Abstract
IT has always appeared a mystery to the writer of this notice why the phenomena of life should be dealt with by some men of science and by certain philosophical writers in a totally different spirit to that in which other groups of natural phenomena are considered and discussed. It is true that we know less about life than about other phenomena—it is true that the organic world is full of unexplained mysteries. Equally certain is it that the living organism can accomplish physical and chemical feats by processes which we are now ignorant of, and which we cannot at present imitate. But it is not obvious why because a particular department of knowledge, by virtue of its inherent difficulties and intricacies, happens to be in a different phase of development from other branches of human inquiry, that the whole domain of organic nature should be detached and delimited, and put on quite a different plane to any other department of science.
Organic Evolution Cross-examined; or, Some Suggestions on the Great Secret of Biology.
By the Duke of Argyll, K.G., &c. Pp. vi + 201. (London: John Murray, 1898.)
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MELDOLA, R. Organic Evolution Cross-examined; or, Some Suggestions on the Great Secret of Biology. Nature 59, 217–219 (1899). https://doi.org/10.1038/059217a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/059217a0
