COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



cases as the one just cited, we have to contem- 

 plate real cases like the following. A single 

 molecule of albumen is built up of two mole- 

 cules of sulphur and one of phosphorus, com- 

 pounded with ten organic molecules, of which 

 each one contains forty molecules of carbon, five 

 of nitrogen, twelve of oxygen, and thirty-one 

 of hydrogen. Or, to reduce the statement to 

 its simplest form, — in every molecule of albu- 

 men we have 1600 atomic equivalents of car- 

 bon, 150 of nitrogen, 240 of oxygen, 310 of 

 hydrogen, 10 of sulphur, and 6 of phosphorus ; 

 making a grand total of 2316 atomic equiva- 

 lents. And the molecule of fibrine is still more 

 intricately compounded. 



Thirdly^ when we recollect that the simplest 

 organic matter actually existing contains not 

 one but very many albuminous molecules, and 

 that these molecules are arranged, not in the 

 crystalloid, but in the colloid form, — in " clus- 

 ters of clusters which have movements in rela- 

 tion to one another," — we see still more clearly 

 how vast must be the quantity of motion locked 

 up within a small compass. 



Our fourth item is perhaps the most remark- 

 able of all. In the albumen molecule, the sum 

 of all the atomic equivalents, except those of 

 carbon, is 716. In order to hold these in com- 

 bination, only 716 atomic equivalents of carbon 

 would appear to be needed ; yet we find 1600 

 214 



