The Washington times., 1915-06-25
THE TIMES DAILY MAGAZINE PAGE
Life Not q Mechanical
Function, But Chemical
Or Physical Entirely
BY DR. LEONARD KEENE HIRsHBERo.

, on may find It a bit difficult to
" master tho details Of an internal
combustion engine, such as Is
b. used In a motor boat or automo-
| bile. You may not clearly appreciate
what happens when q house or a ton
! OF coal goes up In smoke and ashes
| nevertheless you have q fairly clear no.
ton that reservoirs Of energy are thus
converted Into motion. You can, in a
fashion, build UP or break down these
activities into terms of chemistry and
physics.
Notwithstanding the emchanical ex-
plantations Of life by Prof. jacques Loeb
and almost all savants. the activities
Of living creatures cannot be SO lightly
unraveled. While It is true that diges-
tion. food absorption. the mere flow of
blood, and some other surface actions
Of life are chemical and mechanical.
tho real underlying principle. which
makes a minute strand Of heart tissue
pulsate even In a test tube, cannot thus
be explained
In fine. no sane man denies that
there 10 q kind Of mechanics In living
plants and animals, just as there Is
stun and nonsense. But there is some-
mere fact that man can profit by past
experience. can build upon knowledge
that was collected long ago. can per-
ceive. think. reason, and reflect upon
what has entered his cosmos by way
OF his material senses, proves a vital
power as yet unsolved by any common
denominator of laboratory research.
naturalists' observations. or any other
form OF human knowledge.
Life Produced BY Life.
Life. vitality. vital force. 10 something
far more complicated than a Franken-
stein monster or a Jacques Loeb father
less frog. 1t has not yet and cannot be
created other than from life previously
In existence. Despite the leanings of
evidence that the life," vitality, vital
ism, or vital force, call 1t how you may,
can be created except from some pre-
ceding life.
man. Life is brought by life from life.
Life may be but q walking shadow; a
poor player that struts and frets upon
, the stage. then to bo heard no moro.
Of sound and fury, signifyins nothing.
Such as 1t Is, however. 1T cannot be
| made by all the kings horses or all
the kings men. chemists. physicists oil
maRlcianS.
Life force is capable Of indefinite
growth. 1t may, as It does In the germs
| Of tuberculosis. iockjaw. rabies and
cancer. go on forever. Neither friction
| nor perpetual motion cause 1t to lose
| energy.
The most minute pygmy In the realms
OF life may bring forth titans. 1t has
an ultimate end beyond the mere ter
mination or division Of its mechanical
and chemical equivalent of tbs IN oment.
Adaptability Essential To, Life.
Prof. o. s. Mast. Of Johns Hopkins
University. has pointed out that an es-
sentiai characteristic of life as COM
pared with nonlife, is it's capacity to do
as the Romans do. to swim with the
tide, to keep to the line, to bend to the
wind without itself being reduced in
efficiency. quantity or quality.
In other words animals and plants
q dapt themselves to their surroundings,
their enemies and friends not only with
out loss, but with distinct gain. A
rock, a piece of iron. salt, water or
radium cannot do SO. The tree with it's
roots spreads beneath the soil. it's
limbs and leaves panoply the air and
has a broad surface to absorb the gases
of the air. The roots are so sharply
built as to enter the porous parts of the
soil. The stems are firm and hold the
largest branches without trouble.
On the other hand, bird is adapted
for flying. The shape, structure. and
Iightness of it's bones, it's ability to flap