New-York tribune., 1870-01-01
THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE.
SurRp or rrfr COURSE or SCIENTIFIC LECTURES
PROF. BARKER ON THE CORRELATION VI
VITAL AND PHYSICAL HORCEs.

:, ,ho Coorar Insti,nte delivered the third Of this
Unter course OF scientific lectures before the American
fnst,tute The lecture illustrated by varlons ehpcF
meus with philosophical apparatus. and was atenuveV
listened TO throughout Horace Greeley President OF .he
ypstute introduced the lecturer and announced that
the next lecture will be next Friday evening" jan .
nv Prof j. c. Draper OF this city on Inc All anu
ReHpiratIonV Prof. Barker, coming Forward was
greeted with applause. He said
THE CoRRELATIoS oP PHYSICAL AND VITAL ioN.L''
In the syracusan Poeele, says Ale&ahuer Won nun
boldt in his beautiful little alegory OF the hnoui" o
,,s bung a panting which, for full century, hau con
inued TO attract the attention OF every Vlsi'or' III INC
foreground OF this picture numerous COMPANY "a
Eouths and maidens Of earthly ana sensuous aPPo"i
snoo goyod exedly upon a haloed Genius who hoVereu
IN their midst butterfly rested upon his shoulder ana
ne held IL his hand flaming torch. Every iheahse'
h.noke his celestial origin. The attempts to solve the
enigma OF this pantlng-whose origin, eVen'
is unknown-thouGh numerous, were oil IN VNn'
when one day ship arriving from
Rhodes, laden with works OF ART prouSn'
another picture at once recognized as the comPaon
As before genius stood in the centre ou the
Nv had disappeared and the torch was reversed ana eA
tnguished youths and madens wereino longer sau
and submissive their mutual embraces announcing ''
entire emancipation from restraint st unable 10 solve
the riddle Donysius sent the picture to the Pythagoreah
sara Tnicbarmus. After gazing upon them long and
earnestly he said Sixty years long have pondered on
tho internal springs OF nature, and on the unerences
Inherent in matter but 1t Is only THIS Gay
that the Rhodian Gerius has taught me 10
see clearly that which before had Only CON
ectured In nanmae nature everything seeks It's IKE
Everything as formed hastens TO enter hlo new
combinations, and nought save the dioning ART VI S m
an present in a separate state ingredients Which ye
would vaIny seek in the interior OF e esIth or IN to
moving oceans Of air and water eaS and vee
tabe nodjes Here vital force imperauyey asserts ts
tbs sfoms unes substances which in inanmate nature
ever flee from each other and separates that which Is In
Rhodsn Genius in the expression of his youthful ygor
the butterfly on his shonlder IN the coWmanoinKf y
anmates every germ OF organic creation Ihe earlny
elements az his feet striving TO graty their own
desires and to mingle with enc another imperl9usy
the Genius threatens them, with upraised ana g ngn
tCfn b oSey hs Jaws Look now on the
work Of turn from lie TO death Inc anS
the head youth is dropping: the spirit mas nea 20
other spheres and the vital force Is e6hGt & cord
Earthy matter again resumes its rights Released from
an bonds they lmpeuOusy follow their natural Instincts
and the day Of his death Is to them day OF nupuaiS
THE MYSTERIOUS AND AWFUL PHENOMENA OF LIFE
The view here put by Humboldt into the mouth OF
Epicharmus may be taken fair representation OF
the current opinion Of all ages concerning vital force
To-day as II ly as rs years ago when Humboldt wrote
the mysterious and awful phenomena OF life arc oVli
monty attributed to some controlling agent residing IN
Ihe organsm-to some independent presiding GETTY,
hicb Srompfed Heracitus TO talk of universal fire.
