THE COURSE OF LIFE.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11546, 31 March 1903, Page 6

THE COURSE OF LIFE.

TO THE EDITOB OP THE PRESS. •Sir.—May I tel you .something more about tho«se serins? 1 do not know whether they ought to be called germs or atoms. You see, they are the smallest possible division of ir.ir.d, or rather of that of which mind i» composed, but which may also foiin something lew than mind, as iv ths living principle of lower nrjraniwins; iin;i possibly aLso something infinitely higher than the human mind, the nature of which we are unable to comprehend. In this reypect they are atoms, hut they are also gcrnw in the sense that they have life, or rather they are life and can grow and tfi%e rise to fresh living things. Taeso germs, we must suppose, are oi infinite variety, and are able to be joined to material bodU* to exert an attractive force, each on those which nearly resembles it*elf, and each kind of germ capable ot being built up with ita fellows into a particular kind of life, and forming in the process a particular kind of body from the matter which they of necessity attaen themselves to. ... It may seem at first a little fantastic to suppose that a germ of nund capable ot animating a microscopic epeck oi protoplasm can have any such inherent qua..ltic-s as would be needed to insure its building itself up into tlw mind of man; but something very similar takes place in inanimate nutuie in"the lormation of crysU.e. If a crystal of silica be disaoT.ved and then allowed to crystallise again, it will build itt,ef up into th=> same form which it had before. The- atoms of which it is composed can take no other shape but the one proper to that particular kind of matter. And m the same way the atoms of which the mind of man & composed cannot form themselves into the mind of a lopUle or a bird, bat only into that of a man. . . Now, the atoms which at the beginning

of life fhs>t animated roaitjr, muH have tnen such as were suitable to the lowliest forms of life, since the conditions of the earth at that time were only suited to support life in itri lowest forms; and if any gjrms of a higher kind were pieseuit, they could not gut beyond the earik-st stage of their development. These fust mind-germs would begin by attracting to them germs of like, nature." but as, 1 suppose, no two germs are exactly alike, and the different varieties would shade off into one another 'like the colours of the rainbow, there would gradually arise more ajid more diversity between*the resulting organisms. So there would appear higher and higher types which would thrive wherever they found suitable eurroundings, until at last we find in man the highest form of living thing which this earth is capable of sustaining. The chief difference between the higher and lower kind of life-germe seems to be that the former lwve more cohesion. In the casj of the earlier kinds of living organisms they no sooner gather a few units together than they split up and form two ntw organisms, each I suppose taking a. nhare of the collected life-germs; but as we proceed upwards in the scale of living things, the period of growth becomes longer and longer, because- more life-germs can be held together. The difference must be in the life-principle, because the matter of which each kind w composed is exactly the same, no much so thai I believe it is impossible to tell the difference between the first beginnings of an elephant and an oak tree. Still, in every case there is a point at which it seems impossible for anything more to be added to the mental structure, and as this point approaches there comes the tendency to throw off a part of the living organism, as if to make room for the attachment of fresh lite matter; the parts thus thrown off forming the beginnings of fresh organisms. To allow this process free play would bo likely to conduce to the health and vigour of the parent organism. j.i*s may help to explain the beneficial effects of pruning on many kinds of plants. It seems likely that the germs suitable for the lower life forms would b≥ much more numerous than those of the higher; and it is also probable that the attractive force exerted by the higher life organisms is of a more special kind, taking effect only between those life germs possessing a closer family resemblance, so that as we progress upwards in the scale of living tilings there would arrive a point at which there would be no response to the attraction exercised by the young organism, and it would therefore fail to grow ; but if it could meet with a comrade in the same plight, their united appeal, each asking for a slightly different form of germ to promote their growth, might find a response from some third variety intermediate between the two, the supply of which had not been exhausted. It would not ba difficult to deduce from such a case the origin of sex, and the explanation of the well-known fact that highly specialised forms of life are less fertile and lees robust in constitution than those of less exalted pedigree.

To strengthen etill further the young organism, we find as we rise higher in the scale that it remains for a longer period associated with the parent. In this way the more powerful adult mind is able to attract from a greater distance germs which are suitable to its growth. But the mind of the parent also acts on the development of the offspring by 'recording, as it were, in its structure any very vivid impression* which may be pfoduoed on the parent mind; that is.to say, b}- attracting germs calculated to produce an individual with certain characteristice. Thus in a flock of crossbred lambs one often sees some with black marks nnd patches irregularly placed. These I put down to a bite received by the mother from a black dog. The reason why this shows more often in crossbred sheep may be that the influence exerted by the parente points, as it were, in two different directions, and is therefore less effectual, and more likely to be over-ruled by outside influences. But nb doubt thie capacity for being influenced through the mind of thfc parent by outside events is always present, and would account for a good deal of the divergence of type in different splits, and especially for the way in which many aniina!e are marked to resemble their surroundings. But the influence of mind over the development of the body is not confined to the immature organism. Wi have lately had among us one preaching the gospel of strength, who strongly affirms that it was nothing but the application of his willpower to the strengthening of his muse'es which developed him from v sickly boy into the strongest, men we have w-en "for "many a day; and he assured us that * a man is never so old but that he may derive some bauefit from the course of training which he recommends. And this tseeirw in perfect agreement with our theory; for if every mind-germ has its own piojvr influence on the building up.of th? body, it follows that if we Oy exercising certain muscles direct our minds towards their development, we shall in so doing attract corresponding mind germs, and the result will be such as we desire. And on the other hand, if a person

is possessed with a bslief or fear that he is likely to be affected by some special disease, that* fear will of itself, by attracting unde«r:ibla mind geims. prepare the way for tbv disease, and p-rhaps produce the symptoms of th' 3 itself. Thus all through life the mind keeps adding to itself germs, sometimes for health, sometimes for weakness and disease: bnt to everything that grows there conies a time when it can make no further advance, when the desire to attract fresh germs cetifscs. <>r dwindke' down until the material, which is added to the body at tii , } same tinw as the germs are added to the mind, becomes .«<> small that it is not (iufikient to repair the natural waste, and the body, if tho process could be carried far enough, would become like a withered leaf, incapable of movement and of no use to the mind. Then, or in most cases tsooner, the mind naturally leaves the body and becoiiKs lost to view, «o to epeak. That is to pay, this theory doc« not explain what become-* of it. But it se-euis unlikely that it shoird dissolve, when it leaves the body, info its original separate atoms. Even the body does not do that except as the result of the attack of other living things. Every atom which has ever been added to the- mental structure must, I think, remain with it through life, except euch is have been thrown off to form new organism*. The body, we are told, is continually b.-ing renewed ; so much so that at the end oi stveii years there is little or nothing left of the material of which it was composed at the beginning of that period. And yet the mind its the same, though with additions which time has brought. We hold in our memory through life facts and iinprtssions which we have received, aaid I think no mental characteristic is tver entirely lost. Beth memory and character. istic may become so dim as to be barely discernible, or even quit<? lest, owing to later memories and new traita of character and habits of thought and action which have b>cn acquired; but under the influence of association the memory will oftsn revive, and ncwnebim.«?s become very vivid, and old habite will come back to us again. And this 1 think could hardly be the case if tliese memories were merely impressions on the constantly changing matter of the brain. If, then, the mind can survive the changes which take place in the body during life, it seems a'mest certain that it will survive the greater change of leaving the body altogether, and will still be a united wholo with all the characteristics which it has acquired during its passage through the world. I am afraid this argument is a little sketchy, but your readers will, I hope, be able to fill in some of the gaps; and I dare not encroach any further on your space.—Yours, etc., WILFRED HALL.