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    OS whom Mr . Tu ^ ks does Hot resemble , the sifted Guffaw conclndes by an assurance that Tasks ia Tttojks , « ad thtathis geoiosis at Una moment flaring otm the universe , lik » tlie qwteor-staadfcd « £ tl » Andes !" The wntei aiaa touch&a oa the evil of indiscriminate praisa in oases where the poet shows ; Boma , proa&ise amid much that i& defective . We have aa aSh ^ o& ^ to ihift io . snoibsr column . There ¦ & * , amoth&r . ¦ critical paper in this number—one oa Alexajh > b » Smith , which although not worthy of Blacktoood as a deliberate estimate of fcipoet whose fforltahajr ^ been ao much canvassed in . public , and privatenot worthy of fhalsme of Old Ebony , " a * respects novelty of tow , or e * xhaustiven ^ a , o £ tveatiacpxti dqes * aevearthaless » pat its mack upon the qualities and defect * iik aaort of * ollieking , todd ^ style .

    l ? ra «« ri& ** rfcua aa usual . The article of the iviuaberia a review of an Essay < mthe Plurality ofr Wfrfefe * admirably done . Tte E * sa& ia generally attributed to Dfici ~ QTfiB « J | t « z <* aud attempts to prow bjr aseries oi scientific induc-^ m that'if thttteftreothQrplanet * thaaour own , thejare noiiohabitedlike our < Wta . Oiktfaiapaiiit wem&y observe that all such accumulation of proof is unnecessary * £ R { ihe abaaace of direct , evidence that the planets are inhabited fcr / men , theargttmeotthafc they inall probability cannot b a inhabited by men « ay rest contentedly Oft this general basis : —Mea are the latest products of * vast genes © f changes , which have "beea going ok for thouwida and

    thousands of years ; the arrest or deviation of any one of thesir changes would ^ ffre j ? rffPflffft ^ toy *^ 1 * & $ the glightest variation * in , the ; gaseous condition of the planet woul&havij jandexad life imposaihle . Even now a , slight increase e £ life-giving oxygen , m , the aic would render life impossible f aa increase of carbonic aoid or nitrogen would do the saaae . ; a decrease or increase qf temperature . iroaJioV ^ tl ^ pama . . Far Ufa to ^ ba , possible , the . conditions of the plan « ts mast ba as t 3 k « y we . But these conditions are , themselves the result e € , thousands upon tho « aands of precadting oondikion * . Our planet has orowitto fe ^ whatiit is *; It ia no more like what it was than the man is wfa&

    tike , the gejUt ^^ ngogosfiepji c mass , wi ^ hig growth begins . And as in the deveJopmont ^ of tW embtyo wa see a . gradual aeries of changes , the one brin ^ n ^ about ; the oth * r , sa that the wries w « t fall into , & given order * or else development ia fcriseflted ; in Hke manner geology—which is the embryology of theplAn « t— -8 h <> w 8 us aseries of changea following and iollawed i& : deteenrinate order . If any of the necessary and complex conditions are wanting * to * the > embryo ^ ite > de ^ Qf > meat is- distorted' op arrested . All must be present , and present in a detenninate proportion , ia a determinate succession . So . we say of the planet * : unless tie development of Jupiter ,

    Venus , IIramiff 1 : &c ., has beenj ) reaseZy thesama as that of ours , tne results ¦ will not ^ be precisely fh& same , i . e ., life will not assume the same forms there It does here . '• " Now we tisive abundant facts of ' direct observation to show tl ^ at , in sdnae respects-, the conditions of . thepTanets aue not those of our planet . Tfie difference of temperature ; the absence of an atmosphere ; the very differe ^' e of fbrnx ; each and all of these suffice to indicate necessary f ^ d P ^ ° ^ 3 JEfR « endes in the restrfta . Ergq the planets ace , not inhabited ^> y ine n . TBfe , Ikowerer , u not saying that " otter forms of life as wondrous and as coipplieix as . our own may noi people the planets .

    We nave outran our space , and must leave the . other magazines till npxb week , merely mentioning , in aline , that the first part of ALlqaui ^ y ' s Essays is ready to tempt all who have a . shillin g to spare ; and that in Orr ' s Circle o / jhe Sdemes our great philosophical anatomist * Owen , has commenced a treatise on the Principal Forms of the Skeleton ,,- illustrated with woodcuts . Owes for twopence—is not that cheap literature ?

