same manner as these do  
among one another4  ,like ,professor    
,henderson1 ,professor ,moore concedes  
to the vitalists about all they         
claim--namely1 that there is some form  
of force or manifestation of energy     
peculiar to living bodies1 and one that 
cannot be adequately described in terms 
of physics and chemistry4 ,professor    
,moore says this biotic energy arises in
 colloidal structures1 and so far as    
biochemistry can make out1 arises       
spontaneously and gives rise to that    
marvelous bit of mechanism1 the cell4   
,in the cell appears a form of energy   
unknown outside life processes which    
leads the mazy dance of life from point 
to point1 each new development          
furnishing a starting point for the next
 one4 ,it not only leads the dance along

 our own line of descent from our remote
 ancestors--it leads the dance along the
 long road of evolution from the first  
unicellular form in the dim palozoic    
seas to the complex and highly          
specialized forms of our own day4  ,the 
secret of this life force1 or biotic    
energy1 according to ,professor ,moore1 
is in the keeping of matter itself4 ,the
 steps or stages from the depths of     
matter by which life arose1 lead up from
 that imaginary something1 the electron1
 to the inorganic colloids1 or to the   
crystallo-colloids1 which are the       
threshold of life1 each stage showing   
some new transformation of energy4      
,there must be an all-potent energy     
transformation before we can get        
chemical energy out of physical energy1 
and then biotic energy out of chemical  
energy4 ,this transformation of         
inorganic energy into life energy cannot
 be traced or repeated in the           
laboratory1 yet science believes the    
secret will sometime be in its hands4   

,it is here that the materialistic      
philosophers1 such as ,professors ,moore
 and ,loeb1 differ from the             
spiritualistic philosophers1 such as    
,bergson1 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1          
,professor ,thompson1 and others4       
,professor ,moore has no sympathy with  
those narrow mechanistic views that see 
in the life processes no problems save  
those of chemistry and physics4 ,each   
link in the living chain may be         
physico-chemical1 but the chain as a    
whole1 and its purpose1 is something    
else4 ,he draws an analogy from the     
production of music in which purely     
physical factors are concerned2 the laws
 of harmonics account for all2 but back 
of all is something that is not         
mechanical and chemical--there is the   
mind of the composer1 and the           
performers1 and the auditors1 and       
something that takes cognizance of the  
whole effect4 ,a complete human         
philosophy cannot be built upon physical
 science alone4 ,he thinks the evolution

 of life from inert matter is of the    
same type as the evolution of one form  
of matter from another1 or the evolution
 of one form of energy from another--a  
mystery1 to be sure1 but little more    
startling in the one case than in the   
other4 ,the fundamental mystery lies in 
the existence of those entities1 or     
things1 which we call matter and energy1
 out of the play and interaction of     
which all life phenomena have arisen4   
,organic evolution is a series of energy
 exchanges and transformations from     
lower to higher1 but science is         
powerless to go behind the phenomena    
presented and name or verify the        
underlying mystery4 ,only philosophy can
 do this4 ,and ,professor ,moore turns  
philosopher when he says there is beauty
 and design in it all1 and an eternal   
purpose which is ever progressing4      
,bergson sets forth his views of        
evolution in terms of literature and    
philosophy4 ,professor ,moore embodies  
similar views in his volume1 set forth  

in terms of molecular science4 ,both    
make evolution a creative and a         
continuous process4 ,bergson lays the   
emphasis upon the cosmic spirit         
interacting with matter4 ,professor     
,moore lays the emphasis upon the       
indwelling potencies of matter itself   
7probably the same spirit conceived of  
in different terms74 ,professor ,moore  
philosophizes as truly as does ,bergson 
when he says there must exist a whole   
world of living creatures which the     
microscope has never shown us1 leading  
up to the bacteria and the protozoa4    
,the brink of life lies not at the      
production of protozoa and bacteria1    
which are highly developed inhabitants  
of our world1 but away down among the   
colloids2 and the beginning of life was 
not a fortuitous event occurring        
millions of years ago and never again   
repeated1 but one which in its          
primordial stages keeps on repeating    
itself all the time in our generation4  
,so that if all intelligent creatures   

were by some holocaust destroyed1 up out
 of the depths in process of millions of
 years1 intelligent beings would once   
more emerge4 ,this passage shows what a 
speculative leap or flight the          
scientific mind is at times compelled to
 take when it ventures beyond the bounds
 of positive methods4 ,it is good       
philosophy1 ,i hope1 but we cannot call 
it science4 ,thrilled with cosmic       
emotion1 ,walt ,whitman made a similar  
daring assertion3--      ,there is no   
stoppage1 and never can be stoppage1    
,if ,i1 you1 and the worlds1 and all    
beneath or upon their surfaces1         
were this moment reduced back to a      
pallid float1 it would       not avail  
in the long run1     ,we should surely  
bring up again where we now stand1      
,and surely go as much farther1 and then
 farther and farther4   ,,ii  ,evolution
 is creative1 whether it works in       
matter--as ,bergson describes1 or       
whether its path lies up through        
electrons and atoms and molecules1 as   

,professor ,moore describes4 ,there is  
something that creates and makes matter 
plastic to its will4 ,whether we call   
matter the living garment of ,god1 as   
,goethe did1 or a reservoir of creative 
energy1 as ,tyndall and his school did1 
and as ,professor ,moore still does1 we 
are paying homage to a power that is    
super-material4 ,life came to our earth1
 says ,professor ,moore1 through a      
well-regulated orderly development1 and 
it comes to every mother earth of the   
universe in the maturity of her creation
 when the conditions arrive within      
suitable limits4 ,that no intelligent   
beings appeared upon the earth for      
millions upon millions of years1 that   
for whole geologic ages there was no    
creature with more brains than a snail  
possesses1 shows the almost infinitely  
slow progress of development1 and that  
there has been no arbitrary or          
high-handed exercise of creative power4 
,the universe is not run on principles  
of modern business efficiency1 and man  

is at the head of living forms1 not by  
the fiat of some omnipotent power1 some 
superman1 but as the result of the      
operation of forces that balk at no     
delay1 or waste1 or failure1 and that   
are dependent upon the infinitely slow  
ripening and amelioration of both cosmic
 and terrestrial conditions4  ,we do not
 get rid of ,god by any such dictum1 but
 we get rid of the anthropomorphic views
 which we have so long been wont to read
 into the processes of nature4 ,we      
dehumanize the universe1 but we do not  
render it the less grand and mysterious4
 ,professor ,moore points out to us how 
life came to a cooling planet as soon as
 the temperature became low enough for  
certain chemical combinations to appear4
 ,there must first be oxides and saline 
compounds1 there must be carbonates of  
calcium and magnesium1 and the like4 ,as
 the temperature falls1 more and more   
complex compounds1 such as life         
requires1 appear2 till1 in due time1    
carbon dioxide and water are at hand1   

and life can make a start4 ,at the white
 heat of some of the fixed stars1 the   
primary chemical elements are not yet   
evolved2 but more and more elements     
appear1 and more and more complex       
compounds are formed as the cooling     
process progresses4  ,this note cannot  
be too strongly sounded1 that as matter 
is allowed capacity for assuming complex
 forms1 those complex forms appear4 ,as 
soon as oxides can be there1 oxides     
appear2 when temperature admits of      
carbonates1 then carbonates are         
forthwith formed4 ,these are experiments
 which any chemist can to-day repeat in 
a crucible4 ,and on a cooling planet1 as
 soon as temperature will admit the     
presence of life1 then life appears1 as 
the evidence of geology shows us4 ,when 
we speak of the beginning of life1 it is
 not clear just what we mean4 ,the unit 
of all organized bodies is the cell1 but
 the cell is itself an organized body1  
and must have organic matter to feed    
upon4 ,hence the cell is only a more    

complex form of more primitive living   
matter4 ,as we go down the scale toward 
the inorganic1 can we find the point    
where the living and the non-living meet
 and become one8 ,life had to surge a   
long way up from the depths before a    
green plant cell came into being4 ,when 
the green plant cell was found1 life was
 fairly launched4 ,this plant cell1 in  
the form of chlorophyll1 by the aid of  
water and the trace of carbon dioxide in
 the air1 began to store up the solar   
energy in fruit and grain and woody     
tissue1 and thus furnish power to run   
all forms of life machinery4  ,the      
materialists or naturalists are right in
 urging that we live in a much more     
wonderful universe than we have ever    
imagined1 and that in matter itself     
sleep potencies and possibilities not   
dreamt of in our philosophy4 ,the world 
of complex though invisible activities  
which science reveals all about us1 the 
solar and stellar energies raining upon 
us from above1 the terrestrial energies 

and influences playing through us from  
below1 the transformations and          
transmutations taking place on every    
hand1 the terrible alertness and potency
 of the world of inert matter as        
revealed by a flash of lightning1 the   
mysteries of chemical affinity1 of      
magnetism1 of radio-activity1 all point 
to deep beneath deep in matter itself4  
,it is little wonder that men who dwell 
habitually upon these things and are    
saturated with the spirit and traditions
 of laboratory investigation1 should    
believe that in some way matter itself  
holds the mystery of the origin of life4
 ,on the other hand1 a different type of
 mind1 the more imaginative1 artistic1  
and religious type1 recoils from the    
materialistic view4  ,the sun is the    
source of all terrestrial energy1 but   
the different forms that energy         
takes--in the plant1 in the animal1 in  
the brain of man--this type of mind is  
bound to ask questions about that4      
,gravity pulls matter down2 life lifts  

it up2 chemical forces pull it to       
pieces2 vital forces draw it together   
and organize it2 the winds and the      
waters dissolve and scatter it2         
vegetation recaptures and integrates it 
and gives it new qualities4 ,at every   
turn1 minds like that of ,sir ,oliver   
,lodge are compelled to think of life as
 a principle or force doing something   
with matter4 ,the physico-chemical      
forces will not do in the hands of man  
what they do in the hands of ,nature4   
,such minds1 therefore1 feel justified  
in thinking that something which we call
 the hands of ,nature1 plays a          
part--some principle or force which the 
hands of man do not hold4     ,,vi  ,a  
,,bird ,,of ,,passage  ,i   ,there is   
one phase of the much-discussed question
 of the nature and origin of life which1
 so far as ,i know1 has not been        
considered either by those who hold a   
brief for the physico-chemical view or  
by those who stand for some form of     
vitalism or idealism4 ,i refer to the   

small part that life plays in the total 
scheme of things4 ,the great cosmic     
machine would go on just as well without
 it4 ,its relation to the whole appears 
to be little different from that of a   
man to the train in which he journeys4  
,life rides on the mechanical and       
chemical forces1 but it does not seem to
 be a part of them1 nor identical with  
them1 because they were before it1 and  
will continue after it is gone4  ,the   
everlasting1 all-inclusive thing in this
 universe seems to be inert matter with 
the energy it holds2 while the slight1  
flitting1 casual thing seems to be      
living matter4 ,the inorganic is from   
all eternity to all eternity2 it is     
distributed throughout all space and    
endures through all time1 while the     
organic is1 in comparison1 only of the  
here and the now2 it was not here       
yesterday1 and it may not be here       
to-morrow2 it comes and goes4 ,life is  
like a bird of passage which alights and
 tarries for a time and is gone1 and the

 places where it perched and nested and 
led forth its brood know it no more4    
,apparently it flits from world to world
 as the great cosmic spring comes to    
each1 and departs as the cosmic winter  
returns to each4 ,it is a visitor1 a    
migrant1 a frail1 timid thing1 which    
waits upon the seasons and flees from   
the coming tempests and vicissitudes4   
,how casual1 uncertain1 and             
inconsequential the vital order seems in
 our own solar system--a mere incident  
or by-product in its cosmic evolution6  
,astronomy sounds the depths of space1  
and sees only mechanical and chemical   
forces at work there4 ,it is almost     
certain that only a small fraction of   
the planetary surfaces is the abode of  
life4 ,on the earth alone1 of all the   
great family of planets and satellites1 
is the vital order in full career4 ,it  
may yet linger upon ,mars1 but it is    
evidently waning4 ,on the inferior      
planets it probably had its day long    
ago1 while it must be millions of years 

before it comes to the superior planets1
 if it ever comes to them4 ,what a vast1
 inconceivable outlay of time and energy
 for such small returns6 ,evidently the 
vital order is only an episode1 a       
transient or secondary phase of matter  
in the process of sidereal evolution4   
,astronomic space is strewn with dead   
worlds1 as a ,new ,england field is with
 drift boulders4 ,that life has touched 
and tarried here and there upon them can
 hardly be doubted1 but if it is        
anything more than a passing incident1  
an infant crying in the night1 a flush  
of color upon the cheek1 a flower       
blooming by the wayside1 appearances are
 against it4  ,we read our astronomy and
 geology in the light of our enormous   
egotism1 and appropriate all to         
ourselves2 but science sees in our      
appearance here a no more significant   
event than in the foam and bubbles that 
whirl and dance for a moment upon the   
river's current4 ,the bubbles have their
 reason for being2 all the mysteries of 

molecular attraction and repulsion may  
be involved in their production2 without
 the solar energy1 and the revolution of
 the earth upon its axis1 they would not
 appear2 and yet they are only bubbles  
upon the river's current1 as we are     
bubbles upon the stream of energy that  
flows through the universe4 ,apparently 
the cosmic game is played for us no more
 than for the parasites that infest our 
bodies1 or for the frost ferns that form
 upon our window-panes in winter4 ,the  
making of suns and systems goes on in   
the depths of space1 and doubtless will 
go on to all eternity1 without any more 
reference to the vital order than to the
 chemical compounds4  ,the amount of    
living matter in the universe1 so far as
 we can penetrate it1 compared with the 
non-living1 is1 in amount1 like a flurry
 of snow that whitens the fields and    
hills of a spring morning compared to   
the miles of rock and soil beneath it2  
and with reference to geologic time it  
is about as fleeting4 ,in the vast      

welter of suns and systems in the       
heavens above us1 we see only dead      
matter1 and most of it is in a condition
 of glowing metallic vapor4 ,there are  
doubtless living organisms upon some of 
the invisible planetary bodies1 but they
 are probably as fugitive and temporary 
as upon our own world4 ,much of the     
surface of the earth is clothed in a    
light vestment of life1 which1 back in  
geologic time1 seems to have more       
completely enveloped it than at present1
 as both the arctic and the antarctic   
regions bear evidence in their coal-beds
 and other fossil remains of luxuriant  
vegetable growths4  ,strip the earth of 
its thin pellicle of soil1 thinner with 
reference to the mass than is the peel  
to the apple1 and you have stripped it  
of its life4 ,or1 rob it of its watery  
vapor and the carbon dioxide in the air1
 both stages in its evolution1 and you  
have a dead world4 ,the huge globe      
swings through space only as a mass of  
insensate rock4 ,so limited and         

evanescent is the world of living       
matter1 so vast and enduring is the     
world of the non-living4 ,looked at in  
this way1 in the light of physical      
science1 life1 ,i repeat1 seems like a  
mere passing phase of the cosmic        
evolution1 a flitting and temporary     
stage of matter which it passes through 
in the procession of changes on the     
surface of a cooling planet4 ,between   
the fiery mist of the nebula1 and the   
frigid and consolidated globe1 there is 
a brief span1 ranging over about one    
hundred and twenty degrees of           
temperature1 where life appears and     
organic evolution takes place4 ,compared
 with the whole scale of temperature1   
from absolute zero to the white heat of 
the hottest stars1 it is about a        
hand's-breadth compared to a mile4      
,life processes cease1 but chemical and 
mechanical processes go on forever4     
,life is as fugitive and uncertain as   
the bow in the clouds1 and1 like the bow
 in the clouds1 is confined to a limited

 range of conditions4 ,like the bow1    
also1 it is a perpetual creation1 a     
constant becoming1 and its source is not
 in the matter through which it is      
manifested1 though inseparable from it4 
,the material substance of life1 like   
the rain-drops1 is in perpetual flux and
 change2 it hangs always on the verge of
 dissolution and vanishes when the      
material conditions fail1 to be renewed 
again when they return4 ,we know1 do we 
not8 that life is as literally dependent
 upon the sun as is the rainbow1 and    
equally dependent upon the material     
elements2 but whether the physical      
conditions sum up the whole truth about 
it1 as they do with the bow1 is the     
insoluble question4 ,science says ,yes1 
but our philosophy and our religion say 
,no4 ,the poets and the prophets say    
,no1 and our hopes and aspirations say  
,no4   ,,ii  ,where1 then1 shall we look
 for the key to this mysterious thing we
 call life8 ,modern biochemistry will   
not listen to the old notion of a vital 

force--that is only a metaphysical      
will-o'-the-wisp that leaves us         
floundering in the quagmire4 ,if ,i     
question the forces about me1 what      
answer do ,i get8 ,molecular attraction 
and repulsion seem to say1 ,it is not in
 us2 we are as active in the clod as in 
the flower4 ,the four principal         
elements--oxygen1 nitrogen1 hydrogen1   
and carbon--say1 ,it is not in us1      
because we are from all eternity1 and   
life is not2 we form only its physical  
basis4 ,warmth and moisture say1 ,it is 
not in us2 we are only its faithful     
nurses and handmaidens4 ,the sun says3  
,it is not in me2 ,i shine on dead      
worlds as well4 ,i but quicken life     
after it is planted4 ,the stars say1 ,it
 is not in us2 we have seen life come   
and go among myriads of worlds for      
untold ages4 ,no questioning of the     
heavens above nor of the earth below can
 reveal to us the secret we are in quest
 of4  ,i can fancy brute matter saying  
to life3 ,you tarry with me at your     

peril4 ,you will always be on the       
firing-line of my blind1 contending     
forces2 they will respect you not2 you  
must take your chances amid my flying   
missiles4 ,my forces go their eternal   
round without variableness or shadow of 
turning1 and woe to you if you cross    
their courses4 ,you may bring all your  
gods with you--gods of love1 mercy1     
gentleness1 altruism2 but ,i know them  
not4 ,your prayers will fall upon ears  
of stone1 your appealing gesture upon   
eyes of stone1 your cries for mercy upon
 hearts of stone4 ,i shall be neither   
your enemy nor your friend4 ,i shall be 
utterly indifferent to you4 ,my floods  
will drown you1 my winds wreck you1 my  
fires burn you1 my quicksands suck you  
down1 and not know what they are doing4 
,my earth is a theatre of storms and    
cyclones1 of avalanches and earthquakes1
 of lightnings and cloudbursts2 wrecks  
and ruins strew my course4 ,all my      
elements and forces are at your service2
 all my fluids and gases and solids2 my 

stars in their courses will fight on    
your side1 if you put and keep yourself 
in right relations to them4 ,my atoms   
and electrons will build your houses1 my
 lightning do your errands1 my winds    
sail your ships1 on the same terms4 ,you
 cannot live without my air and my water
 and my warmth2 but each of them is a   
source of power that will crush or      
engulf or devour you before it will turn
 one hair's-breadth from its course4    
,your trees will be uprooted by my      
tornadoes1 your fair fields will be laid
 waste by floods or fires2 my mountains 
will fall on your delicate forms and    
utterly crush and bury them2 my glaciers
 will overspread vast areas and banish  
or destroy whole tribes and races of    
your handiwork2 the shrinking and       
wrinkling crust of my earth will fold in
 its insensate bosom vast forests of    
your tropical growths1 and convert them 
into black rock1 and ,i will make rock  
of the myriad forms of minute life with 
which you plant the seas2 through       

immense geologic ages my relentless1    
unseeing1 unfeeling forces will drive on
 like the ploughshare that buries every 
flower and grass-blade and tiny creature
 in its path4 ,my winds are life-giving 
breezes to-day1 and the besom of        
destruction to-morrow2 my rains will    
moisten and nourish you one day1 and    
wash you into the gulf the next2 my     
earthquakes will bury your cities as if 
they were ant-hills4 ,so you must take  
your chances1 but the chances are on    
your side4 ,i am not all tempest1 or    
flood1 or fire1 or earthquake4 ,your    
career will be a warfare1 but you will  
win more battles than you will lose4    
,but remember1 you are nothing to me1   
while ,i am everything to you4 ,i have  
nothing to lose or gain1 while you have 
everything to gain4 ,without my soils   
and moisture and warmth1 without my     
carbon and oxygen and nitrogen and      
hydrogen1 you can do or be nothing2     
without my sunshine you perish2 but you 
have these things on condition of effort

 and struggle4 ,you have evolution on   
condition of pain and failure and the   
hazard of the warring geologic ages4    
,fate and necessity rule in my realm4   
,when you fail1 or are crushed or       
swallowed by my remorseless forces1 do  
not blame my gods1 or your own2 there is
 no blame1 there is only the price to be
 paid3 the hazards of invading the      
closed circle of my unseeing forces4    
,in ,california ,i saw an epitome of the
 merciless way inorganic ,nature deals  
with life4 ,an old1 dried1 and hardened 
asphalt lake near ,los ,angeles tells a 
horrible tale of animal suffering and   
failure4 ,it had been a pit of horrors  
for long ages2 it was ,nature           
concentrated--her wild welter of        
struggling and devouring forms through  
the geologic ages made visible and      
tangible in a small patch of mingled    
pitch and animal bones4 ,there was      
nearly as much bone as pitch4 ,the fate 
of the unlucky flies that alight upon   
tangle-foot fly-paper in our houses had 

been the fate of the victims that had   
perished here4 ,how many wild creatures 
had turned appealing eyes to the great  
unheeding void as they felt themselves  
helpless and sinking in this            
all-engulfing pitch6 ,in like manner how
 many human beings in storms and        
disasters at sea and in flood and fire  
upon land have turned the same appealing
 look to the unpitying heavens6 ,there  
is no power in the world of physical    
forces1 or apart from our own kind1 that
 heeds us or turns aside for us1 or     
bestows one pitying glance upon us4     
,life has run1 and still runs1 the      
gantlet of a long line of hostile       
forces1 and escapes by dint of fleetness
 of foot1 or agility in dodging1 or else
 by toughness of fibre4  ,yet here we   
are2 here is love and charity and mercy 
and intelligence2 the fair face of      
childhood1 the beautiful face of youth1 
the clear1 strong face of manhood and   
womanhood1 and the calm1 benign face of 
old age1 seen1 it is true1 as against a 

background of their opposites1 but      
seeming to indicate something above     
chance and change at the heart of       
,nature4 ,here is life in the midst of  
death2 but death forever playing into   
the hands of life2 here is the organic  
in the midst of the inorganic1 at strife
 with it1 hourly crushed by it1 yet     
sustained and kept going by its aid4    
,,iii  ,vitality is only a word1 but it 
marks a class of phenomena in nature    
that stands apart from all merely       
mechanical manifestations in the        
universe4 ,the cosmos is a vast machine1
 but in this machine--this tremendous   
complex of physical forces--there       
appears1 at least on this earth1 in the 
course of its evolution1 this something1
 or this peculiar manifestation of      
energy1 that we call vital4 ,apparently 
it is a transient phase of activity in  
matter1 which1 unlike other chemical and
 physical activities1 has its beginning 
and its ending1 and out of which have   
arisen all the myriad forms of          

terrestrial life4 ,the merely material  
forces1 blind and haphazard from the    
first1 did not arise in matter2 they are
 inseparable from it2 they are as       
eternal as matter itself2 but the       
activities called vital arose in time   
and place1 and must eventually disappear
 as they arose1 while the career of the 
inorganic elements goes on as if life   
had never visited the sphere4 ,was it1  
or is it1 a visitation--something ab    
extra that implies super-mundane1 or    
supernatural1 powers8  ,added to this   
wonder is the fact that the vital order 
has gone on unfolding through the       
geologic ages1 mounting from form to    
form1 or from order to order1 becoming  
more and more complex1 passing from the 
emphasis of size of body1 to the        
emphasis of size of brain1 and finally  
from instinct and reflex activities to  
free volition1 and the reason and       
consciousness of man2 while the purely  
physical and chemical forces remain     
where they began4 ,there has been       

endless change among them1 endless      
shifting of the balance of power1 but   
always the tendency to a dead           
equilibrium1 while the genius of the    
organic forces has been in the power to 
disturb the equilibrium and to ride into
 port on the crest of the wave it has   
created1 or to hang forever between the 
stable and the unstable4  ,so there we  
are1 confronted by two apparently       
contrary truths4 ,it is to me           
unthinkable that the vital order is not 
as truly rooted in the constitution of  
things as are the mechanical and        
chemical orders2 and yet1 here we are   
face to face with its limited1 fugitive1
 or transitional character4 ,it comes   
and goes like the dews of the morning2  
it has all the features of an           
exceptional1 unexpected1 extraordinary  
occurrence--of miracle1 if you will2 but
 if the light which physical science    
turns on the universe is not a delusion1
 if the habit of mind which it begets is
 not a false one1 then life belongs to  

the same category of things as do day   
and night1 rain and sun1 rest and       
motion4 ,who shall reconcile these      
contradictions8  ,huxley spoke for      
physical science when he said that he   
did not know what it was that           
constituted life--what it was that made 
the wonderful difference between the    
dead particles and the living particles 
of matter appearing in other respects   
identical4 ,he thought there might be   
some bond between physico-chemical      
phenomena1 on the one hand1 and vital   
phenomena1 on the other1 which          
philosophers will some day find out4    
,living matter is characterized by      
spontaneity of action1 which is entirely
 absent from inert matter4 ,huxley      
cannot or does not think of a vital     
force distinct from all other forces1 as
 the cause of life phenomena1 as so many
 philosophers have done1 from ,aristotle
 down to our day4 ,he finds protoplasm  
to be the physical basis of life2 it is 
one in both the vegetable and animal    

worlds2 the animal takes it from the    
vegetable1 and the vegetable1 by the aid
 of sunlight1 takes or manufactures it  
from the inorganic elements4 ,but       
protoplasm is living matter4 ,before    
there was any protoplasm1 what brought  
about the stupendous change of the dead 
into the living8 ,protoplasm makes more 
protoplasm1 as fire makes more fire1 but
 what kindled the first spark of this   
living flame8 ,here we corner the       
mystery1 but it is still a mystery that 
defies us4 ,cause and effect meet and   
are lost in each other4 ,science cannot 
admit a miracle1 or a break in the      
continuity of life1 yet here it reaches 
a point where no step can be taken4     
,huxley's illustrations do not help his 
argument4 ,protoplasm1 he says1 is the  
clay of the potter2 which1 bake it and  
paint it as he will1 remains clay1      
separated by artifice1 and not by       
nature1 from the commonest brick or     
sun-dried clod4 ,clay is certainly the  
physical basis of the potter's art1 but 

would there be any pottery in the world 
if it contained only clay8 ,do we not   
have to think of the potter8 ,in the    
same way1 do we not have to think of    
something that fashions these myriad    
forms of life out of protoplasm8--and   
back of that1 of something that begat   
protoplasm out of non-protoplasmic      
matter1 and started the flame of life   
going8 ,life accounts for protoplasm1   
but what accounts for life8 ,we have to 
think of the living clay as separated by
 ,nature from the inert sun-dried clod4 
,there is something in the one that is  
not in the other4 ,there is really no   
authentic analogy between the potter's  
art and ,nature's art of life4  ,the    
force of the analogy1 if it has any1    
drives us to the conclusion that life is
 an entity1 or an agent1 working upon   
matter and independent of it4  ,there is
 more wit than science in ,huxley's     
question1 ,what better philosophical    
status has vitality than aquosity8      
,there is at least this difference3     

