164 MATTER, ENERGY, CONSCIOUSNESS, SPIRIT 



enables us to construct, as it were, a model of the 

 living organism. It is a machine, or mechanical 

 microcosm, under continuous and varying control, 

 by means of an internally resident directing in- 

 telligence or personality. It may assist in making 

 the abstraction of the personality from the organism 

 more clear if we consider a somewhat parallel case. 



For ages Niagara roared over its gorge in 

 accordance with the laws of nature, uncontrolled. 

 To-day, the laws of Nature are obeyed as perfectly 

 as before, but the flow of the water is under human 

 control to a considerable extent. The sun shines 

 and vaporises the waters of the ocean. The solar 

 energy is used in lifting the water to the skies to 

 descend subsequently as rain, which arrives in due 

 course at the Falls. Here the water suddenly drops 

 1 60 feet clear, acquiring a velocity of about 100 feet 

 a second before it mingles with the river in the 

 pool below the fall. At this moment it has 

 mechanical energy, and this is the moment that 

 must be seized if that energy is not to be dissipated 

 and lost for use. A moment later, otherwise, its 

 motion is replaced by commotion, the water eddies 

 and swirls in all directions at once, until its former 

 motion is evenly distributed among its molecules, 

 moving in every possible direction. At this stage 

 the energy has become heat energy, which is 

 due to the perfectly deco-ordinated motion of 

 the individual molecules. If the temperature 

 at the bottom of the fall were taken, it would 

 be found to be about one-ninth of a degree, 

 Centigrade, higher than at the top. Such is a 

 simple natural system, a colossal example of waste 

 and aesthetic indulgence which would have delighted 

 the heart of a Ruskin, but which humanity is scarcely 

 yet so wealthy as to be able to afford. 



Now tunnels have been drilled in the rock, 