San Helm0nt 10 propose his Archsus' HOImann n me ms
vital anid Hunter his DidteriG vif6 dGusa, and hum
bodt his vital force. All these names assume the exist
ence material or immaerisl something more or ess
separabe from the material body and more or less ueh
tcal with the mind soul which Is the cause OI te
nenoSna nard Ti and NJ became evident that the
forces Of Inorganic nature were neither oeles nor l
ponderabe fluids separable from matter, but were sim
ne affections of H. analogy demanded like concession
Su behalf vital force From the notion tha the eels
SscSTery passed TO the conviction that heat but
motion of material particles eS hence nseparable from
matter. To like assumption concerning vitality Il was
now but step The more advanced think srs In science
today therefore look upon the life OF the yng form
% useparable from It's substance ana Deeve nst ne
former purely phenomenal and only manliestaoIi
Of the latter Denying the existence 9I sPGO es 'u te
sum OF the phenomeEa Of living beings 10, 1,
In calling your attention this evening to the Correla
non of the PHYSICAL and the Vital Forces have two
fold object in view. On the one hand, would seek TO
enCe, and which is destined to play most important
part in promoting mans welfare; and on the other
would inquire what part our own country has had In
these discoveries.
THE EVIDENCES OF VITAL AND PHYSICAL CORRELATION
In the first place, then let us consider what the ev
dences that vital and physical forces correlated
Jt inquire how far inorganic ana organic forces may
De considered mutually convertible and hence III so far
mutually identical. This may best be done by consider
3ng first wharf TO be understood by correlation; and
second how far the physical forces themselves cor
At the outset Of our discussion. we met by
fortunate ambiguity of language The word Force as
commonly used has three distinct meanings in the first
place used express the or motion, as when
ind cate motion itself as when we refer TO the force
moving cannon ball. and lastly 1t Is employed to express
the effect Of motion when speak Of the blow which
the moving body gives Because Of this confusion II has
been found convenient TO adopt Rankines suggestion,
aud to substitute the word energy therefor And pre-
csely all force upon the earJh's surface-usng the
force It's widest be divided into attrac
ton and notion all energy divided into potential and
Ectual energy Synonymous with those terms ~ is the
chemical attraction OF the atoms their potential energy
which makes gunpowder so powerful II IS the attraction
or potential energy OF graYta0n winch gives the power
10 q raised weight. II now, the npedimens be removed
power just latent becomes active, attraction is
converted into motion potential into actual energy ana
the desired effect accomplished. The energy OF gun
powder or OF raised weight potential is capaDe OF
acting; that OF exploding gunpowder or OF falling
match to the gunpowder by cutting the string which
sustsins the weight convert potential into actual
tion and by actual energy motion 1t is in the latter
that shall use the, word force IN this lecture
aud mechanical motion, and OF the attractions OF gray
tatiOn, cohesion, chemism. .,,
We speak the forces OF heat light, electricity or mo-
ton. We mean simply the different modes OF motion
called by these names And when we say that they are
correlated 70 each other. mean simply thatth mode
uo any Of the others at pleasure Correlation therefore
implies conyertby, and mutual independence and re-
THE NDEsTRUcTABnuY OF FORCE.
Having now defined the Of the term force, and
that forces correlated, which convertible
and mutually dependent 20 to study the evidences
ot such correlation among the motions Of inorganic
nature usually called physical forces and TO ask what
beat light aud electricity mutually convertible
AS we have already limited, the time when these
forces believed 10 be various kinds OF mponderable
at0r and chemists and physicists talked Of the union
of iron with csloric as they talked OF It's union
with sulphur; regarding the celorlc as much
q distinct and iDeOnyertibe entity as the iron
and sulphur themselves. Gradually, however, the idea
Of the Dde5ructy Of matter extended itself TO force
And as II believed that no material particle could
ever DO os it argued portion OF the force ex
listing disappear. Hence the idea Of
the indestrucbihty Of force. But, OF course, 1t
quite Impossible TO stop here II force cannot DC lost
passes beyond recognition This question led TO