,when vitality is gone1 you cannot      
recall it1 or reproduce it by your      
chemistry2 but you can recombine the two
 gases in which you have decomposed     
water1 any number of times1 and get your
 aquosity back again2 it never fails2 it
 is a power of chemistry4 ,but vitality 
will not come at your beck2 it is not a 
chemical product1 at least in the same  
sense that water is2 it is not in the   
same category as the wetness or         
liquidity of water4 ,it is a name for a 
phenomenon--the most remarkable         
phenomenon in nature4 ,it is one that   
the art of man is powerless to          
reproduce1 while water may be made to go
 through its cycle of change--solid1    
fluid1 vapor1 gas--and always come back 
to water4 ,well does the late ,professor
 ,brooks1 of ,johns ,hopkins1 say that  
living things do1 in some way and in    
some degree1 control or condition       
inorganic nature2 that they hold their  
own by setting the mechanical properties
 of matter in opposition to each other1 

and that this is their most notable and 
distinctive characteristic4 ,does not   
,ray ,lankester1 the irate champion of  
the mechanistic view of life1 say       
essentially the same thing when he calls
 man the great ,insurgent in ,nature's  
camp--crossing her courses1 reversing   
her processes1 and defeating her ends8  
,life appears like the introduction of a
 new element or force or tendency into  
the cosmos4 ,henceforth the elements go 
new ways1 form new compounds1 build up  
new forms1 and change the face of       
nature4 ,rivers flow where they never   
would have flowed without it1 mountains 
fall in a space of time during which    
they never would have fallen2 barriers  
arise1 rough ways are made smooth1 a new
 world appears--the world of man's      
physical and mental activities4  ,if the
 gods of the inorganic elements are     
neither for nor against us1 but utterly 
indifferent to us1 how came we here8    
,nature's method is always from the     
inside1 while ours is from the outside2 

hers is circular while ours is direct4  
,we think1 as ,bergson says1 of things  
created1 and of a thing that creates1   
but things in nature are not created1   
they are evolved2 they grow1 and the    
thing that grows is not separable from  
the force that causes it to grow4 ,the  
water turns the wheel1 and can be shut  
off or let on4 ,this is the way of the  
mechanical world4 ,but the wheels in    
organic nature go around from something 
inside them1 a kind of perpetual motion1
 or self-supplying power4 ,they are not 
turned1 they turn2 they are not         
repaired1 they repair4 ,the nature of   
living things cannot be interpreted by  
the laws of mechanical and chemical     
things1 though mechanics and chemistry  
play the visible1 tangible part in them4
 ,if we must discard the notion of a    
vital force1 we may1 as ,professor      
,hartog suggests1 make use of the term  
vital behavior4  ,of course man tries   
everything by himself and his own       
standards4 ,he knows no intelligence but

 his own1 no prudence1 no love1 no      
mercy1 no justice1 no economy1 but his  
own1 no god but such a one as fits his  
conception4  ,in view of all these      
things1 how man got here is a problem4  
,why the slender thread of his line of  
descent was not broken in the warrings  
and upheavals of the terrible geologic  
ages1 what power or agent took a hand in
 furthering his development1 is beyond  
the reach of our biologic science4      
,man's is the only intelligence1 as we  
understand the word1 in the universe1   
and his intelligence demands something  
akin to intelligence in the nature from 
which he sprang4     ,,vii  ,,life ,,and
 ,,mind  ,i   ,there are three kinds of 
change in the world in which we         
live--physical and mechanical change    
which goes on in time and place among   
the tangible bodies about us1 chemical  
change which goes on in the world of    
hidden molecules and atoms of which     
bodies are composed1 and vital change   
which involves the two former1 but which

 also involves the mysterious principle 
or activity which we call life4 ,life   
comes and goes1 but the physical and    
chemical orders remain4 ,the vegetable  
and animal kingdoms wax and wane1 or    
disappear entirely1 but the             
physico-chemical forces are as          
indestructible as matter itself4 ,this  
fugitive and evanescent character of    
life1 the way it uses and triumphs over 
the material forces1 setting up new     
chemical activities in matter1 sweeping 
over the land-areas of the earth like a 
conflagration1 lifting the inorganic    
elements up into myriads of changing and
 beautiful forms1 instituting a vast    
number of new chemical processes and    
compounds1 defying the laboratory to    
reproduce it or kindle its least        
spark--a flame that cannot exist without
 carbon and oxygen1 but of which carbon 
and oxygen do not hold the secret1 a    
fire reversed1 building up instead of   
pulling down1 in the vegetable with     
power to absorb and transmute the       

inorganic elements into leaves and fruit
 and tissue2 in the animal with power to
 change the vegetable products into bone
 and muscle and nerve and brain1 and    
finally into thought and consciousness2 
run by the solar energy and dependent   
upon it1 yet involving something which  
the sunlight cannot give us2 in short1  
an activity in matter1 or in a limited  
part of matter1 as real as the          
physico-chemical activity1 but1 unlike  
it1 defying all analysis and explanation
 and all our attempts at synthesis4 ,it 
is this character of life1 ,i say1 that 
so easily leads us to look upon it as   
something ab extra1 or super-added to   
matter1 and not an evolution from it4   
,it has led ,sir ,oliver ,lodge to      
conceive of life as a distinct entity1  
existing independent of matter1 and it  
is this conception that gives the key to
 ,henri ,bergson's wonderful book1      
,creative ,evolution4  ,there is        
possibly or probably a fourth change in 
matter1 physical in its nature1 but much

 more subtle and mysterious than any of 
the physical changes which our senses   
reveal to us4 ,i refer to radioactive   
change1 or to the atomic transformation 
of one element into another1 such as the
 change of radium into helium1 and the  
change of helium into lead--a subject   
that takes us to the borderland between 
physics and chemistry where is still    
debatable ground4  ,i began by saying   
that there were three kinds of changes  
in matter--the physical1 the chemical1  
and the vital4 ,but if we follow up this
 idea and declare that there are three  
kinds of force also1 claiming this      
distinction for the third term of our   
proposition1 we shall be running counter
 to the main current of recent          
biological science4 ,the idea that a    
peculiar 'vital force' acts in the      
chemistry of life1 says ,professor      
,soddy1 is extinct4  ,only chemical and 
physical agents influence the vital     
processes1 says ,professor ,czapek1 of  
the ,university of ,prague1 and we need 

no longer take refuge in mysterious     
'vital forces' when we want to explain  
these4  ,tyndall was obliged to think of
 a force that guided the molecules of   
matter into the special forms of a tree4
 ,this force was in the ultimate        
particles of matter4 ,but when he came  
to the brain and to consciousness1 he   
said a new product appeared that defies 
mechanical treatment4  ,the attempt of  
the biological science of our time to   
wipe out all distinctions between the   
living and the non-living1 solely       
because scientific analysis reveals no  
difference1 is a curious and interesting
 phenomenon4  ,professor ,schfer1 in his
 presidential address before the        
,british ,association in #aiab1 argued  
that all the main characteristics of    
living matter1 such as assimilation and 
disassimilation1 growth and             
reproduction1 spontaneous and amoeboid  
movement1 osmotic pressure1             
karyokinesis1 etc41 were equally        
apparent in the non-living2 therefore he

 concluded that life is only one of the 
many chemical reactions1 and that it is 
not improbable that it will yet be      
produced by chemical synthesis in the   
laboratory4 ,the logic of the position  
taken by ,professor ,schfer and of the  
school to which he belongs1 demands this
 artificial production of life--an      
achievement that seems no nearer than it
 did a half-century ago4 ,when it has   
been attained1 the problem will be      
simplified1 but the mystery of life will
 by no means have been cleared up4 ,one 
follows these later biochemists in      
working out their problem of the genesis
 of life with keen interest1 but always 
with a feeling that there is more in    
their conclusions than is justified by  
their premises4 ,for my own part1 ,i am 
convinced that whatever is1 is natural1 
but to obtain life ,i feel the need of  
something of a different order from the 
force that evokes the spark from the    
flint and the steel1 or brings about the
 reaction of chemical compounds4 ,if    

asked to explain what this something is 
that is characteristic of living matter1
 ,i should say intelligence4  ,the new  
school of biologists start with matter  
that possesses extraordinary            
properties--with matter that seems      
inspired with the desire for life1 and  
behaving in a way that it never will    
behave in the laboratory4 ,they begin   
with the earth's surface warm and moist1
 the atmosphere saturated with watery   
vapor and carbon dioxide and many other 
complex unstable compounds2 then they   
summon all the material elements of     
life--carbon1 oxygen1 hydrogen1 and     
nitrogen1 with a little sodium1         
chlorine1 iron1 sulphur1 phosphorus1 and
 others--and make these run together to 
form a jelly-like body called a colloid2
 then they endow this jelly mass with   
the power of growth1 and of subdivision 
when it gets too large2 they make it    
able to absorb various unstable         
compounds from the air1 giving it       
internal stores of energy1 the setting  

free of which would cause automatic     
movements in the lump of jelly4 ,thus   
they lay the foundations of life4 ,this 
carbonaceous material with properties of
 movement and subdivision due to        
mechanical and physical forces is the   
immediate ancestor of the first         
imaginary living being1 the protobion4  
,to get this protobion the chemists     
summon a reagent known as a catalyser4  
,the catalyser works its magic on the   
jelly mass4 ,it sets up a wonderful     
reaction by its mere presence1 without  
parting with any of its substance4      
,thus1 if a bit of platinum which has   
this catalytic power is dropped into a  
vessel containing a mixture of oxygen   
and hydrogen1 the two gases instantly   
unite and form water4 ,a catalyser      
introduced in the primordial jelly      
liberates energy and gives the substance
 power to break up the various complex  
unstable compounds into food1 and       
promote growth and subdivision4 ,in     
fact1 it awakens or imparts a vital     

force and leads to indefinite increase1 
subdivision1 and movement4  ,with       
,professor ,schfer there is first the   
fortuitous production of life upon this 
globe--the chance meeting or jostling of
 the elements that resulted in a bit of 
living protoplasm1 or a mass of colloid 
slime in the old seas1 or on their      
shores1 possessing the property of      
assimilation and therefore of growth4   
,here the whole mystery is swallowed at 
one gulp4 ,reproduction would follow as 
a matter of course1 because all material
 of this physical nature--fluid or      
semi-fluid in character--has a tendency 
to undergo subdivision when its bulk    
exceeds a certain size4  ,a mass of     
colloidal slime that has the power of   
assimilation and of growth and          
reproduction1 is certainly a new thing  
in the world1 and no chemical analysis  
of it can clear up the mystery4 ,it is  
easy enough to produce colloidal slime1 
but to endow it with these wonderful    
powers so that the promise and the      

potency of all terrestrial life slumbers
 in it is a staggering proposition4     
,whatever the character of this         
subdivision1 whether into equal parts or
 in the form of buds1 every separate    
part would resemble the parent in       
chemical and physical properties1 and   
would equally possess the property of   
taking in and assimilating suitable     
material from its liquid environment1   
growing in bulk and reproducing its like
 by subdivision4 ,in this way from any  
beginning of living material a primitive
 form of life would spread and would    
gradually people the globe4 ,the        
establishment of life being once        
effected1 all forms of organization     
follow under the inevitable laws of     
evolution4 ,why all forms of            
organization--why the body and brain of 
man--must inevitably follow from the    
primitive bit of living matter1 is just 
the question upon which we want light4  
,the proposition begs the question4     
,certainly when you have got the        

evolutionary process once started in    
matter which has these wonderful powers1
 all is easy4 ,the professor simply     
describes what has taken place and seems
 to think that the mystery is thereby   
cleared up1 as if by naming all the     
parts of a machine and their relation to
 one another1 the machine is accounted  
for4 ,what caused the iron and steel and
 wood of the machine to take this       
special form1 while in other cases the  
iron and steel and wood took other      
radically different forms1 and vast     
quantities of these substances took no  
form at all8  ,in working out the       
evolution of living forms by the aid of 
the blind physical and chemical agents  
alone1 ,professor ,schfer unconsciously 
ascribes the power of choice and purpose
 to the individual cells1 as when he    
says that the cells of the external     
layer sink below the surface for better 
protection and better nutrition4 ,it    
seems to have been a matter of choice or
 will that the cells developed a nervous

 system in the animal and not in the    
vegetable4 ,man came because a few cells
 in some early form of life acquired a  
slightly greater tendency to react to an
 external stimulus4 ,in this way they   
were brought into closer touch with the 
outer world and thereby gained the lead 
of their duller neighbor cells1 and     
became the real rulers of the body1 and 
developed the mind4  ,it is bewildering 
to be told by so competent a person as  
,professor ,schfer that at bottom there 
is no fundamental difference between the
 living and non-living4 ,we need not    
urge the existence of a peculiar vital  
force1 as distinct from all other       
forces1 but all distinctions between    
things are useless if we cannot say that
 a new behavior is set up in matter     
which we describe by the word vital1 and
 that a new principle is operative in   
organized matter which we must call     
intelligence4 ,of course all movements  
and processes of living beings are in   
conformity with the general laws of     

matter1 but does such a statement       
necessarily rule out all idea of the    
operation of an organizing and directing
 principle that is not operative in the 
world of inanimate things8  ,in         
,schfer's philosophy evolution is purely
 a mechanical process--there is no      
inborn tendency1 no inherent push1 no   
organizing effort1 but all results from 
the blind groping and chance jostling of
 the inorganic elements2 from the       
molecules of undifferentiated protoplasm
 to the brain of a ,christ or a ,plato1 
is just one series of unintelligent     
physical and chemical activities in     
matter4  ,may we not say that all the   
marks or characteristics of a living    
body which distinguish it in our        
experience from an inanimate body1 are  
of a non-scientific character1 or       
outside the sphere of experimental      
science8 ,we recognize them as readily  
as we distinguish day from night1 but we
 cannot describe them in the fixed terms
 of science4 ,when we say growth1       

metabolism1 osmosis1 the colloidal      
state1 science points out that all this 
may be affirmed of inorganic bodies4    
,when we say a life principle1 a vital  
force or soul or spirit or intelligence1
 science turns a deaf ear4  ,the        
difference between the living and the   
non-living is not so much a physical    
difference as a metaphysical difference4
 ,living matter is actuated by          
intelligence4 ,its activities are       
spontaneous and self-directing4 ,the    
rock1 and the tree that grows beside it1
 and the insects and rodents that burrow
 under it1 may all be made of one stuff1
 but their difference to the beholder is
 fundamental2 there is an intelligent   
activity in the one that is not in the  
other4 ,now no scientific analysis of a 
body will reveal the secret of this     
activity4 ,as well might your analysis  
of a phonographic record hope to        
disclose a sonata of ,beethoven latent  
in the waving lines4 ,no power of       
chemistry could reveal any difference   

between the gray matter of ,plato's     
brain and that of the humblest citizen  
of ,athens4 ,all the difference between 
man1 all that makes a man a man1 and an 
ox an ox1 is beyond the reach of any of 
your physico-chemical tests4 ,by the    
same token the gulf that separates the  
organic from the inorganic is not within
 the power of science to disclose4 ,the 
biochemist is bound to put life in the  
category of the material forces because 
his science can deal with no other4 ,to 
him the word vital is a word merely1 it 
stands for no reality1 and the secret of
 life is merely a chemical reaction4 ,a 
living body awakens a train of ideas in 
our minds that a non-living fails to    
awaken--a train of ideas that belong to 
another order from that awakened by     
scientific demonstration4 ,we cannot    
blame science for ruling out that which 
it cannot touch with its analysis1 or   
repeat with its synthesis4 ,the         
phenomena of life are as obvious to us  
as anything in the world2 we know their 

signs and ways1 and witness their power1
 yet in the alembic of our science they 
turn out to be only physico-chemical    
processes2 hence that is all there is of
 them4 ,vitality1 says ,huxley1 has no  
more reality than the horology of a     
clock4 ,yet ,huxley sees three equal    
realities in the universe--matter1      
energy1 and consciousness4 ,but         
consciousness is the crown of a vital   
process4 ,hence it would seem as if     
there must be something more real in    
vitality than ,huxley is willing to     
admit4   ,,ii  ,nearly all the later    
biologists or biological philosophers   
are as shy of the term vital force1 and 
even of the word vitality1 as they are  
of the words soul1 spirit1 intelligence1
 when discussing natural phenomena4 ,to 
experimental science such words have no 
meaning because the supposed realities  
for which they stand are quite beyond   
the reach of scientific analysis4 ,ray  
,lankester1 in his ,science from an     
,easy ,chair1 following ,huxley1        

compares vitality with aquosity1 and    
says that to have recourse to a vital   
principle or force to explain a living  
body is no better philosophy than to    
appeal to a principle of aquosity to    
explain water4 ,of course words are     
words1 and they have such weight with us
 that when we have got a name for a     
thing it is very easy to persuade       
ourselves that the thing exists4 ,the   
terms vitality1 vital force1 have long  
been in use1 and it is not easy to      
convince one's self that they stand for 
no reality4 ,certain it is that living  
and non-living matter are sharply       
separated1 though when reduced to their 
chemical constituents in the laboratory 
they are found to be identical4 ,the    
carbon1 the hydrogen1 the nitrogen1 the 
oxygen1 and the lime1 sulphur1 iron1    
etc41 in a living body are in no way    
peculiar1 but are the same as these     
elements in the rocks and the soil4 ,we 
are all made of one stuff2 a man and his
 dog are made of one stuff2 an oak and a

 pine are made of one stuff2 ,jew and   
,gentile are made of one stuff4 ,should 
we be justified1 then1 in saying that   
there is no difference between them8    
,there is certainly a moral and an      
intellectual difference between a man   
and his dog1 if there is no chemical and
 mechanical difference4 ,and there is as
 certainly as wide or a wider difference
 between living and non-living matter1  
though it be beyond the reach of science
 to detect4 ,for this difference we have
 to have a name1 and we use the words   
vital1 vitality1 which seem to me to    
stand for as undeniable realities as the
 words heat1 light1 chemical affinity1  
gravitation4 ,there is not a principle  
of roundness1 though nature centres into
 balls1 nor of squareness1 though       
crystallization is in right lines1 nor  
of aquosity1 though two thirds of the   
surface of the earth is covered with    
water4 ,can we on any better            
philosophical grounds say that there is 
a principle of vitality1 though the     

earth swarms with living beings8 ,yet   
the word vitality stands for a reality1 
it stands for a peculiar activity in    
matter--for certain movements and       
characteristics for which we have no    
other term4 ,i fail to see any analogy  
between aquosity and that condition of  
matter we call vital or living4         
,aquosity is not an activity1 it is a   
property1 the property of wetness2      
viscosity is a term to describe other   
conditions of matter2 solidity1 to      
describe still another condition2 and   
opacity and transparency1 to describe   
still others--as they affect another of 
our senses4 ,but the vital activity in  
matter is a concrete reality4 ,with it  
there goes the organizing tendency or   
impulse1 and upon it hinges the whole   
evolutionary movement of the biological 
history of the globe4 ,we can do all    
sorts of things with water and still    
keep its aquosity4 ,if we resolve it    
into its constituent gases we destroy   
its aquosity1 but by uniting these gases

 chemically we have the wetness back    
again4 ,but if a body loses its         
vitality1 its life1 can we by the power 
of chemistry1 or any other power within 
our reach1 bring the vitality back to   
it8 ,can we make the dead live8 ,you may
 bray your living body in a mortar1     
destroy every one of its myriad cells1  
and yet you may not extinguish the last 
spark of life2 the protoplasm is still  
living4 ,but boil it or bake it and the 
vitality is gone1 and all the art and   
science of mankind cannot bring it back 
again4 ,the physical and chemical       
activities remain after the vital       
activities have ceased4 ,do we not then 
have to supply a non-chemical1 a        
non-physical force or factor to account 
for the living body8 ,is there no       
difference between the growth of a plant
 or an animal1 and the increase in size 
of a sand-bank or a snow-bank1 or a     
river delta8 or between the wear and    
repair of a working-man's body and the  
wear and repair of the machine he       

drives8 ,excretion and secretion are not
 in the same categories4 ,the living and
 the non-living mark off the two grand  
divisions of matter in the world in     
which we live1 as no two terms merely   
descriptive of chemical and physical    
phenomena ever can4 ,life is a motion in
 matter1 but of another order from that 
of the physico-chemical1 though         
inseparable from it4 ,we may forego the 
convenient term vital force4 ,modern    
science shies at the term force4 ,we    
must have force or energy or pressure of
 some kind to lift dead matter up into  
the myriad forms of life1 though in the 
last analysis of it it may all date from
 the sun4 ,when it builds a living body1
 we call it a vital force2 when it      
builds a gravel-bank1 or moves a        
glacier1 we call it a mechanical force2 
when it writes a poem or composes a     
symphony1 we call it a psychic          
force--all distinctions which we cannot 
well dispense with1 though of the       
ultimate reality for which these terms  

stand we can know little4 ,in the latest
 science heat and light are not         
substances1 though electricity is4 ,they
 are peculiar motions in matter which   
give rise to sensations in certain      
living bodies that we name light and    
heat1 as another peculiar motion in     
matter gives rise to a sensation we call
 sound4 ,life is another kind of motion 
in certain aggregates of matter--more   
mysterious or inexplicable than all     
others because it cannot be described in
 terms of the others1 and because it    
defies the art and science of man to    
reproduce4  ,though the concepts vital  
force and life principle have no        
standing in the court of modern         
biological science1 it is interesting to
 observe how often recourse is had by   
biological writers to terms that embody 
the same idea4 ,thus the ,german        
physiologist ,verworn1 the determined   
enemy of the old conception of life1 in 
his great work on ,irritability1 has    
recourse to the specific energy of      

living substances4 ,one is forced to    
believe that without this specific      
energy his living substances would never
 have arisen out of the non-living4     
,professor ,moore1 of ,liverpool        
,university1 as ,i have already pointed 
out while discussing the term vital     
force1 invents a new phrase1 biotic     
energy1 to explain the same phenomena4  
,surely a force by any other name is no 
more and no less potent4 ,both ,verworn 
and ,moore feel the need1 as we all do1 
of some term1 or terms1 by which to     
explain that activity in matter which we
 call vital4 ,other writers have        
referred to a peculiar power of         
synthesis in plants and animals1 which  
the inanimate forms do not possess4     
,ray ,lankester1 to whom ,i have already
 referred in discussing this subject1   
helps himself out by inventing1 not a   
new force1 but a new substance in which 
he fancies resides the peculiar property
 of living matter4 ,he calls this       
hypothetical substance plasmogen1 and   

thinks of it as an ultimate chemical    
compound hidden in protoplasm4 ,has this
 ultimate molecule of life any more     
scientific or philosophical validity    
than the old conception of a vital      
force8 ,it looks very much like another 
name for the same thing--an attempt to  
give the mind something to take hold of 
in dealing with the mystery of living   
things4 ,this imaginary life-stuff of   
the ,british scientist is entirely      
beyond the reach of chemical analysis2  
no man has ever seen it or proved its   
existence4 ,in fact it is simply an     
invention of ,ray ,lankester to fill a  
break in the sequence of observed       
phenomena4 ,something seems to possess  
the power of starting or kindling that  
organizing activity in a living body1   
and it seems to me it matters little    
whether we call it plasmogen1 or a life 
principle1 or biotic energy1 or what    
not2 it surely leavens the loaf4 ,matter
 takes on new activities under its      
influence4 ,ray ,lankester thinks that  

plasmogen came into being in early      
geologic ages1 and that the conditions  
which led to its formation have probably
 never recurred4 ,whether he thinks its 
formation was merely a chance hit or    
not1 he does not say4  ,we see matter   
all about us1 acted upon by the         
mechanico-chemical forces1 that never   
takes on any of the distinctive         
phenomena of living bodies4 ,yet        
,verworn is convinced that if we could  
bring the elements of a living body     
together as ,nature does1 in the same   
order and proportion1 and combine them  
in the selfsame way1 or bring about the 
vital conditions1 a living being would  
result4 ,undoubtedly4 ,it amounts to    
saying that if we had ,nature's power we
 could do what she does4 ,if we could   
marry the elements as she does1 and     
bless the banns as she seems to1 we     
could build a man out of a clay-bank4   
,but clearly physics and chemistry      
alone1 as we know and practice them1 are
 not equal to the task4   ,,iii  ,one of

 the fundamental characteristics of life
 is power of adaptation2 it will adapt  
itself to almost any condition2 it is   
willing and accommodating4 ,it is like a
 stream that can be turned into various 
channels2 the gall insects turn it into 
channels to suit their ends when they   
sting the leaf of a tree or the stalk of
 a plant1 and deposit an egg in the     
wound4 ,build me a home and a nursery   
for my young1 says the insect4 ,with all
 my heart1 says the leaf1 and forthwith 
forgets its function as a leaf1 and     
proceeds to build up a structure1 often 
of great delicacy and complexity1 to    
house and cradle its enemy4 ,the current
 of life flows on blindly and takes any 
form imposed upon it4 ,but in the case  
of the vegetable galls it takes life to 
control life4 ,man cannot produce these 
galls by artificial means4 ,but we can  
take various mechanical and chemical    
liberties with embryonic animal life in 
its lower sea-forms4 ,professor ,loeb   
has fertilized the eggs of sea-urchins  

by artificial means4 ,the eggs of       
certain forms may be made to produce    
twins by altering the constitution of   
the sea-water1 and the twins can be made
 to grow together so as to produce      
monstrosities by another chemical change
 in the sea-water4 ,the eyes of certain 
fish embryos may be fused into a single 
cyclopean eye by adding magnesium       
chloride to the water in which they     
live4 ,loeb says1 ,it is a priori       
obvious that an unlimited number of     
pathological variations might be        
produced by a variation in the          
concentration and constitution of the   
sea water1 and experience confirms this 
statement4 ,it has been found that when 
frog's eggs are turned upside down and  
compressed between two glass plates for 
a number of hours1 some of the eggs give
 rise to twins4 ,professor ,morgan found
 that if he destroyed half of a frog's  
egg after the first segmentation1 the   
remaining half gave rise to half an     
embryo1 but that if he put the half-egg 

upside down1 and compressed it between  
two glass plates1 he got a perfect      
embryo frog of half the normal size4    
,such things show how plastic and       
adaptive life is4 ,dr4 ,carrel's        
experiments with living animal tissue   
immersed in a proper mother-liquid      
illustrate how the vital                
process--cell-multiplication--may be    
induced to go on and on1 blindly1       
aimlessly1 for an almost indefinite     
time4 ,the cells multiply1 but they do  
not organize themselves into a          
constructive community and build an     
organ or any purposeful part4 ,they may 
be likened to a lot of blind masons     
piling up brick and mortar without any  
architect to direct their work or       
furnish them a plan4 ,a living body of  
the higher type is not merely an        
association of cells2 it is an          
association and coperation of           
communities of cells1 each community    
working to a definite end and building  
an harmonious whole4 ,the biochemist who

 would produce life in the laboratory   
has before him the problem of           
compounding matter charged with this    
organizing tendency or power1 and       
doubtless if he ever should evoke this  
mysterious process through his chemical 
reactions1 it would possess this power1 
as this is what distinguishes the       
organic from the inorganic4  ,i do not  
see mind or intelligence in the         
inorganic world in the sense in which ,i
 see it in the organic4 ,in the heavens 
one sees power1 vastness1 sublimity1    
unspeakable1 but one sees only the      
physical laws working on a grander scale
 than on the earth4 ,celestial mechanics
 do not differ from terrestrial         
mechanics1 however tremendous and       
imposing the result of their activities4
 ,but in the humblest living thing--in a
 spear of grass by the roadside1 in a   
gnat1 in a flea--there lurks a greater  
mystery4 ,in an animate body1 however   
small1 there abides something of which  
we get no trace in the vast reaches of  

astronomy1 a kind of activity that is   
incalculable1 indeterminate1 and        
super-mechanical1 not lawless1 but      
making its own laws1 and escaping from  
the iron necessity that rules in the    
inorganic world4  ,our mathematics and  
our science can break into the circle of
 the celestial and the terrestrial      
forces1 and weigh and measure and       
separate them1 and in a degree          
understand them2 but the forces of life 
defy our analysis as well as our        
synthesis4  ,knowing as we do all the   
elements that make up the body and brain
 of a man1 all the physiological        
processes1 and all the relations and    
interdependence of his various organs1  
if1 in addition1 we knew all his        
inheritances1 his whole ancestry back to
 the primordial cells from which he     
sprang1 and if we also knew that of     
every person with whom he comes in      
contact and who influences his life1    
could we forecast his future1 predict   
the orbit in which his life would       

revolve1 indicate its eclipses1 its     
perturbations1 and the like1 as we do   
that of an astronomic body8 or could we 
foresee his affinities and combinations 
as we do that of a chemical body8 ,had  
we known any of the animal forms in his 
line of ascent1 could we have foretold  
man as we know him to-day8 ,could we    
have foretold the future of any form of 
life from its remote beginnings8 ,would 
our mathematics and our chemistry have  
been of any avail in our dealing with   
such a problem8 ,biology is not in the  
same category with geology and          
astronomy4 ,in the inorganic world1     
chemical affinity builds up and pulls   
down4 ,it integrates the rocks and1     
under changed conditions1 it            
disintegrates them4 ,in the organic     
world chemical affinity is equally      
active1 but it plays a subordinate part4
 ,it neither builds up nor pulls down4  
,vital activities1 if we must shun the  
term vital force1 do both4 ,barring     
accidents1 the life of all organisms is 

terminated by other organisms4 ,in the  
order of nature1 life destroys life1 and
 compounds destroy compounds4 ,when the 
air and soil and water hold no invisible
 living germs1 organic bodies never     
decay4 ,it is not the heat that begets  
putrefaction1 but germs in the air4     
,sufficient heat kills the germs1 but   
what disintegrates the germs and reduces
 them to dust8 ,other still smaller     
organisms8 and so on ad infinitum8 ,does
 the sequence of life have no end8 ,the 
destruction of one chemical compound    
means the formation of other chemical   
compounds2 chemical affinity cannot be  
annulled1 but the activity we call vital
 is easily arrested4 ,a living body can 
be killed1 but a chemical body can only 
be changed into another chemical body4  
,the least of living things1 ,i repeat1 
holds a more profound mystery than all  
our astronomy and our geology hold4 ,it 
introduces us to activities which our   
mathematics do not help us to deal with4
 ,our science can describe the processes

 of a living body1 and name all the     
material elements that enter into it1   
but it cannot tell us in what the       
peculiar activity consists1 or just what
 it is that differentiates living matter
 from non-living4 ,its analysis reveals 
no difference4 ,but this difference     
consists in something beyond the reach  
of chemistry and of physics2 it is      
active intelligence1 the power of       
self-direction1 of self-adjustment1 of  
self-maintenance1 of adapting means to  
an end4 ,it is notorious that the hand  
cannot always cover the flea2 this atom 
has will1 and knows the road to safety4 
,behold what our bodies know over and   
above what we know6 ,professor ,czapek  
reveals to us a chemist at work in the  
body who proceeds precisely like the    
chemist in his laboratory2 they might   
both have graduated at the same school4 
,thus the chemist in the laboratory is  
accustomed to dissolve the substance    
which is to be used in an experiment to 
react on other substances4 ,the chemical

 course in living cells is the same4    
,all substances destined for reactions  
are first dissolved4 ,no compound is    
taken up in living cells before it is   
dissolved4 ,digestion is essentially    
identical with dissolving or bringing   
into a liquid state4 ,on the other hand1
 when the chemist wishes to preserve a  
living substance from chemical change1  
he transfers it from a state of solution
 into a solid state4 ,the chemist in the
 living body does the same thing4       
,substances which are to be stored up1  
such as starch1 fat1 or protein bodies1 
are deposited in insoluble form1 ready  
to be dissolved and used whenever wanted
 for the life processes4 ,poisonous     
substances are eliminated from living   
bodies by the same process of           
precipitation4 ,oxalic acid is a product
 of oxidation in living cells1 and has  
strong poisonous properties4 ,to get rid
 of it1 the chemist inside the body1 by 
the aid of calcium salts1 forms         
insoluble compounds of it1 and thus     

casts it out4 ,to separate substances   
from each other by filtration1 or by    
shaking with suitable liquids1 is one of
 the daily tasks of the chemist4        
,analogous processes occur regularly in 
living cells4 ,again1 when the chemist  
wishes to finish his filtration quickly1
 he uses filters which have a large     
surface4 ,in living protoplasms1 this   
condition is very well fulfilled by the 
foam-like structure which affords an    
immense surface in a very small space4  
,in the laboratory the chemist mixes his
 substances by stirring4 ,the body      
chemist achieves the same result by the 
streaming of protoplasm4 ,the cells know
 what they want1 and how to attain it1  
as clearly as the chemist does4 ,the    
intelligence of the living body1 or what
 we must call such for want of a better 
term1 is shown in scores of ways--by the
 means it takes to protect itself       
against microbes1 by the antitoxins that
 it forms4 ,indeed1 if we knew all that 
our bodies know1 what mysteries would be

 revealed to us6   ,,iv  ,life goes     
up-stream--goes against the tendency to 
a static equilibrium in matter2 decay   
and death go down4 ,what is it in the   
body that struggles against poisons and 
seeks to neutralize their effects8 ,what
 is it that protects the body against a 
second attack of certain diseases1      
making it immune8 ,chemical changes1    
undoubtedly1 but what brings about the  
chemical changes8 ,the body is a colony 
of living units called cells1 that      
behaves much like a colony of insects   
when it takes measures to protect itself
 against its enemies4 ,the body forms   
anti-toxins when it has to4 ,it knows   
how to do it as well as bees know how to
 ventilate the hive1 or how to seal up  
or entomb the grub of an invading moth4 
,indeed1 how much the act of the body1  
in encysting a bullet in its tissues1 is
 like the act of the bees in encasing   
with wax a worm in the combs6  ,what is 
that in the body which at great         
altitudes increases the number of red   

corpuscles in the blood1 those          
oxygen-bearers1 so as to make up for the
 lessened amount of oxygen breathed by  
reason of the rarity of the air8 ,under 
such conditions1 the amount of hmoglobin
 is almost doubled4 ,i do not call this 
thing a force2 ,i call it an            
intelligence--the intelligence that     
pervades the body and all animate       
nature1 and does the right thing at the 
right time4 ,we1 no doubt1 speak too    
loosely of it when we say that it       
prompts or causes the body to do this1  
or to do that2 it is the body2 the      
relation of the two has no human        
analogy2 the two are one4  ,man breaks  
into the circuit of the natural         
inorganic forces and arrests them and   
controls them1 and makes them do his    
work--turn his wheels1 drive his        
engines1 run his errands1 etc42 but he  
cannot do this in the same sense with   
the organic forces2 he cannot put a     
spell upon the pine tree and cause it to
 build him a house or a nursery4 ,only  

the insects can do a thing like that2   
only certain insects can break into the 
circuit of vegetable life and divert its
 forces to serve their special ends4    
,one kind of an insect stings a bud or a
 leaf of the oak1 and the tree forthwith
 grows a solid nutlike protuberance the 
size of a chestnut1 in which the larv of
 the insect live and feed and mature4   
,another insect stings the same leaf and
 produces the common oak-apple--a       
smooth1 round1 green1 shell-like body   
filled with a network of radiating      
filaments1 with the egg and then the    
grub of the insect at the centre4 ,still
 another kind of insect stings the oak  
bud and deposits its eggs there1 and the
 oak proceeds to grow a large white ball
 made up of a kind of succulent         
vegetable wool with red spots evenly    
distributed over its surface1 as if it  
were some kind of spotted fruit or      
flower4 ,in ,june1 it is about the size 
of a small apple4 ,cut it in half and   
you find scores of small shell-like     

growths radiating from the bud-stem1    
like the seeds of the dandelion1 each   
with a kind of vegetable pappus rising  
from it1 and together making up the ball
 as the pappus of the dandelion seeds   
makes up the seed-globe of this plant4  
,it is one of the most singular         
vegetable products1 or vegetable        
perversions1 that ,i know of4 ,a sham   
fruit filled with sham seeds2 each      
seed-like growth contains a grub1 which 
later in the season pupates and eats its
 way out1 a winged insect4 ,how foreign 
to anything we know as mechanical or    
chemical it all is6--the surprising and 
incalculable tricks of life6  ,another  
kind of insect stings the oak leaf and  
there develops a pale1 smooth1 solid1   
semi-transparent sphere1 the size of a  
robin's egg1 dense and succulent like   
the flesh of an apple1 with the larv of 
the insect subsisting in its interior4  
,each of these widely different forms is
 evoked from the oak leaf by the magic  
of an insect's ovipositor4 ,chemically1 

