NATURE AND CONDITIONS OF LIFE. 9 



an intimate connection between vital phenomena and the 

 " matter of life ; " but we can go no further than this, and 

 the premisses do not in any way warrant the assertion that 

 life is the result of living matter, or one of its properties. 

 We know the succession of phenomena, but we know no 

 more, and it is not possible to decide dogmatically which 

 phenomenon precedes the other in point of time. It is 

 therefore just as reasonable to believe that the matter of 

 life is the result of vital forces as the reverse ; and, as far as 

 mere logic is concerned, neither view can claim the smallest 

 advantage over the other. 



If we take such a microscopic animalcule as the Amceba, 

 or, still better, one of the yet more humble organisms which 

 are known as Foraminifera, we are presented with a little 

 speck of animal matter, a little particle of albumen, almost 

 or quite destitute of structure, and yet exhibiting all the 

 essential phenomena of vitality. Such a particle of living 

 matter is undoubtedly the seat of certain forces which render 

 it different from any and every collocation of mere dead 

 particles. AVhether we call these forces " vital " or not 

 matters little ; but we certainly are not at present justified, 

 by any evidence in our hands, in asserting that they are 

 merely a form of energy or motion. No one has hitherto 

 succeeded in demonstrating how any form or any combina- 

 tion of any of the known physical or chemical forces should 

 produce the vital phenomena which are seen to occur in the 

 albuminous matter of even the most humble of animals. 

 Until such a demonstration can be brought forward, we are 

 not only justified, but we are bound, to look at the forces at 

 work in living matter as something outside and beyond the 

 mere physical forces. We may call these forces " vital" or not, 

 as we choose, but the fact will either way remain the same. 



Again, every one will willingly admit that all compound 

 substances possess certain properties which are the result 

 of the combined properties of their component elements. 

 Water, for example, is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, 



