THE BREATH OF LIFE 



division. In fact, it awakens or imparts a vital force 

 and leads to "indefinite increase, subdivision, and 

 movement." 



With Professor Schafer there is first "the fortui- 

 tous production of life upon this globe" — the 

 chance meeting or jostling of the elements that re- 

 sulted in a bit of living protoplasm, "or a mass of 

 colloid slime" in the old seas, or on their shores, 

 "possessing the property of assimilation and there- 

 fore of growth." Here the whole mystery is swal- 

 lowed at one gulp. "Reproduction would follow as 

 a matter of course," because all material of this 

 physical nature — fluid or semi-fluid in character — 

 " has a tendency to undergo subdivision when its 

 bulk exceeds a certain size." 



"A mass of colloidal slime" that has the power of 

 assimilation and of growth and reproduction, is cer- 

 tainly a new thing in the world, and no chemical 

 analysis of it can clear up the mystery. It is easy 

 enough to produce colloidal slime, but to endow it 

 with these wonderful powers so that "the promise 

 and the potency of all terrestrial life" slumbers in it 

 is a staggering proposition. 



Whatever the character of this subdivision, 

 whether into equal parts or in the form of buds, 

 "every separate part would resemble the parent in 

 chemical and physical properties, and would equally 

 possess the property of taking in and assimilating 

 suitable material from its liquid environment, grow- 



136 