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    DEFINITIONS OF T , TFE . A 2 W Boah V £ J * ty * S ° * m * f Br . G . Talentm . Translated and edited from the Third Sr ^ SK 1 " ^^ * " ¦ mih " ^ * ™ $ Z f ~ 2 -r t » t ot i Kensliaw . It has alvays been felt that a good definition of Life would be a very wsefut thing ^ and mi aU times the mgenuiiy of men has been tasked to pro-^ f ° f ; ^ T lmow ,. 80 We 5 what Life i 8 ' that when baffled in our * * £ ttn «« £ Z nl ^ ? dM P ? S ° ^ blame on the nat ^ of dusfinitioiis , -to _ eatt them idlfe or amposable attempts . Nevertheless the ^ rant incessaufly recurs , and to meet it fresh attempts are incWantly UlB

    Much of . the difficulty has arisen from the initial error of not drawing tne boundary toe of knowledge . We have sought to know the my ^ er ? of 32 ^ 211-- " ^ ft ^ 5 ™ ° , ? " ^ ° Would never have given u * the mvaluaB e definition of universal attraction , if , instead of ascertaining the law of its action , he had pulled himself with the nature Of its essence He did not tell us what attrition is , but within what limits it operates . . When , we seek a Vital Principle we are wandering from the paths of positnpre science , into the formless void of < h ™™ - ™ £ i «^ m ^»

    as they are called—ask their rivals how it is—if life be the -result of aQ - ensemble of organs—that it pre-exists before the heart , brain , liver , lungs , &c , are formed ; how it is that an amorphous germ , a mere drop of mucus in which no organ is discernible , can nevertheless be living , and will presently develope itself into a complex organisation . Nay , more , take twc > ovules in all ascertainable respects identical : the finest microscope reveals no diff erences , the most delicate tests show no chemical differences ; yet from one of these will issue an elephant , from the other a mouse . What is itthen vhieh determines these results ? The animists boldljr tell you it is the " vatai principle" which pre-exists , whieh creates an organism . Unless , we considerably modify the vagueness of current ideas on organisation , -we cannot easily meet that objection . But if we say that the

    phenomena of life are the special phenomena manifested "by matter under certain special conditions , to have no need of any metaphysical entity in the shape of a " vital principle-, ' * but have only to endeavour to ascertain what the special conditions , ace which bring about these special phenomena . We can then say to the " aiiima&tsf' that if Life precedes' the organs it does not precede argauia mailer—the avule k a plastic ma $ s jioasessing the : property oj developing ttself wider special Gonditicns through dejfaiile cycles of change iiiiQ a specific animal . Jt some of these conditions be -withhlid , the dWelabnieirt will be prevented £ if some others he withheld , or are present tn insufficient force , the development will be arrested ; in the one cose yon htcve no life , ne animal ; ia the other you have a deformed animal , a monstroattar .

    What organic matter is , that is to say what it is aj ^ distatguiahed from inorgania matter t we have elsewhere endeavoured to show { CotoJL ^ sPMo-¦ sophyofihe Sciences ) y and having defined the special forms , of matter whicli are susceptible pf matrifesting the phenomena of Life ^ Jt ' only ^ now remkins i to give tfce formula © f LiJfe itself m its most abstract expression . I But first , let us seeiwhsL are the most celebrated definitions already of-; fared . Axistotlev as may be anticipated , gives & purely metaplhysical explathe

    nation ^ . He ]^^ U ^ y « s vital aciaona are regulated , by a wumber of vital ppneiplea—n / cux ^* " ^** distinct , Taut all subordinate to one supreme , principle . This idea has been reproduced under a more absurd farm * , by ^ rbut . Kant lefines Life , M An mternal principle of action . * feu , t this applies quite as well to fermentation , and is just as vague as the phrase " vital principle . " i . ' Erhmrd calls it ^ The faculty of movement destined to the service of that which , is moved . "

