THE BREATH OF LIFE 



hidden molecular forces!] In the separation of the 

 carbon and oxygen this energy may be so condi- 

 tioned as to result in one case in the formation of a 

 cabbage and in another case in the formation of an 

 oak. So also as regards the reunion of the carbon 

 and the oxygen [in the animal organism] the molecu- 

 lar machinery through which the combining energy 

 acts may in one case weave the texture of a frog, 

 while in another it may weave the texture of a man." 



But is not this molecular force itself a form of 

 solar energy, and can it differ in kind from any other 

 form of physical force? If molecular forces deter- 

 mine whether the solar energy shall weave a head of 

 a cabbage or a head of a Plato or a Shakespeare, 

 does it not meet all the requirements of our concep- 

 tion of creative will? 



Tyndall thinks that a living man — Socrates, 

 Aristotle, Goethe, Darwin, I suppose — could be 

 produced directly from inorganic nature in the 

 laboratory if (and note what a momentous "if" this 

 is) we could put together the elements of such a 

 man in the same relative positions as those which 

 they occupy in his body, "with the selfsame forces 

 and distribution of forces, the selfsame motions and 

 distribution of motions." Do this and you have a 

 St. Paul or a Luther or a Lincoln. Dr. Verworn said 

 essentially the same thing in a lecture before one of 

 our colleges while in this country a few years ago — 

 easy enough to manufacture a living being of any 



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