, 1877-09-08
IMMORTALITY.
All Life ConditionalIy Immortal.
Paper Read By William Eross Before tho lneritan
Scientific Association.

Epochs tn sesentitc discussion, as In al1 clec,
fnny often br distinctly observed. Led BY tho
vaE,ch atll immense ,rcsenrcltcs and the pro.
as. .for severn. yrass, cyote,l its energies large
ly To seeking for the origin Of lEtc, aud In
searching loi facta to .prnre tho trnnsmutatson
u species. II thc long cycle 81 ages It IS
developed IRON tItc lower, and these from pro-
toplssn,, ur what virtually amounts to sponta-
neous generation. Wliatcycr opinions may
be ic'd NJ 10 tho right OF tho wrong
Ic doubted that lie e,lm Of human knowledge
will lc largely increased by these discussions,
and The farts aud discoveries on which tEey arc
batet!, and whatever truth mny be developed,
esst II. Inc minds ii large ea.s Of thc s stu, i:
dents 0f Nature, no sRte ground has bcen
reached: aEd they Say, as in tho report Of the
and fall back ufpu the suh,1mc conclusion,
.tGol ,natlc the World and oil things therein.
Ie R!yeth 10 all tfc, and breath, and I'll things" "
This comprehensive statement of 81. raul
de-; doss not not agree WITH tte onnons of rrot Tyn
agc. And get Tyntaas1 docs not directly contra
u'gtlt lie simply says Eu slocs not know how
matter came to have tnc power ot capitalization,
and how, tho principal Of llfc came to De
introduction to the Fragments Of sviencc," he
suys: "lfuw matter can,e to ,avc tAs power,
is u question un which I ncycr yenturcd at,
slort war towards the explanation OF ti,is
n,yhtcry." lIaiftleepa,rEngIf hc adds. "Whcn
attctnrt to Eve tho Power which | tcc mani
fcstet iii tho Universe IN objective form, per
sonal or otherwise, It slips away from me, tlc~
not, tnye POLITICALLY, use the pronnun .Ilc' ~.
curling il: uaro i,tt call il d WIn,is: reftso
to rail it crcn q 'Cause.i It's mystery oyrr-
shadows nc, but Il remains a ,nystery;. while
make it tit simply distract uud dcsccratc lt,t'
When scientists refuse to attribute the pl,c-
iiouleua OF nature and the laws which govern
tIIe,,s to 0rcat First Cause,-il You PLEASE, to
the power uusl thu wisdom Of
PERSONAL opp,.
they seldom awreo among themselves in tho
principles they cnnclate, ail In tt,e conclusions
Ut which they arrive. Willis Darw,n, Huxley,
olutioI,, TynIalI declares, tsthey xo but short
wayH luwll,1y explaining tho mystcrica OF M
ture; ad, in Ills must interesting and ablc leo
turo bcfore Tho Glasgow scicnrv Association,
published In the turfHiuht{U jitEitu Of Nov L.
is5U, he seems to DENY positively tic
truth Of the doctrine Spca.;tnr OF Dactorta.-
thu minute microscopic agents at pusrclae.
tiun,-hc saw: ut would be simply munstrous
to u!llrp, tllat thcsp swarmtur crvps oi Bactcnn
uru spontaneously generated. L. there, then,
no experimental prupf uf spontaneous genera.
ttout | answer without hesitation, Eune.H
And nCaEn he suys: "Let not tho conclusion
Law lJ OIL fO, line l1FiHE t6tt1t IL E1HtJF
Grated bccailse il Is sualI. Both tic YEAST
Plant auI tue Barlev-P v-PIant lose themselves in
the dim twilight Of anti9utty, and In tAis our
lay there is no more rtouf u tlle SPONTANEOUS
iaueuus eut,cratiou uf tLo utter.m Of courso
thu grcat n.aterfallstic philosopher refers tho
origin vi tct7 liie a,tl it tuty)lt ~ well po ad.
vi, OF ali life, to that ]" mysterious Power
which oyerslauows him II; and ret, to the p.,i-
lusopl.cr, that Power, ia ail Lis woudrous vqrk.
ings, reuaIns
An 1NrExErnAnLB aMYsrEnY,"
Eon, as TO thu evolution OF ous spcrics from
anott,cr, even annuns thoso n,luute microscopic
pIuuts that thc Il,osi powerful inslrun,epts Gun
ulopc reveal to kslIuuti knowledge he nlakrs tuts
cv,uufcucusiyv statement: "Wlerc tsDiatIot1 Ut
u purtt. t.nIar organism l1as been duly elected It
rrowS and multlplles ttvtlultc! hut 11u cl,aIro
VI H. into another urganIem Ii ever observed.
III passcurs' icscaryI,c*, the lacterurn feluaipsd
Il OacterI,1n, thu EIprtu n Vibrit, The Feu,riiur1
pe,srllluu,, md the Torulu trorlla. Sow
any OF these, in q state uf purity IN au Appropri.
nts lInuld.-yvu gct it, and it nIu,le, in tLs sub,
seg,,es,t crop. Il. llse naanurr, sow small.pox
III thp hl,,un,1 toJy and YOUR tror, IN EInniI-lnr
s.,w there scuslattua, uill your crop Is ScarIa-
tina. s,,w Ttpiiul4 ylrus, your rsup is Typtiou;
Cuu,crv. yoar crU1, Is CI,uIurn.n Api 70 S.jelrn.
as cxpuui,.lcI ty Truf. TyHIall. proves
THE TuGTil or THAT gcaiprUnE,
fearful IN its 3arlIlfKs III applied there to NOR
ulx, "Wuutsosver u INN sowett, illat slall hc
n!so rcao,H does not Tic aeclracY Ut tInt old
t!ob. Who nearly :ktstJ years before tho inhn,-
H,t,:lo Wus tlislaiYerell. Wruto: .t{to1 sail 1ct
tic earth bring forth i,erD, and the Iruli-trco
yielding fruit utter luis kind, wilose seed is Ia
itsrIl an, generally, nll lts In tbs air, Earth.
aud tcI, "altcr A.s kit,l"t IL ii too much Il,
be,tuye ttat inspiration a1ot,e could hare guided
Nuscs In u statement which Science now, with
lts 1nost POW rrtul microscopes sAuws to te cur
rect, cycn lit The tninutest furti,s nf Itfcl
81 fur, therefore, ~ the principles OF Prof
Typlall can be inferred from tue uuotatiuns
aboyu given, llu t,ocs not believe tn the trans-
mutation vi Bpcr!cs, aud, u II tho orirlu OF
lie, Il Is to him oil Il ,nyStury. But, u,ystcrjous
anil tul IL II H. tic Generalization ls here
yonturcd that, ii thu col.Ilttutis on wttcl,
U,lts.aI uJ vegetable itlu IL produced aud .uala-
tall,p4 rcu,aiI4 Ills SANE.
THAR L1pE III IMMORTAL.
4 profound iuyutery Il a.aurrJlT Is,--perhaps
never to tc explained bY tho lnuht pxultrd
genius, Its cxt3trEcn must be agccptcti m a
juti, npl 10 yu!l 1t d uIystery merely e1uressen
our tguurayc; Lut, ~ iii rtfectt must haya an
puelllAtu etls, ii 1t too mucl, To yay tlut ilfc,