WHAT IS LIFE? 39 



pends on accident. With the lover, it is the end which is 

 fixed. The path may be modified indefinitely. Suppose 

 a living frog in the position in which we place our bubbles 

 of air, viz., at the bottom of a jar of water the want of 

 air will soon make him also long to join the mother atmos- 

 phere, but if a jar of water be inverted over it he will not 

 like the bubbles, perpetually press his nose against its un- 

 yielding roof, but will restlessly explore the neighborhood 

 until he has discovered a path around its brim to the goal 

 of his desire." 



These illustrations are good and show clearly the differ- 

 ence between an intelligent and a mechanical act. I do 

 not believe it is possible to show any intelligence in a 

 purely chemical and mechanical act, as it never acts with 

 a purpose. The cell has been active for millions of years 

 in building structures like plants and animals. In the 

 petrified forests of Arizona we see that trees were con- 

 structed in precisely the same shape and of the same size 

 as they are today. We are satisfied that those trees were 

 built by cells over two million years ago. After millions 

 of years of practise and experience in building these sta- 

 tionary habitations for themselves like trees and plants, 

 and movable structures like animals, it is reasonable that 

 they should show a very high degree of skill and intelli- 

 gence in this line of business. By the aid of sunlight they 

 are able to handle and direct matter, molecules, atoms and 

 electrons with the same dexterity that our best builders 

 handle brick, mortar and cement. 



The cells of our brain which do our thinking are not 

 different from any of the cells of our body nor are they 

 any different from the cells that live a single separate life 

 in the water, nor from those cells that build plants. The 

 slight difference in the general appearance of the cells of 

 our body arises from the fact that they are occupied with 



