THE LIVING MACHINE BUILDING FACTORS. 205 



We must first notice that no notion of chemical 

 evolution helps us out. It has been a favourite 

 thought with some that the origin of the first 

 living thing was the result of chemical evolution. 

 As the result of physical forces there was pro- 

 duced, from the original nebulous mass, a more 

 and more complicated system, until the world 

 was formed. Then chemical phenomena became 

 more and more complicated, until, with the pro- 

 duction of more and more complicated compounds, 

 protoplasm was finally produced. A few years 

 ago, under the impulse of the idea that protoplasm 

 was a compound, or at least a simple mixture of 

 compounds, this thought of protoplasm as the 

 result of chemical evolution was quite significant. 

 Physical forces, chemical forces, and vital forces ex- 

 plain successively the origin of worlds, protoplasm, 

 and organisms. This conception has, however, 

 no longer much significance. We know of no 

 such living chemical compound, apart from cell 

 machinery. A new conception of protoplasm has 

 arisen which demands a different explanation of 

 its origin. Since it is a machine rather than a 

 compound, mechanical rather than chemical forces 

 are required for its explanation. 



Have we then any suggestion as to the method 

 of the origin of this protoplasmic machine 7 Our 

 answer must, at the present, be certainly in the 

 negative. The complexity of the cell tells us 

 plainly that it cannot be the ultimate living 

 substance which may have arisen from chemical 

 evolution. It is made up of parts delicately 

 adapted to act in harmony with each other, and 

 its activity depends upon the relation of these 