the constituents of all of them are     
undoubtedly the same4  ,it is one of the
 most curious and suggestive things in  
living nature4 ,it shows how plastic and
 versatile life is1 and how utterly     
unmechanical4 ,life plays so many and   
such various tunes upon the same        
instruments2 or rather1 the living      
organism is like many instruments in    
one2 the tones of all instruments       
slumber in it to be awakened when the   
right performer appears4 ,at least four 
different insects get four different    
tunes1 so to speak1 out of the oak leaf4
  ,certain insects avail themselves of  
the animal organism also and go through 
their cycle of development and          
metamorphosis within its tissues or     
organs in a similar manner4   ,v  ,on   
the threshold of the world of living    
organisms stands that wonderful minute  
body1 the cell1 the unit of life--a     
piece of self-regulating and            
self-renewing mechanism that holds the  
key to all the myriads of living forms  

that fill the world1 from the amoeba up 
to man4 ,for chemistry to produce the   
cell is apparently as impossible as for 
it to produce a bird's egg1 or a living 
flower1 or the heart and brain of man4  
,the body is a communal state made up of
 myriads of cells that all work together
 to build up and keep going the human   
personality4 ,there is the same         
coperation and division of labor that   
takes place in the civic state1 and in  
certain insect communities4 ,as in the  
social and political organism1 thousands
 of the citizen cells die every day and 
new cells of the same kind take their   
place4 ,or1 it is like an army in battle
 being constantly recruited--as fast as 
a soldier falls another takes his place1
 till the whole army is changed1 and yet
 remains the same4 ,the waste is        
greatest at the surface of the body     
through the skin1 and through the       
stomach and lungs4 ,the worker cells1   
namely1 the tissue cells1 like the      
worker bees in the hive1 pass away the  

most rapidly2 then1 according to        
,haeckel1 there are certain constants1  
certain cells that remain throughout    
life4 ,there is always a solid          
groundwork of conservative cells1 the   
descendants of which secure the further 
regeneration4 ,the traditions of the    
state are kept up by the citizen-cells  
that remain1 so that1 though all is     
changed in time1 the genius of the state
 remains2 the individuality of the man  
is not lost4 ,the sense of personal     
identity is maintained across the flight
 of molecules1 just as it is maintained 
in the state or nation1 by the units    
that remain1 and by the established     
order4 ,there is an unwritten           
constitution1 a spirit that governs1    
like ,maeterlinck's spirit of the hive4 
,the traditions of the body are handed  
down from mother cell to daughter cell1 
though just what that means in terms of 
physiology or metabolism ,i do not know4
 ,but this we know--that you are you and
 ,i am ,i1 and that human life and      

personality can never be fully explained
 or accounted for in terms of the       
material forces4     ,,viii  ,,life     
,,and ,,science  ,i   ,the limited and  
peculiar activity which arises in matter
 and which we call vital2 which comes   
and goes2 which will not stay to be     
analyzed2 which we in vain try to       
reproduce in our laboratories2 which is 
inseparable from chemistry and physics1 
but which is not summed up by them2     
which seems to use them and direct them 
to new ends1--an entity which seems to  
have invaded the kingdom of inert matter
 at some definite time in the earth's   
history1 and to have set up an insurgent
 movement there2 cutting across the     
circuits of the mechanical and chemical 
forces2 turning them about1 pitting one 
against the other2 availing itself of   
gravity1 of chemical affinity1 of fluids
 and gases1 of osmosis and exosmosis1 of
 colloids1 of oxidation and hydration1  
and yet explicable by none of these     
things2 clothing itself with garments of

 warmth and color and perfume woven from
 the cold1 insensate elements2 setting  
up new activities in matter2 building up
 myriads of new unstable compounds2     
struggling against the tendency of the  
physical forces to a dead equilibrium2  
indeterminate1 intermittent1 fugitive2  
limited in time1 limited in space2      
present in some worlds1 absent from     
others2 breaking up the old routine of  
the material forces1 and instituting new
 currents1 new tendencies2 departing    
from the linear activities of the       
inorganic1 and setting up the circular  
activities of living currents2 replacing
 change by metamorphosis1 revolution by 
evolution1 accretion by secretion1      
crystallization by cell-formation1      
aggregation by growth2 and1 finally1    
introducing a new power into the        
world--the mind and soul of man--this   
wonderful1 and apparently transcendental
 something which we call life--how      
baffling and yet how fascinating is the 
inquiry into its nature and origin6 ,are

 we to regard it as ,tyndall did1 and as
 others before and since his time did   
and do1 as potential in the constitution
 of matter1 and self-evolved1 like the  
chemical compounds that are involved in 
its processes8  ,as mechanical energy is
 latent in coal1 and in all combustible 
bodies1 is vital energy latent in       
carbon1 hydrogen1 oxygen1 and so forth1 
needing only the right conditions to    
bring it out8 ,mechanical energy is     
convertible into electrical energy1 and 
vice versa4 ,indeed1 the circle of the  
physical forces is easily traced1 easily
 broken into1 but when or how these     
forces merge into the vital and psychic 
forces1 or support them1 or become      
them--there is the puzzle4 ,if we limit 
the natural to the inorganic order1 then
 are living bodies supernatural8        
,super-mechanical and super-chemical    
certainly1 and chemics and mechanics and
 electro-statics include all the        
material forces4 ,is life outside this  
circle8 ,it is certain that this circle 

does not always include life1 but can   
life exist outside this circle8 ,when it
 appears it is always inside it4        
,science can only deal with life as a   
physical phenomenon2 as a psychic       
phenomenon it is beyond its scope1      
except so far as the psychic is         
manifested through the physical4 ,not   
till it has produced living matter from 
dead can it speak with authority upon   
the question of the origin of life4 ,its
 province is limited to the description 
and analysis of life processes1 but when
 it essays to name what institutes the  
processes1 or to disclose the secret of 
organization1 it becomes philosophy or  
theology4 ,when ,haeckel says that life 
originated spontaneously1 he does not   
speak with the authority of science1    
because he cannot prove his assertion2  
it is his opinion1 and that is all4     
,when ,helmholtz says that life had no  
beginning1 he is in the same case4 ,when
 our later biophysicists say that life  
is of physico-chemical origin1 they are 

in the same case2 when ,tyndall says    
that there is no energy in the universe 
but solar energy1 he is in the same     
case2 when ,sir ,oliver ,lodge says that
 life is an entity outside of and       
independent of matter1 he is in the same
 case4 ,philosophy and theology can take
 leaps in the dark1 but science must    
have solid ground to go upon4 ,when it  
speculates or theorizes1 it must make   
its speculations good4 ,scientific      
prophecy is amenable to the same tests  
as other prophecy4 ,in the absence of   
proof by experiment--scientific         
proof--to get the living out of the     
non-living we have either got to        
conceive of matter itself as            
fundamentally creative1 as the new      
materialism assumes1 or else we have got
 to have an external ,creator1 as the   
old theology assumes4 ,and the          
difference is more apparent than real4  
,tyndall is baffled and bewildered by   
the fact that out of its molecular      
vibrations and activities things so     

utterly incongruous with them as        
sensation1 thought1 and emotion can be  
derived4 ,his science is baffled and    
bewildered because it cannot1 bound as  
it is by the iron law of the            
conservation and correlation of energy1 
trace the connection between them4 ,but 
his philosophy or his theology would    
experience little difficulty4 ,henri    
,bergson shows no hesitation in         
declaring that the fate of consciousness
 is not involved in the fate of the     
brain through which it is manifested1   
but it is his philosophy and not his    
science that inspires this faith4       
,tyndall deifies matter to get life out 
of it--makes the creative energy        
potential in it4 ,bergson deifies or    
spiritualizes life as a psychic1        
creative principle1 and makes matter its
 instrument or vehicle4  ,science is    
supreme in its own sphere1 the sphere1  
or hemisphere1 of the objective world1  
but it does not embrace the whole of    
human life1 because human life is made  

up of two spheres1 or hemispheres1 one  
of which is the subjective world4 ,there
 is a world within us also1 the world of
 our memories1 thoughts1 emotions1      
aspirations1 imaginings1 which          
overarches the world of our practical   
lives and material experience1 as the   
sky overarches the earth4 ,it is in the 
spirit of science that we conquer and   
use the material world in which we live2
 it is in the spirit of art and         
literature1 philosophy and religion1    
that we explore and draw upon the       
immaterial world of our own hearts and  
souls4 ,of course the man of science is 
also a philosopher--may ,i not even say 
he is also a prophet and poet8 ,not     
otherwise could he organize his         
scientific facts and see their due      
relations1 see their drift and the      
sequence of forces that bind the        
universe into a whole4 ,as a man of     
science he traces out the causes of the 
tides and the seasons1 the nature and   
origin of disease1 and a thousand and   

one other things2 but only as a         
philosopher can he see the body as a    
whole and speculate about the mystery of
 its organization2 only as a philosopher
 can he frame theories and compare      
values and interpret the phenomena he   
sees about him4   ,,ii  ,we can only    
know1 in the scientific sense1 the      
physical and chemical phenomena of life2
 its essence1 its origin1 we can only   
know as philosophy and idealism know    
them4 ,we have to turn philosophers when
 we ask any ultimate question4 ,the     
feeling we have that the scientific     
conception of life is inadequate springs
 from the philosophical habit of mind4  
,yet this habit is quite as legitimate  
as the scientific habit1 and is bound to
 supplement the latter all through life4
  ,the great men of science1 like       
,darwin and ,huxley1 are philosophers in
 their theories and conclusions1 and men
 of science in their observations and   
experiments4 ,the limitations of science
 in dealing with such a problem are seen

 in the fact that science can take no   
step till it has life to begin with4    
,when it has got the living body1 it can
 analyze its phenomena and reduce them  
to their chemical and physical          
equivalents1 and thus persuade itself   
that the secret of life may yet be hit  
upon in the laboratory4 ,professor      
,czapek1 of the ,university of ,prague1 
in his work on ,the ,chemical ,phenomena
 of ,life speaks for science when he    
says1 ,what we call life is nothing else
 but a complex of innumerable chemical  
reactions in the living substance which 
we call protoplasm4 ,the living         
substance is assumed to begin with1 and 
then we are told that the secret of its 
living lies in its chemical and physical
 processes4 ,this is in one sense true4 
,no doubt at all that if these processes
 were arrested1 life would speedily end1
 but do they alone account for its      
origin8 ,is it not like accounting for a
 baby in terms of its breathing and     
eating8 ,it was a baby before it did    

either1 and it would seem as if life    
must in some way ante-date the physical 
and chemical processes that attend it1  
or at least be bound up in them in a way
 that no scientific analysis can reveal4
  ,if life is merely a mode of motion in
 matter1 it is fundamentally unlike any 
and all other modes of motion1 because1 
while we can institute all the others at
 will1 we are powerless to institute    
this4 ,the mode of motion we call heat  
is going on in varying degrees of       
velocity all about us at all times and  
seasons1 but the vital motion of matter 
is limited to a comparatively narrow    
circle4 ,we can end it1 but we cannot   
start it4  ,the rigidly scientific type 
of mind sees no greater mystery in the  
difference in contour of different      
animal bodies than a mere difference in 
the density of the germ cells3 one      
density results in a sequence of        
cell-densities to form a horse2 another 
a dog2 another a cat2 and avers that if 
we repeat the same complex conditions1  

the same results are as inevitable as   
the sequences of forces that result in  
the formation of hydrogen monoxide from 
hydrogen and oxygen4  ,different degrees
 of density may throw light on the      
different behavior of gases and fluids  
and solids1 but can it throw any light  
on the question of why a horse is a     
horse1 and a dog a dog8 or why one is an
 herbivorous feeder1 and the other a    
carnivorous8  ,the scientific           
explanation of life phenomena is        
analogous to reducing a living body to  
its ashes and pointing to them--the     
lime1 the iron1 the phosphorus1 the     
hydrogen1 the oxygen1 the carbon1 the   
nitrogen--as the whole secret4          
,professor ,czapek is not entirely      
consistent4 ,he says that it is his     
conviction that there is something in   
physiology that transcends the chemistry
 and the physics of inorganic nature4   
,at the same time he affirms1 ,it       
becomes more and more improbable that   
,life develops forces which are unknown 

in inanimate ,nature4 ,but psychic      
forces are a product of life1 and they  
certainly are not found in inanimate    
nature4 ,but without laying stress upon 
this fact1 may we not say that if no new
 force is developed by1 or is           
characteristic of1 life1 certainly new  
effects1 new processes1 new compounds of
 matter are produced by life8 ,matter   
undergoes some change that chemical     
analysis does not reveal4 ,the mystery  
of isomeric substances appears1 a vast  
number of new compounds of carbon       
appear1 the face of the earth changes4  
,the appearance of life in inert matter 
is a change analogous to the appearance 
of the mind of man in animate nature4   
,the old elements and forces are turned 
to new and higher uses4 ,man does not   
add to the list of forces or elements in
 the earth1 but he develops them1 and   
turns them to new purposes2 they now    
obey and serve him1 just as the old     
chemistry and physics obey and serve    
life4 ,czapek tells us of the vast      

number of what are called enzymes1 or   
ferments1 that appear in living         
bodies--never found in inorganic ,nature
 and not to be gained by chemical       
synthesis4 ,orders and suborders of     
enzymes1 they play a part in            
respiration1 in digestion1 in           
assimilation4 ,some act on the fats1    
some on the carbohydrates1 some produce 
inversion1 others dissolution and       
precipitation4 ,these enzymes are at    
once the products and the agents of     
life4 ,they must exert force1 chemical  
force1 or1 shall we say1 they transform 
chemical force into life force1 or1 to  
use ,professor ,moore's term1 into      
biotic energy8   ,,iii  ,the inorganic  
seems dreaming of the organic4 ,behold  
its dreams in the fern and tree forms   
upon the window pane and upon the stone 
flagging of a winter morning6 ,in the   
,brunonian movement of matter in        
solution1 in crystallization1 in        
chemical affinity1 in polarity1 in      
osmosis1 in the growth of flint or chert

 nodules1 in limestone formations--like 
seeking like--in these and in other     
activities1 inert matter seems dreaming 
of life4  ,the chemists have played upon
 this tendency in the inorganic to      
parody or simulate some of the forms of 
living matter4 ,a noted ,european       
chemist1 ,dr4 ,leduc1 has produced what 
he calls osmotic growths1 from purely   
unorganized mineral matter--growths in  
form like seaweed and polyps and corals 
and trees4 ,his seeds are fragments of  
calcium chloride1 and his soil is a     
solution of the alkaline carbonates1    
phosphates1 or silicates4 ,when his     
seeds are sown in these solutions1 we   
see inert matter germinating1 putting   
forth bud and stem and root and branch  
and leaf and fruit1 precisely as in the 
living vegetable kingdom4 ,it is not a  
growth by accretion1 as in              
crystallization1 but by intussusception1
 as in life4 ,these ghostly things      
exhibit the phenomena of circulation and
 respiration and nutrition1 and a crude 

sort of reproduction by budding2 they   
repair their injuries1 and are able to  
perform periodic movements1 just as does
 an animal or a plant2 they have a      
period of vigorous youthful growth1 of  
old age1 of decay1 and of death4 ,in    
form1 in color1 in texture1 and in cell 
structure1 they imitate so closely the  
cell structures of organic growth as to 
suggest something uncanny or diabolical4
 ,and yet the author of them does not   
claim that they are alive4 ,they are not
 edible1 they contain no protoplasm--no 
starch or sugar or peptone or fats or   
carbohydrates4 ,these chemical creations
 by ,dr4 ,leduc are still dead          
matter--dead colloids--only one remove  
from crystallization2 on the road to    
life1 fore-runners of life1 but not     
life4 ,if he could set up the           
chlorophyllian process in his chemical  
reactions among inorganic compounds1 the
 secret of life would be in his hands4  
,but only the green leaf can produce    
chlorophyll2 and yet1 which was first1  

the leaf or the chlorophyll8  ,professor
 ,czapek is convinced that some         
substances must exist in protoplasm     
which are directly responsible for the  
life processes1 and yet the chemists    
cannot isolate and identify those       
substances4  ,how utterly unmechanical a
 living body is1 at least how far it    
transcends mere mechanics is shown by   
what the chemists call autolysis4       
,pulverize your watch1 and you have     
completely destroyed everything that    
made it a watch except the dead matter2 
but pulverize or reduce to a pulp a     
living plant1 and though you have       
destroyed all cell structure1 you have  
not yet destroyed the living substance2 
you have annihilated the mechanism1 but 
you have not killed the something that  
keeps up the life process4 ,protoplasm  
takes time to die1 but your machine     
stops instantly1 and its elements are no
 more potent in a new machine than they 
were at first4 ,in the pulp prepared by 
grinding down living organisms in a     

mortar1 some vital phenomena continue   
for a long time4 ,the life processes    
cease1 and the substances or elements of
 the dead body remain as before4 ,their 
chemical reactions are the same4 ,there 
is no new chemistry1 no new mechanics1  
no new substance in a live body1 but    
there is a new tendency or force or     
impulse acting in matter1 inspiring it1 
so to speak1 to new ends4 ,it is here   
that idealism parts company with exact  
science4 ,it is here that the           
philosophers go one way1 and the rigid  
scientists the other4 ,it is from this  
point of view that the philosophy of    
,henri ,bergson1 based so largely as it 
is upon scientific material1 has been so
 bitterly assailed from the scientific  
camp4  ,the living cell is a wonderful  
machine1 but if we ask which is first1  
life or the cell1 where are we8 ,there  
is the synthetical reaction in the cell1
 and the analytical or splitting        
reaction--the organizing1 and the       
disorganizing processes--what keeps up  

this seesaw and preserves the           
equilibrium8 ,a life force1 said the    
older scientists2 only chemical laws1   
say the new4 ,a prodigious change in the
 behavior of matter is wrought by life1 
and whether we say it is by chemical    
laws1 or by a life force1 the mystery   
remains4  ,the whole secret of life     
centres in the cell1 in the plant cell2 
and this cell does not exceed 4#jje     
millimetres in diameter4 ,an enormous   
number of chemical reactions take place 
in this minute space4 ,it is a world in 
little4 ,here are bodies of different   
shapes whose service is to absorb carbon
 dioxide1 and form sugar and            
carbohydrates4 ,must we go outside of   
matter itself1 and of chemical          
reactions1 to account for it8 ,call this
 unknown factor vital force1 as has so  
long been done1 or name it biotic       
energy1 as ,professor ,moore has lately 
done1 and the mystery remains the same4 
,it is a new behavior in matter1 call it
 by what name we will4  ,inanimate      

nature seems governed by definite laws2 
that is1 given the same conditions1 the 
same results always follow4 ,the        
reactions between two chemical elements 
under the same conditions are always the
 same4 ,the physical forces go their    
unchanging ways1 and are variable only  
as the conditions vary4 ,in dealing with
 them we know exactly what to expect4   
,we know at what degree of temperature1 
under the same conditions1 water will   
boil1 and at what degree of temperature 
it will freeze4 ,chance and probability 
play no part in such matters4 ,but when 
we reach the world of animate nature1   
what a contrast we behold6 ,here1 within
 certain limits1 all is in perpetual    
flux and change4 ,living bodies are     
never two moments the same4 ,variability
 is the rule4 ,we never know just how a 
living body will behave1 under given    
conditions1 till we try it4 ,a late     
spring frost may kill nearly every bean 
stalk or potato plant or hill of corn in
 your garden1 or nearly every shoot upon

 your grapevine4 ,the survivors have    
greater powers of resistance--a larger  
measure of that mysterious something we 
call vitality4 ,one horse will endure   
hardships and exposures that will kill  
scores of others4 ,what will agitate one
 community will not in the same measure 
agitate another4 ,what will break or    
discourage one human heart will sit much
 more lightly upon another4 ,life       
introduces an element of uncertainty or 
indeterminateness that we do not find in
 the inorganic world4 ,bodies still have
 their laws or conditions of activity1  
but they are elastic and variable4      
,among living things we have in a       
measure escaped from the iron necessity 
that holds the world of dead matter in  
its grip4 ,dead matter ever tends to a  
static equilibrium2 living matter to a  
dynamic poise1 or a balance between the 
intake and the output of energy4 ,life  
is a peculiar activity in matter4 ,if   
the bicyclist stops1 his wheel falls    
down2 no mechanical contrivance could be

 devised that could take his place on   
the wheel1 and no combination of purely 
chemical and physical forces can alone  
do with matter what life does with it4  
,the analogy here hinted at is only     
tentative4 ,i would not imply that the  
relation of life to matter is merely    
mechanical and external1 like that of   
the rider to his wheel4 ,in life1 the   
rider and his wheel are one1 but when   
life vanishes1 the wheel falls down4    
,the chemical and physical activity of  
matter is perpetual2 with a high-power  
microscope we may see the ,brunonian    
movement in liquids and gases any time  
and at all times1 but the movement we   
call vitality dominates these and turns 
them to new ends4 ,i suppose the nature 
of the activity of the bombarding       
molecules of gases and liquids is the   
same in our bodies as out2 that turmoil 
of the particles goes on forever2 it is1
 in itself1 blind1 fateful1 purposeless2
 but life furnishes1 or is1 an          
organizing principle that brings order  

and purpose out of this chaos4 ,it does 
not annul any of the mechanical or      
chemical principles1 but under its      
tutelage or inspiration they produce a  
host of new substances1 and a world of  
new and beautiful and wonderful forms4  
,,iv  ,bergson says the intellect is    
characterized by a natural inability to 
understand life4 ,certain it is1 ,i     
think1 that science alone cannot grasp  
its mystery4 ,we must finally appeal to 
philosophy2 we must have recourse to    
ideal values--to a non-scientific or    
super-scientific principle4 ,we cannot  
live intellectually or emotionally upon 
science alone4 ,science reveals to us   
the relations and inter-dependence of   
things in the physical world and their  
relations to our physical well-being2   
philosophy reveals their relations to   
our mental and spiritual life1 their    
meanings and their ideal values4 ,poor1 
indeed1 is the man who has no           
philosophy1 no commanding outlook over  
the tangles and contradictions of the   

world of sense4 ,there is probably some 
unknown and unknowable factor involved  
in the genesis of life1 but that that   
factor or principle does not belong to  
the natural1 universal order is         
unthinkable4 ,yet to fail to see that   
what we must call intelligence pervades 
and is active in all organic nature is  
to be spiritually blind4 ,but to see it 
as something foreign to or separable    
from nature is to do violence to our    
faith in the constancy and sufficiency  
of the natural order4 ,one star         
differeth from another in glory4 ,there 
are degrees of mystery in the universe4 
,the most mystifying thing in inorganic 
nature is electricity1--that disembodied
 energy that slumbers in the ultimate   
particles of matter1 unseen1 unfelt1    
unknown1 till it suddenly leaps forth   
with such terrible vividness and power  
on the face of the storm1 or till we    
summon it through the transformation of 
some other form of energy4 ,a still     
higher and more inscrutable mystery is  

life1 that something which clothes      
itself in each infinitely varied and    
beautiful as well as unbeautiful form of
 matter4 ,we can evoke electricity at   
will from many different sources1 but we
 can evoke life only from other life2   
the biogenetic law is inviolable4       
,professor ,soddy says1 ,natural        
philosophy may explain a rainbow but not
 a rabbit4 ,there is no secret about a  
rainbow2 we can produce it at will out  
of perfectly colorless beginnings4 ,but 
nothing but rabbits will or can produce 
a rabbit1 a proof again that we cannot  
say what a rabbit is1 though we may have
 a perfect knowledge of every anatomical
 and microscopic detail4  ,to regard    
life as of non-natural origin puts it   
beyond the sphere of legitimate inquiry2
 to look upon it as of natural origin1  
or as bound in a chain of chemical      
sequences1 as so many late biochemists  
do1 is still to put it where our science
 cannot unlock the mystery4 ,if we      
should ever succeed in producing living 

matter in our laboratories1 it would not
 lessen the mystery any more than the   
birth of a baby in the household lessens
 the mystery of generation4 ,it only    
brings it nearer home4   ,v  ,what is   
peculiar to organic nature is the living
 cell4 ,inside the cell1 doubtless1 the 
same old chemistry and physics go       
on--the same universal law of the       
transformation of energy is operative4  
,in its minute compass the transmutation
 of the inorganic into the organic1     
which constitutes what ,tyndall called  
the miracle and the mystery of vitality1
 is perpetually enacted4 ,but what is   
the secret of the cell itself8 ,science 
is powerless to tell us4 ,you may point 
out to your heart's content that only   
chemical and physical forces are        
discoverable in living matter2 that     
there is no element or force in a plant 
that is not in the stone beside which it
 grew1 or in the soil in which it takes 
root2 and yet1 until your chemistry and 
your physics will enable you to produce 

the living cell1 or account for its     
mysterious self-directed activities1    
your science avails not4 ,living cells1 
says a late ,european authority1 possess
 most effective means to accelerate     
reactions and to cause surprising       
chemical results4  ,behold the four     
principal elements forming stones and   
soils and water and air for whole       
geologic or astronomic ages1 and then   
behold them forming plants and animals1 
and finally forming the brains that give
 us art and literature and philosophy   
and modern civilization4 ,what prompted 
the elements to this new and            
extraordinary behavior8 ,science is dumb
 before such a question4  ,living bodies
 are immersed in physical conditions as 
in a sea4 ,external agencies--light1    
moisture1 air1 gravity1 mechanical and  
chemical influences--cause great changes
 in them2 but their power to adapt      
themselves to these changes1 and profit 
by them1 remains unexplained4 ,are      
morphological processes identical with  

chemical ones8  ,in the inorganic world 
we everywhere see mechanical adjustment1
 repose1 stability1 equilibrium1 through
 the action and interaction of outward  
physical forces2 a natural bridge is a  
striking example of the action of blind 
mechanical forces among the rocks4 ,in  
the organic world we see living         
adaptation which involves a             
non-mechanical principle4 ,an adjustment
 is an outward fitting together of      
parts2 an adaptation implies something  
flowing1 unstable1 plastic1             
compromising2 it is a moulding process2 
passivity on one side1 and activity on  
the other4 ,living things struggle2 they
 struggle up as well as down2 they      
struggle all round the circle1 while the
 pull of dead matter is down only4      
,behold what a good chemist a plant is6 
,with what skill it analyzes the        
carbonic acid in the air1 retaining the 
carbon and returning the oxygen to the  
atmosphere6 ,then the plant can do what 
no chemist has yet been able to do2 it  

can manufacture chlorophyll1 a substance
 which is the basis of all life on the  
globe4 ,without chlorophyll 7the green  
substance in plants7 the solar energy   
could not be stored up in the vegetable 
world4 ,chlorophyll makes the plant1 and
 the plant makes chlorophyll4 ,to ask   
which is first is to call up the old    
puzzle1 ,which is first1 the egg1 or the
 hen that laid it8  ,according to       
,professor ,soddy1 the engineer's unit  
of power1 that of the ,british          
cart-horse1 has to be multiplied many   
times in a machine before it can do the 
work of a horse4 ,he says that a car    
which two horses used to pull1 it now   
takes twelve or fifteen engine-horse to 
pull4 ,the machine horse belongs to a   
different order4 ,he does not respond to
 the whip2 he has no nervous system2 he 
has none of the mysterious reserve power
 which a machine built up of living     
cells seems to possess2 he is inelastic1
 non-creative1 non-adaptive2 he cannot  
take advantage of the ground2 his pull  

is a dead1 unvarying pull4 ,living      
energy is elastic1 adaptive1            
self-directive1 and suffers little loss 
through friction1 or through imperfect  
adjustment of the parts4 ,a live body   
converts its fuel into energy at a low  
temperature4 ,one of the great problems 
of the mechanics of the future is to    
develop electricity or power directly   
from fuel and thus cut out the enormous 
loss of eighty or ninety per cent which 
we now suffer4 ,the growing body does   
this all the time2 life possesses this  
secret2 the solar energy stored up in   
fuel suffers no loss in being           
transformed into work by the animal     
mechanism4  ,soddy asks whether or not  
the minute cells of the body may not    
have the power of taking advantage of   
the difference in temperature of the    
molecules bombarding them1 and thus of  
utilizing energy that is beyond the     
capacity of the machinery of the        
motor-car4 ,man can make no machine that
 can avail itself of the stores of      

energy in the uniform temperature of the
 earth or air or water1 or that can draw
 upon the potential energy of the atoms1
 but it may be that the living cell can 
do this1 and thus a horse can pull more 
than a one-horse-power engine4 ,soddy   
makes the suggestive inquiry3 ,if life  
begins in a single cell1 does           
intelligence8 does the physical         
distinction between living and dead     
matter begin in the jostling molecular  
crowd8 ,inanimate molecules1 in all     
their movements1 obey the law of        
probability1 the law which governs the  
successive falls of a true die4 ,in the 
presence of a rudimentary intelligence1 
do they still follow that law1 or do    
they now obey another law--the law of a 
die that is loaded8 ,in a machine the   
energy of fuel has first to be converted
 into heat before it is available1 but  
in a living machine the chemical energy 
of food undergoes direct transformation 
into work1 and the wasteful heat-process
 is cut off4   ,,vi  ,professor ,soddy1 

in discussing the relation of life to   
energy1 does not commit himself to the  
theory of the vitalistic or             
non-mechanical origin of life1 but makes
 the significant statement that there is
 a consensus of opinion that the life   
processes are not bound by the second   
law of thermo-dynamics1 namely1 the law 
of the non-availability of the energy   
latent in low temperatures1 or in the   
chaotic movements of molecules          
everywhere around us4 ,to get energy1   
one must have a fall or an incline of   
some sort1 as of water from a higher to 
a lower level1 or of temperature from a 
higher to a lower degree1 or of         
electricity from one condition of high  
stress to another less so4 ,but the     
living machine seems able to dispense   
with this break or incline1 or else has 
the secret of creating one for itself4  
,in the living body the chemical energy 
of food is directly transformed into    
work1 without first being converted into
 heat4 ,why a horse can do more work    

than a one-horse-power engine is        
probably because his living cells can   
and do draw upon this molecular energy4 
,molecules of matter outside the living 
body all obey the law of probability1 or
 the law of chance2 but inside the      
living body they at least seem to obey  
some other law--the law of design1 or of
 dice that are loaded1 as ,soddy says4  
,they are more likely always to act in a
 particular way4 ,life supplies a       
directing agency4 ,soddy asks if the    
physical distinction between living and 
dead matter begins in the jostling      
molecular crowd--begins by the crowd    
being directed and governed in a        
particular way4 ,if so1 by what8 ,ah6   
that is the question4 ,science will have
 none of it1 because science would have 
to go outside of matter for such an     
agent1 and that science cannot do4 ,such
 a theory implies intelligence apart    
from matter1 or working in matter4 ,is  
that a hard proposition8 ,intelligence  
clearly works in our bodies and brains1 

and in those of all the animals--a      
controlled and directed activity in     
matter that seems to be life4 ,the cell 
which builds up all living bodies       
behaves not like a machine1 but like a  
living being2 its activities1 so far as 
we can judge1 are spontaneous1 its      
motions and all its other processes are 
self-prompted4 ,but1 of course1 in it   
the mechanical1 the chemical1 and the   
vital are so blended1 so interdependent1
 that we may never hope to separate     
them2 but without the activity called   
vital1 there would be no cell1 and hence
 no body4  ,it were unreasonable to     
expect that scientific analysis should  
show that the physics and chemistry of a
 living body differs from that of the   
non-living4 ,what is new and beyond the 
reach of science to explain is the kind 
of activity of these elements4 ,they    
enter into new compounds2 they build up 
bodies that have new powers and         
properties2 they people the seas and the
 air and the earth with living          

creatures1 they build the body and brain
 of man4 ,the secret of the activity in 
matter that we call vital is certainly  
beyond the power of science to tell us4 
,it is like expecting that the paint and
 oil used in a great picture must differ
 from those in a daub4 ,the great artist
 mixed his paint with brains1 and the   
universal elements in a living body are 
mixed with something that science cannot
 disclose4 ,organic chemistry does not  
differ intrinsically from inorganic2 the
 difference between the two lies in the 
purposive activity of the elements that 
build up a living body4  ,or is life1 as
 a ,new ,england college professor      
claims1 an x-entity1 additional to      
matter and energy1 but of the same      
cosmic rank as they1 and manifesting    
itself to our senses only through its   
power to keep a certain quantity of     
matter and energy in the continuous     
orderly ferment we call life8  ,i recall
 that ,huxley said that there was a     
third reality in this universe besides  

