THE ORIGIN OF MAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18499, 8 September 1923, Page 11

THE ORIGIN OF MAN.

11 CREATED BY A SPARK." SCIENTIFIC SENSATION. THEORY OF DR. , CRILE.

A theory of man's origin that is likely to cause! as great a scientific .'controversy as that-which followed ' the publication of Darwin's'.".Origin of Species," ' was unfolded by; Dr. . G.. W. Crile, an eminent scientist, '(if Cleveland, Ohio,'at the International (Congress of Surgeons in London. Dr. Ciile's theory is that the" prigiu of all life fortns.was an atom of hydrogen with a negative'. electron (one of the particles which am the cause of all electrical phenomena). ' ■ , '. '. " Life." declared Dr.Crilej "is a flame burning'id water." He contended that the origin of all life forms was| ,an. atom, of hydrogen with a negative electron. He threw on'the'screen twenty-four pictures to illustrate his argument — the spark, the hydrogen,, man's great beginning; then the spark with the negative electron, the source of an energy- which, he held, cam r not from heat, nor light, nor gravitation. • '....;',, . ' " Now," said the learned doctor, showing a red and yellow splash on the screen, " the. living process begins at the point where th i potential-is developed, and that is. developed where there is an intervening membrane, with conductivity." . Th. membrane was clear enough' as thrown on'the sheet, but even learned, professors caught their breath when he said that the membrane which . separated the chemical flame from the electric force was one-ten-niillionth of a centimetre in thickness.' ; • ' „'_.'; Thus did man, who is now a composition of trillions of these first gas atoms, begin his career through the vastnesses of time. The st.rgeons saw how the divine spark developed into the amoeba (the stage at which inorganic chemistry became organic), into the starfish, the insect, the electric fish, the salamander, the amphioxus (a low form of fish)/until at last we came to man himself. "And. we, ourselves," said Dr. , Crile, "are slowly climbing -up the- slippery banks of time;." So Dr. Crile arrived at his great hypothesis that "Man and animals are electrochemical mechanisms constructed on the pattern of the constituent cells, each eel) being in itself an electro-chemical mechanism. That is, man is a collection of countless millions of chemical flames, working out still further evolution in connection with surrounding electric forces. . ; In tho beginning a fleck of burning gas. " It does not yet appear whet we shall be." said Dr. Crile. He added that the theory that man is an electro-chemical mechanism explains many of the phenomena of life, and continued: " Following that , theory, the .positive pole is the brain; the negative .the liver; the connecting wires the nerves; the salts in solution the electrolytic fluid in which the bod is immersed.- " The function of the liver is of foremost importance in this hypothesis, and the effects of that organ on the brain, whether in sickness or health, are at onco apparent. '■ " Tho .theory explains the interferaneo with digestion .by the strong emotions nain. for.example, It explains the effects of fear and faith, and the failure of the health in man and animal under trie stress of chronic . fear or anger- or other strong emotion. " It also explains the essential function of sleep as the period during' which the difference in' potential in the batteries which drive the organism is restored nfter r- ; ng decreased by the . activities . of tne day." ■ ' '•" ■ ' • - • ' Professor Crile is one of the most original; successful, and distinguished surgeons in the world. He has devoted ,a lifetime to research, and has reached many remarkable conclusions. .Practically "ev-jrv civilise.J .country has adopted his method of mating operations "shockiess." <*>" .