42 J. W. SLATER, ESQ., F.C.S., F.E.S., ON 



I mu}' remark, however, that " will-power," one of the strongest 

 manifestations of life, is directly capable of being measured by the 

 contractile power of the muscles. A third point of difference upon 

 which Mr. Slater comments, is that life can only exist between 

 certain limits of temperature; and again, if I am not wrong in my 

 interpretation of his remarks, lie suggests that because it cannot 

 exist outside those limits, it is not of the nature of a physical 

 force. Another distinction upon which great stress is laid is that 

 whilst we can " start heat, light or motion afresh where nothing 

 of the kind has previously existed," we cannot start life, for" there 

 is no life without a pre-existing life, be it in the form of egg, seed, 

 or spore." 1 think that there is no one present who would for a 

 moment dispute these statements, but I cannot altogether admit 

 the author's deductions. In as few words as possible I will 

 endeavour to define the views I hold with regard to animal life, 

 and the very important relations which exist between the material 

 body and the physical forces, and between these and the phenomena 

 of life. Of course in these comments I can do so only in the most 

 cursory manner. If we go to the Bible, as we may Avell do for 

 information on this point, we find it stated that (1) " the life of 

 the flesh is in the blood." (2) "The life of all flesh is the 

 blood thereof," plain statements which demand the most careful 

 attention in any enquiry as to the nature of animal life, and which 

 should be capable to some extent of proof. 1 liad confidence in the 

 assertion, and the results of my investigations assure me that they 

 are literally true. 



Many years since I began to study the nature of the blood with 

 the object of ascertaining the mode in which it could be utilised 

 in the maintenance of the energy of the phenomena of life. 

 Physiology had already determined that its power in this direction 

 resided in the oxygen which it contained ; ergo, if life is a subtle 

 and non- physical form of energy, it must exist in the oxygen, or the 

 latter could not maintain it in the animal ; and, as such a pro- 

 position was impossible, the only other reasonable conclusion was 

 that the oxygen aroused vital energy through its phy.-ical 

 properties. I next found that oxygen is a highly magnetic 

 substance, and, when it is conveyed into the blood in any quantity, 

 has the power of proportionately increasing the blood's magnetic 

 charge. I therefore concluded, upon this and otiier grounds, that 

 "life" is essentially a physical form of enei'gy, i.^'., that life is 



