The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-02-08
Drift of Comment

L
There seems to be sort OF fascin-
alton in monkeying with mysteries.
Perhaps that is not strictly scientific
Language, but no one has ever ac-
cused an ordinary editor of being
scientific anyway. To Get down to
the point where we can make things
! clear to other unscientific minds,
Ilet it be stated that Prof. Jacques
Loeb. of Chicago, has discovered a
process of producinug life from in
organic matter. That is monkey
ling with the mysterious.
Prof. Loeb, it Is claimed, will an
nounce in due time his experiments,
and the scientific world will be
startled. He will take a few test
tubes and a few chemicals and pro-
duce life--that Is what his friends
claim
But even Il he should do so he will
not be the first In the field. DR.. Le-
due. of Nantes. is credited with being
able to produce plant life from inor-
ganic matter. DR.. Leduc takes num-
lber Of chemicals, such as sulphate
lof copper, sugar, ferrocyanide OF
potassium and common salt, places
them in tube heats them to GER
tain temperature, and then with the
aid of a magnifying glass is able to
see formations which he claims are
stems and leaves similar to subma-
rine vegetation. This he calls pro-
ducing life cells. If that isn't monk
'eying we do not know what monk
|eying is.
1t is to be presumed that Dr.. Le-
due and Professor Leob are familiar
with the story of the astronomer
who discovered the gigantic fly on
the moon and that they will guard
against errors. 1t will be recalled
the astronomer when he put his eye
to the telescope one night behcld a
terrible fly sitting upon the very
face Of the moon. 1t was a real live
fly and alive. There he sat on the
moon and washed his face as flies do
and 1t even crawled a little toward
the top OF the moon as It would do
on bald head. The astronomer was
panic stricken until he discovered
that the fly had alighted on the
top OF his lense of his telescope and
was not really on the moon.
These professors who are monk.
eking with the mysterious, in an
effort to produce life. may be only
looking at fly upon their test tubes
or to put 1t differently, they may
be discovering that there is life in
what they suppose to be inorganic
matter. We are not so sure that
there is any such a thing as inor-
ganic matter. The whole world has
never been convinced that the chem
icals with which the scientists ex-
pertinent do not contain life. There
Is as yet no way of knowing that
stones do not live, that there is any
substance whatsoever that does not
contain life. The beautiful crystaliz-
alton that take place may be for
ought the world knows but a bloom
ing of the elments which are sup
posed to be lifeless. The very atoms
for ought We know may be alive and
singing their love songs to each 9TH
er. The fire which destroys the wood
and turns 1t into ashes and smoke
and gases may be only a force driv-
Ing into different rms-separating
into different groups as 1t were
things that have a being. no less
than snakes and tadpoles and people.
AS for this thing called life, 1t Is
never 10 be solved. That is our
guess and 1t still holds good after
these thousands OF years OF invest:-
CATION. From whence 1t comes and
whittier 1t goeth, no man knows.
The age OF miracles is not past
They are being performed every
minute in the day. The birth OF the
rose is an unexplained miraccle. No
man can account for II. How the
acorn produces an oak Is unexplain-
ed only on the ground that 1t does.
Why one hen matches chicken and
another goose has not been learn
ed. Why grain Of wheat produces
wheat instead OF Q cedar tree. since
the germs, under the most powerful
can not Be Distinguished
Is stili wonder To men who think.