Phillips. — On a Common Vital Force. 611 



The perfecting of the Argaiicl lamp was another discovery. 

 Argaud was once busy in his work-room before the burning 

 lamp, whilst his little brother was amusing himself by placing 

 a bottomless oil-flask over different articles. In his play he 

 placed the flask over the flame of the lamp, and the flame 

 suddenly shot up tiie long circular neck of the flask with great 

 brilliancy. The hint was not lost, and the modern lamp- 

 chimney was the result. 



A hen one day walked through a clay-puddle, and imme- 

 diately afterwards left her tracks on a pile of sugar lying near 

 by. At each of her footprints the sugar had whitened. From 

 this circumstance wet clay came to be used in refining sugar. 



Many wonderful discoveries in chemistry have been the 

 results of pure chance ; and experiments have often revealed 

 quite unexpected effects. 



In medicine the discoveries are numerous and constant, 

 and they are always named as such, and never by the word 

 " invention." Thus Dr. Koch's discovery of the bacillus of 

 tuberculosis. The bacilli of many diseases are found now to 

 be destroyed neither by ice nor by sea-water. 



It is said that Pythagoras discovered the 47th problem of 

 Euclid. But this partakes rather of an abstract mathematical 

 proposition. We know very little of these propositions, or the 

 power of numerals. It cannot be said we invented these 

 things. They were revealed to us like many other discoveries, 

 and are no doubt fundamental principles of land-survey and 

 astronomy in every planet. 



I only give these few instances out of many discoveries in 

 order to prove the direct action of what I consider to be the 

 common vital force, and I shall be glad to hear or receive 

 from members further accidental discoveries they know of as 

 opposed to inventions. My wish, of course, is to prove that 

 natural selection, or the doctrine of evolution, does not account 

 for these remarkable phenomena. 



Section III. — Potentiality of Divekgence. 

 Whilst very many persons accept Darwin's theory of selec- 

 tion (natural or artificial) as the cause of the difference in 

 species, many others disagree with it. Mr. Mivart holds, and 

 others with him, that species change through an internal 

 force or tendency. Darwin takes exceeding trouble to answer 

 Mivart. I shall collect the objections to Darwin's theory later 

 on. When first preparing this paper, many years ago, I knew 

 nothing of Darwin's arguments, or even of Mr. Mivart's name. 

 I have all along tried to think out my own theory for myself, 

 and, so far, have not met with much encouragement from 

 those to whom I have spoken about it. My arguments, how- 

 ever, will doubtless be weighed upon their merits. 



