210 From Matter to Man. 



motions of the prey, the act of seizure being but the 

 automatic or reflex action resulting from the nature of 

 the stimulus. 



Dr Allman gave an interesting address before 

 the British Association (1879) "On irritability as a 

 property of every living cell." But if, as we have 

 proved, all substance is magnetic, the irritability 

 which one minute cell exerts on another cell cannot 

 fundamentally differ from the irritation of a magnetic 

 needle by a magnet. Even as iron knows of the 

 proximity of iron, so organic matter must in a similar 

 way know of the proximity of organic matter; an 

 animal is thus only a thinking magnet. In their con- 

 jugation and fusion, these simple protozoa blend their 

 substances like wines. This fusion does not differ 

 materially from the amalgamation of several globules 

 of quicksilver into one large drop. The result how- 

 ever differs, for it is a sexual process. Germination 

 and the reproduction of spores ensue ; too much mix- 

 ture of like matter in an active centre resulting in 

 " like-central-repnlsion" and the ejection of seed. 



The whole life-history of the lowest protozoon, as 

 revealed by Professor Ray Lankester and others, 

 merely resolves itself into the automatic operation 

 of the primary laws which govern inorganic matter. 

 All organisms are dual in material, metallic and non- 

 metallic. They grow by absorbing or feeding upon 

 like material according to the law of like-material 

 attraction. The food dissolves by chemical action in 

 the vacuoles as in a magnetic battery, while the dis- 



