﻿THE 
  CRITERIA 
  OF 
  LIVINGNESS 
  97 
  

  

  5. 
  Effective 
  Behaviour, 
  Registration 
  of 
  Experience, 
  

  

  and 
  Variability. 
  

  

  So 
  far 
  we 
  have 
  sought 
  to 
  arrange 
  in 
  a 
  logical 
  way 
  certain 
  

   insignia 
  of 
  organisms. 
  Absolutely 
  fundamental 
  is 
  the 
  power 
  

   of 
  persistent 
  individuality 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  ceaseless 
  change. 
  

   There 
  is 
  a 
  unifying 
  idea 
  of 
  persistence 
  or 
  of 
  functional 
  

   inertia. 
  This 
  led 
  us 
  to 
  consider 
  growth, 
  multiplication, 
  and 
  

   cyclical 
  development. 
  Here, 
  perhaps, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  unifying 
  

   idea 
  of 
  accumulating 
  potentialities. 
  We 
  have 
  now 
  to 
  recog- 
  

   nise 
  that 
  living 
  creatures 
  are 
  characterised 
  hy 
  effective 
  be- 
  

   haviour, 
  registration 
  of 
  experience, 
  and 
  variability. 
  The 
  

   common 
  note 
  in 
  this 
  triad 
  of 
  qualities 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  obvious, 
  

   but 
  is 
  it 
  not 
  agency, 
  self-expression, 
  creativeness 
  ? 
  

  

  (a) 
  Life 
  is 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  activity 
  which 
  comes 
  to 
  its 
  own 
  in 
  ef- 
  

   fective 
  behaviour, 
  that 
  is 
  to 
  say, 
  in 
  an 
  organically 
  determined 
  

   correlated 
  series 
  of 
  acts 
  which 
  converge 
  towards 
  a 
  definite 
  re- 
  

   sult. 
  Behaviour 
  is 
  seen 
  at 
  many 
  levels 
  and 
  in 
  diverse 
  modes, 
  

   which 
  will 
  be 
  discussed 
  later, 
  but 
  its 
  common 
  features 
  are 
  

   correlation, 
  concatenation, 
  individuality, 
  and 
  purposiveness. 
  

   Big 
  words, 
  indeed, 
  for 
  the 
  Amoeba 
  gliding 
  along 
  on 
  the 
  mud 
  

   of 
  the 
  duck-pond. 
  And 
  yet, 
  if 
  we 
  take 
  this 
  Amoeba, 
  and 
  

   lay 
  aside 
  the 
  contempt 
  which 
  superficial 
  familiarity 
  breeds, 
  

   we 
  find 
  that 
  we 
  are 
  only 
  beginning 
  to 
  make 
  its 
  acquaintance. 
  

  

  Professor 
  Jennings 
  describes 
  a 
  large 
  Amoeba, 
  a, 
  which 
  had 
  

   imperfectly 
  swallowed 
  a 
  smaller 
  one, 
  6. 
  The 
  prisoner 
  moved 
  

   as 
  if 
  trying 
  to 
  escape, 
  the 
  swallower 
  moved 
  as 
  if 
  trying 
  to 
  

   prevent 
  it. 
  Finally 
  the 
  small 
  one 
  did 
  get 
  completely 
  out 
  

   again, 
  whereupon 
  the 
  large 
  Amoeba, 
  a, 
  reversed 
  its 
  course, 
  

   overtook 
  5, 
  engulfed 
  it 
  completely, 
  and 
  started 
  away. 
  The 
  

   small 
  Amoeba, 
  again 
  imprisoned, 
  lay 
  still 
  until 
  through 
  the 
  

   movements 
  of 
  a 
  there 
  happened 
  to 
  be 
  but 
  a 
  thin 
  layer 
  of 
  

  

  