66 THE REALM OF ORGANISMS CONTRASTED 



in radio-active substances. But in the main what Clerk- 

 Maxwell said remains true. It is evident that the fulcrum 

 of the inorganic on which organisms rest their lever is one 

 of reliable steadiness. 



Another point of resemblance or analogy is that the 

 eighty or so elements may well be compared to species, or 

 better to types of organisms. We do not know very well 

 what being an element means, and we do not know very 

 well what being a species means, but we do know that in 

 elements and species alike we have to do with uniqueness 

 or specificity. One is not forgetting, of course, what has 

 been done in the way of experimental transformism alike 

 with organic species and chemical elements, but, taking 

 the world as it is, the characteristic feature, whether of 

 species or elements, is the persistence of each clear-cut entity 

 on its own line of being. 



As to the inter-relatedness in the realm of organisms, it 

 has its analogue in any systematisation that there is in the 

 inorganic domain. The approximation to individuality il- 

 lustrated in the earth or in the solar system is associated 

 with a certain amount of correlation between its parts. The 

 circulation of matter in the organic realm has its counter- 

 part in the inorganic. The persistence of matter and the 

 consen^ation of energy hold true, so far as we know, in both. 



As regards beauty, it varies greatly in significance, but 

 there is no limit to its range. In its way the grain of sand 

 is as perfect as the egg of the wren. There is often an in- 

 describably fine finish about the inorganic natural product, 

 as we see in agates and crystals, and there is a haunting 

 beauty in things great and small, in the mountain and in 

 the pebble, that makes us thoughtful as well as joyous. We 

 venture to say, however, that in the inorganic domain com- 



