THE BREATH OF LIFE 



Mechanical forces seek an equilibrium or a state 

 of rest. The whole inorganic world under the influ- 

 ence of gravity would flow as water flows, if it could, 

 till it reached a state of absolute repose. But vital 

 forces struggle against a state of repose, which to 

 them means death. They are vital by virtue of 

 their tendency to resist the repose of inert matter; 

 chemical activity disintegrates a stone or other 

 metal, but the decay of organized matter is different 

 in kind; living organisms decompose it and resolve 

 it into its original compounds. 



Vital connections and mechanical connections 

 differ in kind. You can treat mechanical principles 

 mathematically, but can you treat life mathemati- 

 cally? Will your formulas and equations apbly 

 here? You can figure out the eclipses of the sun and 

 moon for centuries to come, but who can figure out 

 the eclipses of nations or the overthrow of parties or 

 the failures of great men? And it is not simply be- 

 cause the problem is so vastly more complex; it is be- 

 cause you are in a world where mathematical prin- 

 ciples do not apply. Mechanical forces will deter- 

 mine the place and shape of every particle of inert 

 matter any number of years or centuries hence, but 

 they will not determine the place and condition of 

 matter imbued with the principle of life. 



We can graft living matter, we can even graft a 

 part of one animal's body into another animal's 

 body, but the mechanical union which we bring 

 40 



