172 UNIVERSITY OK MISSci i< i IIKI.I.MIN 



monthi it a temperature of 40* C (104'F), placed in a 

 vacuum in glass tubes, subjected for three weeks to the ton 



peialUie i.l Il.|l|l<| .III .111(1 llir.1 Illllliei ,ed .,1 M.I, ,' 111 li,|||i(l 



hydrogen, at a temperature of -253C (-423,4'F), only 20'C 

 above absolute zero, or molecular quiescence, When the 

 seeds were subsequently placed on moist cotton at a tempera- 

 ture of 28*, all of the alfalfa and mustard seeds and f.-m 



Dill D! live ol the wheat >;i. HIP, >M-I initiated in .1 leu ,1.1V- 



1 >id the '.ee.ls iciii.iui alive dmim; this drastic tieatmcnt, 



or did they retain only the capacity to become alive? 1 1 iiu-v 

 were alive, then we must profoundly revise our concept ion of 

 what it means to be alive; if they only retained the capa< <t\ 

 to become alive, then it is pertinent to ask where was the 

 "entelechy" or the "vital force" during the non-vital period* 



MOXN i, ml, I .1 e-.iape. .in. I ho\\ did il Imd its way hark to ||u 



proper seed? Is the "vital force" or "entelechy" of wheat 

 the same as that of mustard and alfalfa, or different? 



I confess that it all seems as foolish to me as it does to 



yon; .in. I as mvsleiious as looli-.h \\ Y :ur l.ur !o I'.UT with 



a great mystery, and to shout "entelechy" or "vital foi 



only adds confusion. 



It is important, moreover, to keep clearly in mind the 

 fact that force is only a concept and has no objective CM < 

 ence. We experience perceptions which we call matter in mo- 

 tion, but force is only the measure of that motion. F = M V 

 says the physicist on one page (force is measured by the pro- 

 duct of the mass into the acceleration), and on the next page 

 he says, "Force is the cause of motion. 11 The first statement 

 is correct. How then can we speak of a vital force? Four 



is the measure of (lie motion of matter, whether the nuttei 



occurs as protoplasm or pendulum. Force does not explain 

 the latter; how can vital force explain the former? 1 \\i--h 



to einph.i-i.T the l.ut that neithei mechanism nor vitalism 



can tx plain anything. The word cause (the Ursackt of the 

 Germans) means only "thing that preceded." We explain 



