12 DORMANT VITALITY. 



logous to that which occurs at the very beginning of life, 

 in the germ either of a vegetable or an animal. A seed or 

 ovum contains the germ surrounded by nutrient matter. 

 The germ is the portion of organized structure which can 

 transform external forces into vital power. But it can of 

 course grow only by attracting to itself fresh material; 

 and therefore it is surrounded by a store of nutrient matter, 

 which serves until the germ is developed sufficiently to 

 obtain the necessary supplies from without. Heat and 

 moisture seem to be the external conditions most necessary 

 for the beginning of life. Moisture probably is required 

 only as it might be for a simple chemical combination. 

 Heat is the force which, through the medium of the germ, 

 is manifested as growing, vital power. The beginning of 

 life is the beginning of this transformation of force, and the 

 structure raised is the correlative result of its expenditure. 

 Birth is only that period in the process of development at 

 which the new being comes into more immediate relation 

 with the external world. 



The term "dormant vitality" must be taken to mean 

 that state of an organized being in which there is no 

 evidence of life manifested, simply because there is an 

 absence of those external forces which alone can be trans- 

 formed in the manner before referred to ; or if the force 

 be present, there is absence of the conditions under which 

 it can act. 



The state of dormant vitality is, speaking roughly, like 

 that of an empty galvanic battery. No electric current 

 passes because no chemical action is going on. Everything 

 is ready for the transformation of chemical into electric 

 power; but no transformation takes place, because there 

 is no chemical force to be transformed. We do not say, 

 in this instance, that there is a store of electricity laid 

 up, in a dormant state, in the battery; and we have as 

 little reason to say so in regard to an undeveloping seed 

 or ovum. 



