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    Comte's Positive Philosophy.*. By Gr. .'...

    lents , yet different properties ; and the mystery is , as I said , a mystery of synthesis : the variety in the direction of the forces , produces the variety of phenomena . And this leads me to some considerations which , inasmuch as they form a part of my dynamical theory of the universe , and are , as I ^ conceive , strictly in accordance with the principles of positivism , I will rapidly , indicate . Is there , except as a scientific artifice , any distinction between the inorganic and organic worlds ? No . Thfc same elements are common to both ; the differences in the phenomena are owing to differences in the arrangement of these elements ; just as starch , wood , and sugar are different in their properties , though composed of the same elements .

    Whether we suppose the unknown Forces which manifest themselves in phenomena to be many , or one talcing many directions—whetherwe suppose the so called elementary atoms to be distinct elements . or one element , the conclusion is not affected that , Between inorganic and organic bodies the marked distinction lies in the latter being combinations of more complex orders . Thus , a particle of salt is composed of a group of two atoms , while a particle of olive oil is composed of several hundreds of atoms . From the dawn of organic life upwards , we perceive an ascending complexity , owing , primarilyi I believe , to the greater multiples of the elementary

    equivalents . Thus , if a particle of salt contains only two atoms , these two atoms only attract each other in one direction ; but in a particle of sugar , which consists of thirty-six atoms , the attraction is acting in thirty-six different directions . " Without adding , " says Liebig , " or withdrawing any element , we may conceive the thirty-six simple atoms , of which the atom of sugar consists , to be arranged in a thousand different ways ; with every alteration in the position of any single atom of the thirtysix , the compound atom ceases to be an atom of sugar , since the properties belonging to it change with every alteration in the arrangement of the constituent atoms . "—{ Letters on Chemistry . )

    The four elements , named organogens , oxygen , hydrogen , carbon , and nitrogen , are infinite in their modes of combination . Lead and oxygen combine in two proportions only , viz ., the protoxide P b O , and the peroxide PI ) O , and these unite to form a third combination , red lead . But the combinations of the organogens are innumerable , and differ , not only in relative but in absolute quantities ( Mulder : Physiologischen Chemie . ) And it is from the infinite variety of these combinations—these directions of force , that the variety of organic phenomena proceed .

    To make intelligible by an illustration this effect of different arrangement : When iron is in mass it has but a slight tendency to become Oxidized ; but the same mass of iron , if minutely divided , cannot be brought into contact even with atmospheric air at low temperature , without becoming red hot , and at the same time becoming converted into an oxide . Cobalt , nickel , and uranium possess the same qualities ( Mulder . ) What is the explanation of this curious fact—which , by the way , is at the service of homceopathists as an argument for triturated medicines ? Not that the particles of iron acquire a new force by division ; but that these molecules , when accumulated into a mass are prevented from acting in that direction , and their force is what we call " latent . "

    The peculiarity of dead matter is its stability , of living matter its instability ; and this arises from the simplicity of the combinations in the one case and the complexity in the other . The more complicated the group of atoms the more easily is it disturbed . We come , then , to the conclusion that , between the inorganic and the organic there is only a difference of combination , an increasing complexity in the lines of direction of force . This , is the foundation-stone of the dynamical theory . Once suppose that force can be created and the mechanical theory will support all the pretensions of theology ; development will eive place to incessant creation , and the metaphysical entities named Vital

    Principles will reign supreme . For , observe the marked phenomenal difference between organized and inorganized matter naturally strike men as arising from essential differences , " There was a time when men could not account for the origin of the lime of the bones , the phosphoric acid in them , and in the brain , the iron in the blood , and the alkalies in plants ; and we now find it inconceivable that this ignorance should have been regarded as a proof that the animal or vegetable organism possessed the power of creating iron , phosphorus , lime , and potash , by virtue of its inherent vital forces , out of food containing none of these substances . This convenient explanation naturally put an end to the inquiry as to their real origin , and arrested true

    investigation . " ( Liebig . ) ' Unless we accept some such metaphysical explanation , how arc we to understand—if inorganic and organic are essentially different—the ordinary processes of nutrition and growth ? A plant takes from earth , air , and water certain gases , which it converts into cellular tissue , and thence into woody tissue , and so on—i . e ., creates organic matter from inorganic matter ; plays the part of a God by virtue of its inherent vital forces ! " Whereas , on the dynamic theory , although the mystery of Life remains as inaccessible as ever , the Methods of Nature are at least conceived as consistent and homogeneous .

