no TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



receive the material conditions necessary for the attainment of individual 

 existence. If the life-force were an "immaterial power above and 

 independent of nature, dominating and pervading all matter," then each 

 of these germs should spring into life and attain the age allotted to each 

 form; and, further, if life were an "immaterial force infinitely above 

 nature," then the oak could just as well be started from a pebble as from 

 an acorn, and a horse from a piece of ice, as by the laws of procreation 

 each is quite independent of material laws and forces. 



The causes giving rise to the varied organic forms of earth are from 

 an apparently infinite variety of conditions and forces, holding through 

 exceedingly long epochs of time. Says Spencer, in speaking of diversity 

 of forms : 



"If this vast geneological tree be contemplated as a whole, made up of trunk, 

 great branches, secondary branches, and so on, as far as the terminal twigs, it will be 

 perceived that all the varied kinds of organisms represented by these terminal twigs, 

 forming the periphery of the tree, will stand related to each other in small groups, 

 which are united into groups of groups, and so on. The embryological tree, expressing 

 the developmental relations of organisms will be similar to the tree which symbolizes 

 their classificatory'relations. That subordination of classes, orders, genera and species 

 to which naturalists have been gradually led, is just that subordination which results 

 from the divergence and re-divergence of embryos as they all unfold. On the hypoth- 

 esis of evolution this parallelism has a meaning — indicates that primordial kinship of 

 all organisms and the progressive differentiation of them which the hypothesis alleges." 



All organic forms springing from perfectly developed germs (and the 

 perfection or imperfection of all germs depends on physical parental con- 

 ditions) with favorable material conditions manifest that vital action we 

 call health ; but with unfavorable material conditions the manifestation is 

 one of disease. If the vital force were an "immaterial" something 

 "above and independent of nature," then it should not be deranged 

 by material causes. Its control of an organism should be supreme. 

 Physical causes should not improve or impair, change or modify its mani- 

 festations. It should not get sick and need a physician. No such thing 

 should be known as remedial appliances. There could be no medical 

 science. Physiology and health, pathology and therapeutics would be 

 meaningless terms. On the other hand, life being a correlation of forces 

 in nature, physiology, pathology and therapeutics are branches of phys- 

 ical science. Unfavorable physical condition changes physiological to 

 pathological action ; then therapeutic appliances change the action back 

 to health. Remedial appliances are largely chemical and altogether 

 material. One material condition may stop all motions of life. Last 

 summer (1879) an extensive and long-continued drouth prevailed in 

 Central Illinois. Thousands of acres of corn were almost at a dead 

 stand-still. One general rain made greater change in motions of growth 

 in twenty- four hours than had occurred in three weeks. 



In proof the most positive that all vegetation depends for all motions 

 of growth on heat and moisture, both of which are material agencies, it 

 may be urged that life, being an "immaterial force above nature," uses 

 material conditions and forces to construct an organism. In this case it 

 could not be independent of nor above nature, but absolutely subject to 



