The St. Louis Republic. [volume], August 13, 1905, SUNDAY MAGAZINE, Page 4, Image 44

About The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919

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SUNDAY MAGAZINE for AUGUST 13. 1905
thgious strides, I think it would ! the height of prcsump
tif.n tor any man to say that the condition under which
matter assumes the profiertivs c rail "vital" nny not
some lay be artificially brought together. All I feel
justified in ailirmin.; is that I -ee no reason for Lel'evmg
that the feat has Iieen performed yet.
And looking hack through the prodigious vista of the
pt. I find no record of the co-mnencc-nciit of life, and
therefore I am devoid of any means of a definite conclusion
as to the conditions of its appearance Itchcf. in t! e
scientific sense of the word, is a serious in ittcr. and nteds
strong foundati ns. To say, therefore, in the admitted
absence if evidence, that I hate any lielief as to the mode
in which the existin; forms of life have originated, would
be uing words in a uron sen
ISut expectation is jicnnisiible when liclicf is not; ami
if it were given to me to look lfyond the abyss of geologi
cally recordcsl time-, to the still more re-note period wlicn
the earth was passing through physical and e'.emical eon
ihtions which it can no more see a;;ain than a man can
recai! his infsnev, I should cjiect to 1-e a witness of the
evolution of living protoplasm from not living matter. I
should expect to see it appc ir undtr fori-, of ;;rcjt sim
phcitv. endow id like existing lungi with the piweT of
tktt niuning the for-nati i of new protoplasm from such
tn itttrs as ammonium carl-on ites, .datcs and tartrates,
alkaline and earthy phosp'iaies. and water without the
aid of li.jht. That is the c:xxtation to which analogical
reasoning "ad me lmt ! leg you once more to recollect
tint I have no right to call my opinion an) thing more
than .in act of philosophical faith.
It lias ln-en jiointed out that in tile evolution
r development f life in that remote "prodigious
ist:i of tile just" o might :iImtt the existence of
radium; lmt how timid ever we imagine the existence
of lieef-tca? 1 should add. or of a lalmratory.
retort-stands: and test-tul-cs? Obviously, if we are
to imitate Xature in the lalioratory. the proteoses
of artificial synthesis will diTer to some extent if
not widely from the original. In the original the
toiistitucnts of protoplasm were present. Hut are
they not each and all also present in the gelatine
culture medium?
Of the definition of life which we must attcpt
if these things are living;. I might say that in the
recently discovered projicrtics of inorganic matter
radin-at tivity manifests many projicrtics analogous
to those of living organic bodies. The disintegra
tion anil decay of 'ilotyanic sulistanccs is one of
the most rein.irkab'j analogies lietween them ami
living matter: while the internal source of energy,
apparently independent of physical and chemical
forces, has a striking resemblance to the inappro
priately called "vital force" as styled by physiolo
gists in the past, such as Jolianncs'MuIlcr. but now
adays as vital energy which may jmisscss and prol
ably does possess a different source from the energy
which arises from mere physical and chemical
forces, as familiarly understood.
The definition of life which I should accept is:
"The continuous adjustment of internal to external
relations of an individual to its environment."
A living thing is an unstable dynamical aggregate
of molecules (Sir Oliver Lodge. I understand has
recently laid great stress upon this joint), ami should
lie distinguishes! from mere "static" aggregates
like crystals, although some authorities regard even
crystals as living things. The question as to
whether the solubility in water affetts their vitality
raises an interesting and not unimportant jiomt.
It at once shows that they are not bacteria, ami it
also shows that they are, not. as far as I have
been able to identify them, the only tyjie of
crystals crystals of carbonate of lime (first de
scrilicd. I think, by Kainey nearly fifty years ago)
which are insoluble in water.
