206 THE SEVEN FOLLIES OF SCIENCE 



of our physical system may have previously formed part 

 of the material organization of thousands of other animals, 

 men included. The imbecile may have in his body atoms 

 which once formed part of Homer, of Plato, or of Archi- 

 medes. Into the wretched frame of the beggar may be 

 built material which once formed part of Solomon in all 

 his glory or of Croesus with all his wealth, and some of the 

 atoms which by their changes enabled such generals as 

 Alexander, Caesar, or Bruce to achieve their fame, may 

 now form part of the body of a lazar. For all power is 

 due to the energy derived from the change of material. 



Even among the corporeal atoms which now make up 

 our own bodies may be particles which helped to incarnate 

 the person of Jesus Christ or which lent physical energy 

 to the burning eloquence of Saint Paul. 



Organic life has gone on unceasingly for untold ages in 

 ever-recurring cycles and it will continue to go on while 

 the earth endures. Not a single moment passes in which 

 some part of every living organism does not die. We 

 cannot move a muscle or give way to an emotion or even 

 think a thought without burning up some part of our cor- 

 poreal frame and the used-up material is speedily ejected 

 and then transformed into the clothing of a new life. 



