128 WHAT IS LIFE 



consequently presents, so far as the general experi- 

 ence of mankind goes, the appearance of strict 

 regulation. 



Furthermore it is to be remembered that our 

 conception of these uniformities or laws of Nature 

 are based on our present experience, and that the 

 extension of that experience may require us to 

 introduce modifications into our expression of the 

 facts as they appear to us, or, in other words, 

 may lead to a change in the formulation of the 

 law. In fine there is nothing sacrosanct about the 

 laws of Nature, which forbids criticism or denies 

 the possibility of error in our comprehension of 

 them. 



vital With these prefatory remarks we may attack 



the problem before us and at once admit that much 

 difficulty has been felt in accounting for the power 

 which, we have endeavoured to show, exists in 

 living matter, the power which directs and, still 

 more, initiates chemico-physical processes in the 

 living organism. Is it subject to the laws above 

 detailed ? Where does it come from, and whither 

 does it go ? Many attempts have been made to 

 clear up this difficulty though some maintain that 

 it is no difficulty at all. Professor B. Moore, for 

 example, as we have seen, believes in what he calls 

 a " bio tic energy," and this energy is, he thinks, 1 

 1 Op. cit., p. 4. 



