﻿MYSTERY 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  BONN 
  AN 
  321 
  

  

  anywhere, 
  in 
  those 
  queer 
  things 
  that 
  the 
  bacteriologists 
  call 
  the 
  

   "liltrable 
  viruses." 
  These 
  are 
  living 
  bacteria 
  so 
  exceedingly 
  small 
  

   that 
  not 
  only 
  are 
  they 
  invisible 
  in 
  the 
  finest 
  microscopes, 
  but 
  they 
  pass 
  

   easil}^ 
  through 
  the 
  minute 
  pores 
  of 
  a 
  Chamberland 
  porcelain 
  filter. 
  

   D'Hereile 
  has 
  recently 
  discovered 
  the 
  occurrence 
  in 
  certain 
  bacterial 
  

   cultures 
  of 
  what 
  he 
  calls 
  the 
  "bacteriophage." 
  These 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  

   excessively 
  minute 
  organisms 
  which 
  can 
  hydrolyze 
  certain 
  ordinary 
  

   bacteria. 
  They 
  constitute 
  an 
  extremely 
  fine 
  and 
  filtrable 
  "virus." 
  

   Quite 
  recently 
  Bechhold 
  and 
  Villa, 
  in 
  the 
  Institute 
  for 
  Colloid 
  

   Research 
  at 
  Frankfurt, 
  have 
  devised 
  a 
  new 
  and 
  ingenious 
  method 
  

   whereby 
  these 
  minute 
  organisms 
  can 
  be 
  rendered 
  visible 
  and 
  measured. 
  

   The 
  process 
  consists 
  in 
  depositing 
  gold 
  on 
  them, 
  strengthening 
  up 
  

   these 
  gilded 
  individuals 
  as 
  one 
  enlarges 
  the 
  silver 
  particles 
  in 
  an 
  

   insufficientl)'^ 
  exposed 
  negative, 
  and 
  obtaining 
  as 
  end 
  result 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  

   metallic 
  skeleton 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  organism. 
  It 
  appears 
  that 
  the 
  

   individua,ls 
  of 
  D'Herelle's 
  bacteriophage 
  are 
  small 
  disks 
  whose 
  diam- 
  

   eter 
  lies 
  between 
  35 
  mx 
  and 
  100 
  nn. 
  Now 
  the 
  diameter 
  of 
  an 
  ordi- 
  

   nary 
  chemical 
  molecule 
  is 
  of 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  1 
  (ip., 
  i. 
  e., 
  one-millionth 
  of 
  a 
  

   millimeter. 
  Colloid 
  particles 
  are 
  much 
  bigger 
  than 
  that. 
  If 
  it 
  be 
  

   proved 
  beyond 
  all 
  doubt 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  really 
  living 
  organisms, 
  then 
  the 
  

   individuals 
  of 
  D'Herelle's 
  bacteriophage 
  are 
  comparable 
  in 
  size 
  with 
  

   known 
  colloid 
  aggregates 
  of 
  nonliving 
  matter. 
  This 
  result 
  gives 
  rise 
  

   to 
  strange 
  hopes. 
  If 
  we 
  can 
  find 
  a 
  complete 
  continuity 
  of 
  dimensions 
  

   between 
  the 
  living 
  and 
  the 
  nonliving, 
  is 
  there 
  really 
  any 
  point 
  where 
  

   we 
  can 
  say 
  that 
  here 
  is 
  life 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  life? 
  That 
  would 
  be 
  a 
  dar- 
  

   ing 
  and 
  perhaps 
  a 
  dangerous 
  theme 
  to 
  dwell 
  on 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time. 
  

   But 
  where 
  there 
  is 
  hope 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  possibility 
  of 
  research. 
  And 
  who 
  

   will 
  set 
  a 
  limit 
  to 
  the 
  discoveries 
  that 
  are 
  possible 
  to 
  science 
  in 
  the 
  

   future? 
  

  

  I 
  hope 
  no 
  reader 
  of 
  this 
  meager 
  sketch 
  of 
  mine 
  will 
  call 
  me 
  a 
  mate- 
  

   rialist 
  or 
  a 
  mechanist. 
  All 
  I 
  have 
  endeavored 
  to 
  show, 
  however 
  briefly 
  

   and 
  inadequately, 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  sincere 
  and 
  honest 
  men 
  who 
  are 
  advanc- 
  

   ing 
  science 
  whether 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  of 
  life 
  or 
  death 
  are 
  those 
  who 
  measure 
  

   accurately, 
  reason 
  logically, 
  and 
  express 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  their 
  measure- 
  

   ments 
  in 
  precise 
  mathematical 
  form. 
  A 
  hundred 
  or 
  a 
  thousand 
  years 
  

   from 
  now 
  mathematics 
  may 
  have 
  developed 
  far 
  beyond 
  the 
  extremest 
  

   point 
  of 
  OLir 
  present-day 
  concepts. 
  The 
  technique 
  of 
  experimental 
  

   science 
  at 
  that 
  future 
  date 
  may 
  be 
  something 
  undreamed 
  of 
  at 
  the 
  

   present 
  time. 
  But 
  the 
  advance 
  will 
  be 
  continuous, 
  conformal, 
  and 
  

   homologous 
  with 
  the 
  thought 
  and 
  reasoning 
  of 
  to-day. 
  The 
  mystery 
  

   of 
  life 
  will 
  still 
  remain. 
  The 
  facts 
  and 
  theories 
  of 
  science 
  are 
  more 
  

   mysterious 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  than 
  they 
  w^ere 
  in 
  the 
  days 
  of 
  Aristotle. 
  

   Science, 
  truly 
  understood, 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  death, 
  but 
  the 
  birth, 
  of 
  mystery, 
  

   awe, 
  and 
  reverence. 
  

  

  