The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1891-11-19
WHAT IS THIS STATE CALLED
Mr.. Thomas A. Edison Believes that
Every Atom Of Matter. is Inbued
With a Greator or Less Fund CT
Intelligence.
New York Herald.

" NJ mind is not OF q speculative or
der, said Mr.. Edison; sit is essentially
practical, ann when ] am making an ex-
pertinent think only of getting sone>
thing useful, Of making electricity per
form work.
II don't soar; keep down pretty
close to earth OF course there are
problems in life l can't help thinking
about, but don't try TO study them
out. It is necessary that they should
be studied, and men cited for that work
are doing IT. am not 1T for 1t, / leave
theoretical study Of electricity to the
physicists, combining my work to the
practical application of the force 1t Is
my belief however, that every atom OF
matter is intelligent, deriving energy
from the primordial germ. The inteili-
gence of man is, | take it, the sum OF
the intelligence of the atoms OF which
he is composed. Every atom has an n
telligent power OF selection and is al
ways striving to get into harmonious re-
lation with other atoms. The human
body, | think, is maintained i'll It's in
tegrity by the intelligent existence OF
atoms, or rather by an agreement be-
tween the atoms so to persist. When
the harmonious adjustment is destroyed
the man dies, and the atoms seek other
relations.
II cannot regard the odor of decay
but as the rtsult of the efforts of the
atoms to associate themselves; they
want to get away and make new combs
nations Man, therefore, may be re-
garded in some sort as a microcosm OF
atoms agreeing to constitute his life as
long as order and discipline can be main
tanned. But, of course, there is disaf-
lection, rebellion and anarchy, leading
eventually to death, aud through death
indestructible. That is, if matter is in
destructible.
''All matter lives, and everything that
lives possesses intelligence. Consider
growing corn, for example. An atom OF
oxygen comes flying along the air. 1t
seeks combination with other atoms
and goes to the corn, not by chance, but
by intention. 1t is seized by other at
.-oms that need oxygen and is packed
away in the corn. where it can do its
work. Now carbon, hydrogen and oXy
gen enter into the composition of every
rangement or another. The formula
CLIO, in fact, is almost universal.
Very we'll, then, why does a free at
ON of carbon select any particular one
out of fifty thousand Or mere possible
positions unless it wants to? / cannot
see how we can deny intelligence to this
act of volition on the part OF the atom
To say that one atom has an affinity fol
another is simply to use big word The
atom is conscious if man is conscious, is
intelligent if man is intelligent, exercises
will power if man does, is, in its OWL
little way, all that man is. We are told
by biologists that in the earliest periods
no form of life could exist on the earth
''How do they know that? A crystal
is devoid Of this vital principle they
say, and yet certain kinds OF atoms in
variably arrange themselves in partic-
I that in geological periods antedating the
l appearance of any form Of life and have
| been doing it ever since in precisely the
same way. Some crystals form il
branches like a fern Why is there moi
life in the growth OF crystal? Wa!
1.-THE vital principe specially created al
some particular period of the earth:
history, or did it exist and control every
r. atom of matter when the earth wa'
molten? l cannot avoid the conclusion
that all matter is composed of intelli
gent atoms and that life and mind arr
merely synonymes for the aggregation
of atomic intelligence.
'Of course there is source of energy
Nature is a perpetual motion ma
chine, and perpetual motion implies {
sustaining and impelling force
"When l was in Berlin | met Du Boi
Raymond, and wagging the end of n.
finger, I said to him: What is that
What moves that finger?' He said h
didn't know; that investigators have To-
twenty-five yearf been trying to find out
If anybody could tell him what wagge(
this finger the problem of life would b.
solved.
'sThere are many forms of energy re
sulting from the combustion of coal un
der boiler. Some of these forms We
know something about in a practica
way, but there may be many others VT
don't know anything about.
Cd l.
perseded in time, who knows? Now {
beefsteak in the human stomach il
equivalent to coal under boiler. By
oxidation it excites energy that does
work, but what form of energy is it
1t is not steam pressure. 1t acts through
y the nerve calls, performs work that car
be measured in foot pounds, and can be
transformed to electricity, but the ac
tual nature of this force which produces
this work-which makes effectual The
mandate of the willis unknown.
at is not magnetism-it doesn't at.
tract iron. 1t is not electricity-at least
not such form of electrity as we are
familiar with. Still, here it is necessary
to be guarded, because so many differ
ent forms are electricity are known te
science that it would be rash to say pos
itively that we shall not classify vita
energy as a form of electrical energy
We cannot argue anything from differ
ence in speed. Nerve force may trave
as fast as electrity, once it gets started
The apparent sIowness may be in the
brain. It may take an appreciabie time
for the brain to set the force going
81 made an experiment with "a frogs
leg that indicates something Of the kind
took Il leg that was susceptible to gal
vanic current. The vibration produced
note that was as high as a piccolo.
While the leg was alive it responded to
the electrical current, when it was dead
il would not respond. After the frog s
leg had been lying in the laboratory
three days | couldn't make it squeal.
The experiment was conclusive as to this
point: The vital force in the nerves of