70 WHAT IS LIFE ? 



of Ether, called an electric current, through molecules, 

 and they may be decomposed into elements, as in the 

 case of electrolysis of water, where the Ether is divided 

 partly for the freedom of oxygen atoms, and partly for 

 the freedom of hydrogen atoms. 



Again, we may take from the fluid the pressure of 

 the atmosphere, and certain molecules will rise from 

 the surface, and become gaseous ; or we may divide 

 gases by passing them through minute tubes and mem- 

 branes. These are the principal modes of procedure 

 adopted by the chemist. He only succeeds when he is 

 in harmony with the Natural laws. 



Now a moment's reflection will show, that with all 

 these processes the chemist can never succeed in a pure 

 separation of molecules or atoms. He can only deal 

 with masses ; he cannot take atoms or molecules one by 

 one with his fingers and sort them. If his process be 

 what he calls " chemical reaction,'' he will always have 

 an excess of something in his mass. If his process 

 be distillation, there will be always some molecules 

 carried away mechanically in distillation, and so also 

 there will be with his tubes and membranes. And 

 although a great perfection may be and has been 

 arrived at, the results are only near, very near approxi- 

 mations. 



Moreover, if elementary matter exists in sparse pro- 

 portions, say, for illustration, one unknown elementary 

 atom is in the order of things mixed with a million, 

 a million billions a stupendous unknown number 

 of other atoms and molecules, what possible chance 

 has the chemist of finding by his processes, that one 

 atom ? Only could this be done if the chemist could 



