THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 173 



be carried by the winds of a fertile planet of any- 

 solar system to the upper strata of its atmosphere, 

 where they would meet with electrons (the same 

 electrons which, as we have seen, cause the aurora 

 borealis), and be charged with sufficient electricity 

 to cause their repulsion into the realms of space. 

 In space they would be driven by solar radiation 

 towards the outer planets, or, meeting with streams 

 of larger particles going towards the sun, might 

 alight on an inner planet. (It is evident that if 

 there are cosmic particles of life, they might 

 easily be caught up by meteors, and thus Kelvin^s 

 and Arrhenius' theories are quite compatible.) 



The objections to this theory, as Arrhenius 

 himself sees, are many. In the first place, the 

 germs would have to face the intense cold and 

 desiccating dryness of space and the unimpeded 

 ultra-violet solar rays ; and even if they did 

 happen to hit a planet, the chances are a million to 

 one that it would not be a suitable planet or a 

 suitable time — " never the place and the time and 

 the loved one altogether." "It may take one 

 million or several million years," Arrhenius admits, 

 " from the age at which a planet could possibly 

 begin to sustain life to the time when the first seed 

 falls upon it and germinates, and when organic 

 life is thus originated." But he explains : " This 

 period is of little significance in comparison with 



