inorganic divisions of the universe prove to be the same. Carbon is
carbon, whether it is part of the substance of a living brain cell, or
black inert coal, or the glistening diamond, or an incandescent part of
the fiery sun. Hydrogen is the same, whether it be a constituent of the
ocean, of the air, or of the living muscle fiber. And so it is with all of
the other elements of the living mechanism. This starts us upon a line of
thought which leads to a significant conclusion, namely, that a living
thing which seems so distinct and permanent is after all only a temporary
aggregate of elements which come to it from the not-living world; existing
for a time in peculiar combinations which render life possible, they pass
incessantly away from the living thing and return to the inorganic world.
Every breath we draw sends out particles which were at one time living
portions of ourselves; every movement we make involves the destruction of
living muscle cells, whose protoplasm breaks down into the ash and gas and
fluid wastes which eventually return to the world of dead things. A tree
loses its living leaves with each recurring season, and the antlers of the
stag are lost annually, to be replaced anew. Indeed the major part of some
organisms is itself actually dead. The bones and hair and nails of such an
animal as a cat are almost entirely lifeless, even though they are
integral and necessary portions of the organism as a whole. They are
constructed by living protoplasm which has died in their making. Thus
without going beyond the boundaries of the individual body, these
substances have passed from the sphere of life, and are dead. The apparent
gap on the other side between the lifeless and living world is equally
imaginary, for our living substance is continually replenished and rebuilt
from the elements of our dead foods. So, as Huxley says, a living organism
is like a flame or a whirlpool, which is an ever changing though seemingly
constant individuality. We look at a gas flame, and we see in the flame
itself those particles of gas which have come through the pipe to be
agitated violently in the higher temperature of the flame as they are