OF THE VITAL PHENOMENA. 
5 
us at the present day are not sufficient to explain the formation 
of a plantcell, the process of generation or the conduction of the 
sense-impressions to the brain. 1 2 ) ” 
Among those who most emphatically denied the necessity for 
the hypothesis of a special supernatural force were : Schleiden , 
Matteucci, Moleschott , Huxley, Haeckel, R. Mayer ,, F. Hüppe , 
Heidenhain and Halliburton. Schleiden 2) uttered the following 
philippica : “ Only ignorance and indolence of spirit are the 
defenders of the vital force at the present state of development 
of the natural sciences, of a force that can accomplish every¬ 
thing and explain everything, and of which nobody can tell, how 
it acts nor what laws it obeys. The savage, who takes a 
locomotive for a wild animal, is not more ignorant, than the 
natural philosopher who talkes about vital force in organisms.” 
Matteucci : “ to explain everything by vital force, and yet not 
to know the laws of this supposed force, explains nothing; it is 
even worse than nothing, it prevents the mind from searching 
after the truth. 3 ) ” 
Moleschott : “Life is not the result of a specific force, it is a 
* 
certain state of matter caused by peculiar motions produced by 
heat and light, water and air, electricity and mechanical con¬ 
vulsions. 4 5 ) ” . ♦ 
Th. Huxley 5) : “To speak in what is not altogether a 
metaphor, the atoms, which enter the body are for the most part 
piled up in large heaps and tumble down into small heaps 
before they leave it. The force, which they set free in thus 
tumbling down, is the active power of the organism.” Huxley 
forgets, however, to mention the cause of the “ tumbling down.” 
Haeckel takes the question still easier, he finds the formation of 
a cell as simple as that of a crystal, and assumes the existence 
of sensation and motion in every atom. This “soul” is 
modified and perfected by the development of the organisms. 6 ) 
Very naturally Robert Mayer did not believe in a mysterious 
1) Lehrbuch der organ. Chem. 3rd Ed. p. 6. 
2) Grundzüge der wissenschaftl. Botanik I, p. 60 (1844) 
3) Lezioni sui fenomeni fisico-chimici dei corpi viventi. 2d Ed. p. 10. (1846) 
4) Kraft and Stoff, 3rd Ed. p, 256 (1856) 
5) Lessons on elementary physiology, lesson VII (1870). 
6) Generelle Morphologie der Organismen, Vol. I p. 143 and 148. See also: 
Tageblatt der Naturforscherversammlung zu München 1877 p. 22. 
