io8 ORIGIN OF LOWEST ORGANISMS. 



to believe) really capable of being evolved de novo. 

 These lowest organisms are, in fact, to be regarded 

 as occasional concomitant products, rather than as 

 invariable or necessary causes of all fermentative 

 changes. 



It would thus appear that specks of living matter 

 may be born in suitable fluids, just as specks of crystal- 

 line matter may arise in other fluids. Both processes are 

 really alike inexplicable both products are similarly 

 the results of the operation of inscrutable natural laws, 

 and what seem to be inherent molecular affinities. 

 The properties of living matter, just as much as the 

 properties of crystalline matter, are dependent upon 

 the number, kind, and mode of collocation of the 

 atoms and molecules entering into its composition. 

 There is no more reason for a belief in the existence 

 of a special " vital force," than there is for a similar 

 belief in the existence of a special " crystalline force." 

 The ultimate elements of living matter are in all pro- 

 bability highly complex, whilst those of crystalline 

 matter are comparatively simple. Living matter 

 develops into Organisms of different kinds, whilst 

 crystalline matter grows into Crystals of diverse 

 shapes. The greater modifiability of living matter, 

 and the reproductive property by which it is essen- 

 tially distinguished from crystalline matter, seem both 

 alike referable to the great molecular complexity and 

 mobility of the former. Crystals are statical, whilst 