    I am aware of all the prejudices , notably theological prejudices , winch will be shocked by this identification of the organic with the inorganic ; but Truth is always consistent with itself , and on no other conception can the whole of the phenomena bo made consistent . I was conducted to this denial of any essential distinction between the organic and inorganic ^ by a long series of researches , when I htvd , the intense gratification of finding it

    confirmed by Mulder , the greatest philosophic chemist of the day m & t 0 thefirst nmety-five pages of his i ^^ o ? o ^ iscife » Chemie . 1 refer the readi who hesitates to accept the view . * Indeed * one of the most indisputable truths which the study of Nature elicits is the impossibility bf d >& wine definite lines of demarcatioii . Every one knows how the animal and vegetable kingdoms kre inextricablyinterfaced at their bou We find the articuiations of the Udllionella ferruffinea— - ^ cme of the Infusoria discovered by Ehrenberg—rbeing composed aimqstenfirely of oxide of iron we are puzzled where to draw thi ? line between the mineral and the animal '

    Miiller , indeed , insists upon an essential distinction between the molecular and vital action . "¦ " Chemical compounds , " he says , " we kno \ v are regulated by the intrinsic properties and the elective affinities of the substances uniting to form them ; in organic bodies , On . thei contrary , the power which induces and maintains the combination of their elements rfoes not consist in the intrinsic properties ojf these elements , but is something else , which not only counteracts thes \ e affinities but affects cdmbinatibiQs in direct opposition to them > and conformably to the law of its own operation . " This is an abstract statement of the almost universal proposition , that the

    vital force overrules chemical action—that ' . the- body , for instance , resists decomposition while alive , but as soon as life has left it chemical action resumes its wonted efficiency , and decomposes the substances formerly protected by vital force . This is almost universally believed to be the explanation of an obvious fact . That it is a purely metaphysical explanation I hope the reader of these papers sees at once . Vital force is one of the metaphysical entities . But a more intimate acquaintance with chemicsil and physiological p henomena will , I am persuaded , prove the explanation to be wholly erroneous . As Liebig truly says , ^ So far from there being any foundation for the opinion that chemical force is subordinate to vital

    power , so as to become inoperative or imperceptible to us , the chemical effects of oxygen in the process of respiration ; for example , are seen in full activity during every second of life . " He might have multiplied the examples indefinitely . Whenever we think we see chemical force inoperative it is simply because the force is acting in another direction . The same phenomenon occurs in purely chemical combinations . For example , sulphur has an amenity for lead—i . e ., when the direction of its force is not counteracted by some other direction—when its path is not intersected by some other path it will combine with lead . But if we fuse a mixture of

    iron and lead together with sulphur in a crucible , the iron separates from the lead and combines with the sulphur ; and so long as there is any particle of iron uncombined with sulphur , so long does the affinity of the sulphur for the lead remain inoperative . When all the iron is combined , then the sulphur which remains free combines with thelead . What is this but the analogue of that very process which prevents the decomposition of a living body by the action of atmospheric air , and permits the decomposition of the dead body ? Or , again , when water poured into a red hot crucible is converted into ice , if there be liquid sulphuric acid p resent , are we to suppose chemical force inoperative because the ordinary effects

    of heat upon water are thus changed ? That a great difference exists between chemical phenomena and vital phenomena I have already admitted , and upon that difference rests the necessity for a . separation of the sciences of Chemistry and Biology , and consequently the effacement of any distinct science of Organic Chemistry . But this difference is not essential . It does not arise from the presence of a new force , but from the complication of the phenomena owing to the varieties in direction of the one unknown force . ' It is a new evolution ,

    not a new creation . An egg is organic , but it is not living . That is to say , its comp onent molecules are so arranged that the application of a determinate force ( heat ) will give a determinate direction to its molecules , which will result in the phenomena of life . The seeds wbich were found in Egyptian tombs , where they had lain for thousands of years , were not alive ; they manifested none of the phenomena of life ; they might have existed an eternity in that state ; yet by placing them in proper conditions they germinated lived . Now there are three explanations of this fact . 1 st , The seed had a " vital principle" within it , capable of manifesting

    itself under suitable conditions . . >» 2 nd . The seed received life from heat , which is a " vital principle . 3 rd . The seed was a peculiar arrangement of organic molecules , which , when a determinate direction was given to its forces , manifested certain phenomena collectively named life . The two first are pure metaphysical assumptions ; the last is an abstra statement of what observation reveals . . .

    " If , " says Mulder , " we review the phenomena of life caused oy ^ change of materials , we must go back to the original formation of organs to the growth of an individual Irom a germ . We perceive no greater tra . ¦ of the future Oak in the Acorn , than of the Chicken in the embryo ot t ^ Egg . Should wo say that the Acorn is governed by an Oak-forming tfo » the embryo by a Chicken-forming Force . Though it , cannot be denied , tn , in the embryo , the rudiments of the future organs of the Chicken a . to be found ; yet we do find the materials from which the first r """ ^ of organs will be produced , ere we find rudiments of rudiments , molecular forces , which are inseparable from matter , are present as w _ the materials . If in these molecules there exists no capacity of _ bec ^ _ t _ — — : — : —T 7 " , « tyw TJlflOk " Tlioro is on English translation ; oditod by Profouepr Johnston , puWwftea W » wood and Bone .

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• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 26, 1852, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26061852/page/20/