I50 THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 



But its period of duration would be of a different 

 order of magnitude from that of the material 

 aggregate with which, for a comparatively brief 

 interval, it was associated. 



Some of that vital substance is inherited from 

 ancestors ; some of it goes down to posterity ; that 

 part of it which remains with the individual is 

 severed from the material organism and, like the 

 other elements of which that organism was com- 

 posed, survives. In this respect it is of interest 

 then to note the assumption which we make of the 

 existence of such vital units. It gives us a clue to 

 such phenomena as that of rhythm, which prevails 

 throughout the organic and inorganic worlds, which 

 appeals in so inexplicable a fashion to the inmost 

 depths of the very soul itself! 



Most curiously the rhythm in the structure of the 

 elements applies to that of the planets and of the 

 cells too, as it is in a singular degree applicable to 

 music, poetry, and architecture. 



It is by rhythmic disturbances that the flow 

 of energy of the ultimate source or the vital unit 

 would be affected ; the connection between rhythm 

 and the flow of vital energy in very many physio- 

 logical phenomena being most remarkable. It 

 may have a bearing upon the ultimate source of 

 vital energy when it is borne in mind that such 

 rhythmic laws prevail in the aggregates of the 

 elements and in the formation of cells. 



In an original and most interesting note in the 

 AthencBum, 30th April, 1904, Mr. Newman Howard 



