120 PROFESSOR LIONEL BEALE, F.R.C.P., F.R.S., ON THE 



man is distinguished from all other living creatures. These 

 and other observations connected with life and vital action 

 were not in accord with the physical doctrines of life, then and 

 indeed now very popular ; but, as about the middle of the last 

 century many scientific problems of profound importance were 

 being settled by acclamation and the opinions of some who 

 knew little of the facts, and could not discuss a purely scientific 

 question such as the nature of life, from what they had seen, 

 I could only publish my views, describe and illustrate by 

 drawings what I had seen and shown to others, and give my 

 reasons for entirely dissenting from the popular doctrines of 

 contemporary evolutionists, monists, Eationalists, and Agnostics, 

 here and abroad. Thousands of intelligent people have been 

 persuaded to give up every religious idea, and to accept a 

 number of vague general propositions, which are absolutely 

 opposed to belief in Infinite Power, and living nature as being 

 entirely and wholly due to the creative and sustaining power of 

 the Almighty. 



But is it not time that thoughtful and intelligent persons of 

 all denominations and classes, had the general scientific facts 

 of life and growth brought under their notice, so that they 

 might judge whether these were really opposed to religious 

 belief, as many have been led to suppose ? My own conviction 

 has long been that the more minutely living nature is studied, 

 the more strongly will the reason be convinced of the evidence 

 afforded by science alone, of the Infinite Power, Wisdom and 

 Goodness of God. 



In the last number but one of the Journal of the Royal 

 Microscopical Society, October 1902, page 529, the reader will 

 find an excellent photograph by Mr. F. E. Ives of the central 

 part of one of the valves of Pleurosigma Angulatum, magnified 

 upwards of two thousand diameters. This successful represen- 

 tation of the very minute and elaborate microscopic structure 

 deserves very careful study, for it illustrates by its striking 

 details a very remarkable arrangement, the mode of formation 

 of which it is not at present possible to determine. Everyone 

 familiar with the general microscopical characters of the large 

 class of organisms to which the Pleurosigma belongs, will at 

 least agree that the beautiful markings, which characterize the 

 different species, cannot possibly be explained or reasonably 

 accounted for by physical or chemical processes of any kind. 

 The more carefully the well known organisms are examined and 

 thought over, the more wonderful will the structure appear, 

 and the more difficult to explain. If the student, skilful with 



