THE LIFE OF MATTER. 237 



But a more intimate knowledge daily tends to 

 throw doubt upon the rigour or the absolute character 

 of such a distinction. It shows that brute matter can 

 no longer be placed on one side and living beings on 

 the other. Scientists deliberately speak of "the life 

 of matter," which seems to the average man a con- 

 tradiction in terms. They discover in certain classes 

 of mineral bodies almost all the attributes of life. 

 They find in others fainter, but still recognizable 

 indications of an undeniable relationship. 



We propose to pass in review these analogies and 

 resemblances, as has already been done in a fairly 

 complete manner by Leo Errera, C. E. Guillaume, 

 L. Bourdeau, Ed. Griffon, and others. We will con- 

 sider the fine researches of Rauber, of Ostwald, 

 and of Tammann upon crystals and crystalline germs 

 — researches which are merely a continuation of those 

 of Pasteur and of Gernez. These show that crystal- 

 line bodies are endowed with the principal attributes 

 of living beings — i.e., a rigorously defined form ; an 

 aptitude for acquiring it, and for re-establishing it by 

 repairing any mutilations that may be inflicted upon 

 it ; nutritive growth at the expense of the mother 

 liquor which constitutes its culture medium ; and, 

 finally — a still more incredible property — all the 

 characteristics of reproduction by generation. Other 

 curious facts observed by skilful physicists — W. 

 Roberts-Austen, W. Spring, Stead, Osmond, Guille- 

 min, Charpy, C. E. Guillaume — show that the immu- 

 tability even of bodies supposed to be the most rigid 

 of all, such as glass, the metals, steel, and brass, is 

 apparent rather than real. Beneath the surface of the 

 metal that seems to us inert there is a swarming 

 population of molecules, displacing each other, moving 



