THE O R I O I X OF LIFE 



ing, we see that cyanogen, and the compounds that con- 

 tained cyanogen, and carbiiretted hydrogen, had j^lcnty 

 of time and opportunity to follow out to any extent 

 their great tendency to the transposition and formation 

 of polymeria (chains of atoms), and, with the co-opera- 

 tion of oxygen and afterwards of water and salts, to 

 evolve into the self-decomposable albumin which is liv- 

 ing matter." In regard to the latter feature, it is well 

 to emphasize the fact that, as will be understood, there 

 must have been a long series of chemical intermediary 

 stages between the incandescent formation of cyanogen 

 and the appearance of the aqueous living plasm. 



Pfliiger's cyanogen theory does not conflict with my 

 monera theory, but rather supplements it, by its careful 

 and thoroughly scientific study of a much earlier stage 

 of primitive biogenesis — in a sense, the first period of 

 preparation for the formation of albumin. This must be 

 well borne in mind in view of the attacks which have 

 lately been made on it by Neumeister and other vital- 

 ists; it is supposed to be untenable, because " there is an 

 impassable gulf between cyanic compounds and pro- 

 teids." This criticism is answered by the living albu- 

 min itself, which always contains in its nitrogenous de- 

 composition products the radical of cyanide or other 

 substances (urea) that can be artificially produced from 

 cyanic compounds. Another objection is that "the 

 cyanic compounds which were formed in the heat must 

 have very quickly perished on the subsequent appear- 

 ance of water." The objection has no weight, since we 

 can form no definite idea as to the special conditions of 

 chemical activity in those times. We can only say that 

 the conditions during this long period (embracing mill- 

 ions of years) were totally different from those of chemi- 

 cal action at the surface of the earth to-day. The real 

 ground of the opposition of Neumeister and other vital- 

 ists is their dualistic conception of nature, which will 



347 



