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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1929 
  

  

  are, 
  in 
  our 
  environment, 
  radioactive, 
  in 
  the 
  immense 
  heat 
  of 
  the 
  

   stars 
  atoms 
  not 
  only 
  come 
  to 
  pieces 
  and 
  are 
  dissociated 
  into 
  protons 
  

   and 
  electrons, 
  but 
  their 
  basic 
  structure 
  is 
  destroyed, 
  positive 
  and 
  

   negative 
  electrons 
  fall 
  into 
  one 
  another, 
  and 
  matter 
  is 
  converted 
  into 
  

   radiation. 
  In 
  the 
  heavens 
  the 
  elements 
  disintegrate 
  more 
  com- 
  

   pletely 
  than 
  a 
  dead 
  cat 
  does 
  on 
  earth, 
  and 
  unless 
  there 
  is 
  somewhere 
  

   some 
  reconstruction 
  the 
  cosmos 
  is 
  coming 
  to 
  a 
  material 
  end. 
  Lodge 
  

   and 
  Millikan 
  think 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  depths 
  of 
  interstellar 
  space, 
  under 
  

   conditions 
  of 
  intense 
  cold, 
  energy 
  may 
  once 
  again 
  become 
  matter, 
  

   radiation 
  be 
  reconverted 
  into 
  electrons 
  which 
  in 
  their 
  turn 
  are 
  recom- 
  

   bined 
  again 
  into 
  atoms, 
  and 
  so 
  the 
  various 
  elements 
  are 
  reproduced; 
  

   Jeans 
  doubts 
  any 
  such 
  regeneration. 
  The 
  duty 
  of 
  a 
  pathologist 
  

   does 
  not 
  call 
  upon 
  him 
  to 
  interpose 
  his 
  private 
  judgment 
  in 
  so 
  nice 
  

   and 
  important 
  a 
  controversy, 
  and 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  impudent 
  to 
  say 
  more 
  

   than 
  that 
  some 
  such 
  process 
  would 
  enable 
  us 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  comfortable 
  

   faith 
  in 
  the 
  maintenance 
  of 
  the 
  material 
  universe. 
  If 
  reconstitution 
  

   is 
  shown 
  to 
  take 
  place, 
  one 
  can 
  not 
  help 
  thinking 
  of 
  the 
  nitrogen 
  

   cycle, 
  and 
  how 
  it 
  was 
  once 
  held 
  as 
  certain 
  (I 
  was 
  taught 
  it 
  as 
  a 
  student) 
  

   that 
  combined 
  nitrogen 
  was 
  continually 
  and 
  irretrievably 
  leaving 
  the 
  

   live 
  world 
  which 
  must 
  therefore 
  inevitably 
  come 
  to 
  an 
  end; 
  we 
  had 
  

   not 
  appreciated 
  nitrifying 
  bacteria 
  and 
  attached 
  more 
  importance 
  

   to 
  academic 
  argument 
  than 
  to 
  Moses's 
  directions 
  for 
  fallowing 
  arable 
  

   land. 
  

  

  If 
  the 
  elements 
  do 
  go 
  through 
  such 
  a 
  cycle, 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  what 
  

   we 
  call 
  their 
  "evolution" 
  is 
  more 
  analogous 
  to 
  the 
  death 
  and 
  repro- 
  

   duction 
  of 
  organisms 
  than 
  to 
  the 
  progressive 
  appearance 
  of 
  more 
  

   complex 
  forms. 
  Very 
  little 
  of 
  the 
  cycle 
  takes 
  place 
  in 
  our 
  own 
  par- 
  

   ticular 
  corner 
  of 
  the 
  universe, 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  organismal 
  cycle 
  is 
  limited, 
  

   and 
  it 
  is 
  conditioned 
  by 
  very 
  different 
  circumstances 
  of 
  time 
  and 
  

   space, 
  but 
  it 
  has 
  much 
  the 
  same 
  result 
  in 
  that 
  it 
  leaves 
  things 
  where 
  

   they 
  were. 
  Protozoa 
  are 
  the 
  better 
  for 
  reconstitution 
  without 
  multi- 
  

   plication; 
  perhaps 
  atoms 
  are 
  too. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  the 
  recon- 
  

   stituted 
  atoms 
  may 
  easily 
  be 
  of 
  different 
  species 
  from 
  those 
  out 
  of 
  

   whose 
  debris 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  built 
  up, 
  and 
  under 
  conditions 
  where 
  

   any 
  reconstitution 
  can 
  occur 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  atoms 
  are 
  made 
  which 
  

   are 
  more 
  complex 
  than 
  any 
  of 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  direct 
  knowledge. 
  

   Perhaps, 
  too, 
  the 
  inorganic 
  cycle 
  is 
  more 
  nearly 
  parallel 
  to 
  the 
  appear- 
  

   ance, 
  progressive 
  evolution, 
  and 
  final 
  disappearance 
  of 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  

   animal 
  forms 
  which 
  some 
  writers 
  have 
  imagined 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  birth, 
  

   growth, 
  and 
  death 
  of 
  an 
  organism 
  drawn 
  out 
  on 
  an 
  extended 
  scale. 
  

   I 
  do 
  not 
  know. 
  

  

  Such 
  are 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  ideas 
  familiar 
  in 
  biology 
  which 
  have 
  appeared 
  

   in 
  the 
  explanations 
  of 
  our 
  experience 
  of 
  what 
  is 
  not 
  alive. 
  As 
  I 
  have 
  

   stated 
  them, 
  they 
  are 
  to 
  some 
  extent 
  inconsistent 
  with 
  one 
  another 
  

   and 
  they 
  lead 
  to 
  no 
  certain 
  conclusion; 
  they 
  furnish, 
  however, 
  an 
  

  

  