THE LIFE OF MATTER. « 



Hv A. Dastre, 



J'roftxnor (it thf Sorlioinn', I'lirix. 



APPARENT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LIVING AND BRUTE BODIES — THE 



TWO KIXCDOMS. 



That there should 1)0 any ossontial similarity between an inanimate 

 o))jeet and a living' l)eino- seems at tirst imp()ssil)le. AVhati'eseml)lances 

 can be discovered between a stone, a lion, and an oak? A comparison 

 of the inert and inmiovable pe])l)le with the animal that bounds and 

 the plant that eaidi year extends its foliaye gives an impression of 

 strong' contrast. Uetween the organic and the inorganic worlds is an 

 apparent ahyss. 



The lirst impressions we receive confirm this \iew; superficial studies 

 furnish arguments for it. There is thus created in the mind of the 

 child, and later in that of man, a sharply marked distinction l)etween 

 the natural objects of the mineral kingdom on the one hand and those 

 of the two kingdoms of living beings on the other. 



But a more intimate knowledge tends every day to throw dou))t 

 upon the strictness or al)solute character of such distinction. It shows 

 that gross or brute matter can no longer be placed on one side and 

 living- binngs on the other. Scientists deliberately speak of " tiie life 

 of matter," which seems to the uninstructed a contradiction in terms. 

 They discover m certain classes of mineral bodies almost all the attri- 

 ))utes of life. They tind in others fainter, 3-et recognizable, indications 

 of an undeniable relationship. 



We propose to pass in review these analogies and resemblances, as 

 has already been done in a fairly complete manner by MM. Leo 

 Errera, Ch. Ed. (luillaume, L. Bourdeau, Ed. Ciritfon, and others. 

 We will take as guides the excellent studies of Rau))er, of Ostwald, 

 and of Tanunann upon crystals and crystalline germs, studies which are 

 merely a continuation of those oF Pasteur and of Gernez. These 

 show that crystallni'e bodies are endowed with the princi[)al attributes 

 of living beings — that is to say, with a definite form, an apitude for 

 acquiring it, and for reesta])lishing it ])y repairing nmtilations that 



^Translated from "La vie de la inatiere" in I\evue des Deux Moiidcs, I'ans, 

 October 15, 1902, alter reviyioii and extension by ProfesHor Dastre. 



:J93 



