﻿64 
  THE 
  REALM 
  OF 
  ORGANISMS 
  CONTRASTED 
  

  

  ing 
  the 
  differences 
  so 
  that 
  an 
  impression 
  of 
  utter 
  discontinu- 
  

   ity 
  is 
  created. 
  This 
  is 
  undoubtedly 
  false, 
  for 
  organisms 
  

   have, 
  as 
  material 
  systems, 
  an 
  inorganic 
  aspect. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  

   hand, 
  there 
  is 
  the 
  error 
  of 
  exaggerating 
  the 
  resemblances, 
  

   so 
  that 
  we 
  lose 
  hold 
  of 
  what 
  is 
  distinctive 
  in 
  each. 
  Let 
  us 
  

   first 
  notice 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  resemblances. 
  

  

  As 
  among 
  plants 
  and 
  animals, 
  so 
  among 
  lifeless 
  things 
  

   there 
  is 
  extraordinary 
  heterogeneity. 
  There 
  are 
  over 
  eighty 
  

   different 
  kinds 
  of 
  elements 
  ; 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  different 
  minerals 
  

   is 
  legion; 
  the 
  multitude 
  of 
  the 
  stars 
  is 
  untold. 
  But, 
  just 
  

   as 
  there 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  realm 
  of 
  organisms 
  the 
  common 
  denom- 
  

   inator 
  protoplasm 
  (or 
  shall 
  we 
  say 
  animate 
  protoplasm?), 
  

   so 
  there 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  inorganic 
  domain 
  an 
  abstract 
  common 
  

   denominator 
  with 
  a 
  few 
  terms, 
  such 
  as 
  matter 
  in 
  motion 
  

   and 
  ether 
  under 
  strain, 
  which 
  are 
  not 
  reducible 
  to 
  any- 
  

   thing 
  simpler. 
  The 
  living 
  and 
  the 
  not-living 
  worlds 
  agree 
  

   in 
  showing 
  diversity 
  in 
  unity, 
  and 
  the 
  big 
  generalisations 
  

   of 
  Biology 
  such 
  as 
  omne 
  vivum 
  e 
  vivo, 
  the 
  hereditary 
  rela- 
  

   tion, 
  the 
  persistence 
  of 
  the 
  organism 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  ceaseless 
  

   change, 
  and 
  so 
  on, 
  may 
  be 
  compared 
  to 
  the 
  great 
  chemico- 
  

   physical 
  generalisations 
  of 
  the 
  persistence 
  of 
  mass, 
  of 
  momen- 
  

   tum, 
  of 
  energy. 
  

  

  What 
  the 
  physical 
  irreducibles 
  are 
  is 
  a 
  question 
  beyond 
  

   our 
  scope, 
  all 
  that 
  we 
  require 
  for 
  our 
  argument 
  is 
  the 
  agree- 
  

   ment 
  among 
  physicists 
  that 
  there 
  are 
  but 
  a 
  few 
  fundamental 
  

   concepts. 
  Thus 
  Sir 
  Oliver 
  Lodge 
  declared 
  in 
  1913: 
  "Mat- 
  

   ter 
  in 
  motion, 
  Ether 
  under 
  strain, 
  constitute 
  the 
  fundamental 
  

   concrete 
  things 
  we 
  have 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  in 
  physics. 
  The 
  first 
  

   pair 
  represent 
  kinetic 
  energy; 
  the 
  second, 
  potential 
  energy; 
  

   and 
  all 
  the 
  activities 
  of 
  the 
  material 
  universe 
  are 
  represented 
  

   by 
  alternations 
  from 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  forms 
  to 
  the 
  other 
  ' 
  (1913, 
  

   p. 
  35). 
  In 
  terms 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  fundamental 
  concepts, 
  then, 
  it 
  

  

  