The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1912-07-12

kaoVnol the living having come into
beng except from living parental or
gahisin. 50 it is universally conceded
sIist HE now can only be developed
iroIn the living.
But some, and even leading scientists,
while admitting that even spontaneous
generation i impossible to-day, yet be-
lleYe it was possible il the infant state
of the earth, and that in such man
nef life had its genisis in the world-
Even such men as Tyndall end Huxley
Ieaped 10 that belief The view, said
al eminent biologist recently, that
lifs originally began in non-liying mat
terri i q, was spontaneously generated
is commonly accepted BY twentieth-cen-
tufy biology But il is useless. ! sup
pose to say that such q belief can not
be supported BY any known facts. III
Il based solely On the rather meterials
istie sppposition that, given the neces-
safy conditions, life must q necessity
be fhe result. II assumes that life pri-
mofdialIy Of necessity followed, rather
than simply utilized, tho necessary con-
iitiens. as II does now. for its own prop
agaNon and development Such 4 be-
Z. n ~
lief plust presuppose two fundamentally
different natural conditions of life; one
that can bring II from the dead, and
one that can bring it only from the liv-
ing; one that possesses the element Of
life and one that does not. And that
two essentially different causes could
have precisely the same effect, without
the interposition Of miraculous or divine
power, must seem absurd from the
standpoint of logical and even scientific
reasoning. Therefore, it must seem
quite certain that the natural conditions.
81 NE now are essentially what they
have always been
1i,i0k organism, whether flower
gu. S} inau has any discovsrable eIe-
nent II ~ cpnposition that il not
found ID non-living matter. only. in the
living, the combination il decidedly diff
ferent. But Moses, doubtless, had not
worked that out when he declared:
And the Lord God formed man ofthe
dust Of the ground of existing eIe.
ments. Yet that fact, and the very
simple construction and extremely low
vitality Of certain organisms, lead some
biologists 10 conclude that there Is q
very intimate relation between the living
and non-living. An acknowledged au-
thority Of our own time. however, has
said the study 81 the cell' (the
simplest form of Iiie) has On the whole
seemed to widen rather than narrow the
enormous gap, that separates even the
lowest forms Of life from the inorganic
world Indeed the more closely and
minuteIy the cell is studied the more
complex and marvellous appears its con
struction and activity II isa minute
organism that nultiplies BY growth and
division never BY generation, Never
theless, even eminent scientists believe
with a seemingly childlike credulity,
that il the exact combination OF the
required elements could be chemically
the result Of necessity would
be life. Vainly did The aichenists of
old search ior tie philosopher sstone;;
vainly did they seek the elixir o. life. 4
And how much more absurd does II
seem in q notwithstanding scientist to
expect to chemically generate the living
from the non-living, and thus initiate
The supposed pristine natural generation.
Now, life is specifically 4 growth. and
Is. and evidently always has been, the
prime element, or factor, in the exact
Of its own peculiar organ-
ism; and the required growth d cons
bination cannot possibly begin without
life to act as the initiative Therefore,
aII artificial combinations whatsoever
lacking life To begin WITH could not ~
suit II life " 1 living organism, but
only ii 4 liieless aecfetion. Nothing
can come from . thing. Ghat i not put
10 Il, o. IS not inherent ii ii Besides,
ary result must have an ADEQUATE
cause, and be II proportion 10 its cause
and to expect 4 living organism from III ]
absolutely dead combination would be
u sxpest ~ effect OH u III proportion
To KS 4ntecedent cause Every effect
must haye kind d Iineal relation tp
ils cause no eause cnn produce q fe-
suit that il iis exact opposite 40 be
lieve shat 4 living organism can be pro-
slucsd by &n entirely dead composition,
oE conl:Dslishs therefore. il absurd