362 THE LIMITS OF NATUEAL SELECTION 



life is the cause and not the consequence of organiza- 

 tion." In his celebrated article " On the Physical 

 Basis of Life," however, he maintains, that life is a 

 property of protoplasm, and that protoplasm owes its 

 properties to the nature and disposition of its molecules. 

 Hence he terms it " the matter of life," and believes 

 that all the physical properties of organized beings are 

 due to the physical properties of protoplasm. So far 

 we might, perhaps, follow him, but he does not stop 

 here. He proceeds to bridge over that chasm which 

 Professor Tyndall has declared to be " intellectually 

 impassable," and, by means which he states to be 

 logical, arrives at the conclusion, that our " thoughts 

 are the expression of molecular changes in -that matter 

 of life which is the source of our other vital phenomena." 

 Not having been able to find any clue in Professor 

 Huxley's writings, to the steps by which he p'asses from 

 those vital phenomena, which consist only, in their 

 last analysis, of movements of particles of matter, to 

 those other phenomena which we term thought,, sensa- 

 tion, or consciousness ; but, knowing that so positive an 

 expression of opinion from him will have great weight 

 with many persons, I shall endeavour to show, with as 

 much brevity as is compatible with clearness, that this 

 theory is not only incapable of proof, but is also, as it 

 appears to me, inconsistent with accurate conceptions of 

 molecular physics. To do this, and in order further to 

 develop my views, I shall have to give a brief sketch 

 of the most recent speculations and discoveries, as ta 

 the ultimate nature and constitution of matter. 



