m 



-8 



/ 



THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



under the abstract name 'Life.' We must not be 

 blinded, however, by the use of such a word • we 



'Living' bodies, 



must 



not fall into the old error of supposing that because by 

 a process of generalization we have conceived a mere 

 abstract notion which we name ' Life,' that, thereforej 

 there is anything existing, of and by itself, answering 

 to this term. No, each material body has properties of 

 its own — properties which are due to its molecular con- 

 stitution—and which make it what we know it to be. 

 These properties are, however, often classed together 

 in a definite way j certain of the objects around us, for 



r 



instance, have a power of growing, of developing^ and 

 of reproducing their kind. Bodies possessing such pro- 

 perties have been arbitrarily named 

 and the word ^ Life ^ has been used as a mental symbol 

 connoting the sum total of the properties which dis- 

 tinguish such an aggregate from the member of the 

 other great class whose representatives do not present 

 such properties. These properties may be looked upon 

 as of a higher and more subtle nature, but it should be 

 distinctly understood that they are as much dependent 

 upon the mere qualities and nature of the material 

 aggregate which displays them, as the properties of a 

 metal or the properties of a crystal are the results of 

 the nature and mode of collocation of the atoms of 

 which these bodies are composed. Hence in using the 

 phrase ' Genesis of Life,' it must not be supposed that 

 we should^ in so doing, refer to the actual origination 



of any 'principle' or « force' that did not pre-exist; 





iemarcation 



Living things 



bel 



matter 



and of f 



states do not po: 

 'Life.' The 



as 



fore, between s( 

 of tliese and th( 

 tions which cons 

 in terms of eve 

 of being i 

 tions wrought 

 listing kind oi 

 ttat tlie physical 

 '"? about any 

 ^^'^es anew in 



'^^^eisancete, 

 r "^^ appears 



> H to . Pri 



M 



^tion)^ 



and 



P-48. 



) 



