THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 7 1 



ever, this word c blackness 7 represents nothing but a 

 mere impression made upon our mind, since it corre- 

 sponds to no external reality which, in the common 

 acceptation of the phrase, exists of and by itself, and 

 is moreover the name of a simple attribute, it admits 

 of no useful definition l . The word ' Life,' however, is 

 not a simple abstract name, it is rather a general 

 abstract name, connoting certain fundamental pro- 

 perties of living things. Such a general abstract name 

 may therefore be defined by distinguishing the nature 

 of the qualities which it implies. This has been at- 

 tempted by many, but has, we think, been achieved 

 by none so successfully as by Mr. Herbert Spencer. 

 He defines c Life' as c The continuous adjustment of 

 internal relations to external relations,' and this phrase 

 is, perhaps, the most generalized statement (being at 

 the same time distinctive) which can be made con- 

 cerning the phenomena presented by living things. 

 As such, also, it doubtless is a formula of much 

 philosophical interest, though as a mere definition of 

 Life, that is as an explanatory phrase which is likely 

 to make an ordinary reader's notions on the subject 

 any the clearer, we question whether it will be of 

 much service. This, however, is owing to the in- 

 herent difficulty of giving any intelligible account in a 



. l It certainly would answer no useful purpose would explain no- 

 thingif we defined ' blackness ' to be the property or power of ex- 

 citing the sensation of black ; and yet this is about the only possible 

 definition of the word. 



