'do you happen to recall herbert spencer's definition of "life"? i read it thirty years ago. he may have altered it 1, for anything i know, but in all that time i have been unable to think of a single word that could profitably be changed or added or removed. it seems to me not only the best definition, but the only possible one.
"life," he says, "is a definite combination of 2（异种的） changes, both simultaneous and successive, in correspondence with external coexistences and sequences."'
'that defines the phenomenon,' i said, 'but gives no hint of its cause.'
'that,' he replied, 'is all that any definition can do. as mill points out, we know nothing of cause except as an antecedent（前情） -- nothing of effect except as a consequent. of certain 3, one never occurs without another, which is dissimilar: the first in point of time we call cause, the second, effect. one who had many times seen a rabbit pursued by a dog, and had never seen rabbits and dogs otherwise, would think the rabbit the cause of the dog.
'but i fear,' he added, laughing naturally enough, 'that my rabbit is leading me a long way from the track of my 4 5: i'm indulging in the pleasure of the chase for its own sake. what i want you to observe is that in herbert spencer's definition of "life" the activity of a machine is included -- there is nothing in the definition that is not applicable to it. according to this sharpest of observers and deepest of thinkers, if a man during his period of activity is alive, so is a machine when in operation. as an inventor and constructor of machines i know that to be true.'
moxon was silent for a long time, gazing absently into the fire. it was growing late and i thought it time to be going, but somehow i did not like the notion of leaving him in that 6 house, all alone except for the presence of some person of whose nature my 7（推测，猜想） could go no further than that it was unfriendly, perhaps 8（诽谤，污蔑） . leaning toward him and looking earnestly into his eyes while making a motion with my hand through the door of his workshop, i said:
'moxon, whom have you in there?'
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