Baxewerr.—41s Life a Distinct. Force ? 4i: 
With the other qualities of living matter I shall not at present deal ; 
these three are essential to any form of living matter, and are found in all, 
from the humblest of the Protista up to man. 
Life then X should define to be,—that force or combination of forces 
which gives to protoplasm its power of motion, of self-nutrition, and of 
reproduction. In this definition it will be observed that 1 avoid assuming 
that life is a force—it may be the result of a combination of forces. 
Life is either somatic or molecular. {n the simplest forms of living 
beings, the somatic and molecular life are inseparable, as the individual 
consists but of a single cell. If you kill an Amæba, for example, you 
destroy both the somatic and molecular life at the same time. But except 
the simplest organisms, whether vegetal or animal, living beings are built 
up of corpuscles, sometimes in the form of cells, sometimes in more com- 
plex tissues formed originally out of cells, each endowed with life, which is 
to a certain limited extent independent of the life of the whole organism. 
This is what is called molecular life. The life of the organism as a whole 
is called somatic life. It is possible in many of these organisms, particu- 
larly in what are called the higher or more complex ones, for somatic life to 
cease long before the individual molecules of which the being is built up 
have lost their vital properties. 
Living protoplasm, as I have before said, is an albuminoid substance. 
It consists of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and a little phosphorus and 
sulphur. 
On Motion as a quality of Living Matter—It is admitted by every one 
that non-living matter, in whatever form it may be found, cannot move of 
itself, nor unless acted on by some external force. But living protoplasm, 
as long as life exists, is endowed with motion. A simple cell like the 
Ameba (I use the word cell for convenience—the Ameba is not properly a 
cell) or a leucocyte, and many oi the simpler forms of vegetal and animal 
life can be seen to move about in the medium in which they exist. But the 
higher forms of vegetal life, it may be thought, do not move unless acted on 
by some external force. A lichen seems to cling to the rock on which it 
. has fixed itself; and even those plants like the sensitive plant, or the 
sundew, or Venus's dy-trap, which are known to move and grasp objects 
brought into contact with them, may be thought not to move spontaneously, 
or without being acted upon from without. This appearance of inertia is 
however fallacious, for whether you examine the lichen or the forest tree 
that has been rooted to its native earth for a thousand years, you will find 
that in every part of its structure change is going on—fluids are circulating ; 
vessels and ducts and fibres are being produced, removed, and renewed ; 
the reproductive process is going on ; water is being absorbed or given off; 
