126 WHAT IS LIFE 



torn asunder immediately after its formation, what 

 relations will it have to the atoms? 



Concerning its values: Its energy content (mass), 

 its path, its velocity, all (a) are predetermined by 

 the specific conditions of the atom and ion of which 

 the two electrons (the positive and the negative 

 electron that make up the new unit) formerly were 

 constituent parts; and (6) are modified by sur- 

 rounding conditions (postulated to be conditions of 

 critical concentration of ions). It appeared that at 

 the critical point it is not a problem of "averages," 

 and "mean values," or of "mass action" of a group 

 of units of the same or various values; but it is a 

 problem of identifyirig particular atoms, ions, and 

 electrons, particular orbits, and particular angles. 



It is true that, given the critical condition pos- 

 tulated, one may not select one atom as the only one 

 that would lead to the formation of the new unit; 

 but any atom that readily would lose an orbit electron , 

 any one of a number of atoms (elements) , may figure 

 in this peculiar relation to an H2+-^o?^. While the 

 general results would be the same for any one of a 

 number of atoms, yet the different atoms would 

 produce differences of results in the values of the 

 new unit so far as the electrodynamics of the new 

 unit are concerned. 



If the energy content, the path, and the velocity 