matter and energy1 and this third       
reality was consciousness4 ,but neither 
the x-entity of ,professor ,ganong nor  
the consciousness of ,huxley can be said
 to be of the same cosmic rank as matter
 and energy1 because they do not pervade
 the universe as matter and energy do4  
,these forces abound throughout all     
space and endure throughout all time1   
but life and consciousness are flitting 
and uncertain phenomena of matter4 ,a   
prick of a pin1 or a blow from a hammer1
 may destroy both4 ,unless we consider  
them as potential in all matter 7and who
 shall say that they are not87 may we   
look upon them as of cosmic rank8  ,it  
is often urged that it is not the eye   
that sees1 or the brain that thinks1 but
 something in them4 ,but it is something
 in them that never went into them2 it  
arose in them4 ,it is the living eye and
 the living brain that do the seeing and
 the thinking4 ,when the life activity  
ceases1 these organs cease to see and to
 think4 ,their activity is kept up by   

certain physiological processes in the  
organs of the body1 and to ask what     
keeps up these is like the puppy trying 
to overtake its own tail1 or to run a   
race with its own shadow4  ,the brain is
 not merely the organ of the mind in an 
external and mechanical sense2 it is the
 mind4 ,when we come to living things1  
all such analogies fail us4 ,life is not
 a thing2 thought is not a thing2 but   
rather the effect of a certain activity 
in matter1 which mind alone can         
recognize4 ,when we try to explain or   
account for that which we are1 it is as 
if a man were trying to lift himself4   
,life seems like something apart4 ,it   
does not seem to be amenable to the law 
of the correlation and conservation of  
forces4 ,you cannot transform it into   
heat or light or electricity4 ,the force
 which a man extracts from the food he  
eats while he is writing a poem1 or     
doing any other mental work1 seems lost 
to the universe4 ,the force which the   
engine1 or any machine1 uses up1        

reappears as work done1 or as heat or   
light or some other physical            
manifestation4 ,but the energy of       
foodstuffs which a man uses up in a     
mental effort does not appear again in  
the circuit of the law of the           
conservation of energy4 ,a man uses up  
more energy in his waking moments1      
though his body be passive1 than in his 
sleeping4 ,what we call mental force    
cannot be accounted for in terms of     
physical force4 ,the sun's energy goes  
into our bodies through the food we eat1
 and so runs our mental faculties1 but  
how does it get back again into the     
physical realm8 ,science does not know4 
,it must be some sort of energy that    
lights the lamps of the firefly and the 
glow-worm1 and it must be some sort or  
degree of energy that keeps             
consciousness going4 ,the brain of a    
,newton1 or of a ,plato1 must make a    
larger draft on the solar energy latent 
in food-stuffs than the brain of a day  
laborer1 and his body less4 ,the same   

amount of food-consumption1 or of       
oxidation1 results in physical force in 
the one case1 and mental force in the   
other1 but the mental force escapes the 
great law of the equivalence of the     
material forces4  ,john ,fiske solves   
the problem when he drops his physical  
science and takes up his philosophy1    
declaring that the relation of the mind 
to the body is that of a musician to his
 instrument1 and this is practically the
 position of ,sir ,oliver ,lodge4       
,inheritance and adaptation1 says       
,haeckel1 are sufficient to account for 
all the variety of animal and vegetable 
forms on the earth4 ,but is there not a 
previous question8 ,do we not want      
inheritance and adaptation accounted    
for8 ,what mysteries they hold6 ,does   
the river-bed account for the river8    
,how can a body adapt itself to its     
environment unless it possess an        
inherent1 plastic1 changing1 and        
adaptive principle8 ,a stone does not   
adapt itself to its surroundings2 its   

change is external and not internal4    
,there is mechanical adjustment between 
inert bodies1 but there is no adaptation
 without the push of life4 ,a response  
to new conditions by change of form     
implies something actively              
responsive--something that profits by   
the change4   ,,vii  ,if we could tell  
what determines the division of labor in
 the hive of bees or a colony of ants1  
we could tell what determines the       
division of labor among the cells in the
 body4 ,a hive of bees and a colony of  
ants is a unit--a single organism4 ,the 
spirit of the body1 that which regulates
 all its economies1 which directs all   
its functions1 which cordinates its     
powers1 which brings about all its      
adaptations1 which adjusts it to its    
environment1 which sees to its repairs1 
heals its wounds1 meets its demands1    
provides more force when more is needed1
 which makes one organ help do the work 
of another1 which wages war on disease  
germs by specific ferments1 which       

renders us immune to this or that       
disease2 in fact1 which carries on all  
the processes of our physical life      
without asking leave or seeking counsel 
of us1--all this is on another plane    
from the mechanical or                  
chemical--super-mechanical4  ,the human 
spirit1 the brute spirit1 the vegetable 
spirit--all are mere names to fill a    
void4 ,the spirit of the oak1 the beech1
 the pine1 the palm--how different6 how 
different the plan or idea or interior  
economies of each1 though the chemical  
and mechanical processes are the same1  
the same mineral and gaseous elements   
build them up1 the same sun is their    
architect6 ,but what physical principle 
can account for the difference between a
 pine and an oak1 or1 for that matter1  
between a man and his dog1 or a bird and
 a fish1 or a crow and a lark8 ,what    
play and action or interaction and      
reaction of purely chemical and         
mechanical forces can throw any light on
 the course evolution has taken in the  

animal life of the globe--why the camel 
is the camel1 and the horse the horse8  
or in the development of the nervous    
system1 or the circulatory system1 or   
the digestive system1 or of the eye1 or 
of the ear8  ,a living body is never in 
a state of chemical repose1 but         
inorganic bodies usually are4 ,take away
 the organism and the environment       
remains essentially the same2 take away 
the environment and the organism changes
 rapidly and perishes--it goes back to  
the inorganic4 ,now1 what keeps up the  
constant interchange--this seesaw8 ,the 
environment is permanent2 the organism  
is transient4 ,the spray of the falls is
 permanent2 the bow comes and goes4     
,life struggles to appropriate the      
environment2 a rock1 for example1 does  
not1 in the same sense1 struggle with   
its surroundings1 it weathers passively1
 but a tree struggles with the winds1   
and to appropriate minerals and water   
from the soil1 and the leaves struggle  
to store up the sun's energy4 ,the body 

struggles to eliminate poisons or to    
neutralize them2 it becomes immune to   
certain diseases1 learns to resist them2
 the thing is alive4 ,organisms struggle
 with one another2 inert bodies clash   
and pulverize one another1 but do not   
devour one another4  ,life is a struggle
 between two forces1 a force within and 
a force without1 but the force within   
does all the struggling4 ,the air does  
not struggle to get into the lungs1 nor 
the lime and iron to get into our blood4
 ,the body struggles to digest and      
assimilate the food2 the chlorophyll in 
the leaf struggles to store up the solar
 energy4 ,the environment is unaware of 
the organism2 the light is indifferent  
to the sensitized plate of the          
photographer4 ,something in the seed we 
plant avails itself of the heat and the 
moisture4 ,the relation is not that of a
 thermometer or hygrometer to the warmth
 and moisture of the air2 it is a vital 
relation4  ,life may be called an       
aquatic phenomenon1 because there can be

 no life without water4 ,it may be      
called a thermal phenomenon1 because    
there can be no life below or above a   
certain degree of temperature4 ,it may  
be called a chemical phenomenon1 because
 there can be no life without chemical  
reactions4 ,yet none of these things    
define life4 ,we may discuss biological 
facts in terms of chemistry without     
throwing any light on the nature of life
 itself4 ,if we say the particular      
essence of life is chemical1 do we mean 
any more than that life is inseparable  
from chemical reactions8  ,after we have
 mastered the chemistry of life1 laid   
bare all its processes1 named all its   
transformations and transmutations1     
analyzed the living cell1 seen the      
inorganic pass into the organic1 and    
beheld chemical reaction1 the chief     
priestess of this hidden rite1 we shall 
have to ask ourselves1 ,is chemistry the
 creator of life1 or does life create or
 use chemistry8 ,these chemical reaction
 complexes in living cells1 as the      

biochemists call them1 are they the     
cause of life1 or only the effect of    
life8 ,we shall decide according to our 
temperaments or our habits of thought4  
,,ix  ,,the ,,journeying ,,atoms  ,i    
,emerson confessed in his ,journal that 
he could not read the physicists2 their 
works did not appeal to him4 ,he was    
probably repelled by their formulas and 
their mathematics4 ,but add a touch of  
chemistry1 and he was interested4       
,chemistry leads up to life4 ,he said he
 did not think he would feel threatened 
or insulted if a chemist should take his
 protoplasm1 or mix his hydrogen1       
oxygen1 and carbon1 and make an         
animalcule incontestably swimming and   
jumping before his eyes4 ,it would be   
only evidence of a new degree of power  
over matter which man had attained to4  
,it would all finally redound to the    
glory of matter itself1 which1 it       
appears1 is impregnated with thought and
 heaven1 and is really of ,god1 and not 
of the ,devil1 as we had too hastily    

believed4 ,this conception of matter    
underlies the new materialism of such   
men as ,huxley and ,tyndall4 ,but there 
is much in the new physics apart from   
its chemical aspects that ought to      
appeal to the ,emersonian type of mind4 
,did not ,emerson in his first poem1    
,the ,sphinx1 sing of      ,journeying  
atoms1     ,primordial wholes8  ,in     
those ever-moving and indivisible atoms 
he touches the very corner-stone of the 
modern scientific conception of matter4 
,it is hardly an exaggeration to say    
that in this conception we are brought  
into contact with a kind of             
transcendental physics4 ,a new world for
 the imagination is open--a world where 
the laws and necessities of ponderable  
bodies do not apply4 ,the world of gross
 matter disappears1 and in its place we 
see matter dematerialized1 and escaping 
from the bondage of the world of        
tangible bodies2 we see a world where   
friction is abolished1 where perpetual  
motion is no longer impossible2 where   

two bodies may occupy the same space at 
the same time2 where collisions and     
disruptions take place without loss of  
energy2 where subtraction often means   
more--as when the poison of a substance 
is rendered more virulent by the removal
 of one or more atoms of one of the     
elements2 and where addition often means
 less--as when three parts of the gases 
of oxygen and hydrogen unite and form   
only two parts of watery vapor2 where   
mass and form1 centre and circumference1
 size and structure1 exist without any  
of the qualities ordinarily associated  
with these things through our experience
 in a three-dimension world4 ,we see1 or
 contemplate1 bodies which are          
indivisible2 if we divide them1 their   
nature changes2 if we divide a molecule 
of water1 we get atoms of hydrogen and  
oxygen gas2 if we divide a molecule of  
salt1 we get atoms of chlorine gas and  
atoms of the metal sodium1 which means  
that we have reached a point where      
matter is no longer divisible in a      

mechanical sense1 but only in a chemical
 sense2 which again means that great and
 small1 place and time1 inside and      
outside1 dimensions and spatial         
relations1 have lost their ordinary     
meanings4 ,two bodies get inside of each
 other4 ,to the physicist1 heat and     
motion are one2 light is only a         
mechanical vibration in the ether2 sound
 is only a vibration in the air1 which  
the ear interprets as sound4 ,the world 
is as still as death till the living ear
 comes to receive the vibrations in the 
air2 motion1 or the energy which it     
implies1 is the life of the universe4   
,physics proves to us the impossibility 
of perpetual motion among visible1      
tangible bodies1 at the same time that  
it reveals to us a world where perpetual
 motion is the rule--the world of       
molecules and atoms4 ,in the world of   
gross matter1 or of ponderable bodies1  
perpetual motion is impossible because  
here it takes energy1 or its equivalent1
 to beget energy4 ,friction very soon   

turns the kinetic energy of motion into 
the potential energy of heat1 which     
quickly disappears in that great sea of 
energy1 the low uniform temperature of  
the earth4 ,but when we reach the       
interior world of matter1 the world of  
molecules1 atoms1 and electrons1 we have
 reached a world where perpetual motion 
is the rule2 we have reached the        
fountain-head of energy1 and the motion 
of one body is not at the expense of the
 motion of some other body1 but is a    
part of the spontaneous struggling and  
jostling and vibration that go on       
forever in all the matter of the        
universe4 ,what is called the ,brunonian
 movement 7first discovered by the      
botanist ,robert ,brown in #ahbg7 is    
within reach of the eye armed with a    
high-power microscope4 ,look into any   
liquid that holds in suspension very    
small particles of solid matter1 such as
 dust particles in the air1 or the      
granules of ordinary water-color paints 
dissolved in water3 not a single one of 

the particles is at rest2 they are all  
mysteriously agitated2 they jump hither 
and thither2 it is a wild chaotic whirl 
and dance of minute particles4 ,brown at
 first thought they were alive1 but they
 were only non-living particles dancing 
to the same tune which probably sets    
suns and systems whirling in the        
heavens4 ,ramsay says that tobacco smoke
 confined in the small flat chamber     
formed in the slide of a microscope1    
shows this movement1 in appearance like 
the flight of minute butterflies4 ,the  
,brunonian movement is now believed to  
be due to the bombardment of the        
particles by the molecules of the liquid
 or gas in which they are suspended4    
,the smaller the particles1 the livelier
 they are4 ,these particles themselves  
are made up of a vast number of         
molecules1 among which the same movement
 or agitation1 much more intense1 is    
supposed to be taking place2 the atoms  
which compose the molecules are dancing 
and frisking about like gnats in the    

air1 and the electrons inside the atoms 
are still more rapidly changing places4 
,we meet with the same staggering       
figures in the science of the infinitely
 little that we do in the science of the
 infinitely vast4 ,thus the physicist   
deals with a quantity of matter a       
million million times smaller than can  
be detected in the most delicate        
chemical balance4 ,molecules            
inconceivably small rush about in       
molecular space inconceivably small4    
,ramsay calculates how many collisions  
the molecules of gas make with other    
molecules every second1 which is four   
and one half quintillions4 ,this        
staggers the mind like the tremendous   
revelations of astronomy4 ,mathematics  
has no trouble to compute the figures1  
but our slow1 clumsy minds feel helpless
 before them4 ,in every drop of water we
 drink1 and in every mouthful of air we 
breathe1 there is a movement and        
collision of particles so rapid in every
 second of time that it can only be     

expressed by four with eighteen naughts4
 ,if the movement of these particles    
were attended by friction1 or if the    
energy of their impact were translated  
into heat1 what hot mouthfuls we should 
have6 ,but the heat1 as well as the     
particles1 is infinitesimal1 and is not 
perceptible4   ,,ii  ,the molecules and 
atoms and electrons into which science  
resolves matter are hypothetical bodies 
which no human eye has ever seen1 or    
ever can see1 but they build up the     
solid frame of the universe4 ,the air   
and the rocks are not so far apart in   
their constituents as they might seem to
 our senses4 ,the invisible and         
indivisible molecules of oxygen which we
 breathe1 and which keep our            
life-currents going1 form about half the
 crust of the earth4 ,the soft breeze   
that fans and refreshes us1 and the     
rocks that crush us1 are at least       
half-brothers4 ,and herein we get a     
glimpse of the magic of chemical        
combinations4 ,that mysterious property 

in matter which we call chemical        
affinity1 a property beside which human 
affinities and passions are tame and    
inconstant affairs1 is the architect of 
the universe4 ,certain elements attract 
certain other elements with a fierce and
 unalterable attraction1 and when they  
unite1 the resultant compound is a body 
totally unlike either of the            
constituents4 ,both substances have     
disappeared1 and a new one has taken    
their place4 ,this is the magic of      
chemical change4 ,a physical change1 as 
of water into ice1 or into steam1 is a  
simple matter2 it is merely a matter of 
more or less heat2 but the change of    
oxygen and hydrogen into water1 or of   
chlorine gas and the mineral sodium into
 common salt1 is a chemical change4 ,in 
nature1 chlorine and sodium are not     
found in a free or separate state2 they 
hunted each other up long ago1 and      
united to produce the enormous          
quantities of rock salt that the earth  
holds4 ,one can give his imagination    

free range in trying to picture what    
takes place when two or more elements   
unite chemically1 but probably there is 
no physical image that can afford even a
 hint of it4 ,a snake trying to swallow 
himself1 or two fishes swallowing each  
other1 or two bullets meeting in the air
 and each going through the centre of   
the other1 or the fourth dimension1 or  
almost any other impossible thing1 from 
the point of view of tangible bodies1   
will serve as well as anything4 ,the    
atoms seem to get inside of one another1
 to jump down one another's throats1 and
 to suffer a complete transformation4   
,yet we know that they do not2 oxygen is
 still oxygen1 and carbon still carbon1 
amid all the strange partnerships       
entered into1 and all the disguises     
assumed4 ,we can easily evoke hydrogen  
and oxygen from water1 but just how     
their molecules unite1 how they         
interpenetrate and are lost in one      
another1 it is impossible for us to     
conceive4  ,we cannot visualize a       

chemical combination because we have no 
experience upon which to found it4 ,it  
is so fundamentally unlike a mechanical 
mixture that even our imagination can   
give us no clew to it4 ,it is thinkable 
that the particles of two or more       
substances however fine1 mechanically   
mixed1 could be seen and recognized if  
sufficiently magnified2 but in a        
chemical combination1 say like iron     
sulphide1 no amount of magnification    
could reveal the two elements of iron   
and sulphur4 ,they no longer exist4 ,a  
third substance unlike either has taken 
their place4  ,we extract aluminum from 
clay1 but no conceivable power of vision
 could reveal to us that metal in the   
clay4 ,it is there only potentially4 ,in
 a chemical combination the different   
substances interpenetrate and are lost  
in one another3 they are not            
mechanically separable nor individually 
distinguishable4 ,the iron in the red   
corpuscles of the blood is not the metal
 we know1 but one of its many chemical  

disguises4 ,indeed it seems as if what  
we call the ultimate particles of matter
 did not belong to the visible order and
 hence were incapable of magnification4 
,that mysterious force1 chemical        
affinity1 is the true and original      
magic4 ,that two substances should      
cleave to each other and absorb each    
other and produce a third totally unlike
 either is one of the profound mysteries
 of science4 ,of the nature of the      
change that takes place1 ,i say1 we can 
form no image4 ,chemical force is       
selective2 it is not promiscuous and    
indiscriminate like gravity1 but        
specific and individual4 ,nearly all the
 elements have their preferences and    
they will choose no other4 ,oxygen comes
 the nearest to being a free lover among
 the elements1 but its power of choice  
is limited4  ,science conceives of all  
matter as grained or discrete1 like a   
bag of shot1 or a pile of sand4 ,matter 
does not occupy space continuously1 not 
even in the hardest substances1 such as 

the diamond2 there is space1 molecular  
space1 between the particles4 ,a rifle  
bullet whizzing past is no more a       
continuous body than is a flock of birds
 wheeling and swooping in the air4 ,air 
spaces separate the birds1 and molecular
 spaces separate the molecules of the   
bullet4 ,of course it is unthinkable    
that indivisible particles of matter can
 occupy space and have dimensions4 ,but 
science goes upon this hypothesis1 and  
the hypothesis proves itself4  ,after we
 have reached the point of the utmost   
divisibility of matter in the atom1 we  
are called upon to go still further and 
divide the indivisible4 ,the electrons1 
of which the atom is composed1 are one  
hundred thousand times smaller1 and two 
thousand times lighter than the smallest
 particle hitherto recognized1 namely1  
the hydrogen atom4 ,a ,french physicist 
conceives of the electrons as rushing   
about in the interior of the atom like  
swarms of gnats whirling about in the   
dome of a cathedral4 ,the smallest      

particle of dust that we can recognize  
in the air is millions of times larger  
than the atom1 and millions of millions 
of times larger than the electron4 ,yet 
science avers that the manifestations of
 energy which we call light1 radiant    
heat1 magnetism1 and electricity1 all   
come from the activities of the         
electrons4 ,sir ,j4 ,j4 ,thomson        
conceives of a free electron as dashing 
about from one atom to another at a     
speed so great as to change its location
 forty million times a second4 ,in the  
electron we have matter dematerialized2 
the electron is not a material particle4
 ,hence the step to the electric        
constitution of matter is an easy one4  
,in the last analysis we have pure      
disembodied energy4 ,with many of the   
feelings of an air-man1 says ,soddy1 who
 has left behind for the first time the 
solid ground beneath him1 we make this  
plunge into the demonstrable verities of
 the newest physics2 matter in the old  
sense--gross matter--fades away4 ,to the

 three states in which we have always   
known it1 the solid1 the liquid1 and the
 gaseous1 we must add a fourth1 the     
ethereal--the state of matter which ,sir
 ,oliver ,lodge thinks borders on1 or is
 identical with1 what we call the       
spiritual1 and which affords the key to 
all the occult phenomena of life and    
mind4  ,as we have said1 no human eye   
has ever seen1 or will see1 an atom2    
only the mind's eye1 or the imagination1
 sees atoms and molecules1 yet the      
atomic theory of matter rests upon the  
sure foundation of experimental science4
 ,both the chemist and the physicist are
 as convinced of the existence of these 
atoms as they are of the objects we see 
and touch4 ,the theory is a necessity to
 explain the experimental facts of      
chemical composition4 ,through          
metaphysics first1 says ,soddy1 then    
through alchemy and chemistry1 through  
physical and astronomical spectroscopy1 
lastly through radio-activity1 science  
has slowly groped its way to the atom4  

,the physicists make definite statements
 about these hypothetical bodies all    
based upon definite chemical phenomena4 
,thus ,clerk ,maxwell assumes that they 
are spherical1 that the spheres are hard
 and elastic like billiard-balls1 that  
they collide and glance off from one    
another in the same way1 that is1 that  
they collide at their surfaces and not  
at their centres4  ,only two of our     
senses make us acquainted with matter in
 a state which may be said to approach  
the atomic--smell and taste4 ,odors are 
material emanations1 and represent a    
division of matter into inconceivably   
small particles4 ,what are the perfumes 
we smell but emanations1 flying atoms or
 electrons1 radiating in all directions1
 and continuing for a shorter or longer 
time without any appreciable diminution 
in bulk or weight of the substances that
 give them off8 ,how many millions or   
trillions of times does the rose divide 
its heart in the perfume it sheds so    
freely upon the air8 ,the odor of the   

musk of certain animals lingers under   
certain conditions for years4 ,the      
imagination is baffled in trying to     
conceive of the number and minuteness of
 the particles which the fox leaves of  
itself in the snow where its foot was   
imprinted--so palpable that the scent of
 a hound can seize upon them hours after
 the fox has passed6 ,the all but       
infinite divisibility of matter is      
proved by every odor that the breeze    
brings us from field and wood1 and by   
the delicate flavors that the tongue    
detects in the food we eat and drink4   
,but these emanations and solutions that
 affect our senses probably do not      
represent a chemical division of matter2
 when we smell an apple or a flower1 we 
probably get a real fragment of the     
apple1 or of the flower1 and not one or 
more of its chemical constituents       
represented by atoms or electrons4 ,a   
chemical analysis of odors1 if it were  
possible1 would probably show the       
elements in the same state of           

combination as the substances from which
 the odors emanated4  ,the physicists   
herd these ultimate particles of matter 
about2 they have a regular circus with  
them2 they make them go through films   
and screens2 they guide them through    
openings2 they count them as their tiny 
flash is seen on a sensitized plate2    
they weigh them2 they reckon their      
velocity4 ,the alpha-rays from          
radio-active substances are swarms of   
tiny meteors flying at the incredible   
speed of twelve thousand miles a second1
 while the meteors of the midnight sky  
fly at the speed of only forty miles a  
second4 ,those alpha particles are      
helium atoms4 ,they are much larger than
 beta particles1 and have less          
penetrative power4 ,sir ,j4 ,j4 ,thomson
 has devised a method by which he has   
been able to photograph the atoms4 ,the 
photographic plate upon which their     
flight is recorded suggests a shower of 
shooting stars4 ,oxygen is found to be  
made up of atoms of several different   

forms4   ,,iii  ,the free path of       
molecules1 both in liquids and in gases1
 is so minute as to be beyond the reach 
of the most powerful microscope4 ,this  
free path in liquids is a zigzag course1
 owing to the perpetual collisions with 
other molecules4 ,the molecular behavior
 of liquids differs from that of gases  
only in what is called surface tension4 
,liquids have a skin1 a peculiar stress 
of the surface molecules2 gases do not1 
but tend to dissipate and fill all      
space4 ,a drop of water remains intact  
till vaporization sets in2 then it too  
becomes more and more diffused4  ,when  
two substances combine chemically1 more 
or less heat is evolved4 ,when the      
combination is effected slowly1 as in an
 animal's body1 heat is slowly evolved4 
,when the combustion is rapid1 as in    
actual fire1 heat is rapidly evolved4   
,the same phenomenon may reach the eye  
as light1 and the hand as heat1 though  
different senses get two different      
impressions of the same thing4 ,so a    

mechanical disturbance may reach the ear
 as sound1 and be so interpreted1 and   
reach the hand as motion in matter4 ,in 
combustion1 the oxygen combines rapidly 
with the carbon1 giving out heat and    
light and carbon dioxide1 but why it    
does so admits of no explanation4       
,herein again is where life differs from
 fire2 we can describe combustion in    
terms of chemistry1 but after we have   
described life in the same terms        
something--and this something is the    
main thing--remains untouched4  ,the    
facts of radio-activity alone           
demonstrate the truth of the atomic     
theory4 ,the beta rays1 or emanations   
from radium1 penetrating one foot of    
solid iron are very convincing4 ,and    
this may go on for hundreds of years    
without any appreciable diminution of   
size or weight of the radio-active      
substance4 ,a gram of such substance1   
says ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 might lose a  
few thousand of atoms a second1 and yet 
we could not detect the loss if we      

continued to weigh it for a century4    
,the volatile essences of organic bodies
 which we detect in odors and flavors1  
are not potent like the radium          
emanations4 ,we can confine them and    
control them1 but we cannot control the 
rays of radio-active matter any more    
than we can confine a spirit4 ,we can   
separate the three different kinds of   
rays--the alpha1 the beta1 and the      
gamma--by magnetic devices1 but we      
cannot cork them up and isolate them1 as
 we can musk and the attar of roses4    
,and these emanations are taking place  
more or less continuously all about us  
and we know it not4 ,in fact1 we are at 
all times subjected to a molecular      
bombardment of which we never dream2    
minute projectiles1 indivisible points  
of matter1 are shot out at us in the    
form of electrons from glowing metals1  
from lighted candles1 and from other    
noiseless and unsuspected batteries at a
 speed of tens of thousands of miles a  
second1 and we are none the wiser for   

it4 ,indeed1 if we could see or feel or 
be made aware of it1 in what a different
 world we should find ourselves6 ,how   
many million-or billion-fold our sense  
of sight and touch would have to be     
increased to bring this about6 ,we live 
in a world of collisions1 disruptions1  
and hurtling missiles of which our      
senses give us not the slightest        
evidence1 and it is well that they do   
not4 ,there is a tremendous activity in 
the air we breathe1 in the water we     
drink1 in the food we eat1 and in the   
soil we walk upon1 which1 if magnified  
till our senses could take it in1 would 
probably drive us mad4 ,it is in this   
interior world of molecular activity1   
this world of electric vibrations and   
oscillations1 that the many             
transformations of energy take place4   
,this is the hiding-place of the        
lightning1 of the electrons which       
moulded together make the thunderbolt4  
,what an underworld of mystery and power
 it is6 ,in it slumbers all the might   

and menace of the storm1 the power that 
rends the earth and shakes the heavens4 
,with the mind's eye one can see the    
indivisible atoms giving up their       
electrons1 see the invisible hosts1 in  
numbers beyond the power of mathematics 
to compute1 being summoned and          
marshalled by some mysterious commander 
and hurled in terrible fiery phalanxes  
across the battlefield of the storm4    
,the physicist describes the atom and   
talks about it as if it were a tangible 
body which one could hold in his hand   
like a baseball4 ,an atom1 ,sir ,oliver 
,lodge says1 consists of a globular mass
 of positive electricity with minute    
negative electrons embedded in it4 ,he  
speaks of the spherical form of the     
atom1 and of its outer surface1 of its  
centre1 and of its passing through other
 atoms1 and of the electrons that       
revolve around its centre as planets    
around a sun4 ,the electron1 one hundred
 thousand times smaller than an atom1   
yet has surface1 and that surface is a  

dimpled and corrugated sheet--like the  
cover of a mattress4 ,what a flight of  
the scientific imagination is that6     
,the disproportion between the size of  
an atom and the size of an electron is  
vastly greater than that between the sun
 and the earth4 ,represent an atom1 says
 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 by a church one   
hundred and sixty feet long1 eighty feet
 broad1 and forty feet high2 the        
electrons are like gnats inside it4 ,yet
 on the electric theory of matter1      
electrons are all of the atom there is2 
there is no church1 but only the gnats  
rushing about4 ,we know of nothing so   
empty and hollow1 so near a vacuum1 as  
matter in this conception of it4        
,indeed1 in the new physics1 matter is  
only a hole in the ether4 ,hence the    
newspaper joke about the bank sliding   
down and leaving the woodchuck-hole     
sticking out1 looks like pretty good    
physics4 ,the electrons give matter its 
inertia1 and give it the force we call  
cohesion1 give it its toughness1 its    

strength1 and all its other properties4 
,they make water wet1 and the diamond   
hard4 ,they are the fountain-head of the
 immense stores of the inter-atomic     
energy1 which1 if it could be tapped and
 controlled1 would so easily do all the 
work of the world4 ,but this we cannot  
do4 ,we are no more competent1 says     
,professor ,soddy1 to make use of these 
supplies of atomic energy than a savage1
 ignorant of how to kindle a fire1 could
 make use of a steam-engine4 ,the       
natural rate of flow of this energy from
 its atomic sources we get as heat1 and 
it suffices to keep life going upon this
 planet4 ,it is the source of all the   
activity we see upon the globe4 ,its    
results1 in the geologic ages1 are      
stored up for us in coal and oil and    
natural gas1 and1 in our day1 are       
available in the winds1 the tides1 and  
the waterfalls1 and in electricity4     
,,iv  ,the electric constitution of     
matter is quite beyond anything we can  
imagine4 ,the atoms are little worlds by

 themselves1 and the whole mystery of   
life and death is in their keeping4 ,the
 whole difference in the types of mind  
and character among men is supposed to  
be in their keeping4 ,the different     
qualities and properties of bodies are  
in their keeping4 ,whether an object is 
hot or cold to our senses1 depends upon 
the character of their vibrations2      
whether it be sweet or sour1 poisonous  
or innocuous to us1 depends upon how the
 atoms select their partners in the     
whirl and dance of their activities4    
,the hardness and brilliancy of the     
diamond is supposed to depend upon how  
the atoms of carbon unite and join      
hands4  ,i have heard the view expressed
 that all matter1 as such1 is dead      
matter1 that the molecules of hydrogen1 
oxygen1 carbon1 nitrogen1 iron1         
phosphorus1 calcium1 and so on1 in a    
living body1 are themselves no more     
alive than the same molecules in        
inorganic matter4 ,nearly nine tenths of
 a living body is water2 is not this    

water the same as the water we get at   
the spring or the brook8 is it any more 
alive8 does water undergo any chemical  
change in the body8 is it anything more 
than a solvent1 than a current that     
carries the other elements to all parts 
of the body8 ,there are any number of   
chemical changes or reactions in a      
living body1 but are the atoms and      
molecules that are involved in such     
changes radically changed8 ,can oxygen  
be anything but oxygen1 or carbon       
anything but carbon8 ,is what we call   
life the result of their various new    
combinations8 ,many modern biologists   
hold to this view4 ,in this conception  
merely a change in the order of         
arrangement of the molecules of a       
substance--which follows which or which 
is joined to which--is fraught with     
consequences as great as the order in   
which the letters of the alphabet are   
arranged in words1 or the words         
themselves are arranged in sentences4   
,the change of one letter in a word     

