THE NATURE OF LIFE. 349 



characters whilst subject to axial rotation. This fact is 

 further proved by their forming rouleaux, like unto piles 

 of money, when they have been brought to rest, i.e. — 

 polar attraction. If I understood Dr. Beale rightly, he 

 said there was no evidence at all of any physical force 

 being given out at the time of the cessation of life. These 

 corpuscles, which contain the life of the living animal, 

 collect together and form piles like coils of wire, and when 

 we go into the physics of the question we see that the 

 form has been acquired by rotation, and their physical 

 properties maintain the life of the living animal by their 

 motion througli the tissues. 



(5) The stress which the blood corpuscles exei'cise upon the 



nerves originates the nerve current, under which all 

 work done in the various processes of life is effected. No 

 doubt, according to the condition of the blood, with 

 regard to oxygen, so are the powers of life. Thought 

 even is governed by the oxygenated condition of the 

 blood, and as soon as it loses that condition it loses 

 the power of sustaining life. I do not at all detract 

 from the view that life is handed down, but simply that 

 it is maintained by these physical processes. 



(6) My sixth point is that as the stress which the blood 



corpuscles exercise has a direct relation to their material 

 conditions, purity of blood is one of the great factors for 

 ensuring a healthy body and a well-balanced mind. 

 There is no getting out '^of that, I think — in fact, these 

 are all facts that you can prove or disprove. I believe 

 them to be all positive facts, and I think the importance 

 of this question of animal life cannot be exceeded by any 

 other question which occupies men's minds. 



(7) A due recognition of the relations which exist between 



animal life and its material basis is of enormous conse- 

 quence to the well-being of the human race, and it is 

 because of its consequence to animal life that I think 

 this is a matter that should be gone into even by the 

 State itself, seeing vv'hat is going on in the world — the 

 vitiated appetites of the present generation, and seeing 

 how morbid appetites are being fostered and kept up. 

 We should then see what has taken place in the material 

 body — what changes are effected in it, how impure it has 

 become, and how impossible it is tliat the brain, and 



