74 THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



c L'ensemble des fonctions qui insistent a la mort.' 

 Here the notion of a certain antagonism between the 

 organism and its Medium is principally apparent ; 

 whilst, on the other hand, in the definition of Mr. 

 Herbert Spencer, already alluded to, we have one of 

 the most general and inclusive statements possible 

 concerning the phenomena of living things : Life is 

 rather represented as the harmonious reaction in 

 living matter to the influence exerted by surrounding 

 matter and force. Stated more fully, his conception 

 of life becomes c The definite combination of hetero- 

 geneous changes, both simultaneous and successive, 

 in correspondence with external coexistences and sequences? 

 And how extremely important this notion of reci- 

 procal action is, has been most happily dwelt upon 

 by Mr. Spencer J in the following sentences. c We 

 habitually distinguish between a live object and a 

 dead one by observing whether a change which we 

 make in surrounding conditions, or one which nature 

 makes in them, is or is not followed by some per- 

 ceptible change in the object. By discovering that 

 certain things shrink when touched, or fly away when 

 approached, or start when a noise is made, the child 

 first roughly discriminates between the living and the 

 not-living ; and the man, when in doubt whether an 

 animal he is looking at is dead or not, stirs it with 

 his stick ; or if it be at a distance, shouts or throws 

 a stone at it. Vegetal and animal life are alike pri- 



1 ' Principles of Biology,' vol. i. p. 72. 



