PREFACE vii 



of the Alchemists ; and such transformation is pos- 

 sible, even though it be not in the way they desired. 

 May not the evolution theory be applied to matter 

 which becomes organic ? The touch of life is neces- 

 sary to give life ! Life is apparently not conferred 

 upon raw and inert matter, but upon such com- 

 pounds as are prepared for it, such substances as 

 have been evolved from the inorganic to the organic. 

 This view is held by the author. Life is to him a 

 gradual growth, a gradual transformation from the 

 dead to the living by evolution, a change of char- 

 acter, step by step, until from the crude elements 

 of the earth, air and water, there is evolved the 

 motile and sentient substances which form our 

 muscles and nerves. Natura nihil facit per saltum. 



The point of view here taken necessitates the 

 existence of intermediary substances between the 

 living and the not-living matter substances pos- 

 sessed of qualities akin to the properties of living 

 matter. The process of ionisation appears to the 

 author to confer some of those properties. The 

 atoms become quick, they are no longer inert, but 

 they are capable of forming molecular combina- 

 tions ; they have movement, affinity, energy. The 

 living materials of an organism consist of com- 

 pounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, 

 which have plasticity and a capacity for living. 

 Such compounds are not drawn directly from in- 

 organic materials, but their growth into carbo- 

 hydrates, fats, and proteins is a gradual process of 

 chemical development or evolution. The proteins 

 are formed of compounds of amino-acids, which 

 have been evolved from simpler bodies contain- 



