94: EVOLUTION THE RESULT OF CHEMICAL FORCES. 



When therefore out of myriads of possible and to all human 

 conception equally probable states and conditions of matter, only 

 those few and peculiar ones were selected which alone could 

 bring about a certain result, I say unhesitatingly that such result 

 must have been forecasted and provided for when matter was 

 apportioned and received its attributes. I claim that the excep- 

 tional qualities of water in its various forms, subserving as they 

 do special and apparently predestined purposes, are an unanswer- 

 able argument in favor of design in the original constitution of 

 the elements out of which water is formed. 



If then the elemental atoms were formed to bring about cer- 

 tain purposes in inorganic nature, why may not some of the 

 elements have been formed to bring about a special purpose in 

 organic nature ? Why may not the successive evolution and 

 advancement of life forms be as necessary a result of formative 

 matter as the successive evolutions of the cosmical states that 

 have finally resulted in a habitable and beautiful world ? It is 

 my purpose in the remaining part of this article to inquire if 

 there are any direct evidences or reasonings leading to such con- 

 clusions regarding the organic kingdoms. 



Carbon, the base and substructure of all living bodies, is a 

 highly specialized and exceptional element. It has the capacity, 

 which none of the other elements have, of yoking together its 

 atoms in bands of hundreds and of taking on loads of some 

 hundreds of other atoms, forming the exceedingly complex 

 molecule of albumen or protoplasm, which constitutes the vital 

 matter of all cells whether animal or vegetable. 



The following are some of the formulae given for different 

 specimens of albumen. But as all analyses of this substance 

 differ, sometimes very widely, it is necessary to suppose that albu- 

 men is equally varying in its composition. 



Lieberkuhn Egg albumen C 144 H 112 K 18 046 S. 

 Win. Gregory Blood albumen C 216 IT 169 ~N^ O^ S 2 . 

 Wm. Gregory Blood fibrin C 298 Il m N 40 693 S 2 . 



Sun-light, acting 011 the foliage of plants, has the power to 

 lake the carbon atoms out of the carbonic oxide in the air, and 



