department than either physics or chemistry; and therefore the form of force which determines these phenomena is more distinct, and better entitled to a distinct name, than either physical or chemical forces. De Candolle, in a recent paper,[1] suggests the term vital movement instead of vital force; but can we conceive of movement without force? And, if the movement is peculiar, so also is the form of force.
c. Vital is transformed physical and chemical forces; true, but the necessary and very peculiar condition of this transformation is the previous existence then and there of living matter. There is something so wonderful in this peculiarity of vital force that I must dwell on it a little.
Elements brought in contact with each other under certain physical conditions—perhaps heat or electricity—unite and rise into the second plane, i. e., of chemical compounds; so also several elements, C, H, O, and N, etc., brought in contact with each other under certain physical or chemical conditions, such as light, nascency, etc., unite and rise into plane No. 3, i. e., form organic matter. In both cases there is chemical union under certain physical conditions; but in the latter there is one unique condition, viz., the previous existence then and there of organic matter, under the guidance of which the transformation of matter takes place. In a
- ↑ Archives des Sciences, vol. xlv., p. 345, December, 1872.
