MATTER AND MIND 17 



inorganic evolution is considered, but here, 

 it may be remarked that the whole of the 

 wonderful new land discovered by radio- 

 activity has revealed to us that when matter 

 is radio-active it possesses new energy proper- 

 ties which are not found elsewhere. Radio- 

 active particles which possess less than one- 

 thousandth part of the mass of any elementary 

 atom previously known to us, possess a rela- 

 tively enormous store of a new type of energy 

 with a set of properties entirely its own, 

 yet bearing relationships to other well-known 

 forms of energy, itself derivable from these 

 well-known forms, and re-convertible back 

 again into them. If matter in simpler forms 

 than the atoms to which we have long been 

 accustomed possesses new, strange forms of 

 energy, is there any need to shut our eyes to 

 the fact that as matter increases in degree of 

 complexity and eventually becomes the basis 

 of life it will begin to manifest new energy 

 properties and give rise to energy-transforma- 

 tions and phenomena such as are never seen 

 in inorganic nature ? 



As will be shown in the development of 

 the subject such energy manifestations char- 

 acteristic of life do occur and form the special 

 subject of study of the bio-chemist and 

 physiologist just as radio-activity and the 