often utterly changes the meaning of    
that word1 and the changing of a word in
 the sentence may give expression to an 
entirely different idea4 ,reverse the   
letters in the word ,god1 and you get   
the name of our faithful friend the dog4
 ,huxley and ,tyndall both taught that  
it was the way that the ultimate        
particles of matter are compounded that 
makes the whole difference between a    
cabbage and an oak1 or between a frog   
and a man4 ,it is a hard proposition4   
,we know with scientific certainty that 
the difference between a diamond and a  
piece of charcoal1 or between a pearl   
and an oyster-shell1 is the way that the
 particles of carbon in the one case1   
and of calcium carbide in the other1 are
 arranged4 ,we know with equal certainty
 that the difference between certain    
chemical bodies1 like alcohol and ether1
 is the arrangement of their ultimate   
particles1 since both have the same     
chemical formula4 ,we do not spell      
acetic acid1 alcohol1 sugar1 starch1    

animal fat1 vegetable oils1 glycerine1  
and the like1 with the same letters2 yet
 nature compounds them all of the same  
atoms of carbon1 hydrogen1 and oxygen1  
but in different proportions and in     
different orders4  ,chemistry is        
all-potent4 ,a mechanical mixture of two
 or more elements is a simple affair1   
but a chemical mixture introduces an    
element of magic4 ,no conjurer's trick  
can approach such a transformation as   
that of oxygen and hydrogen gases into  
water4 ,the miracle of turning water    
into wine is tame by comparison4 ,dip   
plain cotton into a mixture of nitric   
and sulphuric acids and let it dry1 and 
we have that terrible explosive1        
guncotton4 ,or1 take the cellulose of   
which cotton is composed1 and add two   
atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen1 and
 we have sugar4 ,but we are to remember 
that the difference here indicated is   
not a quantitative1 but a qualitative   
one1 not one affecting bulk1 but        
affecting structure4 ,truly chemistry   

works wonders4 ,take ethyl alcohol1 or  
ordinary spirits of wine1 and add four  
more atoms of carbon to the carbon      
molecule1 and we have the poison        
carbolic acid4 ,pure alcohol can be     
turned into a deadly poison1 not by     
adding to1 but simply by taking from it2
 take out one atom of carbon and two of 
hydrogen from the alcohol molecule1 and 
we have the poison methyl alcohol4 ,but 
we are to remember that the difference  
here indicated is not a quantitative1   
but a qualitative one1 not one affecting
 bulk1 but affecting structure4  ,in our
 atmosphere we have a mechanical mixture
 of nitrogen and oxygen1 four parts of  
nitrogen to one of oxygen4 ,by uniting  
the nitrogen and oxygen chemically      
7,n#b,o7 we have nitrous oxide1         
laughing-gas4 ,ordinary starch is made  
up of three different elements--six     
parts of carbon1 ten parts of hydrogen1 
and five parts of oxygen                
7,c#f;,h#aj,o#e74 ,now if we add water  
to this compound1 we have a simple      

mixture of starch and water1 but if we  
bring about a chemical union with the   
elements of water 7hydrogen and oxygen71
 we have grape sugar4 ,this sugar is    
formed in green leaves by the agency of 
sunlight1 and is the basis of all plant 
and animal food1 and hence one of the   
most important things in nature4        
,carbon is a solid1 and is seen in its  
pure state in the diamond1 the hardest  
body in nature and the most valued of   
all precious stones1 but it enters      
largely into all living bodies and is an
 important constituent of all the food  
we eat4 ,as a gas1 united with the      
oxygen of the air1 forming carbon       
dioxide1 it was present at the beginning
 of life1 and probably helped kindle the
 first vital spark4 ,in the shape of    
wood and coal1 it now warms us and makes
 the wheels of our material civilization
 go round4 ,diamond stuff1 through the  
magic of chemistry1 plays one of the    
principle rles in our physical life2 we 
eat it1 and are warmed and propelled by 

it1 and cheered by it4 ,taken as        
carbonic acid gas into our lungs1 it    
poisons us2 taken into our stomachs1 it 
stimulates us2 dissolved in water1 it   
disintegrates the rocks1 eating out the 
carbonate of lime which they contain4   
,it is one of the principal actors in   
the drama of organized matter4   ,v  ,we
 have a good illustration of the power  
of chemistry1 and how closely it is     
dogging the footsteps of life1 in the   
many organic compounds it has built up  
out of the elements1 such as sugar1     
starch1 indigo1 camphor1 rubber1 and so 
forth1 all of which used to be looked   
upon as impossible aside from           
life-processes4 ,it is such progress as 
this that leads some men of science to  
believe that the creation of life itself
 is within the reach of chemistry4 ,i do
 not believe that any occult or         
transcendental principle bars the way1  
but that some unknown and perhaps       
unknowable condition does1 as mysterious
 and unrepeatable as that which         

separates our mental life from our      
physical4 ,the transmutation of the     
physical into the psychical takes place1
 but the secret of it we do not know4   
,it does not seem to fall within the law
 of the correlation and the conservation
 of energy4  ,free or single atoms are  
very rare2 they all quickly find their  
mates or partners4 ,this eagerness of   
the elements to combine is one of the   
mysteries4 ,if the world of visible     
matter were at one stroke resolved into 
its constituent atoms1 it would         
practically disappear2 we might smell   
it1 or taste it1 if we were left1 but we
 could not see it1 or feel it2 the water
 would vanish1 the solid ground would   
vanish--more than half of it into oxygen
 atoms1 and the rest mainly into silicon
 atoms4  ,the atoms of different bodies 
are all alike1 and presumably each holds
 the same amount of electric energy4    
,one wonders1 then1 how the order in    
which they are arranged can affect them 
so widely as to produce bodies so unlike

 as1 say1 alcohol and ether4 ,this      
brings before us again the mystery of   
chemical arrangement or combination1 so 
different from anything we know among   
tangible bodies4 ,it seems to imply that
 each atom has its own individuality4   
,mix up a lot of pebbles together1 and  
the result would be hardly affected by  
the order of the arrangement1 but mix up
 a lot of people1 and the result would  
be greatly affected by the fact of who  
is elbowing who4 ,it seems the same     
among the mysterious atoms1 as if some  
complemented or stimulated those next   
them1 or had an opposite effect4 ,but   
can we think of the atoms in a chemical 
compound as being next one another1 or  
merely in juxtaposition8 ,do we not     
rather have to think of them as         
identified with one another to an extent
 that has no parallel in the world of   
ponderable bodies8 ,a kind of sympathy  
or affinity makes them one in a sense   
that we only see realized among living  
beings4  ,chemical activity is the first

 step from physical activity to vital   
activity1 but the last step is taken    
rarely--the other two are universal4    
,chemical changes involve the atom4     
,what do vital changes involve8 ,we do  
not know4 ,we can easily bring about the
 chemical changes1 but not so the vital 
changes4 ,a chemical change destroys one
 or more substances and produces others 
totally unlike them2 a vital change     
breaks up substances and builds up other
 bodies out of them2 it results in new  
compounds that finally cover the earth  
with myriads of new and strange forms4  
,x  ,,the ,,vital ,,order  ,i   ,the    
mechanistic theory of life--the theory  
that all living things can be explained 
and fully accounted for on purely       
physico-chemical principles--has many   
defenders in our day4 ,the main aim of  
the foregoing chapters is to point out  
the inadequacy of this view4 ,at the    
risk of wearying my reader ,i am going  
to collect under the above heading a few
 more considerations bearing on this    

point4  ,a thing that grows1 that       
develops1 cannot1 except by very free   
use of language1 be called a machine4   
,we speak of the body as a machine1 but 
we have to qualify it by prefixing the  
adjective living--the living machine1   
which takes it out of the mechanical    
order of things fabricated1 contrived1  
built up from without1 and puts it in   
the order we call vital1 the order of   
things self-developed from within1 the  
order of things autonomous1 as          
contrasted with things automatic4 ,all  
the mechanical principles are operative 
in the life processes1 but they have    
been vitalized1 not changed in any way  
but in the service of a new order of    
reality4 ,the heart with its chambers   
and valves is a pump that forces the    
blood through the system1 but a pump    
that works itself and does not depend   
upon pneumatic pressure--a pump in which
 vital energy takes the place of        
gravitational energy4 ,the peristaltic  
movement in the intestines involves a   

mechanical principle1 but it is set up  
by an inward stimulus1 and not by       
outward force4 ,it is these inward      
stimuli1 which of course involve        
chemical reactions1 that afford the     
motive power for all living bodies and  
that put the living in another order    
from the mechanical4 ,the eye is an     
optical instrument1--a rather crude one1
 it is said1--but it cannot be separated
 from its function1 as can a mere       
instrument--the eye sees as literally as
 the brain thinks4 ,in breathing we     
unconsciously apply the principle of the
 bellows2 it is a bellows again which   
works itself1 but the function of which1
 in a very limited sense1 we can inhibit
 and control4 ,an artificial1 or        
man-made1 machine always implies an     
artificer1 but the living machine is not
 made in any such sense2 it grows1 it   
arises out of the organizing principle  
that becomes active in matter under     
conditions that we only dimly           
understand1 and that we cannot          

reproduce4  ,the vital and the          
mechanical coperate in all our bodily   
functions4 ,swallowing our food is a    
mechanical process1 the digestion of it 
is a chemical process and the           
assimilation and elimination of it a    
vital process4 ,inhaling and exhaling   
the air is a mechanical process1 the    
oxidation of the blood is a chemical    
process1 and the renewal of the         
corpuscles is a vital process4 ,growth1 
assimilation1 elimination1 reproduction1
 metabolism1 and secretion1 are all     
vital processes which cannot be         
described in terms of physics and       
chemistry4 ,all our bodily              
movements--lifting1 striking1 walking1  
running--are mechanical1 but seeing1    
hearing1 and tasting1 are of another    
order4 ,and that which controls1        
directs1 cordinates1 and inhibits our   
activities belongs to a still higher    
order1 the psychic4 ,the world of       
thoughts and emotions within us1 while  
dependent upon and interacting with the 

physical world without us1 cannot be    
accounted for in terms of the physical  
world4 ,a living thing is more than a   
machine1 more than a chemical           
laboratory4  ,we can analyze the        
processes of a tree into their          
mechanical and chemical elements1 but   
there is besides a kind of force there  
which we must call vital4 ,the whole    
growth and development of the tree1 its 
manner of branching and gripping the    
soil1 its fixity of species1 its        
individuality--all imply something that 
does not belong to the order of the     
inorganic1 automatic forces4 ,in the    
living animal how the psychic stands    
related to the physical or physiological
 and arises out of it1 science cannot   
tell us1 but the relation must be real2 
only philosophy can grapple with that   
question4 ,to resolve the psychic and   
the vital into the mechanical and       
chemical and refuse to see any other    
factors at work is the essence of       
materialism4   ,,ii  ,any contrivance   

which shows an interdependence of parts1
 that results in unity of action1 is    
super-mechanical4 ,the solar system may 
be regarded as a unit1 but it has not   
the purposive unity of a living body4   
,it is one only in the sense that its   
separate bodies are all made of one     
stuff1 and obey the same laws and move  
together in the same direction1 but a   
living body is a unit because all its   
parts are in the service of one         
purposive end4 ,an army is a unit1 a    
flock of gregarious birds1 a colony of  
ants or bees1 is a unit because the     
spirit and purpose of one is the spirit 
and purpose of all2 the unity is        
psychological4  ,only living bodies are 
adaptive4 ,adaptation1 of course1 has   
its physics or its chemistry1 because it
 is a physical phenomenon2 but there is 
no adaptation of a rock or a clay-bank  
to its environment2 there is only       
mechanical and chemical adjustment4 ,the
 influence of the environment may bring 
about chemical and physical changes in a

 non-living body1 but they are not      
purposive as in a living body4 ,the fat 
in the seeds of plants in northern      
countries is liquid and solid at a lower
 temperature than in tropical climates4 
,living organisms alone react in a      
formative or deformative way to external
 stimuli4 ,in warm climates the fur of  
animals and the wool of sheep become    
thin and light4 ,the colder the climate1
 the thicker these coverings4 ,such     
facts only show that in the matter of   
adaptation among living organisms1 there
 is a factor at work other than         
chemistry and physics--not independent  
of them1 but making a purposive use of  
them4 ,cut off the central shoot that   
leads the young spruce tree upwards1 and
 one of the shoots from the whirl of    
lateral branches below it slowly rises  
up and takes the place of the lost      
leader4 ,here is an action not prompted 
by the environment1 but by the          
morphological needs of the tree1 and it 
illustrates how different is its unity  

from the unity of a mere machine4 ,i am 
only aiming to point out that in all    
living things the material forces behave
 in a purposive way to a degree that    
cannot be affirmed of them in           
non-living1 and that1 therefore1 they   
imply intelligence4  ,evidently the     
cells in the body do not all have the   
same degree of life1--that is1 the same 
degree of irritability4 ,the bone cells 
and the hair cells1 for instance1 can   
hardly be so much alive--or so          
irritable--as the muscle cells2 nor     
these as intensely alive as the nerve   
and brain cells4 ,does not a bird       
possess a higher degree of life than a  
mollusk1 or a turtle8 ,is not a brook   
trout more alive than a mud-sucker8 ,you
 can freeze the latter as stiff as an   
icicle and resuscitate it1 but not the  
former4 ,there is a scale of degrees in 
life as clearly as there is a scale of  
degrees in temperature4 ,there is an    
endless gradation of sensibilities of   
the living cells1 dependent probably    

upon the degree of differentiation of   
function4 ,ansthetics dull or suspend   
this irritability4 ,the more highly     
developed and complex the nervous       
system1 the higher the degree of life1  
till we pass from mere physical life to 
psychic life4 ,science might trace this 
difference to cell structure1 but what  
brings about the change in the character
 of the cell1 or starts the cells to    
building a complex nervous system1 is a 
question unanswerable to science4 ,the  
biologist imagines this and that about  
the invisible or hypothetical molecular 
structure2 he assigns different         
functions to the atoms2 some are for    
endosmosis1 others for contraction1     
others for conduction of stimuli4       
,intramolecular oxygen plays a part4    
,other names are given to the           
mystery--the micellar strings of        
,naegeli1 the biophores of ,weismann1   
the plastidules of ,haeckel2 they all   
presuppose millions of molecules        
peculiarly arranged in the protoplasm4  

,on purely mechanical and chemical      
principles ,tyndall accounts for the    
growth from the germ of a tree4 ,the    
germ would be quiet1 but the solar light
 and heat disturb its dreams1 break up  
its atomic equilibrium4 ,the germ makes 
an effort to restore it 7why does it    
make an effort871 which effort is       
necessarily defeated and incessantly    
renewed1 and in the turmoil or scrapping
 between the germ and the solar forces1 
matter is gathered from the soil and    
from the air and built into the special 
form of a tree4 ,why not in the form of 
a cabbage1 or a donkey1 or a clam8 ,if  
the forces are purely automatic1 why    
not8 ,why should matter be gathered in  
at all in a mechanical struggle between 
inorganic elements8 ,but these are not  
all inorganic2 the seed is organic4 ,ah6
 that makes the difference6 ,that       
accounts for the effort4 ,so we have to 
have the organic to start with1 then the
 rest is easy4 ,no doubt the molecules  
of the seed would remain in a quiescent 

state1 if they were not disturbed by    
external influences1 chemical and       
mechanical4 ,but there is something     
latent or potential in that seed that is
 the opposite of the mechanical1 namely1
 the vital1 and in what that consists1  
and where it came from1 is the mystery4 
,,iii  ,i fancy that the difficulty     
which an increasing number of persons   
find in accepting the mechanistic view  
of life1 or evolution1--the view which  
,herbert ,spencer built into such a     
ponderous system of philosophy1 and     
which such men as ,huxley1 ,tyndall1    
,gifford1 ,haeckel1 ,verworn1 and       
others1 have upheld and illustrated1--is
 temperamental rather than logical4 ,the
 view is distasteful to a certain type  
of mind--the flexible1 imaginative1     
artistic1 and literary type--the type   
that loves to see itself reflected in   
nature or that reads its own thoughts   
and emotions into nature4 ,in a few     
eminent examples the two types of mind  
to which ,i refer seem more or less     

blended4 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge is a case  
in point4 ,sir ,oliver is an eminent    
physicist who in his conception of the  
totality of things is yet a             
thoroughgoing idealist and mystic4 ,his 
solution of the problem of living things
 is extra-scientific4 ,he sees in life a
 distinct transcendental principle1 not 
involved in the constitution of matter1 
but independent of it1 entering into it 
and using it for its own purposes4      
,tyndall was another great scientist    
with an inborn idealistic strain in him4
 ,his famous1 and to many minds         
disquieting1 declaration1 made in his   
,belfast address over thirty years ago1 
that in matter itself he saw the promise
 and the potency of all terrestrial     
life1 stamps him as a scientific        
materialist4 ,but his conception of     
matter1 as at bottom essentially        
mystical and transcendental1 stamps him 
as also an idealist4 ,the idealist in   
him speaks very eloquently in the       
passage which1 in the same address1 he  

puts into the mouth of ,bishop ,butler1 
in the latter's imaginary debate with   
,lucretius3 ,your atoms1 says the       
,bishop1 are individually without       
sensation1 much more are they without   
intelligence4 ,may ,i ask you1 then1 to 
try your hand upon this problem4 ,take  
your dead hydrogen atoms1 your dead     
oxygen atoms1 your dead carbon atoms1   
your dead nitrogen atoms1 your dead     
phosphorus atoms1 and all the other     
atoms1 dead as grains of shot1 of which 
the brain is formed4 ,imagine them      
separate and sensationless1 observe them
 running together and forming all       
imaginable combinations4 ,this1 as a    
purely mechanical process1 is seeable by
 the mind4 ,but can you see or dream1 or
 in any way imagine1 how out of that    
mechanical art1 and from these          
individually dead atoms1 sensation1     
thought1 and emotion are to arise8 ,are 
you likely to extract ,homer out of the 
rattling of dice1 or the ,differential  
,calculus out of the clash of billiard  

balls8 ,could any vitalist1 or          
,bergsonian idealist have stated his    
case better8  ,now the ,bishop ,butler  
type of mind--the visualizing1          
idealizing1 analogy-loving1 literary1   
and philosophical mind--is shared by a  
good many people2 it is shared by or is 
characteristic of all the great poets1  
artists1 seers1 idealists of the world2 
it is the humanistic type that sees man 
everywhere reflected in nature2 and is  
radically different from the strictly   
scientific type which dehumanizes nature
 and reduces it to impersonal laws and  
forces1 which distrusts analogy and     
sentiment and poetry1 and clings to a   
rigid logical method4  ,this type of    
mind is bound to have trouble in        
accepting the physico-chemical theory of
 the nature and origin of life4 ,it     
visualizes life1 sees it as a distinct  
force or principle working in and       
through matter but not of it1           
super-physical in its origin and        
psychological in its nature4 ,this is   

the view ,henri ,bergson exploits in his
 ,creative ,evolution4 ,this is the view
 ,kant took when he said1 ,it is quite  
certain that we cannot even             
satisfactorily understand1 much less    
explain1 the nature of an organism and  
its internal forces on purely mechanical
 principles4 ,it is the view ,goethe    
took when he said1 ,matter can never    
exist without spirit1 nor spirit without
 matter4  ,tyndall says ,goethe was     
helped by his poetic training in the    
field of natural history1 but hindered  
as regards the physical and mechanical  
sciences4 ,he could not formulate       
distinct mechanical conceptions2 he     
could not see the force of mechanical   
reasoning4 ,his literary culture helped 
him to a literary interpretation of     
living nature1 but not to a scientific  
explanation of it2 it helped put him in 
sympathy with living things1 and just to
 that extent barred him from the        
mechanistic conception of those of pure 
science4 ,goethe1 like every great poet1

 saw the universe through the colored   
medium of his imagination1 his emotional
 and sthetic nature2 in short1 through  
his humanism1 and not in the white light
 of the scientific reason4 ,his         
contributions to literature were of the 
first order1 but his contributions to   
science have not taken high rank4 ,he   
was a prophet of the soul1 and not a    
disciple of the scientific              
understanding4  ,if we look upon life as
 inherent or potential in the           
constitution of matter1 dependent upon  
outward physical and chemical conditions
 for its development1 we are accounting 
for life in terms of matter and motion1 
and are in the ranks of the             
materialists4 ,but if we find ourselves 
unable to set the ultimate particles of 
matter in action1 or so working as to   
produce the reaction which results in   
life1 without conceiving of some new    
force or principle operating upon them1 
then we are in the ranks of the         
vitalists or idealists4 ,the idealists  

see the original atoms slumbering there 
in rock and sea and soil for untold     
ages1 till1 moved upon by some unknown  
factor1 they draw together in certain   
fixed order and numbers1 and life is the
 result4 ,something seems to put a spell
 upon them and cause them to behave so  
differently from the way they behaved   
before they were drawn into the life    
circuit4  ,when we think of life1 as the
 materialists do1 as of                 
mechanico-chemical origin1 or explicable
 in terms of the natural universal      
order1 we think of the play of material 
forces amid which we live1 we think of  
their subtle action and interaction all 
about us--of osmosis1 capillarity1      
radio-activity1 electricity1 thermism1  
and the like2 we think of the four      
states of matter1--solid1 fluid1        
gaseous1 and ethereal1--of how little   
our senses take in of their total       
activities1 and we do not feel the need 
of invoking a transcendental principle  
to account for it4  ,yet to fail to see 

that what we must call intelligence     
pervades and is active in all organic   
nature is to be spiritually blind4 ,but 
to see it as something foreign to1 or   
separable from1 nature is to do violence
 to our faith in the constancy and      
sufficiency of the natural order4 ,one  
star differeth from another star in     
glory4 ,there are degrees of mystery in 
the universe4 ,the most mysterious thing
 in inorganic nature is                 
electricity--that disembodied energy    
that slumbers in the ultimate particles 
of matter--unseen1 unfelt1 unknown1 till
 it suddenly leaps forth with such      
terrible vividness and power on the face
 of the storm1 or till we summon it     
through the transformation of some other
 form of energy4 ,a still higher and    
more inscrutable mystery is life--that  
something which clothes itself in such  
infinitely varied and beautiful as well 
as unbeautiful forms of matter4 ,we can 
evoke electricity at will from many     
different sources1 but we can evoke life

 only from other life2 the biogenetic   
law is inviolable4   ,,iv  ,it takes    
some of the cold iron out of the        
mechanistic theory of life if we divest 
it of all our associations with the     
machine-mad and machine-ridden world in 
which we live and out of which our      
material civilization came4 ,the        
mechanical1 the automatic1 is the       
antithesis of the spontaneous and the   
poetic1 and it repels us on that        
account4 ,we are so made that the       
artificial systems please us far less   
than the natural systems4 ,a            
sailing-ship takes us more than a       
steamship4 ,it is nearer life1 nearer   
the winged creatures4 ,there is         
determinism in nature1 mechanical forces
 are everywhere operative1 but there are
 no machines in the proper sense of the 
word4 ,when we call an organism a living
 machine we at once take it out of the  
categories of the merely mechanical and 
automatic and lift it into a higher     
order--the vital order4  ,professor ,le 

,dantec says we are mechanisms in the   
third degree1 a mechanism of a mechanism
 of a mechanism4 ,the body is a         
mechanism by virtue of its anatomy--its 
framework1 its levers1 its hinges2 it is
 a mechanism by virtue of its chemical  
activities2 and it is a mechanism by    
virtue of its colloid states--three     
kinds of mechanisms in one1 and all     
acting together harmoniously and as a   
unit--in other words1 a super-mechanical
 combination of activities4  ,the       
mechanical conception of life repels us 
because of its association in our minds 
with the fabrications of our own        
hands--the dead metal and wood and the  
noise and dust of our machine-ridden and
 machine-produced civilization4  ,but   
,nature makes no machines like our own4 
,she uses mechanical principles         
everywhere1 in inert matter and in      
living bodies1 but she does not use them
 in the bald and literal way we do4 ,we 
must divest her mechanisms of the       
rigidity and angularity that pertain to 

the works of our own hands4 ,her hooks  
and hinges and springs and sails and    
coils and aeroplanes1 all involve       
mechanical contrivances1 but how        
differently they impress us from our own
 application of the same principles6    
,even in inert matter--in the dews1 the 
rains1 the winds1 the tides1 the snows1 
the streams1--her mechanics and her     
chemistry and her hydrostatics and      
pneumatics1 seem much nearer akin to    
life than our own4 ,we must remember    
that ,nature's machines are not human   
machines4 ,when we place our machine so 
that it is driven by the great universal
 currents1--the wheel in the stream1 the
 sail on the water1--the result is much 
more pleasing and poetic than when      
propelled by artificial power4 ,the more
 machinery we get between ourselves and 
,nature1 the farther off ,nature seems4 
,the marvels of crystallization1 the    
beautiful vegetable forms which the     
frost etches upon the stone flagging of 
the sidewalk1 and upon the window-pane1 

delight us and we do not reason why4 ,a 
natural bridge pleases more than one    
which is the work of an engineer1 yet   
the natural bridge can only stand when  
it is based upon good engineering       
principles4 ,i found at the great       
,colorado ,caon1 that the more the      
monuments of erosion were suggestive of 
human structures1 or engineering and    
architectural works1 the more ,i was    
impressed by them4 ,we are pleased when 
,nature imitates man1 and we are pleased
 when man imitates ,nature1 and yet we  
recoil from the thought that life is    
only applied mechanics and chemistry4   
,but the thought that it is mechanics   
and chemistry applied by something of   
which they as such1 form no part1 some  
agent or principle which we call        
vitality1 is welcome to us4 ,no machine 
we have ever made or seen can wind      
itself up1 or has life1 no chemical     
compound from the laboratories ever     
develops a bit of organic matter1 and   
therefore we are disbelievers in the    

powers of these things4   ,v  ,is       
gravity or chemical affinity any more   
real to the mind than vitality8 ,both   
are names for mysteries4 ,something     
which we call life lifts matter up1 in  
opposition to gravity1 into thousands of
 living forms4 ,the tree lifts potash1  
silica1 and lime up one or two hundred  
feet into the air2 it elbows the soil   
away from its hole where it enters the  
ground2 its roots split rocks4 ,a giant 
sequoia lifts tons of solid matter and  
water up hundreds of feet4 ,so will an  
explosion of powder or dynamite1 but the
 tree does it slowly and silently by the
 organizing power of life4 ,the vital is
 as inscrutably identified with the     
mechanical and chemical as the soul is  
identified with the body4 ,they are one 
while yet they are two4  ,for purely    
mechanical things we can find           
equivalents4 ,arrest a purely mechanical
 process1 and the machine only rests or 
rusts2 arrest a vital process1 and the  
machine evaporates1 disintegrates1      

myriads of other machines reduce it to  
its original mineral and gaseous        
elements4 ,in the organic world we      
strike a principle that is incalculable 
in its operation and incommensurable in 
its results4 ,the physico-chemical      
forces we can bring to book2 we know    
their orbits1 their attractions and     
repulsions1 and just what they will and 
will not do2 we can forecast their      
movements and foresee their effects4    
,but the vital forces transcend all our 
mathematics2 we cannot anticipate their 
behavior4 ,start inert matter in motion 
and we know pretty nearly what will     
happen to it2 mix the chemical elements 
together and we can foresee the results2
 but start processes or reactions we    
call life1 and who can foresee the end8 
,we know the sap will mount in the tree 
and the tree will be true to its type1  
but what do we or can we know of what it
 is that determines its kind and size8  
,we know that in certain plants the     
leaves will always be opposite each     

other on the stalk1 and that in other   
plants the leaves will alternate2 that  
certain plants will have conspicuous and
 others inconspicuous flowers2 but how  
can we know what it is in the cells of  
the plants that determines these things8
 ,we can graft the scion of a sour apple
 tree upon a sweet1 and vice versa1 and 
the fruit of the scion will be true to  
its kind1 but no analysis of the scion  
or of the stock will reveal the secret1 
as it would in the case of chemical     
compounds4 ,in inorganic nature we meet 
with concretions1 but not secretions2   
with crystallization1 but not with      
assimilation and growth from within4    
,chemistry tells us that the composition
 of animal bodies is identical with that
 of vegetable2 that there is nothing in 
one that is not in the other2 and yet1  
behold the difference6 a difference     
beyond the reach of chemistry to        
explain4 ,biology can tell us all about 
these differences and many other things1
 but it cannot tell us the secret we are

 looking for1--what it is that fashions 
from the same elements two bodies so    
unlike as a tree and a man4  ,decay and 
disintegration in the inorganic world   
often lead to the production of         
beautiful forms4 ,in life the reverse is
 true2 the vital forces build up varied 
and picturesque forms which when pulled 
down are shapeless and displeasing4 ,the
 immense layers of sandstone and        
limestone out of which the wonderful    
forms that fill the ,grand ,caon of the 
,colorado are carved were laid down in  
wide uniform sheets2 if the waters had  
deposited their material in the forms   
which we now see1 it would have been a  
miracle4 ,we marvel and admire as we    
gaze upon them now2 we do more1 we have 
to speculate as to how it was all done  
by the blind1 unintelligent forces4     
,giant stairways1 enormous alcoves1     
dizzy1 highly wrought balustrades1      
massive vertical walls standing         
four-square like huge foundations--how  
did all the unguided erosive forces do  

it8 ,the secret is in the structure of  
the rock1 in the lines of cleavage1 in  
the unequal hardness1 and in the        
impulsive1 irregular1 and unequal action
 of the eroding agents4 ,these agents   
follow the lines of least resistance2   
they are active at different times and  
seasons1 and from different directions2 
they work with infinite slowness2 they  
undermine1 they disintegrate1 they      
dislodge1 they transport2 the hard      
streaks resist them1 the soft streaks   
invite them2 water charged with sand and
 gravel saws down2 the wind1 armed with 
fine sand1 rounds off and hollows out2  
and thus the sculpturing goes on4 ,but  
after you have reasoned out all these   
things1 you still marvel at the symmetry
 and the structural beauty of the forms4
 ,they look like the handiwork of       
barbarian gods4 ,they are the handiwork 
of physical forces which we can see and 
measure and in a degree control4 ,but   
what a gulf separates them from the     
handiwork of the organic forces6   ,,vi 

