﻿72 
  THE 
  REALM 
  OF 
  ORGANISMS 
  CONTRASTED 
  

  

  system 
  developed 
  from 
  a 
  much 
  less 
  differentiated, 
  much 
  

   more 
  diffuse, 
  condition; 
  it 
  is 
  certain 
  that 
  our 
  earth 
  has 
  

   passed 
  through 
  various 
  stages 
  of 
  development, 
  and 
  has 
  be- 
  

   come 
  increasingly 
  differentiated 
  in 
  its 
  pattern 
  and 
  features; 
  

   and 
  many 
  facts 
  point 
  to 
  the 
  occasional 
  origin 
  of 
  new 
  chemical 
  

   collocations 
  in 
  Nature; 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  nothing 
  in 
  the 
  domain 
  

   of 
  the 
  inorganic 
  which 
  can 
  be 
  compared 
  with 
  any 
  precision 
  

   to 
  organic 
  evolution 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  nothing 
  that 
  can 
  be 
  com- 
  

   pared 
  to 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence. 
  We 
  are 
  not 
  justified 
  in 
  

   saying 
  that 
  there 
  may 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  elimination 
  of 
  unstable 
  

   collocations 
  which 
  could 
  not 
  last 
  and 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  scrapped, 
  but 
  

   this 
  bears 
  at 
  most 
  a 
  superficial 
  resemblance 
  to 
  the 
  answering 
  

   back 
  to 
  environing 
  limitations 
  and 
  difficulties 
  which 
  is 
  

   the 
  essential 
  feature 
  of 
  the 
  organismal 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence. 
  

   There 
  is 
  neither 
  endeavour 
  nor 
  selection 
  in 
  the 
  inorganic 
  

   domain, 
  and 
  till 
  organisms 
  emerged 
  there 
  was 
  little 
  or 
  no 
  

   power 
  of 
  learning 
  in 
  the 
  school 
  of 
  time. 
  

  

  For 
  plain 
  people 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  very 
  useful 
  classification 
  that 
  

   Samuel 
  Butler 
  suggested: 
  Living 
  Creatures, 
  Machines, 
  and 
  

   Things-in-General. 
  Machines 
  are 
  inorganic 
  material 
  sys- 
  

   tems, 
  but 
  they 
  must 
  be 
  kept 
  quite 
  by 
  themselves 
  in 
  any 
  dis- 
  

   cussion 
  like 
  this, 
  for 
  they 
  are 
  collocations 
  put 
  together 
  by 
  

   man 
  with 
  a 
  definite 
  intention. 
  They 
  are 
  purposive 
  construc- 
  

   tions, 
  and 
  they 
  are 
  the 
  only 
  non-living 
  things 
  of 
  which 
  this 
  

   can 
  be 
  said. 
  A 
  river 
  often 
  cuts 
  its 
  way 
  very 
  effectively, 
  

   but 
  we*are 
  romancing 
  if 
  we 
  speak 
  of 
  its 
  purpose. 
  Its 
  bed 
  

   is 
  not 
  adapted 
  to 
  it, 
  as 
  a 
  flower 
  to 
  its 
  insect 
  visitor. 
  The 
  

   concepts 
  of 
  adaptation 
  and 
  purposiveness 
  do 
  not 
  apply 
  in 
  

   the 
  inorganic 
  world, 
  where 
  there 
  are 
  no 
  alternatives. 
  

  

  It 
  seems 
  that 
  the 
  domain 
  of 
  the 
  inorganic 
  is 
  con- 
  

   trasted 
  with 
  the 
  realm 
  of 
  organisms 
  by 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  in* 
  

   dividuaJity, 
  reproductivity, 
  freedom 
  of 
  action, 
  endeavour, 
  

  

  