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Persons may not be disposed to accept, or science able at 
present thoroughly to confirm these statements. But life must 
have been infused into the gelatinous specks I have spoken of 
above at some time or other, and in some way or other; and 
science in its latest utterance on the subject has pronounced 
the answer to the question—What is life? ‘‘to be approachable.” 
I allude here to Burdon Sanderson’s “ Address” to the Biological 
Section of the British Association at the late Newcastle-on-Tyne 
meeting. It should be stated, however, that this was said in 
sole reference to the Physiological aspect of the question, and 
without consideration of any possible higher causes of life. But 
I do not see why (in the present instance) we should not bring 
the latter into consideration also, if the inquiry be made with 
reverence and in humility. And it is not a little remarkable 
that, almost at the close of his Article “on the Physical Basis of 
Life,” Professor Huxley—perhaps the last man from whom we 
might have expected any leaning whatever towards spiritualism— 
has put on record that “ in itself it is of little moment whether 
“‘we express the phenomena of matter in terms of spirit; or the 
‘‘ phenomena of spirit in terms of matter.” I accept this alterna- 
tive, and—believing all things to have had their beginning from 
that Great First Cause revealed to us as “a spirit””—I conceive 
that everything must have received therefrom more or less of a 
spiritual impress, left to be acted upon from time to time by 
outward causes, and so made capable or not of further development 
according to circumstances. The “matter or spirit” of Huxley 
might remain a material atom for ever ; or be quickened into life 
if favoured by its surroundings. In the first case, it might along 
with other atoms become in the lapse of ages aggregated into 
large rock-like masses such as we see at the present day ; in the 
latter the organisation would be so rudimentary in the first 
instance, whatever it might become afterwards, as to show no 
distinction between animal and vegetable. 
And now, bearing in mind what has been said, let us—in 
