AND ITS SELF-CONSEBVATION. 267 



It is important to observe, too, that the very nature 

 of the experiments seems to suggest a doubt as to 

 whether it is at all likely that there should ever be 

 perfectly reproduced in a test-tube the entire complex 

 of conditions precedent to the transition of inorganic 

 into organic matter, even though such conditions actu- 

 ally exist in nature as a whole. It is also worthy of note 

 that even apparent success on the part of the experi- 

 menter must evidently be, if not neutralized, at least 

 greatly discredited, by the fact that he has made use of 

 organic matter in his very attempt to demonstrate the 

 development of the organic from the inorganic. On the 

 other hand, it is equally evident that failure on the part 

 of the experimenter can never prove that the actual 

 transition of inorganic into organic matter is impossible 

 in nature. Until man can manipulate nature as a whole 

 in his experiments, he can never be justified in making 

 empirically grounded assertions as to what is impossible 

 in nature as a whole. 



At the same time, as the whole argument of the 

 present volume has tended to show, all nature is noth- 

 ing else than the manifold expression of the World- 

 Energy as Spirit. That is, Nature as a whole is but 

 the outer, organic aspect of the perfect Thought. Only 

 as such can it be rightly understood; that is, understood 

 at all. 



But, now, what follows? Nothing less, it seems to 

 me, than the complete reconciliation (already pointed 

 out) of the two opposing views as to the origin of life. 

 Biogenesis, the theory that life can come only from the 

 living, finds its full justification in the fact that all 

 nature is instinct with the Life of the World-Energy 



