in the soil. That which gives us our form and stability
and prevents us from slowly spilling down the slope at all times is the
mysterious vital principle or force which knits and marries these
unstable elements together and raises up a mobile but more or less
stable form out of the world of fluids. Venus rising from the sea is a
symbol of the genesis of every living thing.

Inorganic matter seeks only rest. "Let me alone," it says; "do not break
my slumbers." But as soon as life awakens in it, it says: "Give me room,
get out of my way. Ceaseless activity, ceaseless change, a thousand new
forms are what I crave." As soon as life enters matter, matter meets
with a change of heart. It is lifted to another plane, the
supermechanical plane; it behaves in a new way; its movements from being
calculable become incalculable. A straight line has direction, that is
mechanics; what direction has the circle? That is life, a change of
direction every instant. An aeroplane is built entirely on mechanical
principles, but something not so built has to sit in it and guide it; in
fact, had to build it and adjust it to its end.

Mechanical forces seek an equilibrium or a state of rest. The whole
inorganic world under the influence of gravity would flow as water
flows, if it could, till it reached a state of absolute repose. But
vital forces struggle against a state of repose, which to them means
death. They are vital by virtue of their tendency to resist the repose
of inert matter; chemical activity disintegrates a stone or other metal,
but the decay of organized matter is different in kind; living organisms
decompose it and resolve it into its original compounds.

Vital connections and mechanical connections differ in kind. You can
treat mechanical principles mathematically, but can you treat life
mathematically? Will your formulas and equations apply here? You can
figure out the eclipses of the sun and moon for centuries to come, but
who can figure out the eclipses of nations or the overthrow of parties
or the failures of great men? And it is not simply because the problem
is so vastly more complex; it is because you are in a world where
mathematical principles do not apply. Mechanical forces will determine
the place and shape of every particle of inert matter any number of
years or centuries hence, but they will not determine the place and
condition of matter imbued with the principle of life.

We can graft living matter, we can ev