ASCENT OF LIFE.

Evening Star, Issue 15066, 24 December 1912, Page 4

ASCENT OF LIFE.

The.following paper was read by Mr F. Helps at the conference held in Dunedin yesterday by the Association of Suggestive Therapeutics: At a recent meeting of the British Association, held at Dundee, Professor F. A. Schafer, m the course of his presidential aadress. made some rather startling assertions m connection with his subject 'The Origin of Life.' Hitherto the scientific researches of such men as Darwin. Huxley, and Tyndall led to the belief ,'that life couM only exist from pre-existing life, and it was generall vaccepted as a fact that a sharply-defined dividing line existed between organic and inorganic life. According, however, to present-day materialistic scientists, in the light of increased knowledge, this line has gradually disappeared, until it lias practically ceased to exist, and Dr Schafer tells us thev can now find no valid barrier between organic and inorganic nature, but rather that the one is the gradual development of the other in the natural course of organic evolution. This we rind no difficulty in believing. In tracing the ascending process of organic evolution from the simple moneron to complex man, there is evidence all through of a marvellous and transc&idant power at work behind all phenomena, which compels one to recognise that it is more than possible that the same power we see manifesting the organic world, is also (and has'always been) manifesting in as unique a manner in the so-called inorganic world. Materialistic concepts alone have prevented science as yet from discerning it, Dr Schafer goes so far as to say that he believes it to be quite possible for man to

—Produce Life in a Laboratory—by chemical means—so much carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and so on. 'Now, it is not my intention to-day to go into a detailed criticism of Dr Scliafer's address Our time is short, and I must be brief; but there are one or two aspects of his subject ] wish to touch upon. Suppose for a moment that it is possible to produce Jitc by artificial means, as ho asserts—that this particular chemical combination would result m producing those phenomena winch indicate the presence of life—movement, nutrition, growth, etc.—the potent question, is: What would that life devolop_ into? Ts it possible that anvone conceives that the mere blending together "t a ccrtuni proportion of the earth's element?, oven though lite could be secured, would result at any time in producing a Ijieatning. dunking, conscious man? Such a conclusion is to me inconceivable, unthinkable. It is to be borne in mind that ho tore evolution came involution. Even the impelled, knowledge we already possess of evolution reveals to us Glimpses of such superhuman and transcendant wisdom a? to fill us with awe and reverence m the presence of that Power which first could conceive the marvellous scheme of ascenuing life, and then proceed, with minute patience and care, to fulfil it in minutest detail, through thousands and thousands of years. It is onlv within the last tew wa,-s that Professor Oliver Lodsre discovered that even what appears to us as a lifeless, helpless clod of earth obeys ft system of intricate laws, revolution, cohesion, and so on. The law and order that exist in the organic world appear to prevail all through the inorganic world Dr Jiaklane maintains that knowledge and conquest of the inorganic world will be gamed as we advance in knowledge in the organic world. Modern sacculation is undoubtedly taking the form'of the question, not VVhat is the origin of life? but Is there anything without life? Not how some matter comes to be aiive. but Is there any matter that is not alive? It is well to study the processes of organic evolution as they are made known to us through materialistic science, but it is

—Necessary to go Deeper,— and become cognisant of the directive | force which is contained in all Jiving I matter, and which controls the •• simple | ceh as well as the complex organism of I man. The chemist may give the exact. I proportion of those substances—oxvgen, | hyr.ro.Ten. carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, etc.—that go to form protoplasm, btu it would be as difficult for him to analyse thought as for him to try to localise what we find diffused through the elemeius where we find life. This vital phenomena—life— expresses itself in a vanetv of organic torms, and its energy is a con- ; finning one. Jt extracts from the universe ; tiic elements _it requires for its needs so , iar as dynamics are concerned, and builds arcordmg loan inherent and predetermined '■csign. there is a latent potentiality, a living hypothec, which is the constitucv«y living tbing, whether it be a '■•la>,e of grass or a human The term it takes is the reflection of Its inner uiicrhvo principle. It m cu !cls ]naUer according to infinite idea, and operates on a iiig.ier plane ot consciousness than the supraliminal. 'I his is a somewhat lengthv land yet ineffectual attempt to describe anu analyse* life, but it is of euch a quality as to defy all eiforts to secure a ..ompiete analysis. After all, what purpose does it serve to know the laws that obtain in the natural world, and the exact forres thev mathematically exert, if thev do not lead I to a study of the mind force which is at | the back ot all phenomena? There is little I to bo gained, for instance, from ever so correct nn analysis of the- germ cell unlers | ye go deeper, and attempt'ln dicover and | determine the cause and purpose for which ' ii came into manifestation, ft is a com- | parattvely simple matter to extract from J the material world tlio components of the roll, but the real UTo principle, the direc- ■ tive force within the germ, necessary for i the development of oven the'simplest cell—- ! that is beyond all human power to I create. In on? of his later writing H ux . icy ?nys: "I no longer wish to spenk of anything as unknowable. I confess I once made that mistake, even to the waste of a capita! U.'' Further, in ' Sciencnand Morals,' lie writes: '• 1 understand the main bent of materialism to be that there is nothinr in the universe but matter and force. This I heartily disbelieve. In the first- place, as 1 have already hinted, it .seems to mo prettv plain that there is a third thing in the universe—to wit, consciousness—which, in the hardness of my heart- or head. I cannot see to be matter or force or any conceivable modification of either, however intermalcrially tlje manifestation of the phenomena of consciousness may be connected with the phenomena known as matter mid force." Let us endeavor to understand this consciousness and its relation to the oulpicttired form, and the germ from which it evolved. It is the important factor in man's development. Without it matter would be negative in character, utterly destitute o£ that energy which in con- | sciousness makes for progress. Jt is this impulse which in man makes everv normal creature strive after bitter conditions. Friction means progress. Thus the character gains in strength, and in this way —Evolution is Forwarded,— for wo must remember that true evolution means evolution in character, in ever ascending mental qualities. Consciousness in man is of a three-fold nature. There is first the outward, ordinary consciousness, which we call the supraliminal; " above the threshold " next, on a higher plane, a deeper and more submerged consciousness, such as we see manifested in clairvoyance, clairaudience. etc., which we call the subliminal ; and. there is a third consciousness in man, on a still higher plane, where time is annihilated, and the seer is made conscious of time—past, present, and future—as one eternal ever-present Now. It was through the use of hypnotism in experimental psychology that this threefold consciousness in man was first clearly revealed. We must admit that we know nothing of the real essence of the various states of consciousness, yet in the practice of psychotherapeutics we have been enabled to study many of the psychological attributes of man and their relation to the physical structure, and we are forced to acknowledge that it is mind that operates through the physical body, as it directs, guides, and builds according to its necessities. Materialistic science must some day come to recognise that all the marvellous phenomena of the natural universe are controlled by mental processes, and that all activity of life and growth, whether in the mental or material world or in the eternal sphere of creation, flow out of infinite thought. The discoveries of physical science -already;

•roil is growing' thinner "that-separates the external world of effect from tire internal •world of cause, from which cosmic and human evolution proceed. A rational order is thus suggested, of which man is a part. The whole umrerse and all it contains are manifestations of mental processes; behind all lies a directive purpose, an infinite power, in whom we live and more and have- our being, and through which all creation moves.