UNDER THE APPLE-TREES 



true that the inorganic is Ufted into the organic, and 

 it is as certainly true that the organic falls back 

 again into the inorganic, and the movement we call 

 life ceases. Spencer's position is a sort of philosophi- 

 cal puzzle. It is equivalent to saying that life like 

 matter is infinitely divisible or reducible, so that the 

 mind can never reach the point where life ends and 

 the non-life begins. If in the case of matter we draw 

 the line at the atom, it is an arbitrary line, so in the 

 case of life, any line we may draw is an arbitrary 

 line; life as a constant becoming and a constant end- 

 ing is like a circle, returning forever into itself; it 

 begins and ends at every imaginary point. The old 

 puzzle that motion is impossible because a body can- 

 not move where it is, nor where it is not, is easily 

 disposed of by taking one step. We are forced to the 

 conclusion that life on the globe did begin, and that 

 it will in time as surely end. 



Kindling a fire by friction might symbolize 

 Spencer's idea of the evolution of life. When does 

 the fire begin? Every moment in the process has its 

 antecedent moment back to the original elements 

 and forces that built up the wood in the tree, and 

 the first molecule of smoke that appears can be 

 infinitely divided, yet combustion finally takes 

 place. 



As we go down the scale of animal life toward the 

 vegetable, there must be a point where conscious- 

 ness — the feeling of pleasure and pain — begins. 



304 



