THE CBLL DOCTEINB. 109 



the guidance of any principle called " vitality," any 

 more than the phenomena of water take place by 

 virtue of " aquosity." Prof. Huxley can discover no 

 halting-place between the admission that protoplasm 

 of one animal or vegetable is essentially identical 

 with and readily converted into another, and the 

 further concession that all vital action may, with 

 equal propriety, be said to be the result of the molecu- 

 lar forces of the protoplasm which displays it. The 

 thoughts to which we give utterance are the expression of 

 molecular changes in protoplasm. These are admit- 

 -tedly so-called materialistic terms. Yet Prof. Huxley 

 says: "Ilfevertheless, two things are certain : the one, 

 that.1 hold the statement (above) to be substantially 

 correct ; the other, that I, individually, am no material- 

 ist, but on the contrary believe materialism to involve 

 grave philosophical errors." Such union of materialis- 

 tic terminology with the repudiation of materialistic 

 philosophy, he believes to be " not only consistent 

 with, but necessitated by sound logic." This he pro- 

 ceeds to show in this manner : If it be supposed that 

 knowledge is absolute, that we know more of cause 

 and eftect than a certain definite order of succession 

 of facts, and that we have a knowledge of the ne- 

 cessity of that succession, then there is no escape 

 from utter materialism and necessarianism. But it 

 is impossible to prove that anything whatever may 

 not be the effect of a material and necessary cause, 

 and no act is really spontaneous, since a really spon- 

 taneous act is one which has no cause. Yet any one 

 familiar with the history of science will admit that 

 its object has always meant, and means the exten- . 



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