CAUSE OF VITAL MOVEMENT. 273 



by saying that it is a consequence of antecedent phe- 

 nomena or that it is due to an inherent tendency to 

 move, or to a property which it has derived from matter 

 like it from which it came, or to some mysterious agency 

 acting from without or from within, or to the action and 

 reaction of forces acting in both directions ? It is not 

 possible to prove why the matter moves because we have 

 no means of investigating its state just prior to the occur- 

 rence of the actual movement. But the universality of 

 this movement in the living world convinces us that it is of 

 the highest importance and very intimately related to life 

 itself. This movement has been shown to be peculiar, and 

 so far has not been excited in any form of non-living matter. 

 Is it not, therefore, reasonable to suppose that the condi- 

 tion which immediately precedes the occurrence of actual 

 movement is also peculiar to living matter ? 



But is it a phenomenal change ? Some action, state, or 

 condition, must undoubtedly take place in the matter just 

 prior to movement, differing from the condition or state 

 which obtains in the living matter when no movement is 

 about to occur, but we cannot demonstrate any difference 

 whatever ; neither have we yet been able to discover any 

 means by which the state of change just preceding active 

 movement can be distinguished from the state of ordinary 

 and comparative rest. We do not in fact know when a 

 movement is about to occur, we only know the fact of its 

 occurrence. If the state just preceding movement is to be 

 attributed to antecedent phenomena, the state of rest might 

 with equal propriety be attributed to the very same ante- 

 cedent phenomena. It is doubtful if the word phenomenon 

 is at all applicable to the supposed change in the relations 



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