i879-J 
Seed-Breeding . 
533 
lost as well, into the matter which is incapable of acting on 
itself to produce this added power which we call life and 
organism. We, however, may say that mineral is one phase 
of matter which is subject to one set of laws and conditions, 
and that life is this same matter, with added force which 
renders it subject to an additional set of laws and forces, 
which are more or less greater or less powerful, according 
to the complexity of the life upon which they can aCt. The 
true view of Nature is, then, according to our view, that 
laws are continually in action and are universal, and that it 
is the province of the existent life or matter to use these 
laws according as the structure and function affect their 
relations ; and that hence the mind of man, which recognises 
and adapts existing relations to his own benefit, by modi- 
fying through law, structure, and function, can arrange 
relations to other laws, and produce diversity of result. 
The law of inertia, which is defined as being that condi- 
tion of matter by which its existing state is retained, if 
at rest, rest, if in motion, the continuance of that motion 
until other forces in aCtion shall produce a change, serves as 
well for the consideration of the problem of life. A perfect 
likeness between parent and offspring would presuppose the 
parents being from all time in a state of inertia , — a suppo- 
sition which nullifies the proposition, as the aCt of having 
offspring would be a departure from that state. Yet when 
we define the science of breeding, and state that “ like pro- 
duces like,” we recognise the fallacy of the proposition as 
applied with exactness to individuals, and modify it imme- 
diately by limitations, which if they serve to weaken the 
statement, yet serve to make it not contradictory to our ex- 
perience. Rather the law of variation should be the key- 
word for breeding, although the proposition that “ like 
produces like ” as a mental conception is as true and as 
applicable as is the proposition that inertia is a definition of 
a law of Nature. Like does produce like when every con- 
dition is removed which would produce difference, which 
only can be done as a mental aCt : a body is considered as 
continuing in its present state when every condition involving 
a change is removed by a mental aCt. Hence the “ law of 
likeness ” is of the most importance to that breeder who 
desires to so modify surroundings as to restrain his animals 
from being improved in their progeny ; and the “ law of 
variation ” is deserving of the more attention from that 
breeder who would desire to improve his animals in their 
progeny. 
We might amplify this proposition to almost any extent 