,some things come and some things arise2
 things that already exist may come1 but
 potential things arise2 my friend comes
 to visit me1 the tide comes up the     
river1 the cold or hot wave comes from  
the west2 but the seasons1 night and    
morning1 health and disease1 and the    
like1 do not come in this sense2 they   
arise4 ,life does not come to dead      
matter in this sense2 it arises4 ,day   
and night are not traveling round the   
earth1 though we view them that way2    
they arise from the turning of the earth
 upon its axis4 ,if we could keep up    
with the flying moments1--that is1 with 
the revolution of the earth1--we could  
live always at sunrise1 or sunset1 or at
 noon1 or at any other moment we cared  
to elect4 ,love or hate does not come to
 our hearts2 it is born there2 the      
breath does not come to the newborn     
infant2 respiration arises there        
automatically4 ,see how the life of the 
infant is involved in that first breath1
 yet it is not its life2 the infant must

 first be alive before it can breathe4  
,if it is still-born1 the respiratory   
reaction does not take place4 ,we can   
say1 then1 that the breath means life1  
and the life means breath2 only we must 
say the latter first4 ,we can say in the
 same way that organization means life1 
and life means organization4 ,something 
sets up the organizing process in       
matter4 ,we may take all the physical   
elements of life known to us and jumble 
them together and shake them up to all  
eternity1 and life will not result4 ,a  
little friction between solid bodies    
begets heat1 a little more and we get   
fire4 ,but no amount of friction begets 
life4 ,heat and life go together1 but   
heat is the secondary factor4  ,life is 
always a vanishing-point1 a constant    
becoming--an unstable something that    
escapes us while we seem to analyze it4 
,in its nature or essence1 it is a      
metaphysical problem1 and not one of    
physical science4 ,science cannot grasp 
it2 it evaporates in its crucibles4 ,and

 science is compelled finally to drive  
it into an imaginary region--,i had     
almost said1 metaphysical region1 the   
region of the invisible1 hypothetical   
atoms of matter4 ,here in the mysteries 
of molecular attraction and repulsion1  
it conceives the secret of life to lie4 
,life is a wave1 says ,tyndall1 but does
 not one conceive of something1 some    
force or impulse in the wave that is not
 of the wave8 ,what is it that travels  
along lifting new water each moment up  
into waves8 ,it is a physical force     
communicated usually by the winds4 ,when
 the wave dies upon the shore1 this     
force is dissipated1 not lost1 or is    
turned into heat4 ,why may we not think 
of life as a vital force traveling      
through matter and lifting up into      
organic life waves in the same way8 ,but
 not translatable into any other form of
 energy because not derivable from any  
other form4  ,every species of animal   
has something about it that is unique   
and individual and that no chemical or  

physiological analysis of it will       
show--probably some mode of motion among
 its ultimate particles that is peculiar
 to itself4 ,this prevents              
cross-breeding among different species  
and avoids a chaos of animal and        
vegetable forms4 ,living tissues and    
living organs from one species cannot be
 grafted upon the individuals of another
 species2 the kidney of a cat1 for      
instance1 cannot be substituted for that
 of a dog1 although the functions and   
the anatomy of the two are identical4   
,it is suggested that an element of     
felineness and an element of canineness 
adhere in the cells of each1 and the two
 are antagonistic4 ,this specific       
quality1 or selfness1 of an animal      
pervades every drop of its blood1 so    
that the blood relationship of the      
different forms may be thus tested1     
where chemistry is incompetent to show  
agreement or antagonism4 ,the reactions 
of life are surer and more subtle than  
those of chemistry4 ,thus the blood     

relationship between birds and reptiles 
is clearly shown1 as is the relationship
 of man and the chimpanzee and the      
orang-outang4 ,the same general fact    
holds true in the vegetable world4 ,you 
cannot graft the apple upon the oak1 or 
the plum upon the elm4 ,it seems as if  
there were the quality of oakness and   
the quality of appleness1 and they would
 not mix4  ,the same thing holds among  
different chemical compounds4           
,substances which have precisely the    
same chemical formul 7called isomers7   
have properties as widely apart as      
alcohol and ether4  ,if chemistry is    
powerless to trace the relationship     
between different forms of life1 is it  
not highly improbable that the secret of
 life itself is in the keeping of       
chemistry8  ,analytical science has     
reached the end of its tether when it   
has resolved a body into its constituent
 elements4 ,why or how these elements   
build up a man in the one case1 and a   
monkey in another1 is beyond its        

province to say4 ,it can deal with all  
the elements of the living body1        
vegetable and animal2 it can take them  
apart and isolate them in different     
bottles2 but it cannot put them together
 again as they were in life4 ,it knows  
that the human body is built up of a    
vast multitude of minute cells1 that    
these cells build tissues1 that the     
tissues build organs1 that the organs   
build the body2 but the secret of the   
man1 or the dog1 or even the flea1 is   
beyond its reach4 ,the secret of        
biology1 that which makes its laws and  
processes differ so widely from those of
 geology or astronomy1 is a profound    
mystery4 ,science can take living tissue
 and make it grow outside of the body   
from which it came1 but it will only    
repeat endlessly the first step of      
life--that of cell-multiplication2 it is
 like a fire that will burn as long as  
fuel is given it and the ashes are      
removed2 but it is entirely purposeless2
 it will not build up the organ of which

 it once formed a part1 much less the   
whole organized body4  ,the difference  
between one man and another does not    
reside in his anatomy or physiology1 or 
in the elements of which the brains and 
bodies are composed1 but in something   
entirely beyond the reach of            
experimental science to disclose4 ,the  
difference is psychological1 or1 we may 
say1 philosophical1 and science is none 
the wiser for it4 ,the mechanics and the
 chemistry of a machine are quite       
sufficient to account for it1 plus the  
man behind it4 ,to the physics and      
chemistry of a living body1 we are      
compelled to add some intangible1       
unknowable principle or tendency that   
physics and chemistry cannot disclose or
 define4 ,one hesitates to make such a  
statement lest he do violence to that   
oneness1 that sameness1 that pervades   
the universe4  ,all trees go to the same
 soil for their ponderable elements1    
their ashes1 and to the air and the     
light for their imponderable1--their    

carbon and their energy1--but what makes
 the tree1 and makes one tree differ    
from another8 ,has the career of life   
upon this globe1 the unfolding of the   
evolutionary process1 been accounted for
 when you have named all the physical   
and material elements and processes     
which it involves8 ,we take refuge in   
the phrase the nature of things1 but the
 nature of things evidently embraces    
something not dreamed of in our science4
   ,,vii  ,it is reported that a ,french
 scientist has discovered the secret of 
the glow-worm's light4 ,of course it is 
a chemical reaction1--what else could it
 be8--but it is a chemical reaction in a
 vital process4 ,our mental and         
spiritual life--our emotions of art1    
poetry1 religion--are inseparable from  
physical processes in the brain and the 
nervous system2 but is that their final 
explanation8 ,the sunlight has little   
effect on a withered leaf1 but see what 
effect it has upon the green leaf upon  
the tree6 ,the sunlight is the same1 but

 it falls upon a new force or potency in
 the chlorophyll of the leaf1--a bit of 
chemistry there inspired by life1--and  
the heat of the sun is stored up in the 
carbon or woody tissues of the plant or 
tree1 to be given out again in our      
stoves or fireplaces4 ,and behold how   
much more of the solar heat is stored up
 in one kind of a tree than in certain  
other kinds1--how much in the hickory1  
oak1 maple1 and how little comparatively
 in the pine1 spruce1 linden1--all      
through the magic of something in the   
leaf1 or shall we say of the spirit of  
the tree8 ,if the laws of matter and    
force alone account for the living      
organism1 if we do not have to think of 
something that organizes1 then how do we
 account for the marvelous diversity of 
living forms1 and their still more      
marvelous power of adaptation to changed
 conditions1 since the laws of matter   
and force are the same everywhere8      
,science can deal only with the         
mechanism and chemistry of life1 not    

with its essence2 that which sets up the
 new activity in matter that we call    
vital is beyond its analysis4 ,it is    
hard to believe that we have told the   
whole truth about a living body when we 
have enumerated all its chemical and    
mechanical activities4 ,it is by such   
enumeration that we describe a watch1 or
 a steam-engine1 or any other piece of  
machinery4 ,describe ,i say1 but such   
description does not account for the    
watch or tell us its full significance4 
,to do this1 we must include the        
watchmaker1 and the world of mind and   
ideas amid which he lives4 ,now1 in a   
living machine1 the machine and the     
maker are one4 ,the watch is perpetually
 self-wound and self-regulated and      
self-repaired4 ,it is made up of        
millions of other little watches1 the   
cells1 all working together for one     
common end and ticking out the seconds  
and minutes of life with unfailing      
regularity4 ,unlike the watch we carry  
in our pockets1 if we take it apart so  

as to stop its ticking1 it can never be 
put together again4 ,it has not merely  
stopped2 it is dead4  ,the late ,william
 ,keith ,brooks1 of ,johns ,hopkins     
,university1 said in opposition to      
,huxley that he held to the             
old-fashioned conviction that living    
things do in some way1 and in some      
degree1 control or condition inorganic  
nature2 that they hold their own by     
setting the mechanical properties of    
matter in opposition to each other1 and 
that this is their most notable and     
distinctive characteristic4 ,and yet1 he
 said1 to think of the living world as  
anything but natural is impossible4     
,,viii  ,life seems to beget a new kind 
of chemistry1 the same elements behave  
so differently when they are drawn into 
the life circuit from what they did     
before4 ,carbon1 for instance1 enters   
into hundreds of new compounds in the   
organic world that are unknown in the   
inorganic world4 ,i am thus speaking of 
life as if it were something1 some force

 or agent1 that antedates its material  
manifestations1 whereas in the eyes of  
science there is no separation of the   
one from the other4 ,in an explosion    
there is usually something anterior to1 
or apart from1 the explosive compound1  
that pulls the trigger1 or touches the  
match1 or completes the circuit1 but in 
the slow and gentle explosions that keep
 the life machinery going1 we cannot    
make such a distinction4 ,the spark and 
the powder are one2 the gun primes and  
fires itself2 the battery is perpetually
 self-charged2 the lamp is self-trimmed 
and self-lit4  ,sir ,oliver ,lodge is   
apparently so impressed with some such  
considerations that he spiritualizes    
life1 and makes it some mysterious      
entity in itself1 existing apart from   
the matter which it animates and uses2  
not a source of energy but a timer and  
releaser of energy4 ,henri ,bergson1 in 
his ,creative ,evolution1 expounds a    
similar philosophy of life4 ,life is a  
current in opposition to matter which it

 enters into1 and organizes into the    
myriads of living forms4  ,i confess    
that it is easier for me to think of    
life in these terms than in terms of    
physical science4 ,the view falls in    
better with our anthropomorphic         
tendencies4 ,it appeals to the          
imagination and to our myth-making      
aptitudes4 ,it gives a dramatic interest
 to the question4 ,with ,bergson we see 
life struggling with matter1 seeking to 
overcome its obduracy1 compromising with
 it1 taking a half-loaf when it cannot  
get a whole one2 we see evolution as the
 unfolding of a vast drama acted upon   
the stage of geologic time4 ,creation   
becomes a perpetual process1 the        
creative energy an ever-present and     
familiar fact4 ,bergson's book is a     
wonderful addition to the literature of 
science and of philosophy4 ,the poet1   
the dreamer1 the mystic1 in each of us  
takes heart at ,bergson's beautiful     
philosophy2 it seems like a part of     
life2 it goes so well with living       

things4 ,as ,james said1 it is like the 
light of the morning and the singing of 
birds2 we glory in seeing the intellect 
humbled as he humbles it4 ,the concepts 
of science try our mettle4 ,they do not 
appeal to our humanity1 or to our       
myth-making tendencies2 they appeal to  
the purely intellectual1 impersonal     
force within us4 ,though all our gods   
totter and fall1 science goes its way2  
though our hearts are chilled and our   
lives are orphaned1 science cannot turn 
aside1 or veil its light4 ,it does not  
temper the wind to the shorn lamb4      
,hence the scientific conception of the 
universe repels many people4 ,they are  
not equal to it4 ,to think of life as   
involved in the very constitution of    
matter itself is a much harder          
proposition than to conceive of it as   
,bergson and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge do1 as 
an independent reality4 ,the latter view
 gives the mind something more tangible 
to lay hold of4 ,indeed1 science gives  
the mind nothing to take hold of4 ,does 

any chemical process give the mind any  
separate reality to take hold of8 ,is   
there a spirit of fire1 or of decay1 or 
of disease1 or of health8   ,,ix        
,behold a man with his wonderful body1  
and still more wonderful mind2 try to   
think of him as being fathered and      
mothered by the mere mechanical and     
chemical forces that we see at work in  
the rocks and soil underfoot1 begotten  
by chemical affinity or the solar energy
 working as molecular physic1 and       
mothered by the warmth and moisture1 by 
osmosis and the colloid state--and all  
through the chance clashings and        
groupings of the irrational physical    
forces4 ,nothing is added to them1      
nothing guides or inspires them1 nothing
 moves upon the face of the waters1     
nothing breathes upon the insensate     
clay4 ,the molecules or corpuscles of   
the four principal elements--carbon1    
hydrogen1 nitrogen1 and oxygen--just    
happened to come together in certain    
definite numbers1 and in a certain      

definite order1 and invented or built up
 that most marvelous thing in the       
universe1 the cell4 ,the cells put their
 heads1 or bodies1 together1 and built  
the tissues1 the tissues formed the     
organs1 the organs in convention        
assembled organized themselves into the 
body1 and behold6 a man1 a bird1 or a   
tree6--as chance a happening as the     
juxtaposition of the grains of sand upon
 the shore1 or the shape of the summer  
clouds in the sky4  ,aristotle dwells   
upon the internal necessity4 ,the teeth 
of an animal arise from necessity1 he   
says2 the animal must have them in order
 to live4 ,yet it must have lived before
 it had them1 else how would the        
necessity arise8 ,if the horns of an    
animal arise from the same necessity1   
the changing conditions of its life     
begat the necessity2 its life problem   
became more and more complicated1 till  
new tools arose to meet new wants4 ,but 
without some indwelling principle of    
development and progress1 how could the 

new wants arise8 ,spencer says this     
progress is the result of the action and
 reaction between organisms and their   
changing environment4 ,but you must     
first get your organism before the      
environment can work its effects1 and   
you must have something in the organism 
that organizes and reacts from the      
environment4 ,we see the agents he names
 astronomic1 geologic1 meteorologic1    
having their effects upon inanimate     
objects as well1 but they do not start  
the process of development in them2 they
 change a stone1 but do not transform it
 into an organism4 ,the chemist can take
 the living body apart as surely as the 
watchmaker can take a watch apart1 but  
he cannot put the parts together again  
so that life will reappear1 as the      
watchmaker can restore the time-keeping 
power of the watch4 ,the watch is a mere
 mechanical contrivance with parts      
fitted to parts externally1 while the   
living body is a mechanical and chemical
 contrivance1 with parts blended with   

parts internally1 so to speak1 and      
acting together through sympathy1 and   
not merely by mechanical adjustment4 ,do
 we not have to think of some organizing
 agent embracing and controlling all the
 parts1 and integral in each of them1   
making a vital bond instead of a        
mechanical one8  ,there are degrees of  
vitality in living things1 whereas there
 are only degrees of complexity and     
delicacy and efficiency in mechanical   
contrivances4 ,one watch differs from   
another in the perfection of its works1 
but not as two living bodies with       
precisely similar structure differ from 
each other in their hold upon life1 or  
in their measure of vitality4 ,no       
analysis possible to science could show 
any difference in the chemistry and     
physics of two persons of whom one would
 withstand hardships and diseases that  
would kill the other1 or with whom one  
would have the gift of long life and the
 other not4 ,machines differ from one   
another quantitatively--more or less    

efficiency2 a living body differs from a
 machine qualitatively--its efficiency  
is of a different order2 its unity is of
 a different order2 its complexity is of
 a different order2 the interdependence 
of its parts is of a different order4   
,yet what a parallel there is between a 
machine and a living body6 ,both are run
 by external forces or agents1 solar    
energy in one applied mechanically from 
without2 in the other applied vitally   
from within2 both suffer from the wear  
and tear of time and from abuse1 but one
 is self-repaired and the other         
powerless in this respect--two machines 
with the same treatment running the same
 number of years1 but two men with the  
same treatment running a very unequal   
number of years4 ,machines of the same  
kind differ in durability1 men differ in
 powers of endurance2 a man can screw up
 his courage1 but a machine has no      
courage to screw up4 ,science may be    
unable to see any difference between    
vital mechanics1 vital chemistry1 and   

the chemics and mechanics of inorganic  
bodies--its analysis reveals no         
difference2 but that there is a         
difference as between two different     
orders1 all men see and feel4  ,science 
cannot deal with fundamental questions4 
,only philosophy can do this4 ,science  
is only a tool or a key1 and it can     
unlock only certain material problems4  
,it cannot appraise itself4 ,it is not a
 judge but a witness4 ,problems of mind1
 of character1 moral1 sthetic1 literary1
 artistic problems1 are not its sphere4 
,it counts and weighs and measures and  
analyzes1 it traces relations1 but it   
cannot appraise its own results4        
,science and religion come in conflict  
only when the latter seeks to deal with 
objective facts1 and the former seeks to
 deal with subjective ideas and         
emotions4 ,on the question of miracle   
they clash1 because religion is then    
dealing with natural phenomena and      
challenges science4 ,philosophy offends 
science when it puts its own            

interpretation upon scientific facts4   
,science displeases literature when it  
dehumanizes nature and shows us         
irrefragable laws when we had looked for
 humanistic divinities4     ,,xi  ,,the 
,,arrival ,,of ,,the ,,fit   ,in my     
youth ,i once heard the then well-known 
lecturer ,starr ,king speak on ,the ,law
 of ,disorder4 ,i have no recollection  
of the main thought of his discourse1   
but can see that it might have been upon
 the order and harmony that finally come
 out of the disharmonies of nature and  
of man4 ,the whole universe goes        
blundering on1 but surely arrives4      
,collisions and dispersions in the      
heavens above1 and failure and          
destruction among living things on the  
earth below1 yet here we all are in a   
world good to be in6 ,the proof that it 
is good to be in is that we are actually
 here4 ,it is as if the ,creator played 
his right hand against his left--what   
one loses the other gains4  ,it has been
 aptly said that while ,darwin's theory 

of natural selection may account for the
 survival of the fittest1 it does not   
account for the arrival of the fittest4 
,the arrival of the fittest1 sooner or  
later1 seems in some way guaranteed by  
tendencies that are beyond the          
hit-and-miss method of natural          
selection4  ,when we look back over the 
course of organic evolution1 we see the 
unfolding of a great drama1 or tragedy1 
in which1 for millions upon millions of 
years the sole actors are low and all   
but brainless forms of life1 devouring  
and devoured1 in the old seas4 ,we see1 
during other millions upon millions of  
years1 a savage carnival of huge bestial
 forms upon the land1 amphibian monsters
 and dragons of the land and air1       
devouring and being devoured1 a riot of 
blood and carnage4 ,we see the shifting 
of land and sea1 the folding and        
crumpling of the earth's crust1 the rise
 of mountains1 the engulfing of forests1
 a vast destruction of life1 immense    
numbers of animal forms becoming extinct

 through inability to adapt themselves  
to new conditions1 or from other causes4
 ,we see creatures1 half beast1 half    
bird1 or half dragon1 half fish2 we see 
the evolutionary process thwarted or    
delayed apparently by the hardening or  
fixing of its own forms4 ,we see it     
groping its way like a blind man1 and   
experimenting with this device and with 
that1 fumbling1 awkward1 ineffectual1   
trying magnitude of body and physical   
strength first1 and then shifting the   
emphasis to size of brain and delicacy  
and complexity of nerve-organization1   
pushing on but gropingly1 learning only 
by experience1 regardless of pain and   
waste and suffering2 whole races of     
sentient beings swept away by some      
terrestrial cataclysm1 as at the end of 
,palozoic and ,mesozoic times2 prodigal1
 inhuman1 riotous1 arming some vegetable
 growths with spurs and thorns that tear
 and stab1 some insects with stings1    
some serpents with deadly fangs1 the    
production of pain as much a part of the

 scheme of things as the production of  
pleasure2 the creative impulse feeling  
its way through the mollusk to the fish1
 and through the fish to the amphibian  
and the reptile1 through the reptile to 
the mammal1 and through the mammal to   
the anthropoid apes1 and through the    
apes to man1 then through the rude and  
savage races of man1 the long-jawed1    
small-brained1 ,pliocene man1 hairy and 
savage1 to the cave-dwellers and        
stone-implement man of ,pleistocene     
times1 and so on to our rude ancestors  
whom we see dimly at the dawn of        
history1 and thus rapidly upward to the 
,european man of our own era4 ,what a   
record6 ,what savagery1 what thwartings 
and delays1 what carnage and suffering1 
what an absence of all that we mean by  
intelligent planning and oversight1 of  
love1 of fatherhood6 ,just a clash of   
forces1 the battle to the strong and the
 race to the fleet4  ,it is hard to     
believe that the course of organic      
evolution would have eventuated in man  

and the other higher forms of life      
without some guiding principle2 yet it  
is equally difficult to believe that the
 course of any guiding intelligence down
 the ages would have been strewn with so
 many failures and monstrosities1 so    
much waste and suffering and delay4 ,man
 has not been specially favored by one  
force or element in nature4 ,behold the 
enemies that beset him without and      
within1 and that are armed for his      
destruction6 ,the intelligence that     
appears to pervade the organic world1   
and that reaches its conscious          
expression in the brain of man1 is just 
as manifest in all the forms of animals 
and plants that are inimical to him1 in 
all his natural enemies1--venomous      
snakes and beasts of prey1 and insect   
pests1--as in anything else4 ,nature is 
as wise and solicitous for rats and mice
 as for men4 ,in fact1 she has endowed  
many of the lower creatures with        
physical powers that she has denied him4
 ,evidently man is only one of the cards

 in her pack2 doubtless the highest one1
 but the game is not played for him     
alone4  ,there is no economy of effort  
or of material in nature as a whole1    
whatever there may be in special parts4 
,the universe is not run on modern      
business-efficiency principles4 ,there  
is no question of time1 or of profit1 of
 solvency or insolvency4 ,the           
profit-and-loss account in the long run 
always balances4 ,in our astronomic age 
there are probably vastly more dead suns
 and planets strewing the depths of     
sidereal space than there are living    
suns and planets4 ,but in some earlier  
period in the cycle of time the reverse 
may have been true1 or it may be true in
 some future period4  ,there is economy 
of effort in the individual organism1   
but not in the organic series1 at least 
from the human point of view4 ,during   
the biologic ages there have been a vast
 number of animal forms1 great and      
small1 and are still1 that had no       
relation to man1 that were not in his   

line of descent1 and played no part in  
his evolution4 ,during that carnival of 
monstrous and gigantic forms in         
,mesozoic time the ancestor of man was  
probably some small and insignificant   
creature whose life was constantly      
imperiled by the huge beasts about it4  
,that it survived at all in the clash of
 forces1 bestial and elemental1 during  
those early ages1 is one of the wonders 
of time4 ,the drama or tragedy of       
evolution has had many actors1 some of  
them fearful and terrible to look upon1 
who have played their parts and passed  
off the stage1 as if the sole purpose   
was the entertainment of some unseen    
spectator4 ,when we reach human history1
 what wasted effort1 what failures1 what
 blind groping1 what futile             
undertakings6--war1 famine1 pestilence1 
delaying progress or bringing to naught 
the wisdom of generations of men6 ,those
 who live in this age are witnessing in 
the terrible ,european war something    
analogous to the blind1 wasteful fury of

 the elemental forces2 millions of men  
who never saw one another1 and who have 
not the shadow of a quarrel1 engage in a
 life-and-death struggle1 armed with all
 the aids that centuries of science and 
civilization can give them--a tragedy   
that darkens the very heavens and makes 
a mockery of all our age-old gospel of  
peace and good will to men4 ,it is a    
catastrophe on a scale with the         
cataclysms of geologic time when whole  
races disappeared and the face of       
continents was changed4 ,it seems that  
men in the aggregate1 with all their    
science and religion1 are no more exempt
 from the operation of cosmic laws than 
are the stocks and stones4 ,each party  
to this gigantic struggle declares that 
he is in it against his will2 the fate  
that rules in the solar system seems to 
have them all in its grip2 the working  
of forces and tendencies for which no   
man was responsible seems to have       
brought it about4 ,social communities   
grow in grace and good-fellowship1 but  

governments in their relations to one   
another1 and often in relation to their 
own subjects1 are still barbarous4 ,men 
become christianized1 but man is still a
 heathen1 the victim of savage          
instincts4 ,in this struggle one of the 
most admirable and efficient of nations1
 and one of the most solicitous for the 
lives and well-being of its citizens1 is
 suddenly seized with a fury of         
destruction1 hurling its soldiers to    
death as if they were only the waste of 
the fields1 and trampling down other    
peoples whose geographic position placed
 them in their way as if they were      
merely vermin1 throwing international   
morality to the winds1 looking upon     
treaties as scraps of paper1 regarding  
themselves as the salt of the earth1 the
 chosen of the ,lord1 appropriating the 
,supreme ,being as did the colossal     
egotism of old ,israel1 and quickly     
getting down to the basic principle of  
savage life--that might makes right4    
,little wonder that the good people are 

asking1 ,have we lost faith8 ,we may or 
we may not have lost faith1 but can we  
not see that our faith does not give us 
a key to the problem8 ,our faith is     
founded on the old prescientific        
conception of a universe in which good  
and evil are struggling with each other1
 with a ,supreme ,being aiding and      
abetting the good4 ,we fail to          
appreciate that the cosmic laws are no  
respecters of persons4 ,emerson says    
there is no god dare wrong a worm1 but  
worms dare wrong one another1 and there 
is no god dare take sides with either4  
,the tides in the affairs of men are as 
little subject to human control as the  
tides of the sea and the air4 ,we may   
fix the blame of the ,european war upon 
this government or upon that1 but race  
antagonisms and geographical position   
are not matters of choice4 ,an island   
empire1 like ,england1 is bound to be   
jealous of all rivals upon the sea1     
because her very life1 when nations     
clash1 depends upon her control of it2  

and an inland empire1 like ,germany1 is 
bound to grow restless under the        
pressure of contiguous states of other  
races4 ,a vast empire1 like ,russia1 is 
always in danger of falling apart by its
 own weight4 ,it is fused and           
consolidated by a turn of events that   
arouse the patriotic emotions of the    
whole people and unite them in a common 
enthusiasm4  ,the evolution of nations  
is attended by the same contingencies1  
the same law of probability1 the same   
law of the survival of the fit1 as are  
organic bodies4 ,i say the survival of  
the fit2 there are degrees of fitness in
 the scale of life2 the fit survive1 and
 the fittest lead and dominate1 as did  
the reptiles in ,mesozoic time1 and the 
mammals in ,tertiary time4 ,among the   
mammals man is dominant because he is   
the fittest4 ,nations break up or become
 extinct when they are no longer fit1 or
 equal to the exigencies of the         
struggles of life4 ,the ,roman ,empire  
would still exist if it had been        

entirely fit4 ,the causes of its        
unfitness form a long and intricate     
problem4 ,germany of to-day evidently   
looks upon herself as the dominant      
nation1 the one fittest to survive1 and 
she has committed herself to the        
desperate struggle of justifying her    
self-estimate4 ,she tramples down weaker
 nations as we do the stubble of the    
fields4 ,she would plough and harrow the
 world to plant her ,prussian ,kultur4  
,this ,kultur is a mighty good product1 
but we outside of its pale think that   
,french ,kultur1 and ,english ,kultur1  
and ,american ,kultur are good products 
also1 and equally fit to survive4 ,we   
naturally object to being ploughed      
under4 ,that ,russian ,kultur has so far
 proved itself a vastly inferior product
 cannot be doubted1 but the evolutionary
 processes will in time bring a finer   
and higher ,russia out of this vast     
weltering and fermenting mass of        
humanity4 ,in all these things          
impersonal laws and forces are at work1 

and the balance of power1 if temporarily
 disturbed1 is bound1 sooner or later1  
to be restored just as it is in the     
inorganic realm4  ,evolution is         
creative1 as ,bergson contends4 ,the    
wonder is that1 notwithstanding the     
indifference of the elemental forces and
 the blind clashing of opposing         
tendencies among living forms1--a       
universe that seems run entirely on the 
trial-and-error principle1--evolution   
has gone steadily forward1 a certain    
order and stability has been reached in 
the world of inert bodies and forces1   
and myriads of forms of wonderful       
fitness and beauty have been reached in 
the organic realm4 ,just as the         
water-system and the weather-system of  
the globe have worked themselves out on 
the hit-and-miss plan1 but not without  
serious defects1--much too much water   
and heat at a few places1 and much too  
little at a few others1--so the organic 
impulse1 warred upon by the blind       
inorganic elements and preyed upon by   

the forms it gave rise to1 has worked   
itself out and peopled the world as we  
see it peopled to-day--not with forms   
altogether admirable and lovely from our
 point of view1 but so from the point of
 view of the whole4 ,the forests get    
themselves planted by the               
go-as-you-please winds and currents1 the
 pines in one place1 the spruce1 the    
oaks1 the elms1 the beeches1 in another1
 all with a certain fitness and system4 
,the waters gather themselves together  
in great bodies and breathe salubrity   
and fertility upon the land4  ,a certain
 order and reasonableness emerges from  
the chaos and cross-purposes4 ,there are
 harmony and coperation among the       
elemental forces1 as well as strife and 
antagonism4 ,life gets on1 for all      
groping and blundering4 ,there is the   
inherent variability of living forms to 
begin with--the primordial push toward  
the development from within which1 so   
far as we can see1 is not fortuitous1   
but predestined2 and there is the stream

 of influences from without1 constantly 
playing upon and modifying the organism 
and taken advantage of by it4  ,the     
essence of life is in adaptability2 it  
goes into partnership with the forces   
and conditions that surround it4 ,it is 
this trait which leads the teleological 
philosopher to celebrate the fitness of 
the environment when its fitness is a   
foregone conclusion4 ,shall we praise   
the fitness of the air for breathing1 or
 of the water for drinking1 or of the   
winds for filling our sails8 ,if we     
cannot say explicitly1 without speaking 
from our anthropomorphism1 that there is
 a guiding intelligence in the evolution
 of living forms1 we can at least say1  
,i think1 that the struggle for life is 
favored by the very constitution of the 
universe and that man in some           
inscrutable way was potential in the    
fiery nebula itself4     ,,xii  ,,the   
,,naturalist',s ,,view ,,of ,,life   ,i 
,william ,james said that one of the    
privileges of a philosopher was to      

contradict other philosophers4 ,i may   
add in the same spirit that one of the  
fatalities of many philosophers is1     
sooner or later1 to contradict          
themselves4 ,i do not know that ,james  
ever contradicted himself1 but ,i have  
little doubt that a critical examination
 of his works would show that he        
sometimes did so2 ,i remember that he   
said he often had trouble to make both  
ends of his philosophy meet4 ,any man   
who seeks to compass any of the         
fundamental problems with the little    
span of his finite mind1 is bound at    
times to have trouble to make both ends 
meet4 ,the man of science seldom has any
 such trouble with his problems2 he     
usually knows what is the matter and    
forthwith seeks to remedy it4 ,but the  
philosopher works with a much more      
intangible and elusive material1 and is 
lucky if he is ever aware when both ends
 fail to meet4  ,i have often wondered  
if ,darwin1 who was a great philosopher 
as well as a great man of science1 saw  

or felt the contradiction between his   
theory of the origin of species through 
natural selection working upon          
fortuitous variations1 and his          
statement1 made in his old age1 that he 
could not look upon man1 with all his   
wonderful powers1 as the result of mere 
chance4 ,the result of chance man       
certainly is--is he not8--as are all    
other forms of life1 if evolution is a  
mere mechanical process set going and   
kept going by the hit-and-miss action of
 the environment upon the organism1 or  
by the struggle for existence4 ,if      
evolution involves no intelligence in   
nature1 no guiding or animating         
principle1 then is not man an accidental
 outcome of the blind clashing and      
jolting of the material forces1 as much 
so as the great stone face in the rocks 
which ,hawthorne used so suggestively in
 one of his stories8  ,i have wondered  
if ,huxley was aware that both ends of  
his argument did not quite meet when he 
contended for the truth of              

determinism--that there is and can be no
 free or spontaneous volition2 and at   
the same time set man apart from the    
cosmic order1 and represented him as    
working his will upon it1 crossing and  
reversing its processes4 ,in one of his 
earlier essays1 ,huxley said that to the
 student of living things1 as contrasted
 with the student of inert matter1 the  
aspect of nature is reversed4 ,in living
 matter1 incessant1 and so far as we    
know1 spontaneous1 change is the rule1  
rest the exception1 the anomaly1 to be  
accounted for4 ,living things have no   
inertia1 and tend to no equilibrium1    
except the equilibrium of death4 ,this  
is good vitalistic doctrine1 as far as  
it goes1 yet ,huxley saw no difference  
between the matter of life and other    
matter1 except in the manner in which   
the atoms are aggregated4 ,probably the 
only difference between a diamond and a 
piece of charcoal1 or between a pearl   
and an oyster-shell1 is the manner in   
which the atoms are aggregated2 but that

 the secret of life is in the peculiar  
compounding of the atoms or molecules--a
 spatial arrangement of them--is a      
harder proposition4 ,it seems to me also
 that ,haeckel involves himself in      
obvious contradictions when he ascribes 
will1 sensation1 inclination1 dislike1  
though of a low order1 to the atoms of  
matter2 in fact1 sees them as living    
beings with souls1 and then denies soul1
 will1 power of choice1 and the like to 
their collective unity in the brain of  
man4  ,a philosopher cannot well afford 
to assume the air of lofty indifference 
that the poet ,whitman does when he     
asks1 ,do ,i contradict myself8 ,very   
well1 then1 ,i contradict myself2 but he
 may take comfort in the thought that   
contradictions are often only apparent1 
and not real1 as when two men standing  
on opposite sides of the earth seem to  
oppose each other1 and yet their heads  
point to the same heavens1 and their    
feet to the same terrestrial centre4    
,the logic of the earth completely      