These fioints distinguish the products of radium
and liouillon from carlmnate of lime, but do not
prove that the former are not some form of crystals
hitherto unknown at any rate to mjsclf and the
authorities I have consulted. It does not prove
either that they are not living things. The aW-nce
of effects with the jMilariseojie. together with the
effects of sulidivisions at a certain sie. seem to my
mind to indicate that they are not crystals; while on
the other hand, if they are more elementary or
rudimentary forms of life than anything hitherto
obtained, it is to le expected that they would not
jiossess all the projierties of bacteria even if they
jHisscsscsd many of them, and it is jxissjble that
solubility is a projierty of such primitive forms of
life. To assume the eontrary is to lieg the ttestion
at issue. The ieptoncs are soluble in water, and
do not ti agulate by heat, and tints differ from other
albuminous or the protcid liodics which, on the
other hand, may lie rendered soluble by the at llbii
of n."Mti. ferments or en.yms. which eonvcrt such
proteids into -icptoncs. Radium may convert in
soluble proteids in soluble Jiep tones under the
action of water: the point lieing that there is no a
fruri reason for supposing that any primitive
form of life hitherto undiscovered should lie in
soluble in water.
The curious ImmKcs obtained by Sthentk in his
recently published work, and those of Oitinncll,
Schmann and many others, seem to have nothing
in common with those I have oltserved. except that
they are minute. It is as if we saw a factory and
a church at a distance through a telescope and
identified them because at first sight they apjvarcd
to lie the same. These things are, on the whole.
I think, more like bacteria than like crystals,
though they are certainly not the former, ami I
doubt if they are the latter.
Radium would. I think. 1-e sufficient to sterilize
the tulies. If it contains a germ of life which at
present we know nothing of. then this germ like a
li.it iihis would, we may presume, wage war with
the weaker bacteria, and succeed in the struggle
for existence as the fittest to survive. Then comes
the nutter of ste-riiiation. It has Itccn suggested"
that the tu!cs may not have lt-en properly steril
izes;!. That is out of the question. The proof
is in the result. These forms are most assuredly
not bacteria, as contaminations would !. How,
then, can they tie the products of imperfect steril
ization? Of nurse, they may lie due to germs not
hitherto obtained which can stand as high a tem
perature as milium itself, but then they are not
liacteria, as is proved by the result, and at any rate
we have no evidence of the existence ofsiich genus.
It is doubtful, therefore, if sjiontailcous gener
ation can ever Ie proved to the satisfaction of one
who had made up his mind not to !c!icvc in it. The
ital principle, or whatever we may choose to call
it. may remain and withstand all temperatures. To
this argument I can gie no answer other than that
it is of the nature of a metaphysical argument a
fact which does not take away from its iuiiortante.
Hut what I mean by s-Mintaiu-oits generation is the
development of living organisms from inorganic
matter. It docs not really account for the origin
if life or for the vital principle, if suth there lie.
but for the origin of what we know to lie living from
what apjiears to lie, and we have regarded not with
out reason to lie. not living. It is. therefore, of the
utmo-t import. unc that when we use words we
should know exactly what we mean by them; ami
lest I should have lieen misunderstood, I have thus
Ventured to express myself at length.
J . &Jh&4U m
f!jrffct. v?$m y Jn Kutto !.rkr
JEWISH WIT AND HUMOR
CARLVLE declared that the
Jews had no humor and "IJ J Y
showed no trace of it in
any jicriod of their history. Author
Kenan says much the same
thing in his "History tif the Semitic Languages."
Disraeli's "Ixion in Heaven" lias turn pronounced
by many good judge-, to lie one of the Inrst pieces
if humor in the English language. Disraeli re
ferred to (iladstone as "a gentleman without one
redeeming fault," and tlescrilK.il him as "intoxi
cated with the cxulicrance of his own vcrlmsity."
When me of his jK-litical opponents said: "I stand
upon tny family name." Disraeli answered: "I
stand upon my he-ad."
Have you never re-ad Ludovie Halevy's "Dream"
of his friend Kantil. who married his friend ttaston's
widow, and the widow's confusion when she fount
herself lietween her two husb.imf. in the definite
union almve in Heaven?- a dream founded tin
the i losing words of the officiating priest's address;
"15c then united on earth until ou are definitely
united in Heaven."
Are von fond of humor, and have never read
Saphir'nu "Money"?
