20 THE NATURE OF LIFE 



the living and the artificial cell but 

 this hardly seems necessary. If we 

 accept the definition of growth given 

 above it is clear that the artificial cell 

 furnishes an imitation which is suffi- 

 ciently complete for our purpose. We 

 must therefore conclude that there is 

 nothing in the absorption of water by the 

 living cell, either by imbibition or by 

 osmosis, which differs essentially from 

 these processes as found in non-living 

 systems. 



In conclusion we may ask whether life 

 can go on in the absence of growth. We 

 know that certain things may be tem- 

 porarily taken away from living matter 

 without taking away life itself. Is 

 growth one of these? Certainly the rest- 

 ing seed lives for years without any sign 

 of growth. This is also true of many 

 animal cells. The suppression of all 

 signs of growth does not in any way in- 

 volve the suppression of life. Even when 

 placed in moist soil with all external con- 

 ditions favorable some living seeds re- 



