The Caiis e of Life and Motion 15 



Again it is asked what is this force ? The word 

 force is defined in some of our books as " active 

 power; momentum or the quantity of power pro- 

 duced by motion, anything that moves or tends 

 to move a body," etc. This lucid definition 

 resolves itself into the original term. In its 

 analysis we finally discover that force is force. 

 Let us discard our books and endeavor to ascer- 

 tain by the innumerable manifestations constantly 

 before us, a rational meaning to the term. 



If we throw a ball forward in any direction, we find 

 that it will be carried along by some sustaining power, 

 in the direction given it. " If we examine water with a 

 suitable microscope we will see inorganic particles 

 moving about in almost every direction, we see the 

 same thing in the forming of crystallizations. We 

 might also see something very similiar in the cells of 

 our organisms. In all these signs we may discover 

 evidence of a power at work identical with that which 

 causes the effect of an explosion of powder, which con- 

 veys light and produces its reflections and refractions, 

 which causes the tangential strain at all points of a re- 

 volving body, and in short, which causes all the 

 phenomena of nature. Why need we involve ourselves 

 in a maze of foolish theories when the element we seek 

 is manifested in direct connection with every move- 

 ment in nature ? 



We will find that there is an universal and 

 systematic power having vibratory lines of force 

 in every direction, which give positive move 

 ments to the elements of all decomposed matters 



