VI 



A BIRD OF PASSAGE 



THERE is one phase of the much-discussed ques- 

 tion of the nature and origin of life which, so 

 far as I know, has not been considered either by 

 those who hold a brief for the physico-chemical view 

 or by those who stand for some form of vitalism or 

 idealism. I refer to the small part that life plays in 

 the total scheme of things. The great cosmic ma- 

 chine would go on just as well without it. Its rela- 

 tion to the whole appears to be little different from 

 that of a man to the train in which he journeys. Life 

 rides on the mechanical and chemical forces, but it 

 does not seem to be a part of them, nor identical 

 with them, because they were before it, and will 

 continue after it is gone. 



The everlasting, all-inclusive thing in this uni- 

 verse seems to be inert matter with the energy it 

 holds; while the slight, flitting, casual thing seems 

 to be living matter. The inorganic is from all eter- 

 nity to all eternity; it is distributed throughout all 

 space and endures through all time, while the or- 

 ganic is, in comparison, only of the here and the 

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