INTRODUCTORY 11 



That, if I may venture to say so, is not a scientific attitude, 

 nor one that, in view of the humanitarian question involved, 

 should be tolerated. Whether a vital force is really gene- 

 rated in the animal body and in the plant and whether 

 electrical interchanges take place between the atmosphere 

 and the earth are problems that readily lend themselves 

 to study and solution. Few difficulties are in the way. It 

 involves merely a few weeks' or a few months' work on the 

 part of qualified men — electricians as well as physiologists — 

 and I hope that in the near future an investigation will be 

 set on foot, for it is not a matter of testing a theory but 

 of verifying a great truth. 



