Life as a Physical Phenomenon. 159 



withstands the storms of ages, or between the deer that 

 flies over the plains with fleetness and grace, and one of the 

 microscopic inhabitants of a drop of water. 



But as we trace the faculties of each to its origin we 

 find that the contrast consists in the fact that in the lowest 

 organisms each part is capable of performing all the functions 

 of the being while in the higher structures the functions 

 are distributed to different organs. This is an apparent 

 rather than a real distinction, and hence it follows from 

 this and from all that we have seen of the plan of living 

 being's, that so far as the essentials of life are concerned we 

 may regard the microscopic plant as a representative 

 living structure; and in this light let us compare it with 

 other beings which are not usually regarded as organized, 

 and let us, if we are able, see where the process of organ- 

 ization begins, and when it becomes necessary to call to 

 the aid of the ordinary forces and properties of matter, 

 that peculiar and mysterious something called vitality. 



Let us inquire whether we shall accept the theory that 

 an all-wise architect has brought together the molecules of 

 a cell, placing them in definite positions and arranging 

 them for a specific purpose, while the atoms of a crystal 

 have fallen together by chance and are the result, not of 

 growth but of aggregation. 



Certain elements unite to form protoplasm. They are 

 carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, but these ele- 

 ments refuse to combine directly to form this protoplasm 

 demanding first a binary union among themeselves. Car- 

 bon and oxygen unite as carbonic acid, hydrogen and 

 oxygen as water, and nitrogen and hydrogen as ammonia. 

 By the action of light, heat and electricity, which are 

 but names for certain vibratory motions of matter, these 

 compound molecules are made to move upon each other 

 in such a way that protoplasm, a substance more complex 

 in its chemical composition than mineral structures, and 



