THE CONCEPTION OF LIFE 107 



This mode of communication was named telepathy. When 

 the British Association for the Advancement of Science held 

 its meeting in Montreal (1886), I made the acquaintance of 

 several of the leaders of this Society. At that time it seemed 

 possible that telepathy was a real phenomenon, and therefore 

 in response to the suggestions of these gentlemen we founded 

 a society for psychical research in America. After a number 

 of years, the scientific men who had founded the American 

 society withdrew, in part because it was found out that the 

 alleged phenomena of telepathy, which were first described, 

 were produced by cheating. The English society is still 

 active, and now defends the doctrine that vital phenomena 

 may occur without the usual material body, and that it is 

 possible to enter into communication with the spirits of the 

 dead, although only under conditions which occur rarely. 

 If this doctrine could be scientifically assured, it would con- 

 stitute the greatest discovery of our time. The demonstra- 

 tion is, however, little convincing. In Germany, so far as I 

 know, psychical research has received little attention. In 

 England and America one hears and reads much about it. 

 Of course, we cannot assert a priori that survival, in the sense 

 indicated above, is impossible, yet the biologist is likely to 

 stick to his assertion that the presence of the material basis is 

 the exclusive substratum for hfe. 



Where does the living substance come from? So far as 

 we know at present it arises only from itself, it propa- 

 gates itself, and can be created only by itself. If it should 

 once be entirely destroyed, Ufe on our earth would cease. 

 Formerly this view did not prevail, for it was believed that 

 spontaneous generation occurred in the world. In mediaeval 

 times learned men adhered contentedly to the idea that the 

 insects which appear in decajdng meat arise by spontaneous 



