40 Life and Matter [chap. n. 



that from the point of view of strict science 

 it is not yet possible to give any positive 

 answer to these questions ; that they must 

 await the progress of discovery. It be- 

 comes a question of some interest, therefore, 

 how it is possible for Professor Haeckel and 

 for others of his school to have arrived at 

 the idea not only that a scientific answer can 

 be given, but that already it has been given, 

 and that they know distinctly what it is. 



Note on the Word "Life." 



Until a term is accurately defined, and even after- 

 wards for some purposes, it is permissible to use a word 

 of large significance in more than one sense. Thus the 

 word "light" may be considered a psychological term, 

 denoting a certain sensation, or a physiological term, 

 signifying the stimulus of certain specialised nerve- 

 endings, or a physical term, expressing briefly an electro- 

 magnetic wave-disturbance in the ether. I am using 

 the word " life " in a quite general sense, as is obvious, 

 for if it be limited to certain metabolic processes in 

 protoplasm which is the narrowest of its legitimate 

 meanings what I have said about its possible existence 

 apart from matter would be absurd. It may be con- 

 venient to employ the word " vitality " for this limited 

 sense j but so far as I know, there is no general con- 

 sensus of usage, and the context must suffice to show a 

 friendly reader the connotation intended. 