"What is money? Money is a goodly lump
v. hi. h the Lord ttod attaihes to his insignificant
ticoplc. so as not to lose sight of them in His creation,
as a good housekeeper puts a big l.ilcl on a little
key
"What is money? Money is a figure which
grows in imjmrtance as there is a cipher attached
to it.
"What is money? Money is a metal heel tinder
the lmots of little cople to make them apj-car .is
tall as others.
"What is money? Money is an indemnity
which find gives to a certain numlcr of jicrsons
on condition that they will not make l-old to acquire
any such goods as an intellect or genius.
"What is money5 Money is the mysterious
essence of a lieing which defines its ego in the fol
lowing words "If I were not wli.it I have. I should
rot liave wli.it I am."
Edited and Translated by
ISON C. PETERS, D.D.
of "Justice to the Jew." "The Jew a Patriot." Etc
"But wiiat is no-money? Xo-money? Xo
money? "Xo-monev is a thing of which all jmckets are
full.
"Xo-money is the alibi of a lieing which should
testify to our presence in this world.
"Xo-money is a gentle invitation of nature to
incur debts, and a jicrcinptory command not to
jwy them.
"Xo-money is an irresistible inclination to melan
choly m the part of our purse caused by hojieless
love to an unatt.iin.ible object.
"Xi-money is an vxfiosttion of no money at all.
a projHisition in abstract phi!tsophy. a fit position
for a minister of finance, and a happy disjMisitjon.
for platonic love.
"Xn-moncy is a vulgar ballad which common
j-cople sing aloud mi the streets, but the more re
fined only hum lietween their lips within doors.
"Xo-money is the watchword of extreme radi
calism, and the art of making tine-self 'loputar at
a tow prite."
In "t'oiuerning a Coat." Saphir writes:
"There are 'co.it arti-ts in the world, men who
have so long hung their etiat according to the wind
that the order has lcco:iie reversed, and the eo.it
hangs its man in the wind. The expression 'Urn
MiinUl wiift": i.Vii: It'tiiiA ..is h (One must hang
tine's nut actording to the wind) is altogether
improjier. It ought to read as follows One should
hang his tti.it in the wind to see where the wind
blows;, and then lung himself at cording to the
wind. The coat must lie stronger than the nan.
otherwise the mat would remain hanging aco.'d
ing to the wind, but not the man. In reality what
is meant by the proverb 'One must hang one's
coat attording to the wind" is only that "One must
hang himself according to the wind": for man in
his eoqmreality is only the mantle that envelops
hissoul. and alt the gotid. weak and
curious souls always hang their
mantle according to the wind.
"I have known men who hail
no coat at all. ami yet were so
skilful in hanging their coat according to the wind
that they were at home in all the coat roles and
were genuine children of Coat-Fortune.
"Other men are still more unhandy and hang
their coats attording to the contrary wind. With
these everything goes contrary, for even if they
themselves lielieve that they take the coat along,
in reality it is the toat that takes them along.
"There are lots of people who. lieeause they
hang their eo.it according to the wind, hang their
words in the coat, and hang around every-word,
every phrase, a little Mantle that s lemantles all
their talking and their doing that whatever they
say is spoken in the wind.
"There are m inv who owe their happiest hours
to a to.it of mourning; many who carry an. aching
heart under a comedian's tloak.
"There are ieop!e who under the cloak of sancti
moniousness cover the cloven hoof . others again who
under the clo.ikt if Christian liarity to tine's neigtiNir
take away from his neigh! Mir his tloak and toat.
"I have known men who were very one-sided
and yet carried their cti.it on loth sides; still an
other class tif jicnple hang their toats at cording to
the wind only to display the furring.
"Alt this and more of what still remains in my
io.it I thought, as I took it down again for the
first time th it fall. I quickly involved myself in
it and muttered: "This is an involved affair.""
Literature hardly affords any parallel to Ilein
riih Heine's wit and humor:
"The certificate of baptism is the admission
ticket to Euro-iean culture.
"It. If I were of the trilie that gave birth to
our :-.ivior. I should glory rather in the fact than
be ashamed of it
"A. So would I. if our Savior were the only
ComttitufJ cm fjff i ,