I THE PROBLEM OF THE LIVING WORLD 3 



all present life is made up from the elements of 

 past life that we are verily the flesh and blood of 

 the dead, recent or remote, and that the air we in- 

 hale, the water we drink, the food we eat, are for 

 the greater part made with elements derived from 

 these dead. 



This notion is a very simple one, and certainly 

 familiar to all. And yet, its origin is not very 

 remote. Not to speak of our ugly brute of an 

 ancestor, that prehistoric man, who struggled hard 

 for dear life and this we must thank him for under 

 hard times and against many foes, without tools 

 without weapons, " sans everything " in fact, and who, 

 we may imagine, had but little spare time left for 

 philosophical meditations after he had provided the 

 food necessary to his companion and progeny, and 

 settled his little accounts with troublesome neigh- 

 bours, bipedal or quadrupedal, did this notion ever 

 cross the brain of the Gauls, Celts, or Britons of old ? 

 Did it even suggest itself to that old father of science, 

 to Aristotle, or to his commentators of mediaeval 

 times ? -Surely not, and in fact, no exact idea of 

 the circulation of matter could be obtained even a 

 century ago, when chemistry was yet only entering 

 upon life, and acquiring the dignity of a science. 



The same is true of the greater part of our 

 modern ideas and science. 



B 2 



