CHAPTER IL—LIFE AS A FUNCTION OF 
CHEMICAL COMPLEXITY. 
72. The point of view here taken is that there is a 
general unity underlying the phenomena of Nature, and 
that Life is a function of Molecular Complexity. The 
old barriers between man and the lower animals, and 
between the organic and inorganic, have long been 
broken down by science, and similar barriers between 
mind and body, and between living and lifeless, are 
equally destined to fall. 
75. In. studying the range of living things, and 
whatever character we take as a criterion, we can trace 
an endless succession of intermediate forms, from higher 
ιο lower, without any sharp line of division. ^ Going 
still further, we.know of ultra-microscopic forms of 
life, such as the germ of yellow fever, whose presence 
can only be inferred from its chemical infective activity, 
and whose diameter cannot well exceed some 20 times 
that of a simple protein molecule. -In such an organism 
the processes of evolution are at a low level, and it no 
doubt remains much as its ancestors were myriads of 
generations ago, whereas in higher types, even with long 
intervals from generation to generation, great changes 
occur in relatively short periods of geological time, 
74, Whilst recent discoveries have shown lower and 
lower types of organisms, at the same time physiologists 
have increased the definiteness of their knowledge of 
such complex chemical relationships as that of enzyme 
to food-stuff, or toxin to anti-toxin, and, by producing 
complexes of amino-acids, they are approaching the 
synthesis of protein. 
75. The suggestiveness of these things is empha- 
sised by the familiar facts of embryology, whereby a 
simple cell, the fertilised ovum, develops steadily and 
without break of continuity into man with all his attri- 
butes. It is plain that this simple cell carries the 
potentiality of the body with all its members, culmi- 
nating in the marvellously complex central nervous sys- 
tem, and that it carries also the germ of consciousness; 
which grows to the fully developed human personality. 
76. Embryology, palacontology, and the study of 
inheritance, unite in showing the descent of all living 
organisms from a primitive protozoan ancestry (com- 
parable to the fertilised ovum), and there is every proba- , 
bility that such descent may be traced still further 
through. lower organisms like the ultra- microscopic 
germs before mentioned, to what we should at present 
call “inorganic matter.” 
77. We thus come to the converse conclusion that 
inorganic matter has inherent properties capable, under 
suitable physical conditions and with sufficient time al- 
lowance, of developing all the phenomena of life. 
78. To each of us the most real thing is his own 
consciousness or personality. We attribute to other 
human beings consciousness like our own, and we can- 
not well refuse to allow such consciousness at lower 
and lower levels till we finally reach the chemist’s atom 
and the physicist’s sub-atom or electron. 
Chapter li—Life as a Function of Chemical Complexity 
79. It may be of interest to place here some notes 
on atoms, molecules, etc., compiled when the rough 
draft of this chapter was made over twenty years ago} 
more recent researches, whilst adding enormously tq our 
knowledge, have rather tended to strengthen the case 
for continuity between living and “lifeless” matter, . α 
Present views on atomic physics and chemistry will be 
dealt with in later chapters of this work. 
90. The Ether. Chemists and physicists have given 
very different views, and its nature (or even existence) 
is almost entirely hypothetical. Lord Kelvin constructed 
a gyrostatic model of the Ether. Larmor considered it 
as a fluid endowed with rotational elasticity, in which 
the “electrons” or sub-atoms of matter, exist as nuclei of 
strain, J. C. Vogt published in 1891 a “Simplified 
Conception of Substance," which was of considerable 
interest. According to Vogt there is a simple primitive 
substance, which fills space in unbroken continuity. 
Infinitesimal centres of condensation in this substance 
are the atoms (“pycnatoms”) which have sensation and 
inclination—souls in a certain sense (compare 
Empedocles" love and hatred of the elements). These 
positive centres of condensation exceed the mean con- 
sistency and form ponderable matter. The intermediate 
substance, which negatively falls below the mean con- 
sistency is “Ether” or imponderable matter. The positive 
matter with its feeling of like or desire is continually 
striving to complete the process of condensation. The 
negative matter offers perpetual resistance to this con- 
densation because of the further increase of its strain 
and because of the feeling of dislike connected therewith, 
There is no such thing as empty space, nor action at a 
distance through empty space. 
8l. Sub-atoms. Mere we are on firmer ground; 
the electrons, corpuscles or sub-atoms of negative 
electricity can actually be detected and measured. They 
occur in radio-activity, with a velocity approaching that 
of light, and in the cathode rays with a lower velocity. 
Each carries (or is?) a unit charge of negative elec- 
tricity (the same as the charge of an atom of hydrogen) : 
their apparent mass is usually about 1/1000 of the 
hydrogen atom, but varies with the velocity. The 
corpuscles are identical, whatever their source. 
82. Atoms. J. J. Thomson regarded each atom as 
a planetary system of corpuscles (negative) rotating in 
concentric rings or shells within a sphere (or, as 
Nicholson supposed, about a central nucleus) of positive 
electricity. The main mass of the atom is due to this 
positive sphere (or nucleus). Chemical valency depends 
on the readiness with which such a system, from con- 
siderations of stability, gains or loses a corpuscle or 
corpuscles. The atom of carbon may ‘consist of four 
subsidiary:systems arranged in the form of a tetrahedron. 
Wilson considered the number of corpuscles to average 
eight times the atomic weight. Nicholson regarded all 
elementary atoms as made up of one or more of four 
primary substances or “protyles,” each of which is a 
system of electrons with a positive nucleus. Hydrogen 
is one of these protyles and the others were supposed 
to have atomic weights of .5, 1.6, and 2.4. Kleeman 
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