contradicts the ideas we draw from our  
experience with other globes1 both our  
artificial globes and the globes in the 
forms of the sun and the moon that we   
see in the heavens4 ,the earth has only 
one side1 the outside1 which is always  
the upper side2 at the ,south ,pole1 as 
at the ,north1 we are on the top side4  
,i fancy the whole truth of any of the  
great problems1 if we could see it1     
would reconcile all our half-truths1 all
 the contradictions in our philosophy4  
,in considering this problem of the     
mystery of living things1 ,i have had a 
good deal of trouble in trying to make  
my inborn idealism go hand in hand with 
my inborn naturalism2 but ,i am not     
certain that there is any real break or 
contradiction between them1 only a      
surface one1 and that deeper down the   
strata still unite them4 ,life seems    
beyond the capacity of inorganic nature 
to produce2 and yet here is life in its 
myriad forms1 here is the body and mind 
of man1 and here is the world of        

inanimate matter out of which all living
 beings arise1 and into which they      
sooner or later return2 and we must     
either introduce a new principle to     
account for it all1 or else hold to the 
idea that what is is natural--a         
legitimate outcome of the universal laws
 and processes that have been operating 
through all time4 ,this last is the     
point of view of the present            
chapter1--the point of view of          
naturalism2 not strictly the scientific 
view which aims to explain all life     
phenomena in terms of exact experimental
 science1 but the larger1 freer view of 
the open-air naturalist and literary    
philosopher4 ,i cannot get rid of1 or   
hold in abeyance1 my inevitable         
idealism1 if ,i would2 neither can ,i do
 violence to my equally inevitable      
naturalism1 but may ,i not hope to make 
the face of my naturalism beam with the 
light of the ideal--the light that never
 was in the physico-chemical order1 and 
never can be there8   ,,ii  ,the        

naturalist cannot get away from the     
natural order1 and he sees man1 and all 
other forms of life1 as an integral part
 of it--the order1 which in inert matter
 is automatic and fateful1 and which in 
living matter is prophetic and          
indeterminate2 the course of one down   
the geologic ages1 seeking only a       
mechanical repose1 being marked by      
collisions and disruptions2 the other in
 its course down the biologic ages      
seeking a vital and unstable repose1    
being marked by pain1 failure1 carnage1 
extinction1 and ceaseless struggle with 
the physical order upon which it        
depends4 ,man has taken his chances in  
the clash of blind matter1 and in the   
warfare of living forms4 ,he has been   
the pet of no god1 the favorite of no   
power on earth or in heaven4 ,he is one 
of the fruits of the great cosmic tree1 
and is subject to the same hazards and  
failures as the fruit of all other      
trees4 ,the frosts may nip him in the   
bud1 the storms beat him down1 foes of  

earth and air prey upon him1 and hostile
 influences from all sides impede or mar
 him4 ,the very forces that uphold him  
and furnish him his armory of tools and 
of power1 will destroy him the moment he
 is off his guard4 ,he is like the      
trainer of wild beasts who1 at his      
peril1 for one instant relaxes his      
mastery over them4 ,gravity1            
electricity1 fire1 flood1 hurricane1    
will crush or consume him if his hand is
 unsteady or his wits tardy4 ,nature has
 dealt with him upon the same terms as  
with all other forms of life4 ,she has  
shown him no favor4 ,the same           
elements--the same water1 air1 lime1    
iron1 sulphur1 oxygen1 carbon1 and so   
on--make up his body and his brain as   
make up theirs1 and the same make up    
theirs as are the constituents of the   
insensate rocks1 soils1 and clouds4 ,the
 same elements1 the same atoms and      
molecules1 but a different order2 the   
same solar energy1 but working to other 
ends2 the same life principle but lifted

 to a higher plane4 ,how can we separate
 man from the total system of things1   
setting him upon one side and them upon 
another1 making the relation of the two 
mechanical or accidental8 ,it is only in
 thought1 or in obedience to some creed 
or philosophy1 that we do it4 ,in life1 
in action1 we unconsciously recognize   
ourselves as a part of ,nature4 ,our    
success and well-being depend upon the  
closeness and spontaneousness of the    
relation4  ,if all this is interpreted  
to mean that life1 that the mind and    
soul of man1 are of material origin1    
science does not shrink from the        
inference4 ,only the inference demands a
 newer and higher conception of         
matter--the conception that ,tyndall    
expressed when he wrote the word with a 
capital ,m1 and declared that ,matter   
was at bottom essentially mystical and  
transcendental2 that ,goethe expressed  
when he called matter the living garment
 of ,god2 and that ,whitman expressed   
when he said that the soul and the body 

were one4 ,the materialism of the great 
seers and prophets of science who       
penetrate into the true inwardness of   
matter1 who see through the veil of its 
gross obstructive forms and behold it   
translated into pure energy1 need       
disturb no one4  ,in our religious      
culture we have beggared matter that we 
might exalt spirit2 we have bankrupted  
earth that we might enrich heaven2 we   
have debased the body that we might     
glorify the soul4 ,but science has      
changed all this4 ,mankind can never    
again rest in the old crude dualism4    
,the ,devil has had his day1 and the    
terrible ,hebrew ,jehovah has had his   
day2 the divinities of this world are   
now having their day4  ,the puzzle or   
the contradiction in the naturalistic   
view of life appears when we try to     
think of a being as a part of ,nature1  
having his genesis in her material      
forces1 who is yet able to master and   
direct ,nature1 reversing her processes 
and defeating her ends1 opposing his    

will to her fatalism1 his mercy to her  
cruelty--in short1 a being who thinks1  
dreams1 aspires1 loves truth1 justice1  
goodness1 and sits in judgment upon the 
very gods he worships4 ,must he not     
bring a new force1 an alien power8 ,can 
a part be greater than the whole8 ,can  
the psychic dominate the physical out of
 which it came8 ,again we have only to  
enlarge our conception of the           
physical--the natural--or make our faith
 measure up to the demands of reason4   
,our reason demands that the natural    
order be all-inclusive4 ,can our faith  
in the divinity of matter measure up to 
this standard8 ,not till we free        
ourselves from the inherited prejudices 
which have grown up from our everyday   
struggles with gross matter4 ,we must   
follow the guidance of science till we  
penetrate this husk and see its real    
mystical and transcendental character1  
as ,tyndall did4  ,when we have followed
 matter from mass to molecule1 from     
molecule to atom1 from atom to electron1

 and seen it in effect                  
dematerialized1--seen it in its fourth  
or ethereal1 ,i had almost said         
spiritual1 state1--when we have grasped 
the wonder of radio-activity1 and the   
atomic transformations that attend it1  
we shall have a conception of the       
potencies and possibilities of matter   
that robs scientific materialism of most
 of its ugliness4 ,of course1 no        
deductions of science can satisfy our   
longings for something kindred to our   
own spirits in the universe4 ,but       
neither our telescopes nor our          
microscopes reveal such a reality4 ,is  
this longing only the result of our     
inevitable anthropomorphism1 or is it   
the evidence of things unseen1 the      
substance of things hoped for1 the      
prophecy of our kinship with the        
farthest star8 ,can soul arise out of a 
soulless universe8  ,though the secret  
of life is under our feet1 yet how      
strange and mysterious it seems6 ,it    
draws our attention away from matter4   

,it arises among the inorganic elements 
like a visitant from another sphere4 ,it
 is a new thing in the world4           
,consciousness is a new thing1 yet      
,huxley makes it one of his trinity of  
realities--matter1 energy1 and          
consciousness4 ,we are so immersed in   
these realities that we do not see the  
divinity they embody4 ,we call that     
sacred and divine which is far off and  
unattainable4 ,life and mind are so     
impossible of explanation in terms of   
matter and energy1 that it is not to be 
wondered at that mankind has so long    
looked upon their appearance upon this  
earth as a miraculous event4 ,but until 
science opened our eyes we did not know 
that the celestial and the terrestrial  
are one1 and that we are already in the 
heavens among the stars4 ,when we       
emancipate ourselves from the bondage of
 wont and use1 and see with clear vision
 our relations to the ,cosmos1 all our  
ideas of materialism and spiritualism   
are made over1 and we see how the two   

are one2 how life and death play into   
each other's hands1 and how the whole   
truth of things cannot be compassed by  
any number of finite minds4   ,,iii     
,when we are bold enough to ask the     
question1 ,is life an addition to matter
 or an evolution from matter8 how all   
these extra-scientific theories about   
life as a separate entity wilt and fade 
away6 ,if we know anything about the    
ways of creative energy1 we know that   
they are not as our ways2 we know its   
processes bear no analogy to the linear 
and external doings of man4 ,creative   
energy works from within2 it identifies 
itself with1 and is inseparable from1   
the element in which it works4 ,i know  
that in this very statement ,i am       
idealizing the creative energy1 but my  
reader will1 ,i trust1 excuse this      
inevitable anthropomorphism4 ,the way of
 the creative energy is the way of      
evolution4 ,when we begin to introduce  
things1 when we begin to separate the   
two orders1 the vital and the material1 

or1 as ,bergson says1 when we begin to  
think of things created1 and of a thing 
that creates1 we are not far from the   
state of mind of our childhood1 and of  
the childhood of the race4 ,we are not  
far from the ,mosaic account of         
creation4 ,life appears as an           
introduction1 man and his soul as       
introductions4  ,our reason1 our        
knowledge of the method of ,nature1     
declare for evolution2 because here we  
are1 here is this amazing world of life 
about us1 and here it goes on through   
the action and interaction of purely    
physical and chemical forces4 ,life     
seems as natural as day and night1 as   
the dews and the rain4 ,our studies of  
the past history of the globe reveal the
 fact that life appeared upon a cooling 
planet when the temperature was         
suitable1 and when its basic elements1  
water and carbon dioxide1 were at hand4 
,how it began1 whether through          
insensible changes in the activities of 
inert matter1 lasting whole geologic    

ages1 or by a sudden transformation at  
many points on the earth's surface1 we  
can never know4 ,but science can see no 
reason for believing that its beginning 
was other than natural2 it was          
inevitable from the constitution of     
matter itself4 ,moreover1 since the law 
of evolution seems of universal         
application1 and affords the key to more
 great problems than any other          
generalization of the human mind1 one   
would say on a priori grounds that life 
is an evolution1 that its genesis is to 
be sought in the inherent capacities and
 potentialities of matter itself4 ,how  
else could it come8 ,science cannot go  
outside of matter and its laws for an   
explanation of any phenomena that appear
 in matter4 ,it goes inside of matter   
instead1 and in its mysterious molecular
 attractions and repulsions1 in the     
whirl and dance of the atoms and        
electrons1 in their emanations and      
transformations1 in their amazing       
potencies and activities1 sees1 or seems

 to see1 the secret of the origin of    
life itself4 ,but this view is          
distasteful to a large number of        
thinking persons4 ,many would call it   
frank materialism1 and declare that it  
is utterly inadequate to supply the     
spiritual and ideal background which is 
the strength and solace of our human    
life4   ,,iv  ,the lay mind can hardly  
appreciate the necessity under which the
 man of science feels to account for all
 the phenomena of life in terms of the  
natural order4 ,to the scientist the    
universe is complete in itself4 ,he can 
admit of no break or discontinuity      
anywhere4 ,threads of relation1 visible 
and invisible1--chemical1 mechanical1   
electric1 magnetic1 solar1 lunar1       
stellar1 geologic1 biologic1--forming an
 intricate web of subtle forces and     
influences1 bind all things1 living and 
dead1 into a cosmic unity4 ,creation is 
one1 and that one is symbolized by the  
sphere which rests forever on itself1   
which is whole at every point1 which    

holds all forms1 which reconciles all   
contradictions1 which has no beginning  
and no ending1 which has no upper and no
 under1 and all of whose lines are fluid
 and continuous4 ,the disruptions and   
antagonisms which we fancy we see are   
only the result of our limited vision2  
nature is not at war with itself2 there 
is no room or need for miracle2 there is
 no outside to the universe1 because    
there are no bounds to matter or spirit2
 all is inside2 deep beneath deep1      
height above height1 and this mystery   
and miracle that we call life must arise
 out of the natural order in the course 
of time as inevitably as the dew forms  
and the rain falls4 ,when the rains and 
the dews and the snows cease to fall1--a
 time which science predicts1--then     
life1 as we know it1 must inevitably    
vanish from the earth4 ,human life is a 
physical phenomenon1 and though it      
involves1 as we believe1 a psychic or   
non-physical principle1 it is still not 
exempt from the operation of the        

universal physical laws4 ,it came by    
them or through them1 and it must go by 
them or through them4  ,the rigidly     
scientific mind1 impressed with all     
these things as the lay mind cannot be1 
used to the searching laboratory        
methods1 and familiar with the          
phenomenon of life in its very roots1 as
 it were1 dealing with the wonders of   
chemical compounds1 and the forces that 
lurk in molecules and atoms1 seeing in  
the cosmic universe1 and in the         
evolution of the earth1 only the        
operation of mechanical and chemical    
principles2 seeing the irrefragable law 
of the correlation and the conservation 
of forces2 tracing consciousness and all
 our changes in mental states to changes
 in the brain substance2 drilled in     
methods of proof by experimentation2    
knowing that the same number of ultimate
 atoms may be so combined or married as 
to produce compounds that differ as     
radically as alcohol and                
ether1--conversant with all these       

things1 and more1 ,i say1--the strictly 
scientific mind falls naturally and     
inevitably into the mechanistic         
conception of all life phenomena4       
,science traces the chain of cause and  
effect everywhere and finds no break4   
,it follows down animal life till it    
merges in the vegetable1 though it      
cannot put its finger or its microscope 
on the point where one ends and the     
other begins4 ,it finds forms that      
partake of the characteristics of both4 
,it is reasonable to expect that the    
vegetable merges into the mineral by the
 same insensible degrees1 and that the  
one becomes the other without any real  
discontinuity4 ,the change1 if we may   
call it such1 probably takes place in   
the interior world of matter among the  
primordial atoms1 where only the        
imagination can penetrate4 ,in that     
sleep of the ultimate corpuscle1 what   
dreams may come1 what miracles may be   
wrought1 what transformations take      
place6 ,when ,i try to think of life as 

a mode of motion in matter1 ,i seem to  
see the particles in a mystic dance1 a  
whirling maze of motions1 the infinitely
 little people taking hold of hands1    
changing partners1 facing this way and  
that1 doing all sorts of impossible     
things1 like jumping down one another's 
throats1 or occupying one another's     
bodies1 thrilled and vibrating at an    
inconceivable rate4  ,the theological   
solution of this problem of life fails  
more and more to satisfy thinking men of
 to-day4 ,living things are natural     
phenomena1 and we feel that they must in
 some way be an outcome of the natural  
order4 ,science is more and more        
familiarizing our minds with the idea   
that the universe is a universe1 a      
oneness2 that its laws are continuous4  
,we follow the chemistry of it to the   
farthest stars and there is no serious  
break or exception2 it is all of one    
stuff4 ,we follow the mechanics of it   
into the same abysmal depths1 and there 
are no breaks or exceptions4 ,the       

biology of it we cannot follow beyond   
our own little corner of the universe2  
indeed1 we have no proof that there is  
any biology anywhere else4 ,but if there
 is1 it must be similar to our own4     
,there is only one kind of electricity  
7though two phases of it71 only one kind
 of light and heat1 one kind of chemical
 affinity1 in the universe2 and hence   
only one kind of life4 ,looked at in its
 relation to the whole1 life appears    
like a transient phenomenon of matter4  
,i will not say accidental2 it seems    
inseparably bound up with the cosmic    
processes1 but1 ,i may say1 fugitive1   
superficial1 circumscribed4 ,life comes 
and goes2 it penetrates but a little way
 into the earth2 it is confined to a    
certain range of temperature4 ,beyond a 
certain degree of cold1 on the one hand1
 it does not appear2 and beyond a       
certain degree of heat1 on the other1 it
 is cut off4 ,without water or moisture1
 it ceases2 and without air1 it is not4 
,it has evidently disappeared from the  

moon1 and probably from the inferior    
planets1 and it is doubtful if it has   
yet appeared on any of the superior     
planets1 save ,mars4  ,life comes to    
matter as the flowers come in the       
spring1--when the time is ripe for      
it1--and it disappears when the time is 
over-ripe4 ,man appears in due course   
and has his little day upon the earth1  
but that day must as surely come to an  
end4 ,yet can we conceive of the end of 
the physical order8 the end of gravity8 
or of cohesion8 ,the air may disappear1 
the water may disappear1 combustion may 
cease2 but oxygen1 hydrogen1 nitrogen1  
and carbon will continue somewhere4   ,v
  ,science is the redeemer of the       
physical world4 ,it opens our eyes to   
its true inwardness1 and purges it of   
the coarse and brutal qualities with    
which1 in our practical lives1 it is    
associated4 ,it has its inner world of  
activities and possibilities of which   
our senses give us no hint4 ,this inner 
world of molecules and atoms and        

electrons1 thrilled and vibrating with  
energy1 the infinitely little1 the      
almost infinitely rapid1 in the bosom of
 the infinitely vast and distant and    
automatic--what a revelation it all is6 
what a glimpse into ,nature's infinite  
book of secrecy6  ,our senses reveal to 
us but one kind of motion--mass         
motion--the change of place of visible  
bodies4 ,but there is another motion in 
all matter which our senses do not      
reveal to us as motion--molecular       
vibration1 or the thrill of the atoms4  
,at the heart of the most massive rock  
this whirl of the atoms or corpuscles is
 going on4 ,if our ears were fine enough
 to hear it1 probably every rock and    
granite monument would sing1 as did     
,memnon1 when the sun shone upon it4    
,this molecular vibration is revealed to
 us as heat1 light1 sound1 electricity4 
,heat is only a mode of this invisible  
motion of the particles of matter4 ,mass
 motion is quickly converted into this  
molecular motion when two bodies strike 

each other4 ,may not life itself be the 
outcome of a peculiar whirl of the      
ultimate atoms of matter8  ,says        
,professor ,gotch1 as quoted by ,j4     
,arthur ,thomson in his ,introduction to
 ,science3 ,to the thought of a         
scientific mind the universe with all   
its suns and worlds is throughout one   
seething welter of modes of motion1     
playing in space1 playing in ether1     
playing in all existing matter1 playing 
in all living things1 playing1          
therefore1 in ourselves4 ,physical      
science1 as ,professor ,thomson says1   
leads us from our static way of looking 
at things to the dynamic way4 ,it       
teaches us to regard the atom1 not as a 
fixed and motionless structure1 like the
 bricks in a wall1 but as a centre of   
ever-moving energy2 it sees the whole   
universe is in a state of perpetual     
flux1 a flowing stream of creative      
energy out of which life arises as one  
of the manifestations of this energy4   
,when we have learned all that science  

can tell us about the earth1 is it not  
more rather than less wonderful8 ,when  
we know all it can tell us about the    
heavens above1 or about the sea1 or     
about our own bodies1 or about a flower1
 or a bird1 or a tree1 or a cloud1 are  
they less beautiful and wonderful8 ,the 
mysteries of generation1 of inheritance1
 of cell life1 are rather enhanced by   
science4   ,,vi  ,when the man of       
science seeks to understand and explain 
the world in which we live1 he guards   
himself against seeing double1 or seeing
 two worlds instead of one1 as our      
unscientific fathers did--an immaterial 
or spiritual world surrounding and      
interpenetrating the physical world1 or 
the supernatural enveloping and         
directing the natural4 ,he sees but one 
world1 and that a world complete in     
itself2 surrounded1 it is true1 by      
invisible forces1 and holding immeasured
 and immeasurable potencies2 a vastly   
more complex and wonderful world than   
our fathers ever dreamed of2 a fruit1 as

 it were1 of the great sidereal tree1   
bound by natal bonds to myriads of other
 worlds1 of one stuff with them1 ahead  
or behind them in its ripening1 but     
still complete in itself1 needing no    
miracle to explain it1 no spirits or    
demons to account for its processes1 not
 even its vital processes4  ,in the     
light of what he knows of the past      
history of the earth1 the man of science
 sees with his mind's eye the successive
 changes that have taken place in it2 he
 sees the globe a mass of incandescent  
matter rolling through space2 he sees   
the crust cooling and hardening2 he sees
 the waters appear1 the air and the soil
 appear1 he sees the clouds begin to    
form and the rain to fall1 he sees      
living things appear in the waters1 then
 upon the land1 and in the air2 he sees 
the two forms of life arise1 the        
vegetable and the animal1 the latter    
standing upon the former2 he sees more  
and more complex forms of both vegetable
 and animal arise and cover the earth4  

,they all appear in the course of the   
geologic ages on the surface of the     
earth2 they arise out of it2 they are a 
part of it2 they come naturally2 no hand
 reaches down from heaven and places    
them there2 they are not an addendum2   
they are not a sudden creation2 they are
 an evolution2 they were potential in   
the earth before they arose out of it4  
,the earth ripened1 her crust mellowed1 
and thickened1 her airs softened and    
cleared1 her waters were purified1 and  
in due time her finer fruits were       
evolved1 and1 last of all1 man arose4   
,it was all one process4 ,there was no  
miracle1 no first day of creation2 all  
were days of creation4 ,brooded by the  
sun1 the earth hatched her offspring2   
the promise and the potency of all      
terrestrial life was in the earth       
herself2 her womb was fertile from the  
first4 ,all that we call the spiritual1 
the divine1 the celestial1 were hers1   
because man is hers4 ,our religions and 
our philosophies and our literatures are

 hers2 man is a part of the whole system
 of things2 he is not an alien1 nor an  
accident1 nor an interloper2 he is here 
as the rains1 the dews1 the flowers1 the
 rocks1 the soil1 the trees1 are here4  
,he appeared when the time was ripe1 and
 he will disappear when the time is     
over-ripe4 ,he is of the same stuff as  
the ground he walks upon2 there is no   
better stuff in the heavens above him1  
nor in the depths below him1 than sticks
 to his own ribs4 ,the celestial and the
 terrestrial forces unite and work      
together in him1 as in all other        
creatures4 ,we cannot magnify man       
without magnifying the universe of which
 he is a part2 and we cannot belittle it
 without belittling him4  ,now we can   
turn all this about and look upon it as 
mankind looked upon it in the           
prescientific ages1 and as so many      
persons still look upon it1 and think of
 it all as the work of external and     
higher powers4 ,we can think of the     
earth as the footstool of some god1 or  

the sport of some demon2 we can people  
the earth and the air with innumerable  
spirits1 high and low2 we can think of  
life as something apart from matter4    
,but science will not1 cannot follow us2
 it cannot discredit the world it has   
disclosed--,i had almost said1 the world
 it has created4 ,science has made us at
 home in the universe4 ,it has visited  
the farthest stars with its telescope   
and spectroscope1 and finds we are all  
akin4 ,it has sounded the depths of     
matter with its analysis1 and it finds  
nothing alien to our own bodies4 ,it    
sees motion everywhere1 motion within   
motion1 transformation1 metamorphosis   
everywhere1 energy everywhere1 currents 
and counter-currents everywhere1        
ceaseless change everywhere2 it finds   
nothing in the heavens more spiritual1  
more mysterious1 more celestial1 more   
godlike1 than it finds upon this earth4 
,this does not imply that evolution may 
not have progressed farther upon other  
worlds1 and given rise to a higher order

 of intelligences than here2 it only    
implies that creation is one1 and that  
the same forces1 the same elements and  
possibilities1 exist everywhere4   ,,vii
  ,give free rein to our anthropomorphic
 tendencies1 and we fill the world with 
spirits1 good and bad--bad in war1      
famine1 pestilence1 disease2 good in all
 the events and fortunes that favor us4 
,early man did this on all occasions2 he
 read his own hopes and fears and       
passions into all the operations of     
nature4 ,our fathers did it in many     
things2 good people of our own time do  
it in exceptional instances1 and credit 
any good fortune to ,providence4 ,men   
high in the intellectual and            
philosophical world1 still invoke       
something antithetical to matter1 to    
account for the appearance of life on   
the planet4  ,it may be justly urged    
that the effect upon our habits of      
thought of the long ages during which   
this process has been going on1 leading 
us to differentiate matter and spirit   

and look upon them as two opposite      
entities1 hindering or contending with  
each other1--one heavenly1 the other    
earthly1 one everlasting1 the other     
perishable1 one the supreme good1 the   
other the seat and parent of all that is
 evil1--the cumulative effect of this   
habit of thought in the race-mind is1 ,i
 say1 not easily changed or overcome4   
,we still think1 and probably many of us
 always will think1 of spirit as        
something alien to matter1 something    
mystical1 transcendental1 and not of    
this world4 ,we look upon matter as     
gross1 obstructive1 and the enemy of the
 spirit4 ,we do not know how we are     
going to get along without it1 but we   
solace ourselves with the thought that  
by and by1 in some other1 non-material  
world1 we shall get along without it1   
and experience a great expansion of life
 by reason of our emancipation from it4 
,our practical life upon this planet is 
more or less a struggle with gross      
matter2 our senses apprehend it         

coarsely2 of its true inwardness they   
tell us nothing2 of the perpetual change
 and transformation of energy going on  
in bodies about us they tell us nothing2
 of the wonders and potencies of matter 
as revealed in radio-activity1 in the   
,x-ray1 in chemical affinity and        
polarity1 they tell us nothing2 of the  
all-pervasive ether1 without which we   
could not see or live at all1 they tell 
us nothing4 ,in fact we live and move   
and have our being in a complex of      
forces and tendencies of which1 even by 
the aid of science1 we but see as       
through a glass darkly4 ,of the         
effluence of things1 the emanations from
 the minds and bodies of our friends1   
and from other living forms about us1   
from the heavens above and from the     
earth below1 our daily lives tell us    
nothing1 any more than our eyes tell us 
of the invisible rays in the sun's      
spectrum1 or than our ears tell us of   
the murmurs of the life-currents in     
growing things4 ,science alone unveils  

the hidden wonders and sleepless        
activities of the world forces that play
 through us and about us4 ,it alone     
brings the heavens near1 and reveals the
 brotherhood or sisterhood of worlds4   
,it alone makes man at home in the      
universe1 and shows us how many friendly
 powers wait upon him day and night4 ,it
 alone shows him the glories and the    
wonders of the voyage we are making upon
 this ship in the stellar infinitude1   
and that1 whatever the port1 we shall   
still be on familiar ground--we cannot  
get away from home4  ,there is always an
 activity in inert matter that we little
 suspect4 ,see the processes going on in
 the stratified rocks that suggest or   
parody those of life4 ,see the particles
 of silica that are diffused through the
 limestone1 hunting out each other and  
coming together in concretions and      
forming flint or chert nodules2 or see  
them in the process of petrifaction     
slowly building up a tree of chalcedony 
or onyx in place of a tree of wood1     

repeating every cell1 every knot1 every 
worm-hole--dead matter copying exactly a
 form of living matter2 or see the      
phenomenon of crystallization           
everywhere2 see the solution of salt    
mimicking1 as ,tyndall says1 the        
architecture of ,egypt1 building up     
miniature pyramids1 terrace upon        
terrace1 from base to apex1 forming a   
series of steps like those up which the 
traveler in ,egypt is dragged by his    
guides6 ,we can fancy1 if we like1 these
 infinitesimal structures built by an   
invisible population which swarms among 
the constituent molecules1 controlled   
and coerced by some invisible matter1   
says ,tyndall4 ,this might be called    
literature1 or poetry1 or religion1 but 
it would not be science2 science says   
that these salt pyramids are the result 
of the play of attraction and repulsion 
among the salt molecules themselves2    
that they are self-poised and           
self-quarried2 it goes further than that
 and says that the quality we call      

saltness is the result of a certain     
definite arrangement of their ultimate  
atoms of matter2 that the qualities of  
things as they affect our               
senses--hardness1 softness1 sweetness1  
bitterness--are the result of molecular 
motion and combination among the        
ultimate atoms4 ,all these things seem  
on the threshold of life1 waiting in the
 antechamber1 as it were2 to-morrow they
 will be life1 or1 as ,tyndall says1    
,incipient life1 as it were1 manifests  
itself throughout the whole of what is  
called inorganic nature4   ,,viii  ,the 
question of the nature and origin of    
life is a kind of perpetual motion      
question in biology4 ,life without      
antecedent life1 so far as human        
experience goes1 is an impossibility1   
and motion without previous motion1 is  
equally impossible4 ,yet1 while science 
shows us that this last is true among   
ponderable bodies where friction occurs1
 it is not true among the finer         
particles of matter1 where friction does

 not exist4 ,here perpetual or          
spontaneous motion is the rule4 ,the    
motions of the molecules of gases and   
liquids1 and their vibrations in solids1
 are beyond the reach of our unaided    
senses1 yet they are unceasing4 ,by     
analogy we may infer that while living  
bodies1 as we know them1 do not and     
cannot originate spontaneously1 yet the 
movement that we call life may and      
probably does take place spontaneously  
in the ultimate particles of matter4    
,but can atomic energy be translated    
into the motion of ponderable bodies1 or
 mass energy8 ,in like manner can1 or   
does1 this potential life of the world  
of atoms and electrons give rise to     
organized living beings8  ,this distrust
 of the physical forces1 or our         
disbelief in their ability to give rise 
to life1 is like a survival in us of the
 ,calvinistic creed of our fathers4 ,the
 world of inert matter is dead in       
trespasses and sin and must be born     
again before it can enter the kingdom of

 the organic4 ,we must supplement the   
natural forces with the spiritual1 or   
the supernatural1 to get life4 ,the     
common or carnal nature1 like the       
natural man1 must be converted1 breathed
 upon by the non-natural or divine1     
before it can rise to the plane of      
life--the doctrine of ,paul carried into
 the processes of nature4  ,the         
scientific mind sees in nature an       
infinitely complex mechanism directed to
 no special human ends1 but working     
towards universal ends4 ,it sees in the 
human body an infinite number of cell   
units building up tissues and           
organs1--muscles1 nerves1 bones1        
cartilage1--a living machine of infinite
 complexity2 but what shapes and        
cordinates the parts1 how the cells     
arose1 how consciousness arose1 how the 
mind is related to the body1 how or why 
the body acts as a unit--on these       
questions science can throw no light4   
,with all its mastery of the laws of    
heredity1 of cytology1 and of           

embryology1 it cannot tell why a man is 
a man1 and a dog is a dog4 ,no          
cell-analysis will give the secret2 no  
chemical conjuring with the elements    
will reveal why in the one case they    
build up a head of cabbage1 and in the  
other a head of ,plato4  ,it must be    
admitted that the scientific conception 
of the universe robs us of something--it
 is hard to say just what--that we do   
not willingly part with2 yet who can    
divest himself of this conception8 ,and 
the scientific conception of the nature 
of life1 hard and unfamiliar as it may  
seem in its mere terms1 is difficult to 
get away from4 ,life must arise through 
the play and transformations of matter  
and energy that are taking place all    
around us2 though it seems a long and   
impossible road from mere chemistry to  
the body and soul of man4 ,but if life1 
with all that has come out of it1 did   
not come by way of matter and energy1 by
 what way did it come8 ,must we have    
recourse to the so-called               

supernatural8--as ,emerson's line puts  
it1--      ,when half-gods go1 the gods 
arrive4  ,when our traditional          
conception of matter as essentially     
vulgar and obstructive and the enemy of 
the spirit gives place to the new       
scientific conception of it as at bottom
 electrical and all-potent1 we may find 
the poet's great line come true1 and    
that for a thing to be natural1 is to be
 divine4 ,for my own part1 ,i do not see
 how we can get intelligence out of     
matter unless we postulate intelligence 
in matter4 ,any system of philosophy    
that sees in the organic world only a   
fortuitous concourse of chemical atoms1 
repels me1 though the contradiction here
 implied is not easily cleared up4 ,the 
theory of life as a chemical reaction   
and nothing more does not interest me1  
but ,i am attracted by that conception  
of life which1 while binding it to the  
material order1 sees in the organic more
 than the physics and chemistry of the  
inorganic--call it whatever name you    

