ON THE STRUCTURE OF CELLS 151 



pointed out the strange analogy which exists be- 

 tween rhythmic relations in the case of many pheno- 

 mena in Nature. Harmonic relations in the numbers 

 3, 4, and 5, appear in a most striking manner in the 

 grouping of electrons as in the distances of the 

 planets, and the harmonic relations as in music. 



There are relations in the geometrical figures 

 which for a long time have attracted the attention 

 of many people. Upon these points we shall dis- 

 course in a later chapter. 



The extraordinary effect of rhythm as a stimulus 

 to vital actions has been regarded as one of the 

 most remarkable phenomena associated with life 

 and with psychological effects ; it plays a most im- 

 portant part, for instance, in music, in poetry, and 

 in prose. Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton in discussing 

 rhythm has remarked, and we think quite rightly, 

 that " deeper than the rhythm of Art is that 

 rhythm which Art would fain catch, the rhythm 

 of Nature, for the rhythm of Nature is the rhythm 

 of life itself." In fact the amount of energy in the 

 vital flux in the nth or ultimate nucleus should 

 admit of being increased or diminished by its 

 response to external stimuli of certain periods. As 

 the energy of vibrations of light can be taken up and 

 absorbed by the vibrations of the electrons within the 

 atom itself, so too in a similar fashion would such 

 vital units as we have postulated, possessing as 

 they would similar dynamical structure, behave in 

 a similar fashion. The response may of course be 

 excited in many ways ; and although these methods 



