CHARLES DARWIN 313 



revealed to us, in order to bring about, purely by guid- 

 ance or release, everything that happens in a living organism. 

 Much of this is quite coarse mechanism, not going beyond 

 our knowledge of the physics of matter, for example the lever 

 action of the skeleton, and the pumping action of the heart. 

 In finer structures, for example the conduction of nervous 

 stimuli, electrical processes have been recognised as taking 

 part; the working muscle is undoubtedly a molecular mech- 

 anism, acting through molecular and atomic forces which 

 can also be studied in non-living matter, and which, at least 

 in part, are of an electro-magnetic nature and so belong to 

 the physics of ether. The peculiar fact is simply that the 

 production and continual fresh formation of such well- 

 arranged molecular mechanisms in the nerve and muscle, and 

 indeed the synthesis of the necessary molecules from lifeless 

 groups of atoms, such as their food presents to living beings, 

 can only take place in the presence of the aforementioned 

 centres of life. Nothing of the kind has ever been observed, 

 nor has life itself therefore ever been found, without a pre- 

 vious living germ produced by a living organism.^ 



1 We may here indicate a point of view which occurred to the author 

 more than twenty years ago from the consideration of what we know of 

 life, but which must also occur no doubt to everyone, who, with the 

 whole content of the physics of matter and of ether in his mind, regards 

 as the first task of research in breaking new ground, the formation of no- 

 tions so adapted to the actual and observable process of nature, that the 

 latter becomes as comprehensible as possible by their means. This view 

 regards as quite possible the new formation of life, the spontaneous gen- 

 eration hitherto sought for in vain, as soon as sufficient suitable molecules 

 containing enough atoms are available, and in an environment which is 

 suitable and allows of metabolism. What is then necessary for such 

 molecules, forming a body, in order for them to live, is a suitable spirit. 

 Spirit is here a name for that which is obviously necessary, apart from the 

 material, to life. A name that enables the concept thus grasped, the 

 thing discovered - unknown but still existing - to be firmly retained, in 

 order that it may be investigated as far as possible by further experiment. 

 It follows from this that we must assume as existing in space in an avail- 

 able form spirits of many different kinds (derived from dead living 

 beings), and that these have the property of uniting with molecules which 

 suit them, as soon as they find such, whereby these become living beings 

 or the germs of them, which then develop in a suitable environment in 

 accordance with the spirit and guided by it. These are ideas which are 



