THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF LIFE 183 



and capable, by intricate and devious courses, of 

 eventually evolving an organic molecule, and the 

 combinations of molecules that make men and trees 

 — to conceive of forces which, once set agoing in the 

 nebula, could and must end in living beings, " so 

 that a sufficient intelligence could from a knowledge 

 of that vapour have predicted, say, the state of the 

 fauna of Britain in 1869 with as much certainty 

 as one can say what will happen to the breath in 

 a cold winter day " — to conceive of forces working 

 through vapour, and molten metal, and rocks, and 

 volcanoes, to flora and fauna, may be difficult, but 

 there is nothmg in the nature of the material or 

 in the complexity of the ultimate result to make 

 the conception impossible. 



