364 THE LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION 
the special chemical, electrical, and magnetic properties 
of special forms of matter.* Each chemical element 
will thus consist of a molecule formed of simple atoms, 
(or as Mr. Bayma terms them to avoid confusion, 
‘material elements”) in greater or less number and 
of more or less complex arrangement; which molecule 
is in stable equilibrium, but liable to be changed in 
form by the attractive or repulsive influences of differ- 
ently constituted molecules, constituting the phenomena 
of chemical combination, and resulting in new forms 
of molecule of greater complexity and more or less 
stability. 
Those organic compounds of which organized beings 
are built up, consist, as is well known, of matter of an 
extreme complexity and great instability; whence re- 
sult. the changes of form to which it is continually 
subject. This view enables us to comprehend the possi- 
bility, of the phenomena of vegetative life being due to 
* Mr. Bayma’s work, entitled “The Elements of Molecular 
Mechanics,” was published in 1866, and has received less 
attention than it deserves. It is characterised by great 
lucidity, by logical arrangement, and by comparatively simple 
geometrical and algebraical demonstrations, so that it may 
be understood and appreciated with a very moderate know- 
ledge of mathematics. It consists of a series of Propositions, 
deduced from the known properties of matter; from these 
are derived a number of Theorems, by whose help the more 
complicated Problems are solved. Nothing is taken for 
granted throughout the work, and the only valid mode of 
escaping from its conclusions is, by either disproving the 
fundamental Propositions, or by detecting fallacies in the 
subsequent reasoning. 
