MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIExVCE. 3 



no serious attempt to explain the step involved in the origin of life or its 

 creation. Darwin cannot be charged with an}- efforts to fathom the real 

 mysteries of life. His was not a mind to hypothesize without facts, or to 

 speculate without reasons; he was naturally disposed to deal with matters 

 as they came to him and to study them in the light of their environment. 

 He traced every line of thought through a wilderness of facts, consecutively, 

 to di\adge its real meaning and its associations; he noted every point to 

 establish its significance, and, when done, he based his conclusions upon the 

 matured and developed idea interpreted not in its isolation, Ijut in its re- 

 lation to nature. To his mind, induction meant serious, hea\y, and prolonged 

 labor; deduction, easy and intuitive recreation. By inference, therefore, 

 much has been attributed to Darwin and his co-workers that does not exist. 

 Doubtlessly, the}' have speculated some, but this was not the serious side 

 of their lives' tasks. It would not be a suitable commemorative service, 

 therefore, were we to emphasize that feature of Darwin's life, which repre- 

 sented a small fragment of his thoughts, by trying to tell what life is. It 

 would be more devout and respectful to study some of the simplest forms 

 of life as to their functional activities and structure. 



The invisible world is of vast extent, and very rich in life. So common 

 is it to measure everything by our own knowledge, our own conviction, and 

 our own experiences that we frequently forget that much may lie beyond 

 the boundaries of the individual; that worlds may exist without the consci- 

 ousness of the individual. The branch of science known as bacteri- 

 ology represents, to a greater or less extent, the integral life of the invisible 

 world; it has been so busy in the short period of its existence as such with 

 the many economical prolalems that comparatively little attention has been 

 given to the general biological matters with which it is pregnant. The 

 simplicity of the life studied or constituting the material of the subject, 

 bacteriology, must appeal to the general biologist as possessing advantages 

 over higher life forms with their complicated associational factors. 



The life form is a single cell. All the functions and structures are confined 

 within this cell. This independent cell acts as any individual organism, 

 as an entity. Many of these unicellular organisms yield readily to pure 

 culture cultivation through an indefinite number of generations; their habits 

 are open constantly to observation. They may pass through cycles of 

 development to suit the convenience of the student, and the research man. 

 Their metabolism is subject to absolute measurement. All functions and 

 structures common to living cells in animals and plants appear to be present 

 in these organisms; accordingly^ there seems to be ground for the belief that 

 the realm of unicellular life will provide the proper material for the beginning 

 and basic study of life forms. In these reasons will be found, also, the 

 motive for undertaking to analyze some of the vital phenomena as corrobor- 

 ative and useful in understanding the more complex living forms. 



The principle of the lever is simple when studied by itself, but introduce 

 it into intricate engines, mechanical devices, and other contrivances, and it 

 either fails of detection or becomes involved in other parts and problems. 

 So frought with difficulties from association and specialization are the cells 

 which form the structure of high or complex life forms that the life represented 

 in the cell can scarcely be detached from the life structure of which it forms 

 a part. The cell, in this instance, plays a subordinate role, and yet it is an 

 essential part or unit of the organism possessing it. Like the lever, the 

 cell contains the principal, but it becomes greatly involved when made 

 only a member of a composite body. 



