UNDER THE APPLE-TREES 
true that the inorganic is lifted into the organic, and 
it is as certainly true that the organic falls back 
again into the inorganic, and the movement we call 
life ceases. Spencer’s position is a sort of philosophi- 
cal puzzle. It is equivalent to saying that life like 
matter is infinitely divisible or reducible, so that the 
mind can never reach the point where life ends and 
the non-life begins. If in the case of matter we draw 
the line at the atom, it is an arbitrary line, so in the 
case of life, any line we may draw is an arbitrary 
line; life as a constant becoming and a constant end- 
ing is like a circle, returning forever into itself; it 
begins and ends at every imaginary point. The old 
puzzle that motion is impossible because a body can- 
not move where it is, nor where it is not, is easily 
disposed of by taking one step. We are forced to the 
conclusion that life on the globe did begin, and that 
it will in time as surely end. 
Kindling a fire by friction might symbolize 
Spencer’s idea of the evolution of life. When does 
the fire begin? Every moment in the process has its 
antecedent moment back to the original elements 
and forces that built up the wood in the tree, and 
the first molecule of smoke that appears can be 
infinitely divided, yet combustion finally takes 
place. 
As we go down the scale of animal life toward the 
vegetable, there must be a point where conscious- 
ness — the feeling of pleasure and pain — begins. 
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