will--vitalism1 idealism1 or dualism4   
,in our religious moods1 we may speak1  
as ,theodore ,parker did1 of the        
universe as a handful of dust which ,god
 enchants1 or we may speak of it1 as    
,goethe did1 as the living garment of   
,god2 but as men of science we can see  
it only as a vast complex of forces1 out
 of which man has arisen1 and of which  
he forms a part4 ,we are not to forget  
that we are a part of it1 and that the  
more we magnify ourselves1 the more we  
magnify it2 that its glory is our glory1
 and our glory its glory1 because we are
 its children4 ,in some way utterly     
beyond the reach of science to explain1 
or of philosophy to confirm1 we have    
come out of it1 and all we are or can   
be1 is1 or has been1 potential in it4   
,,ix  ,the evolution of life is1 of     
course1 bound up with the evolution of  
the world4 ,as the globe has ripened and
 matured1 life has matured2 higher and  
higher forms--forms with larger and     
larger brains and more and more complex 

nerve mechanisms--have appeared4        
,physicists teach us that the evolution 
of the primary elements--hydrogen1      
oxygen1 nitrogen1 carbon1 calcium1 and  
the like--takes place in a solar body as
 the body cools4 ,as temperature        
decreases1 one after another of the     
chemical elements makes its appearance1 
the simpler elements appearing first1   
and the more complex compounds appearing
 last1 all apparently having their      
origin in some simple parent element4   
,it appears as if the evolution of life 
upon the globe had followed the same law
 and had waited upon the secular cooling
 of the earth4  ,does not a man imply a 
cooler planet and a greater depth and   
refinement of soil than a dinosaur8     
,only after a certain housecleaning and 
purification of the elements do higher  
forms appear2 the vast accumulation of  
,silurian limestone must have hastened  
the age of fishes4 ,the age of reptiles 
waited for the clearing of the air of   
the burden of carbon dioxide4 ,the age  

of mammals awaited the deepening and the
 enrichment of the soil and the         
stability of the earth's crust4 ,who    
knows upon what physical conditions of  
the earth's elements the brain of man   
was dependent8 ,its highest development 
has certainly taken place in a temperate
 climate4 ,there can be little doubt    
that beyond a certain point the         
running-down of the earth-temperature   
will result in a running-down of life   
till it finally goes out4 ,life is      
confined to a very narrow range of      
temperature4 ,if we were to translate   
degrees into miles and represent the    
temperature of the hottest stars1 which 
is put at #cj1jjj degrees1 by a line    
#cj1jjj miles long1 then the part of the
 line marking the limits of life would  
be approximately three hundred miles4   
,life does not appear in a hard1        
immobile1 utterly inert world1 but in a 
world thrilling with energy and         
activity1 a world of ceaseless          
transformations of energy1 of           

radio-activity1 of electro-magnetic     
currents1 of perpetual motion in its    
ultimate particles1 a world whose       
heavens are at times hung with rainbows1
 curtained with tremulous shifting      
auroras1 and veined and illumined with  
forked lightnings1 a world of rolling   
rivers and heaving seas1 activity1      
physical and chemical1 everywhere4 ,on  
such a world life appeared1 bringing no 
new element or force1 but setting up a  
new activity in matter1 an activity that
 tends to check and control the natural 
tendency to the dissipation and         
degradation of energy4 ,the question is1
 ,did it arise through some             
transformation of the existing energy1  
or out of the prexisting conditions1 or 
was it supplementary to them1 an        
addition from some unknown source8 ,was 
it a miraculous or a natural event8 ,we 
shall answer according to our           
temperaments4  ,one sees with his mind's
 eye this stream of energy1 which we    
name the material universe1 flowing down

 the endless cycles of time2 at a       
certain point in its course1 a change   
comes over its surface2 what we call    
life appears1 and assumes many forms2 at
 a point farther along in its course1   
life disappears1 and the eternal river  
flows on regardless1 till1 at some other
 point1 the same changes take place     
again4 ,life is inseparable from this   
river of energy1 but it is not          
coextensive with it1 either in time or  
in space4  ,in midsummer what river-men 
call the blossoming of the water takes  
place in the ,hudson ,river2 the water  
is full of minute vegetable organisms2  
they are seasonal and temporary2 they   
are born of the midsummer heats4 ,by and
 by the water is clear again4 ,life in  
the universe seems as seasonal and      
fugitive as this blossoming of the      
water4 ,more and more does science hold 
us to the view of the unity of          
nature--that the universe of life and   
matter and force is all natural or all  
supernatural1 it matters little which   

you call it1 but it is not both4 ,one   
need not go away from his own doorstep  
to find mysteries enough to last him a  
lifetime1 but he will find them in his  
own body1 in the ground upon which he   
stands1 not less than in his mind1 and  
in the invisible forces that play around
 him4 ,we may marvel how the delicate   
color and perfume of the flower could   
come by way of the root and stalk of the
 plant1 or how the crude mussel could   
give birth to the rainbow-tinted pearl1 
or how the precious metals and stones   
arise from the flux of the baser        
elements1 or how the ugly worm wakes up 
and finds itself a winged creature of   
the air2 yet we do not invoke the       
supernatural to account for these       
things4  ,it is certain that in the     
human scale of values the spirituality  
of man far transcends anything in the   
animal or physical world1 but that even 
that came by the road of evolution1 is1 
indeed1 the flowering of ruder and      
cruder powers and attributes of the life

 below us1 ,i cannot for a moment doubt4
 ,call it a transmutation or a          
metamorphosis1 if you will2 it is still 
within the domain of the natural4 ,the  
spiritual always has its root and       
genesis in the physical4 ,we do not     
degrade the spiritual in such a         
conception2 we open our eyes to the     
spirituality of the physical4 ,and this 
is what science has always been doing   
and is doing more and more--making us   
familiar with marvelous and transcendent
 powers that hedge us about and enter   
into every act of our lives4 ,the more  
we know matter1 the more we know mind2  
the more we know nature1 the more we    
know ,god2 the more familiar we are with
 the earth forces1 the more intimate    
will be our acquaintance with the       
celestial forces4   ,x  ,when we speak  
of the gulf that separates the living   
from the non-living1 are we not thinking
 of the higher forms of life only8 ,are 
we not thinking of the far cry it is    
from man to inorganic nature8 ,when we  

get down to the lowest organism1 is the 
gulf so impressive8 ,under the scrutiny 
of biologic science the gulf that       
separates the animal from the vegetable 
all but vanishes1 and the two seem to   
run together4 ,the chasm between the    
lowest vegetable forms and unorganized  
matter is evidently a slight affair4    
,the state of unorganized protoplasm    
which ,haeckel named the ,monera1 that  
precedes the development of that        
architect of life1 the cell1 can hardly 
be more than one remove from inert      
matter4 ,by insensible molecular changes
 and transformations of energy1 the     
miracle of living matter takes place4   
,we can conceive of life arising only   
through these minute avenues1 or in the 
invisible1 molecular constitution of    
matter itself4 ,what part the atoms and 
electrons1 and the energy they bear1    
play in it we shall never know4 ,even if
 we ever succeed in bringing the        
elements together in our laboratories so
 that there living matter appears1 shall

 we then know the secret of life8       
,after we have got the spark of life    
kindled1 how are we going to get all the
 myriad forms of life that swarm upon   
the earth8 ,how are we going to get man 
with physics and chemistry alone8 ,how  
are we going to get this tremendous     
drama of evolution out of mere          
protoplasm from the bottom of the old   
geologic seas8 ,of course1 only by      
making protoplasm creative1 only by     
conceiving as potential in it all that  
we behold coming out of it4 ,we imagine 
it equal to the task we set before it2  
the task is accomplished2 therefore     
protoplasm was all-sufficient4 ,i am not
 postulating any extra-mundane power or 
influence2 ,i am only stating the       
difficulties which the idealist         
experiences when he tries to see life in
 its nature and origin as the scientific
 mind sees it4 ,animal life and         
vegetable life have a common physical   
basis in protoplasm1 and all their      
different forms are mere aggregations of

 cells which are constituted alike and  
behave alike in each1 and yet in the one
 case they give rise to trees1 and in   
the other they give rise to man4        
,science is powerless to penetrate this 
mystery1 and philosophy can only give   
its own elastic interpretation4 ,why    
consciousness should be born of cell    
structure in one form of life and not in
 another1 who shall tell us8 ,why matter
 in the brain should think1 and in the  
cabbage only grow1 is a question4  ,the 
naturalist has not the slightest doubt  
that the mind of man was evolved from   
some order of animals below him that had
 less mind1 and that the mind of this   
order was evolved from that of a still  
lower order1 and so on down the scale   
till we reach a point where the animal  
and vegetable meet and blend1 and the   
vegetable mind1 if we may call it such1 
passed into the animal1 and still       
downward till the vegetable is evolved  
from the mineral4 ,if to believe this is
 to be a monist1 then science is        

monistic2 it accepts the transformation 
or metamorphosis of the lower into the  
higher from the bottom of creation to   
the top1 and without any break of the   
causal sequence4 ,there has been no     
miracle1 except in the sense that all   
life is a miracle4 ,of how the organic  
rose out of the inorganic1 we can form  
no mental image2 the intellect cannot   
bridge the chasm2 but that such is the  
fact1 there can be no doubt4 ,there is  
no solution except that life is latent  
or potential in matter1 but these again 
are only words that cover a mystery4  ,i
 do not see why there may not be some   
force latent in matter that we may call 
the vital force1 physical force         
transformed and heightened1 as          
justifiably as we can postulate a       
chemical force latent in matter4 ,the   
chemical force underlies and is the     
basis of the vital force4 ,there is no  
life without chemism1 but there is      
chemism without life4  ,we have to have 
a name for the action and reaction of   

the primary elements upon one another   
and we call it chemical affinity2 we    
have to have a name for their behavior  
in building up organic bodies1 and we   
call it vitality or vitalism4  ,the     
rigidly scientific man sees no need of  
the conception of a new form or kind of 
force2 the physico-chemical forces as we
 see them in action all about us are    
adequate to do the work1 so that it     
seems like a dispute about names4 ,but  
my mind has to form a new conception of 
these forces to bridge the chasm between
 the organic and the inorganic2 not a   
quantitative but a qualitative change is
 demanded1 like the change in the animal
 mind to make it the human mind1 an     
unfolding into a higher plane4  ,whether
 the evolution of the human mind from   
the animal was by insensible gradations1
 or by a few sudden leaps1 who knows8   
,the animal brain began to increase in  
size in ,tertiary times1 and seems to   
have done so suddenly1 but the geologic 
ages were so long that a change in one  

hundred thousand years would seem       
sudden4 ,the brains of some species     
increase one hundred per cent4 ,the     
mammal brain greatly outstripped the    
reptile brain4 ,was ,nature getting     
ready for man8  ,the air begins at once 
to act chemically upon the blood in the 
lungs of the newly born1 and the gastric
 juices to act chemically upon the food 
as soon as there is any in the stomach  
of the newly born1 and breathing and    
swallowing are both mechanical acts2 but
 what is it that breathes and swallows1 
and profits by it8 a machine8  ,maybe   
the development of life1 and its upward 
tendency toward higher and higher forms1
 is in some way the result of the       
ripening of the earth1 its long steeping
 in the sea of sidereal influences4 ,the
 earth is not alone1 it is not like a   
single apple on a tree2 there are many  
apples on the tree1 and there are many  
trees in the orchard4   ,,the ,,end     
,,index   ,adaptation1 #ahd1 #bae1 #baf4
  ,alpha rays1 #fj1 #aii4  ,aquosity1   

#abg1 #abh1 #ada-adc4  ,aristotle1 #bdj4
  ,asphalt lake1 #abc4  ,atoms1         
different groupings of1 #ef-fj2         
weighed and counted1 #fj1 #fa2          
indivisibility1 #fa2   the hydrogen     
atom1 #fe2   chemical affinity1         
#aic-aie2   photography of1 #aii1 #bjj2 
form1 #bjc2   atomic energy1 #bjd2      
qualities and properties of bodies in   
their keeping1 #bjd2   unchanging       
character1 #bje1 #bjf2   rarity of free 
atoms1 #bji2   mystery of combination1  
#baj4  ,autolysis1 #afi4   ,balfour1    
,arthur ,james1 on ,bergson's ,evolution
 ,cratrice1 #ae4  ,bees1 the spirit of  
the hive1 #hb4  ,benton1 ,joel1 quoted1 
#gj4  ,bergson1 ,henri1 #abi1 #agc1     
#bfc2   on light and the eye1 #e2   his 
view of life1 #ad-af1 #bg-bi1 #bba1     
#bcg1 #bch2   on the need of philosophy1
 #he1 #hf2   on life on other planets1  
#hg2   his method1 #aji1 #aaj2   the key
 to his ,creative ,evolution1 #acb2   on
 life as a psychic principle1 #afb2     
his book as literature1 #bch4  ,beta    

rays1 #fa1 #aii1 #bja4  ,biogenesis1    
#be4 ,see also ,life4  ,biophores1 #bag4
  ,body1 the1 elements of1 #ch1 #ci2    
the chemist in1 #aeb1 #aec2             
intelligence of1 #aec1 #aed2   a        
community of cells1 #aeg1 #aeh2   viewed
 as a machine1 #bab-bad1 #bbd4  ,brain1 
evolution of1 #bhh4  ,breathing1        
mechanics and chemistry of1 #ej-ed1     
#bac4  ,brooks1 ,william ,keith1 quoted1
 #abh1 #bcf4  ,brown1 ,robert1 #aia2    
the ,brunonian movement1 #afg1 #agb1    
#aia4  ,brunonian movement1 #afg1 #agb1 
#aia4  ,butler1 ,bishop1 imaginary      
debate with ,lucretius1 #bai1 #bbj4     
,carbon1 #ch1 #ef1 #ei2   importance1   
#bjh4  ,carbonic-acid gas1 #eb1 #ec4    
,carrel1 ,dr4 ,alexis1 #ih1 #adh4       
,catalysers1 #ace1 #acf4  ,cell1 the1   
#hc-he1 #ij1 #if1 #ig1 #ahj2   ,wilson  
on1 #ie2   living after the death of the
 body1 #ih2   ,prof4 ,benjamin ,moore   
on1 #ajg2   nature of1 #aac2   aimless  
multiplication1 #adh1 #bcc2   the unit  
of life1 #aef2   communistic activity1  

#aeg1 #aeh1 #ahd2   a world in little1  
#agj2   mystery of1 #age2   different   
degrees of irritability1 #baf1 #bag4    
,changes in matter1 #aca1 #acc4         
,chemist1 in the body1 #aeb1 #aec4      
,chemistry1 the silent world of1 #di-ed2
   wonders worked by varying arrangement
 of atoms1 #ef-fj2   leads up to life1  
#ahh2   a new world for the imagination1
 #ahi-aib2   chemical affinity1         
#aic-aie2   various combinations of     
elements1 #bje-bjh2   organic compounds1
 #bji2   mystery of chemical            
combinations1 #baj2   chemical changes1 
#baj1 #baa2   powerless to trace        
relationships between different forms   
of life1 #bca1 #bcb2   cannot account   
for differences in organisms1 #bcc1     
#bcd4  ,chlorophyll1 #gg1 #aac1 #afh1   
#afi1 #agg1 #bce4  ,colloids1 #gf1 #ajh1
 #ace1 #acf4  ,conn1 ,h4 ,w41 on        
mechanism1 #ia-id4  ,consciousness1     
,huxley on1 #ie1 #aha1 #bfb4            
,corpuscles1 speed in the ether1 #fe4   
,creative energy1 immanent in matter1   

#i1 #ba2   its methods1 #bfc4           
,crystallization1 #bgf1 #bgg4  ,czapek1 
,frederick1 on vital forces1 #acc1 #aeb2
   on life1 #afd1 #aff1 #afi2   on      
enzymes in living bodies1 #afg4         
,darwin1 ,charles1 quoted1 #i2   on     
force of growing radicles1 #ai2   a     
contradiction in his philosophy1 #bed1  
#bee4  ,electricity1 in the constitution
 of matter1 #df-di2   a state of the    
ether1 #fc2   power from1 #fg1 #fh2     
the most mysterious thing in inorganic  
nature1 #bbc4  ,electrons1 knots in the 
ether1 #fc2   size and weight1 #aif2    
speed1 #aig2   matter dematerialized1   
#aig2   bombardment from1 #bja1 #bjb2   
revolving in the atom1 #bjc2   surface1 
#bjc2   compared with atoms1 #bjc2      
properties of matter supplied by1 #bjd4 
,elements1 of living bodies1 #ch1 #ci1  
#gg1 #gh2   analogy with the alphabet1  
#eg-ei1 #bjf2   undergoing spontaneous  
change1 #fg2   various combinations1    
#bje-bjh2   eagerness to combine1 #bji4 
,see also ,atoms4  ,eliot1 ,george1 on  

the development theory1 #ajc4  ,elliot1 
,hugh ,s4 ,r41 on mechanism1 #af4       
,emerson1 ,ralph ,waldo1 #bej2   on     
physics and chemistry1 #ahh2   quoted1  
#bhj4  ,energy1 relation of life to1    
#agg-ahc2   atomic1 #bjd4   ,see also   
,creative energy and ,force4  ,energy1  
biotic1 #ajf-aaa1 #ade1 #adf4  ,england1
 #bej4  ,entities1 #ii1 #ajj4           
,environment1 #hf-hh4  ,enzymes1 #afg4  
,ether1 the1 omnipresent and            
all-powerful1 #fa1 #fb2   its nature1   
#fb1 #fc2   its finite character1 #fe1  
#ff2   paradoxes of1 #ff4  ,ethics1 and 
the mechanistic conception1 #ab4        
,evolution1 creative impulse in1 #f1    
#aaa2   progression in1 #ac1 #ad2   and 
the arrival of the fit1 #bdd-bec2       
creative1 #bea-bec2   evolution of life 
bound up with the evolution of the      
world1 #bha-bhc2   creative protoplasm  
in1 #bhf2   a cosmic view of1 #bhi4     
,explosives1 #dc4   ,fire1 chemistry of1
 #ed4  ,fiske1 ,john1 on the soul and   
immortality1 #d2   on the physical and  

the psychical1 #ge1 #ahc4  ,fittest1    
arrival and survival of the1 #bdd-bec4  
,force1 physical and mental1 #c-e2   and
 life1 #ag-bc2   dissymmetric force1    
#bb2   the origin of matter1 #dc1 #dd4  
,see also ,energy4   ,galls1 #adg1      
#aed-aef4  ,ganong1 ,william ,francis1  
on life1 #aha4  ,germany1 in the ,war of
 #aiad1 #bdi-bea4  ,glaser1 ,otto ,c41  
quoted1 #ih4  ,goethe1 quoted1 #aaa1    
#bba1 #bfj1 #bhj2   as a scientific man1
 #bba4  ,gotch1 ,prof41 quoted1 #bgj4   
,grafting1 #dj1 #da4  ,grand ,caon of   
the ,colorado1 #bbe1 #bbh1 #bbi4  ,grape
 sugar1 #bjh4  ,growth1 of a germ1 #bag1
 #bah4   ,haeckel1 ,ernst1 #c1 #bhe2    
on physical activity in the atom1 #be1  
#bf2   his living inorganics1 #ia2   on 
the origin of life1 #afa2   on          
inheritance and adaptation1 #ahd2   his 
plastidules1 #bag2   a contradiction in 
his philosophy1 #bef4  ,hartog1 ,marcus1
 #abi4  ,heat1 changes wrought by1 #ee1 
#ef2   detection of1 at a distance1 #fj4
  ,helmholtz1 ,hermann von1 on life1    

#be1 #afa4  ,henderson1 ,lawrence ,j41  
his ,fitness of the ,environment1 #gc2  
his concession to the vitalists1 #hc1   
#he2   on the environment1 #hf-hh2   a  
thorough mechanist1 #hh1 #hi4           
,horse-power1 #agg1 #agh4  ,hudson      
,river1 blossoming of the water1 #bhc4  
,huxley1 ,thomas ,henry1 on the         
properties of protoplasm1 #ca1 #abf1    
#abg2   on consciousness1 #ie1 #aha1    
#bfb2   on the vital principle1 #aja1   
#abf1 #abg1 #adj2   his three realities1
 #adj2   a contradiction in his         
philosophy1 #bee1 #bef4  ,hydrogen1 the 
atom of1 #fe4   ,idealist1 view of life1
 #bah-bbb4  ,inorganic world1 beauty in 
decay in1 #bbh1 #bbi4  ,intelligence1   
characteristic of living matter1 #acd1  
#aci1 #aea-aed2   pervading organic     
nature1 #bbc4  ,irritability1 degrees   
of1 #baf1 #bag4   ,james1 ,william1     
#bed4   ,kant1 ,immanuel1 quoted1 #bba4 
,kelvin1 ,lord1 #hc4  ,king1 ,starr1    
#bdd4   ,lankester1 ,sir ,edwin ,ray1   
quoted1 #abh1 #ada2   his plasmogen1    

#ade1 #adf4  ,le ,dantec1 ,flix         
,alexandre1 his ,nature and ,origin of  
,life1 #gc1 #gi1 #hj2   on              
consciousness1 #hj2   on the artificial 
production of the cell1 #hc2   on the   
mechanism of the body1 #bbd4  ,leduc1   
,stephane1 his osmotic growths1 #afg1   
#afh4  ,liebig1 ,baron ,justus von1     
quoted1 #hc4  ,life1 may be a mode of   
motion1 #e2   evolution of1 #f2   its   
action on matter1 #h1 #i2   its         
physico-chemical origin1 #i2   its      
appearance viewed as accidental1 #aj-ad2
   ,bergson's view1 #ad-ag1 #bg-bi2     
,sir ,oliver ,lodge's view1 #ag1 #ah2   
and energy1 #ag-bc2   theories as to its
 origin1 #bd-bg2   ,tyndall's view1     
#bh-cj2   ,verworn's view1 #cj1 #ca2    
the vitalistic view1 #cb-ch2   matter as
 affected by1 #ci2   not to be treated  
mathematically1 #dj2   a slow explosion1
 #da1 #db2   an insoluble mystery1 #dc1 
#dd2   relations with the psychic and   
the inorganic1 #dd1 #de2   compared with
 fire1 #ed1 #ee2   the final mystery of1

 #fi1 #gj2   vitalistic and mechanistic 
views1 #ga-aad2   ,benjamin ,moore's    
view1 #ajf-aac2   the theory of         
derivation from other spheres1 #ajd2    
spontaneous generation1 #aje2   plays a 
small part in the cosmic scheme1        
#aae-aai2   mystery of1 #abj2   nature  
merciless towards1 #abj-abd2   as an    
entity1 #abd-acj2   evanescent          
character1 #aca1 #acb2   ,prof4         
,schfer's view1 #acc-ach2   intelligence
 the characteristic of1 #acd1 #aci1     
#aea-aed2   power of adaptation1        
#adg-adi2   versatility1 #aee1 #aef2    
the fields of science and philosophy in 
dealing with1 #afa-aff1 #agc-agf2       
simulation of1 #afg1 #afh2   and        
protoplasm1 #afi2   and the cell1 #agj2 
variability1 #aga1 #agb2   the          
biogenetic law1 #agd2   relation to     
energy1 #agg-ahc2   an x-entity1 #aha1  
#ahb2   struggle with environment1 #ahe1
 #ahf2   as a chemical phenomenon1 #ahg2
   inadequacy of the mechanistic view1  
#bab-bdc2   degrees of1 #baf1 #bag2     

arises1 not comes1 #bcj2   a            
metaphysical problem1 #bca2   as a wave1
 #bca2   its adaptability1 #bec2   a    
vitalistic view1 #bed-bhi2   naturalness
 of1 #bfc-bfh2   advent and             
disappearance1 #bfh1 #bfi2   the        
unscientific view1 #bgd1 #bge2   analogy
 with the question of perpetual motion1 
#bgg1 #bgh2   no great gulf between     
animate and inanimate1 #bhe2   a cosmic 
view1 #bhi4   ,see also ,living thing1  
,vital force1 ,vitalism1 ,vitality4     
,light1 measuring its speed1 #fj4       
,liquids1 molecular behavior1 #bjj4     
,living thing1 not a machine1 #a-c1     
#bab-bad2   viewed as a machine1 #cd-cg1
 #bbd-bbh2   a unit1 #bae2   adaptation1
 #bae1 #baf2   contrasted and compared  
with a machine1 #bda1 #bdb4  ,lodge1    
,sir ,oliver1 #ahc1 #aig2   his view of 
life1 #ag1 #ah1 #cd1 #acb1 #afa1 #bai1  
#bcg2   his vein of mysticism1 #cd2   on
 the ether1 #fb1 #fc1 #ff2   on         
molecular spaces1 #fe2   on radium1     
#bja2   on the atom1 #bjc2   on         

electrons1 #bjc4  ,loeb1 ,jacques1 on   
mechanism1 #aj-ac1 #gc2   his           
experiments1 #gd1 #gf1 #gi1 #adg2   on  
variations1 #adh4   ,machines1 ,nature's
 and man's1 #bbd-bbf2    contrasted and 
compared with living bodies1 #bda1 #bdb4
  ,maeterlinck1 ,maurice1 on the ,spirit
 of the ,hive1 #hb4  ,man1 evolution of1
 #bdf-bea2   as the result of chance1   
#bee2   as a part of the natural order1 
#beh1 #bei2   his little day1 #bfi4     
,matter1 as acted upon by life1 #h1 #i2 
creative energy immanent in1 #i2        
change upon entry of life1 #ci2         
constitution of1 #dc1 #dd1 #df-dh2   a  
state of the ether1 #fc2   changes in1  
#aca1 #acc2   ,emerson on1 #ahh2        
discrete1 #aif2   emanations detected by
 smell and taste1 #aih1 #aii2   a hole  
in the ether1 #bjc2   origin of its     
properties1 #bjd-bjf2   a higher        
conception of1 #bei-bfa2   common view  
of grossness of1 #bgd1 #bge4  ,maxwell1 
,james ,clerk1 on the ether1 #fc2   on  
atoms1 #aih4  ,mechanism1 the scientific

 explanation of mind1 #e2   and ethics1 
#ab2   reaction against1 #cb2           
definition1 #gb2   ,prof4 ,henderson's  
view1 #hh1 #hi2   vs4 vitalism1         
#bab-bdc4   ,see also ,life4            
,metaphysics1 necessity of1 #aja4       
,micellar strings1 #bag4  ,microbalance1
 #fj4  ,mind1 evolution of1 #bhg1 #bhh4 
,see also ,intelligence4  ,molecules1   
spaces between1 #fe1 #aif2   speed1     
#aib2   unchanging character1 #bje1     
#bjf4  ,monera1 #bhe4  ,moore1          
,benjamin1 a scientific vitalist1 #ajf2 
his biotic energy1 #ajf-aac1 #ade1 #adf4
  ,morgan1 ,thomas ,hunt1 #adh4         
,motion1 perpetual1 #aij1 #aia1 #bgh2   
mass and molecular1 #bfi1 #bgj4         
,naegeli1 ,karl ,wilhelm von1 #bag4     
,nitrogen1 #ea4  ,nonentities1 #ii1     
#ajj4   ,odors1 #aih1 #aii4  ,osmotic   
growths1 #afg1 #afh4  ,oxygen1          
activities of1 #ea1 #eb1 #ei2   in the  
crust of the earth1 #aic2   chemical    
affinities1 #aic-aie2   different forms 
of atoms1 #bjj4   ,parker1 ,theodore1 on

 the universe1 #bhj4  ,parthenogenesis1 
artificial1 #aa1 #gd4  ,pasteur1 ,louis1
 his dissymmetric force1 #bb1 #cb4      
,philosophy1 supplements science1       
#id-if1 #ajd1 #aji1 #afc1 #afd2   deals 
with fundamental problems1 #bdb1 #bdc2  
contradictions in1 #bed-beh4            
,phosphorus1 #ei1 #fj4  ,physics1       
staggering figures in1 #aib4  ,pitch    
lake1 #abc4  ,plants1 force exerted by  
growing1 #ag-bj4  ,plasmogen1 #ade1     
#adf4  ,plastidules1 #bag4  ,protobion1 
#ace4  ,protoplasm1 vitality of1 #afi2  
creative1 #bhf4   ,radio-activity1      
#ff-gj1 #acb4  ,radium1 #fa1 #bja4      
,see also ,beta rays4  ,rainbow1 #gj4   
,ramsay1 ,sir ,william1 #aia1 #aib4     
,rand1 ,herbert ,w41 on the mechanistic 
view of life1 #hi1 #ij4  ,russia1 #bej1 
#bea4   ,salt1 crystallization1 #bgf1   
#bgg4  ,schfer1 ,sir ,edward ,albert1   
#gc2   his mechanistic view of life1    
#acc-ach4  ,science1 delicacy of its    
methods and implements1 #fj1 #fa2       
limitations of its field1 #id-ajj1 #ajd2

   cannot deal with life except as a    
physical phenomenon1 #afa1 #afb2   does 
not embrace the whole of human life1    
#afb1 #afc2   inadequacy1 #afc-aff2     
cannot grasp the mystery of life1 #agc1 
#age1 #agf1 #bcd-bcf2   cannot deal with
 fundamental problems1 #bdb1 #bdc2      
concerns itself with matter only1 #bfd2 
inevitably mechanistic1 #bfe1 #bff2     
views the universe as one1 #bfg1 #bfh1  
#bga-bgd2   the redeemer of the physical
 world1 #bfi-bga1 #bgf2   spiritual     
insight gained through1 #bgh4           
,sea-urchins1 ,loeb's experiments1 #adg4
  ,seed1 growth of1 #bag1 #bah4  ,soddy1
 ,frederick1 #df1 #ff2   on vital force1
 #acc2   on rainbows and rabbits1 #agd2 
on the relation of life to energy1      
#agg-ahj2   on the atom1 #aig1 #aih2    
on atomic energy1 #bjd4  ,spencer1      
,herbert1 #bah1 #bdj2   quoted1 #ae1    
#af2   on the origin of life1 #bf2   on 
vital capital1 #cd1 #ce4  ,spirit1      
common view of1 #bgd1 #bge4             
,spirituality1 evolution of1 #bhd4      

,sugar1 grape1 #bjh4  ,sunflower1 wild1 
force exerted by1 #ai4   ,thomson1 ,j4  
,arthur1 #bgj4  ,thomson1 ,sir ,j4 ,j41 
on electrons1 #aig2   photographing     
atoms1 #aii1 #bjj4  ,tropisms1 #aa4     
,tyndall1 ,john1 his view of life1      
#bh-cj1 #afj1 #afb1 #bca2   his         
molecular force1 #db1 #acc2   his       
,belfast ,address1 #fd1 #bai2   and the 
miracle of vitality1 #aje2   on energy1 
#afa2   on growth from the germ1 #bag2  
an idealist1 #bai1 #bbj2   on ,goethe1  
#bba2   on matter1 #bfj2   on           
crystallisation of salt1 #bgf1 #bgg2    
on incipient life in inorganic nature1  
#bgg4   ,universe1 the1 oneness of1     
#bfg1 #bfh2   a view of1 #bhi4          
,uranium1 #fg4   ,verworn1 ,max1 #be1   
#gi1 #adf2   his view of life1 #cj1 #ca1
 #gc2   his term for vital force1 #ade4 
,vital force1 constructive1 #g1 #ch2    
inventive and creative1 #g2   resisting 
repose1 #dj2   as a postulate1 #ii-ajc2 
its existence denied by science1 #acc2  
convenience of the term1 #add2   other  

names1 #add-adf4   ,see also ,life4     
,vitalism1 making headway1 #cb2   reason
 for1 #ga1 #gb2   ,moore's scientific   
vitalism1 #ajf-aab2   type of mind      
believing in1 #bah-bbc4   ,see also     
,life4  ,vitality1 the question of its  
reality1 #adj-adc2   degrees of1 #bda1  
#bdb4   ,see also ,life4   ,war of      
#aiad1 #bdh-bea4  ,water-power1 and     
electricity1 #fg1 #fh4  ,weismann1      
,august1 #bag4  ,whitman1 ,walt1 quoted1
 #ad1 #dh1 #aaj1 #bef1 #bfj4  ,wilson1  
,edmund ,beecher1 on the cell1 #ie4     
,transcriber's ,notes3  #a4 ,the phrase 
',to resolve the pyschic and the vital' 
was changed to ',to resolve the psychic 
and the vital'4