X 



THE BEHAVIOR OF CELLS 



OINCE the epoch-making promulgation of the 

 ^cell theory by Schleiden and Schwann biologists 

 have commonly looked upon the component cells 

 of the body more or less in the light of little organ- 

 isms, each with its own individuality, each carry- 

 ing on the business of its life to a certain degree 

 independently of its fellows. Haeckel speaks of a 

 cell soul which he regards as a quasi-discrete bit of 

 psychic life. Binet in his Psychic Life of Micro- 

 organisms writes of the various psychic faculties 

 manifested by the white blood corpuscles and other 

 cells of our bodies. And Lloyd Morgan in his book 

 on Animal Behavior devotes a section to the be- 

 havior of cells and shows how various formative 

 processes are to a considerable extent the outcome 

 of coordinated cell activities. 



The study of cell behavior has been greatly stim- 

 ulated by the development of a branch of biological 

 investigation, variously known as developmental 

 mechanics, physiology of development, etc., which 

 has for its aim the analysis of embryonic develop- 

 ment, regeneration, and other formative activities, 

 -in a word, all those processes which lead to the 



177 



