ON THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF LIFE 



IN order to make the title of this discourse generally 

 intelligible, I have translated the term "Protoplasm," 

 which is the scientific name of the substance of which 

 I am about to speak, by the words " the physical basis 

 of life." I suppose that, to many, the idea that there is 

 such a thing as a physical basis, or matter, of life may 

 be novel so widely spread is the conception of life as 

 a something which works through matter, but is in- 

 dependent of it; and even those who are aware that 

 matter and life are inseparably connected, may not 

 be prepared for the conclusion plainly suggested by 

 the phrase, " the physical basis or matter of life," that 

 there is some one kind of matter which is common to 

 all living beings, and that their endless diversities are 

 bound together by a physical, as well as an ideal, 

 unity. In fact, when first apprehended, such a doc- 

 trine as this appears almost shocking to common 

 sense. 



What, truly, can seem to be more obviously different 

 from one another, in faculty, in form, and in substance, 

 than the various kinds of living beings? What com- 

 munity of faculty can there be between the bright- 

 coloured lichen, which so nearly resembles a mere 

 mineral incrustation of the bare rock on which it grows, 

 and the painter, to whom it is instinct with beauty, or 

 the botanist, whom it feeds with knowledge? 



Again, think of the microscopic fungus a mere 

 infinitesimal ovoid particle, which finds space and du- 

 ration enough to multiply into countless millions in the 



