THE RHYTHMIC UNIVERSE 367 



crabs ran to and fro or were quiet during regular intervals of 

 time. This was the picture one got while visiting the laboratory 

 of one of the outstanding biologists of our time. 



When one questioned the biologists who were performing 

 these experiments as to the type of data they were receiving, 

 their answers brought many new and interesting facts to light. 

 The large repository of accumulated and processed data which 

 they possessed and a number of charts they had prepared, based 

 on their observations of the behavior and metabolism of the 

 plants and animals studied, had led the investigators to the 

 conclusion that all these observed activities, despite every effort 

 at isolation from the outside, were moving in rhythm with the 

 motions of the cosmos. Although the organisms were being 

 studied under conditions of temperature, light and other en- 

 vironmental factors artificially maintained at an unvarying 

 constancy, the plants and animals participating remained some- 

 how in perfect accord with major cosmic or geophysical con- 

 ditions of the outside world. 



A confirmation of this apparently indestructible harmony 

 with the outer world, and even with outer space, arose from 

 one summer's observation when the workers were at loss to 

 account for the very eccentric results obtained from a certain 

 set of experiments. When the meteorologic data corresponding 

 to that particular period were consulted, it was discovered that 

 the erratic behavior coincided exactly with a sudden and large 

 outburst of sunspots! This correlation strengthened their sus- 

 picion that their organisms were somehow getting some type of 

 " information " from the outside which was not being observed 

 in the laboratory. 



Dr. Brown and his associates have published extensively the 

 results of their work, and it is very interesting to note the 

 evolution of the hypotheses involved as the work progressed 

 for a number of years. In particular one is struck by the great 

 similarity between the conclusions and e^lanations arrived at 

 by Dr. Brown from controlled observations, and the Aris- 

 totelian doctrine concerning the influence of the " heavenly 