    Treviranus , " Th « constant uniformity of phenomena witt diversity of i external influences . *' i ' " Doses , * ftTiiespe « ial : activity of organised beings . " B * clarelr " © r ^ abJsation in action . " Lamarak ,.. ^ , Life , isu that state of things which permits organic movements , and these ? movementa which constitute active life result from a stimulus which pasejtes , them . " ! . As to Bichaf ' s celebrated definition , " Life is the sum of the functions by which ( fcath is resisted ^ " it has , besides its metaphysical character , the un-, pardonable fault of entirely overlooking ^ the esseBtial relation of an organism with a medium ( £ . € . » the circumstances in which it lives ) , and of supposing that the bodies

    which surround us conspire to destroy us . It is true that ; oxygen burns our tissues ,, and if we do not repair the breadi * oxygen will destroy us ; but it fe also , true that without this destructive oxygen our death would be . fiir naore rapid . - RicheTand : ¦** Life ^ is a collection of phenomena which sueceed each otlwr during a limited tinoe in an organised body . " This approaches nearer to tie ^ required end than any of the foregoing ; but it . ia open to many objeetioas , one that it applies equally well to digestion or fever . Two other , definitions remain : one Dy De Bl ^ nville , adopted by Comte , and Ms disciples Charles Robin and Beraud , — " Life is the two-fold internal movement of composition and decomposition at on-ce general and contimious —which is ; admirable as a definition of Nutrition tne most fundamental character of Life , but is not wholly satisfactory .

    The other definition is that by Herbert Spencer : " Life is . the co-ordination of actions . " Ine value of this is its containing within it the measure of the complexitv of life , for the simpler the organism the fewer will be the actions co-ordinated , the higher the organism the greater will "be the co-ordinating power . But against both it may be objected that they do not include all the fundamental characters of which our idea of life is composed . The three biological laws of N ~ utrition , Development , and Reproduction are not implied in these definitions . To meet this we propose the following :

    Life is a series of definite and successive changes , both oj C structure and composition , which take place within an Individual without destroying its integrity . Vital activity moves along the stepping stones ' of change ; permanence is death . But through all changes of composition and structure the Individuality is preserved . 2 fow , with inorganic matter to change the substance and . to change the structure , is to change the individuality . Oxidise a metal , or fuse a crystal , and you destroy their integrity . But Life is an incessant change within a persistent individuality .

    In support of this definition , and of this article generally , let us glunce at what may be called the beginning of life . We have poileifc and ovule—or spermatozoon and ovum—two microscopic atoms of organic matter . Are they alive ? No . If left to themselves , or to any other treatment butane , they manifest none of the phenomena of life ( the motion of spermatozoa is mechanical not vital ) they are ready to live , but are not living . They meet , under certain conditions , and lo ! a flower , an animal result . Life is before vs . The phenomena of change continuous and successive , begin to manilest

    themselves , beparate , they could not live ; united , they are living . Life then results from two unliving germs ? Even so . What gave thorn this sudden endowment V Electricity—caloric—chemical affinity—what giro we to say ? As V « n liaer in the introduction to the scco-ud part of bis great work ( Zur f intwickelwigsye . schichle ) well reminds us people are always eager for some sueli physical ' explanation , delighted if they can satisfy themselves that life is a thing , and always expecting it to be revenlisd to them as * ( lash of electricity or a chemical precipitate . JJut as he also reminds us a & beginning is nowhere seen in nature ; nothing but endless change ; audit is only man ' s tendency Lo be always seeking an absolute bcgiinaing . "

    , physics . There may be a mysterious principle superadded to the atoms of organic matter and endowing them with Life , and there may be an equally mysterious " attractive pnnciple" independent of and superadded to the atoms oi matter ; but as we cannot know them we may leave them entirely out of tne question , and confine ourselves to what we can know 3 n e «« two schools in Physiology , each claiming eminent disciples . Onosa ™ tf iVv ' - Ll& ^ Pr ^ c % P ' the ot > <» declare ,, Life is a rLult . r 3 ^^ ' ^ T of organisation ; the other , that Life » the nStW r ^ 2 ? K ° V i dk < 5 QOr the other <* p l « i * s the mysteryiriU havJ ^ TJ SUb f - f- dalk than k ™ beff ™ - T * o ™ « clLl SSS LnTV < r r 1 S fc » 3 P rinci P The other 8 cho ( > wherom dot * organised nuitter differ from dead mutter ? The spiritualists-or « animists "

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    216 THE LEADER [ Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 4, 1854, page 210, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2028/page/18/