8 THE SUN NO ORGANISM. 



by calling them differently, or by the transposition of the 

 adjectives formerly employed to denote opposite qualities. 

 The terms that used to be restricted to the phenomena of 

 living beings are now ingeniously extended, and by no 

 mean authorities, to the phenomena of things which are 

 lifeless. For instance, the willow-leaf-like bodies in the 

 photosphere of the sun at a temperature sufficient to 

 convert many metals into vapour, are "organisms" which 

 "develop" and "elaborate" heat and light from the bosom 

 of a non-luminous fluid. And these " organisms " have 

 been compared to certain well-known forms of diatomaceae ! 

 Nay, a watch is a " little creature" which shows " signs of 

 animation" and is " restored to life " by the application of 

 its key ! 



Is it cavilling on my part to direct attention to these 

 things ? If philosophers talk thus, students will of course 

 conclude that vital and physical forces are one, or at least 

 the same in kind and essential nature, and that there is 

 no real distinction to be drawn between the mechanism 

 which is designed by human thought and made by human 

 hands, and the mechanism which can only be evolved from 

 a minute mass of structureless living matter derived from 

 living matter which existed before it. And it is indeed 

 desired by many exercising authority in science, that con- 

 clusions such as these should be drawn, and that people 

 should be led to suppose that the gulf which separated the 

 living from the non-living had been successfully bridged 

 over by the new philosophy. 



But some of those who have used the terms in a way 

 that must be admitted is open to objection, will excuse 

 themselves by urging that the words and phrases were only 



