MONERA, AND THE PROBLEM OF LIFE. 459 



Are we, in our trial to establish the necessary connections, simply 

 to draw upon our innate power of synthesis, again once more to stimu- 

 late the much-jaded faculty of mental constructiveness ? Assuredly, if 

 the material for the verification of any logical supposition had been 

 extant, the master-minds, who have so admirably dealt with this great 

 subject of synthetical continuity, would have left no material chasm 

 unbridged. Are we to find what we are in need of by laying open to 

 inspection the subtile intricacy of the sanctuary of life, by minutely 

 investigating the intimate composition and working of the mysterious 

 organ of centralization? Dazzled by the wonders of this marvelous 

 fabric, the consummated fruit of the mighty tree of life, there is as- 

 suredly danger that we shall fail to catch any glimpses of its dark and 

 lowly origin. 



It is very natural, then, and appropriate, that, seeking a way out 

 of our scientific perplexity, we should direct attention to the study of 

 vitality in its least complicated forms, which manifest the properties 

 of life, and at the same time do not confuse us with structural entan- 

 glements. For, wherever we find fixity of differentiated parts already 

 established, there the difficulty begins. The organism gains the ap- 

 pearance of a mechanical contrivance, and we feel at once puzzled as to 

 what is driving and what is driven in the living engine. We desire, 

 then, if possible, to become acquainted with life before it has assumed 

 any definite shape, before the manifoldness of its relations has acquired 

 any degree of stability, or settled morphological expression. 



The least complicated forms of life now known are perhaps motion- 

 less, non-nucleated corpuscles, which are observed to grow and to multi- 

 ply by division. But vitality in these forms displays itself so torpidly, 

 or at least so clandestinely, that microscopic investigation is incom- 

 petent to detect the nature of the changes that constitute their vital 

 activity. Besides, these motionless corpuscles are probably all inclosed 

 in a membranous envelope, which special structure must be regarded as 

 an organic complication undesirable for our purpose. 



Haeckel was the first to point out the most fascinating of all primi- 

 tive beings ; and he was the first also to recognize their true import 

 in biology. He named them, on account of the entire homogeneity of 

 their structure, Monera. It is now well known that monera consist of 

 nothing but a flake or globule of uniform viscid material. Yet these 

 unorganized specks of matter are most truly alive, for they are seen to 

 move, to nourish themselves, to react on outward impressions, and to 

 propagate their kind. 



Here, then, we have all the fundamental properties of life, without 

 any of its morphological complications. By dispensing, for once, with 

 all elaborate equipment, and by executing her principal performances 

 with such deliberate distinctiveness and openness, it is as if Nature 

 were here purposely inviting us to penetrate her vital mysteries. 



If we can only gain an actual insight into the conditions upon which 



