i6o SCIENCE AND IMMORTALITY 



And the question is — Can matter with these vital 

 qualities be produced, by ordinary molecular and 

 atomic laws, from ordinary so-called dead atoms ; 

 or are these special qualities of life, qualities quite 

 beyond the potentialities of atoms and molecules 

 and the laws of matter ? 



In view of the corpuscular, atomic, and func- 

 tional relationships we have already shown — in 

 view of the enormous intra-atomic energy — in 

 view of the continuity of nature — there is surely a 

 strong presumption that life in its plant and animal 

 manifestations was produced by a process of 

 gradual evolution from the inorganic, under the 

 influence of the ordinary laws of matter ; but have 

 we any proofs of the evolution ? Where and 

 when did life begin, and how ? What molecules 

 were the first to reproduce their like, and to exist 

 in a constant state of breaking down and building 

 up ? If life can be produced by the dead organic 

 or inorganic, is it still evolved, or was it evolved 

 only under conditions no longer present ? 



These are difficult questions, and science has not 

 quite succeeded in answering any of them. 



The question whether life can be evolved at the 

 present day, under present cosmic conditions, 

 from dead matter, has been a question of debate 

 for thousands of years. 



Thales, the first Greek philosopher, thought that 



