340 PHYSICAL EXPRESSION. 



our bodies is that of inorganic nature. There is 

 no substance in the animal tissues which is not 

 primarily derived from the rocks, the water, and 

 the air. Are the forces of organic matter, then, 

 different in kind from those of inorganic ? All 

 the philosophy of the present day tends to nega- 

 tive the question, and to show that it is the 

 directing and compounding, in the organic world, 

 of forces belonging equally to the inorganic, that 

 constitutes the mystery and the miracle of vitality. 

 "(723.) In discussing the material combinations 

 which result in the formation of the body and the 

 brain of man, it is impossible to avoid taking side 

 glances at the phenomena of consciousness and 

 thought. Science has asked daring questions, and 

 will, no doubt, continue to ask such. Problems will 

 assuredly present themselves to men of a future 

 age, which, if enunciated now, would appear to 

 most people as the direct offspring of insanity. 

 Still, though the progress and development of 

 science may seem to be unlimited, there is a region 

 beyond her reach a line with which she does not 

 even tend to osculate. Given the masses and 

 distances of the planets, we can infer the pertur- 

 bations consequent on their mutual attractions. 

 Given the nature of a disturbance in water, air, 

 or ether, we can infer from the properties of the 

 medium how its particles will be affected. In all 

 this we deal with physical laws, and the mind 

 runs freely along the line which connects the 

 phenomena from beginning to end. But when we 

 endeavour to pass, by a similar process, from the 



