WHAT IS LIFE? 41 



thing- in chemical attraction and affinity, and some have 

 gone so far as to call this "unconscious sensation," what- 

 ever may be understood by that expression. The word 

 sensation is such a general term and subject to so many 

 meanings, that it is hard to tell just what ideas they in- 

 tend to convey. They have gone so far as to say that 

 the actions of the atom in moving towards and joining 

 other atoms to form other combinations of matter jndicate 

 a will and a soul in the atom. They claim that the actions 

 of the atoms indicate a feeling of pleasure in getting to- 

 gether, and one of displeasure in being separated from 

 other atoms. It seems clear to me that all- these actions, 

 sensations or motions of matter that we have so far been 

 able to discover show actions under a fixed law that we 

 find everywhere in the universe; while the intelligent 

 action that we find in all organic beings we call alive, 

 never moves under a fixed law, but always towards a fixed 

 purpose regardless of those fixed laws of nature. I will 

 admit that matter and force go together but some go 

 further and claim that matter has both force and sensa- 

 tion. That is true if you wish to call action sensation. 

 However, call it what you may, it is not intelligence. 



We cannot deny the great difference between a living 

 and a non-living body. The past history of the earth 

 shows that life has left a trail of failures and successes, 

 pain, carnage and extinction behind, in its struggle for 

 existence. One writer, Mr. Burrows, states: "Man has 

 taken his chances in the clash of blind matter and in the 

 warfare of living forms. He has been the pet of no 

 god ; the favorite of no power on earth or in heaven. He 

 is one of the fruits of the great cosmic tree and is subject 

 to the same hazards and failures as the fruits of all other 

 trees. The frosts may nip him in the bud ; the storms 

 beat him down ; foes of earth or air prey upon him and 



