y 



Of 



l/j:^ 



I 



THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE 



n 



C 



i Whilst 



? and 



lll!i 



It 



niore 



to 



pi 



constitute: 



molecul 



ar rei> 



organism referrible to molecular affinities, of a more 

 complex order^ under similar influences. Nay, further, 

 just as the form and properties of the crystal are to be 

 taken as the natural outcome of the properties of its 

 constituent molecules under the influence of its envi- 

 ronment, so are the form and properties of the organism 



the si' 1^ to be considered as the natural outcome of the proper- 



rom the one t 



ties of its molecules, entering into combination under 

 the influence of their environing conditions. 



r 



Views analogous to these have been more or less 



/ 



1^ highestf fully expressed by many writers. The essential simi- 



i an 



1 



orimni jarity in the laws regulating crystalline and organic 



lie arises ^cr)t forms was even suggested 



Maup 



in 1744 ^ 



appears ^ardei Crystals and organisms were spoken of by Burdach^ 

 n the latter c as statical and dynamical aggregates respectively. We 

 initiated ^t ^^"^^ seen, moreover, that the formation of organisms 



1 



accus 



tomed to; 



, . I • j-esoIvaK ^ Milne-Edwards says (' Physiologic et Anatom. Comp.' t. viii. p. 247 ): 



'Maupertuis dont la celebrite est due surtout au voyage qu'il fit en 

 :hich h^^'^j ™ Laponie avec Clusant et quclques autres savants pour verifier les idees 



COmbin^'^'' ^^ Newton touchant I'aplatisement de la terre aux poles combattait for- 



, tement la theorie de la preexistence et de Pemboitement des germes. II 

 beir Separ^^^ crut pouvoir expliquer la formation des organismes en supposant que 



J5 it; les molecules de la matiere organisable sent douees d'une sorte d attrac- 

 tion elective en vertu de laquelle ces atomes se rapprocheraient et 

 )IcCuleS; ^^^' s'uniraient dans certains rapports, de fajon a donner naissance a des 

 among^^ ^ assemblages analogues a ceux dont ces mcmes molecules proviennent 



1 tion J^'' "^""^ ^^ ^"""^'"^ determine, tantot a une sorte d'instinct ou de souvenir dun 



jrganism 



propriete qu'il comparait tantot k I'affinite chimique ou a I'attraction en 

 vertue de laquelle les parties constitutives d'un cristal se reunissent sui- 

 vant un ordre determine, tantot a une sorte d'instinct ou de souvenir d'un 

 ^tat anterieur. Les premiers ecrits de Maupertuis sur ce sujet parurent 



^nditi^^^ ^ See vol. i. p. 29S, note 2. 



(CE 



IS 



the 



orig 



ifrlD 



