72 PRESENT-DAY RATIONALISM 



by its effects as transposed physical force. However, 

 no biologist will admit this supposition at all. More- 

 over, there is nothing resembling germination in the 

 inorganic world. Whence arises the profound difference 

 between them ? 



Speaking of the reserve-food materials in the endos- 

 perm he says: "There are not only molecular groups of 

 many sorts, but they are segregated into families, so that 

 bodies of one constitution are all in one locality, and 

 bodies of other constitutions in other separate localities, 

 but definitely arranged so as to be available when the 

 life process begins ". ^ 



There could hardly be a better illustration or better 

 description of Directivity than this passage ; while the 

 reader will also perceive that Prof Dolbear shows the 

 "ends" secured by "means," all for the definite purpose 

 of nourishing the embryo when it begins to sprout. It 

 is not only the making of the starch, the oil, the nitro- 

 geneous aleurone grains, etc., which require chemical 

 processes for their manufacture, but the presence of 

 ferments or enzymes to render them assimilable, also 

 chemical products, but necessary as solvents before the 

 embryo can utilise the reserve food at all. 



The mere physical and chemical processes will not 

 per se account for all this Directivity and Object. He 

 then asks : " What is the distinction between what is 

 called living and dead matter ? One is able to transform 

 energy for its maintenance and the other seems to be 

 wholly inert; yet, if analysed, both may be reduced to pre- 

 cisely the same amount of elements ".'- All this we knew 

 before ! Let us see if Huxley can enlighten us : " It must 

 not be supposed that the differences between living and 



' op. cit., p. 292. ^Op. cit., p. 294. 



