i88i.] 
Life and its Basis. 
7i 
II. LIFE AND ITS BASIS. 
By J. H. Barker, M.A. 
Part II. — Animal Life. 
t HERE is a somewhat ambiguous expression of recent 
origin, and adopted by some writers of high standing 
^ in science, viz., “The cosmical life of the Universe.” 
And to this hypothetical source we are invited to trace 
all life, whether on our own or other worlds. It must be 
presumed that this ‘ cosmical life ’ is some universal prin- 
ciple or power manifesting itself in an unceasing energy and 
'possessed of boundless resources and consummate skill, — if it 
is the originator of all the fair and wonderful world of life 
which we see around us, and of which we ourselves, as 
human beings, form the highest and noblest part. Moreover, 
this same power or force is regarded by some modern autho- 
rities as identical with those mysterious forces which are 
conspicuous everywhere in the inorganic world, and pro- 
ducing its ceaseless changes and processes. I confess I see 
no reason to deny or to doubt the reality of such a general 
force or power. 
Professor Haeckel of Jena is a well-known advocate of 
this theory, and in vol. i. p. 331 of his “ History of Crea- 
tion,” he maintains the identity of the inorganic and vital 
forces, as exhibited in the formation of crystals on the one 
hand, and living things on the other. But, he adds, with 
much candour, “ The ultimate causes, it is true, remains both 
cases' ’ (the italics are his own) “concealed from us.” These 
idtimate causes, however, comprise the gist of the whole 
question. Experimental philosophy may fail to find them, 
but induCtive philosophy clearly discerns and gladly recog- 
nises them. 
It might appear at first sight the most natural course 
when treating of the manifestation of life in the animal 
world, that we should start with the simplest, or as they are 
generally called, the elementary forms. But as we cannot 
prove, and in many cases can scarcely infer, any distinction 
between animal and vegetable organisms of this low kind, it 
will be better to endeavour to estimate this distinction as it 
is exhibited in the higher and more complicated organisms. 
Let us, then, first notice the indisputable faCt, that the 
