HEALTH AND THE LAWS OF MECHANICS 127 



a definite chemical combination, is a harmonic 

 rhythm, or rather, he should be. Human physiology 

 is subject to the laws of chemical mechanics, and 

 these, in their turn, are subject to the great 

 principles of force. Man receives from Nature his 

 chemical composition, more complex than all others ; 

 but, in virtue of the same general principles, he 

 must be of the same exactness as that of the best 

 crystal, plant, or animal, or, as it were, of that of 

 some physico-chemical law upon which he most 

 closely depends ; thus diseases, whether constitu- 

 tional or infectious, are the natural consequences 

 due to the worst conditions of existence. Diseases 

 are changes that humanity has acquired in its 

 chemico-biological relation, from its habitat in an 

 unsuitable environment. We may say that it is a 

 false chord in biological harmony. 



Man has studied the improvement of his flowers, 

 his garden growth, and his animals, and in con- 

 sequence he has forgotten to improve himself. 

 This, though an absurdity, has its explanation, 

 namely, that man, in his present civilisation, cannot 

 adapt himself to the natural conditions of life, as 

 he is subject to economic conditions which are 

 incompatible with the former. There is no social 

 class, from the richest to the poorest, that concerns 

 itself with the betterment of its species. What a 

 sad condition that of man, who, having succeeded 



