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represented — namely, the life we speak of as “ the spirit,” and the life which 
each individual cell has for itself. But if life is merely the result of the 
vitality of all these individual cells, it ought, if all these cells remain in action, 
to be maintained in the body after what we call death. We know, however, 
that this is not the case ; although a man dies, all the cells in his body 
may still retain their individual life. We can prove this in many ways. Half- 
an-hour after death we can electrify the nerves so that a stimulus may be 
conveyed to the muscles, and they will contract and exhibit the same sort of 
action that is going on in life. Again, if we take the cells, with proper pre- 
cautions we may see them working as rapidly and with as much life as ever, 
although the spirit has left the body for ever. It is evident from this that 
the vitality of the cells of our body is not our life ; and if we reverse 
the matter, we may say that the cells can live independently of the 
original life by which they were produced. Suppose we go to a surgical 
operation. We can take the skin from a man’s arm and use it on a patient 
who requires a new nose, whereby we may grow a million of cells in what 
is taken from the body of one man and transferred to that of another. 
Here, you will see, there has been a complete change, the living cells taken 
from one persoD and transferred to another, being not entirely dependent 
on one life for their life. Doubtless the individual cells die a certain time 
after life has left the body, just as if we had a pet canary that was 
left without the necessaries of life, and died in consequence ; but when 
transferred, as I have pointed out, they live and manifest all the 
phenomena of life. It would, however, be ridiculous to say that them life is 
the result of the sum total individually of our own. If we endeavour to find 
out what it is that keeps those cells in life, it is in reality the food we take. 
After a certain time, when food is not supplied, they die as the canary does 
when it is neglected. But if we wish to find out what is the nature of the 
directing force of which Professor Nicholson speaks, we find that we can 
really form no conception of it. It is spoken of as a “ force ” or “ power ” ; 
but I do not think that these are the terms to apply. It is, in fact, merely 
an agent, just as the wind is an agent to blow away a straw or the dust. 
It is the Creator who stands behind and originates the directing power. 
We see but the phenomena connected with matter. We know that the earth 
and the planets are moving in their prescribed cycles, and that they have done 
so for ages, and we speak of such things as due to repulsion and attraction ; 
but there is something behind which keeps propelling the earth and the 
planets through space, and it may be that the same power which guides the 
stellar systems also guides each individual cell, and that to it the action of 
life in the body is also attributable. What I want to say is this, that all the 
definitions of life remind one of the celebrated dictum that “ language was 
given to enable us to conceal our thoughts,” although in the language used 
by different philosophers I find not so much that they wish to conceal their 
thoughts as that they desire to conceal their ignorance. The truth is, that 
we have not got a step further, notwithstanding all the philosophers who 
have given us the results of their science and knowledge — we have not 
