32 Rev. P. Keith on the Cotiditiojis of Life. 



Elements of the Transit of Mercury. 

 Apparent time of Berlin. 



May 4 and 5 

 O's right ascension 



5 



Horary motion of © in jJI 



.5. 



O's northern declination.... 



5's .... 



0's horary motion in declination 



O's semidiameter 



Beginninff. 



22'' 0' 0" 

 42°21'50"'0 

 4-2 30 

 + 2 



— 1 

 16 18 

 16 31 

 + 



- 1 

 15 



34 

 24 

 18 

 1 

 23 

 42 



O's parallax 



5's 



[distance 1 = 3"] 



52 

 5 

 8 



15 



End. 



4 "48' 

 42° 38' 

 42 21 

 + 2 



— 1 

 16 22 

 16 23 

 + 



— 1 

 15 



0" 

 12"-9 



38 -3 



24-5 



18-8 



50-6 



36-9 



42-6 



8-6 



52-3 



5-37 



8-5 



15-38 



IV. Of the Conditions of Life. % f/i^jRcu. Patrick Keith, 



WHAT is life? — The great variety of definitions by which 

 physiologists have attempted to exhibit an idea of life, 

 shows that it is no easy task to do so correctly. The subtile and 

 untangible character of the subject to be defined is doubtless 

 the grand cause of the difficulty. Bichat, a French physio- 

 logist of great celebrity, defined it as follows : " La vie est 

 I'ensemble des fonctions qui resistent a la mort f ," — Life is 

 the totality of the functions that resist death. It is a trait 

 from the pencil of a great master, but it is by much too indefi- 

 nite to exhibit a distinct view of the subject. Functions seem 

 to be rather the result of life, than to be life itself. But what 

 is the amount of their resistance? for death finally overcomes 

 them; and of what class of bodies are they predicable? — 

 Richerand defined it thus: "La vie est une collection de 

 phenomenes qui succedent pendant un temps limite dans les 

 corps organises:}:," — Life is a collection of phaenomena that 

 occur during a limited period in organized structures. But the 

 boundaries of this limited period are left undefined, and must 

 consequently be supplied by the imagination of tlie reader. 

 They may include even the phaenomena of death, for anything 

 that the definition shows to the contrary. Mr. Lawrence's 



* Communicated by the Author, 

 t Rccherches Phys'wlogiques. 



^ Traits de Physiologie. 



definition 



