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freezing pj.: 

 • • • • The ci' 



cannot be "■ 



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5 or weeb; 

 ^ze and bec.[ 

 : of this cct: 

 : mineral k 

 ,ch as flint: 



loldsofmaiseit' 

 ,f dimensiois/- 



ag pow 



er 



ofi- 



reater ; it m?- 

 Istitute organ't' 







n simpler 

 That very ^' 



hvsicalfo^^':=: 

 itions of tte" 

 rearrangef; 

 fessor Od^'- 



less 



of CO 



The in< 



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up 



osite ch'" 



TW"^ BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



91 



often found to have passed, during the geological ages 



w \ 



of their existence, from the vitreous or colloidal into 

 the crystalline condition ^. The colloidal is, in fact, 

 a dynamical state of matter • the crystalloid being the 

 statical condition. The colloid possesses Energia. 



It may be looked upon as the probable primary source of tke 



vltalHv. To the 



/^ 



appearing m the phenomena of 



gradual manner in which colloidal changes take place 

 (for they always demand time as an element), may the 

 characteristic protraction of chemico-organic changes 

 also be referred/ Thus, then, we seem to have found 

 materials which are modifiable and plastic enough to 

 enter into the composition of living things 2. 



But, let us now glance at the theories and require- 

 ments of thos2 who seek to account for the first appear- 

 ance of Organisms. 



To all those who are firm believers in the Evolution 



^ Even a 'colloid holding so high a place in its class as albumen" 



may be met with in the opposite or crystalline condition. Professor 



Graham says : — * In the so-called blood-crystals of Funke, a soft and 



gelatinous albumenoid body is seen to assume a crystalline contour. 



Can any facts more strikingly illustrate the maxim that in nature there 



are no abrupt transitions, and that distinctions of class are never 

 absolute?' 



^ ' While the composite atoms of which organic tissues are built up 

 possess that molecular mobiUty fitting them for plastic purposes, it 

 results from the extreme molecular mobilities of their ultimate consti- 

 tuents, that the waste products of vital activity escape as fast as they 

 are formed.' (Spencer, loc. cit. p. 24.) Vital actions entail decomposi- 

 tions, in which comparatively stable and simple combinations result 

 from the breaking up of the more complex and highly unstable protein 



compounds. It is necessary that these effete products should be got 



rid of. ■ 



i» 



