224 Transactions of the Society. 



properties of living matter belong to the same order or category 

 as that in which known properties of known forms of non-living 

 matter can he included, are not to be justified by an appeal to facts, 

 and are therefore contrary to the principles of science. 



Every vital phenomenon is absolutely difierent in its nature 

 from every physical (mechanical or chemical) action. There is no 

 analogy whatever between the two sets of phenomena. 



The present state of knowledge justifies the conclusion that no 

 form of living matter existing at present, nor any one which existed 

 in the past, directly originated from non-living matter, or in any 

 way derived its powers or properties from the non-living. 



