1 68 THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 



we have dwelt upon, although it is not an 

 element. 



All that is required really is a nucleus which 

 would possess the properties as above described. 

 Whether it is an element or not it is impossible 

 to say ; it is probable that it would possess the 

 properties of an element, but it may be a com- 

 pound. This hypothetical substance, bio-carbon, 

 may be nothing more than cyanogen, although we 

 think it is probably something else, since it is 

 doubtful if the energy stored in this compound is 

 sufficiently large. 



It may be that the element whose existence we 

 postulate does not possess the chemical properties 

 of carbon, but those of cyanogen. But we may 

 regard life as a property of matter as much as 

 radio-activity or electricity, of which matter is 

 ultimately composed ; life-activity being, from the 

 considerations which we have given, nothing more 

 than a particular kind of instability in the substance 

 which composes the nth, or ultimate nucleus ; and 

 that instability can give rise to the subsequent 

 behaviour of cells when it occurs in a substance 

 embedded in organic media, the mode of producing 

 these cells in such media being a mere process of 

 structural organic synthesis. 



The mere production of complicated com- 

 pounds is not the only factor in the synthesis of 

 organic life, but also the formation of cells composed 

 of these substances. And in fact even the precipitate 

 which may be produced by the action of a salt 



