CHAPTER XVI 



ORIGIN OF THE MICROBE 



THE last three chapters prepare one now to con- 

 sider that all life originates, like all matter, in 

 the Ether. Life ebbs and flows with matter. 

 There can be no matter without life, life either 

 in its actual or potential form. Nor can there be 

 any life without matter, either in its actual or po- 

 tential form. Life and matter go together. 

 Neither exists without the other. The Evolution 

 of the matter of the universe is also the Evolution 

 of the life of the universe. 



With these facts as a basis, it is easy to trace 

 the origin of the microbe. Under certain condi- 

 tions, we may imagine that, from the Ether, at 

 certain points in the universe, vast showers of elec- 

 trons are precipitated in some such sense as mists 

 are precipitated from the atmosphere. Then, by 

 further Evolution, these great assemblages of elec- 

 tric atoms may be set up into vortex rings, or 

 chemical atoms. Each chemical atom is a most 

 complex system, composed of thousands of elec- 

 tric atoms revolving with lightning rapidity 

 around a common center. These chemical atoms 

 have certain affinities for one another, or are at- 

 tracted together by electric and magnetic forces, 



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