INVESTIGATING OEGANIC FORMS. 213 



LECTURE 2. 



Professor Moseley's paper contains the germ of what would 

 yet form a new epoch in natural science, though known only 

 to a few mathematicians, who probably considered it merely as 

 a curious and ingenious memoir. 



As a very remarkable coincidence, Newton had shown in 

 his Principia that if attraction had generally varied as the in- 

 verse cube instead of as the inverse square of the distance, the 

 heavenly bodies would revolve, not in ellipses but in logarith- 

 mic spirals, rapidly diffuse themselves, and rush off into space. 

 It would be curious that if the law of the square were the law 

 of attraction, the law of the cube might therefore prove to be 

 the law of production. He did not say that this was the case. 

 But if this law of force were admitted, and cellules grew by a 

 certain law, we could thereby explain how all cellules passed 

 off from one another, and how all form was produced namely, 

 in a rapidly-increasing geometrical ratio, instead of revolving 

 round an axis. Probably the logarithmic spiral would be 

 found to be the law at work in the increase of organic bodies. 



Another remarkable confirmation of the possibility of 

 carrying out the principle of geometrical investigation where 

 we would least expect to find it ; in reference to the forms of * 

 the most highly-organised bodies with which we are acquainted, 

 but which had yet been found to be bounded by geometric 

 figures, has recently been pointed out. 



For the examination of the geometric outline of the human 

 body we are indebted to Mr. D. K. Hay.* 



By the geometrical construction of a diagram, we should 

 now be enabled to trace the outline of the skeleton ; and all 

 the leading parts of the body would come out exactly as they 

 ought to be. 



* On the Human Figure, 4to, 1849 ; Natural Principles of Beauty, 1852 ; 

 The Science of Beauty, 1856. 



