6 Spieazines 



kingdom and establishes in nature a sharp line of 

 demarcation between living and non-living things. 

 Keproduction in its broadest aspect amounts to 

 nothing more than self-duplication, but is funda- 

 mentally different from any of the other processes 

 heretofore known to science. It involves more 

 than mere dispersion or subdivision in that the 

 progeny retain not only the chemical composition 

 and physical state, but also, either actually or 

 potentially, the specific physical structure of the 

 parent. Neither can it be regarded as merely a 

 form of dissociation because the progeny are 

 structurally similar to the parent, whereas the 

 ions which result from dissociation of molecules 

 are always dissimilar from the undissociated 

 molecules. All living organisms, notwithstand- 

 ing their diversity of form and appearance, must 

 therefore possess something in common which 

 gives rise to that peculiar characteristic called 

 "Me.'' 



Self-duplication cannot be due, primarily, to 

 specific configurations of tissues or membranes 

 because there are innumerable species of bacteria 

 which exhibit no internal heterogeneity whatever, 

 even under the most powerful magnification. The 

 real cause of life, whether it be a certain sub- 

 stance or a specific detail of physical struc- 

 ture, must exist on a scale smaller than about 



