POSTSCRIPT. 



DURING the time the second edition was passing through 

 the press a most important work was published, 

 written by Prof. Max Verworn of the Jena University, 

 Germany, and translated into English by Prof. Fredk. 

 S. Lee of Columbia University, New York, entitled: 

 " GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY, AN OUTLINE OF THE SCIENCE 

 or LiFE." 1 This work is also translated into Russian 

 and Italian. Such a range of diffusion of original 

 observations and thought is a far cry indeed, and 

 indicates the rapid way "knowledge" is being spread. 



Now this work experimentally proves the fundamental 

 views adopted by the author in the text of " What is 

 Life." It is gratifying that after studying Prof. 

 Verworn's book, the author sees no reason for altering 

 one word of the text. 



The weak part of Prof. Verworn's work is the 

 physical part, and this he feels, for he states : 



" Logic demands that every body, whether living or 

 lifeless, must be subject to the general laws of bodies, 

 which physics and chemistry reveal. It is evident 

 that these two sciences are not yet completed, and 

 that in the future many of their essential views will 

 undergo profound changes. But so much is certain : an 

 explanatory principle can never hold good in physiology, 

 with reference to the physical phenomena of life, that 

 is not also applicable in chemistry and physics, in lifeless 

 nature" (p. 46). 



People who are unable to believe in " spontaneous 

 generation," that is, the evolution of the organic out 

 of the inorganic, must shut their eyes to the most 



1 Published by Macmillan & Co., Limited. 



