﻿98 
  THE 
  CRITERIA 
  OF 
  LIVINGNESS 
  

  

  protoplasm 
  between 
  it 
  and 
  freedom. 
  It 
  then 
  broke 
  loose, 
  

   escaped 
  completely, 
  and 
  was 
  not 
  further 
  molested. 
  If 
  this 
  

   behaviour 
  had 
  been 
  described 
  and 
  even 
  drawn 
  by 
  a 
  tyro, 
  

   we 
  might 
  have 
  distrusted 
  it 
  entirely, 
  but 
  when 
  we 
  have 
  it 
  

   from 
  a 
  master 
  in 
  the 
  difficult 
  art 
  of 
  observing 
  Protozoa, 
  

   we 
  must 
  give 
  it 
  careful 
  consideration. 
  Without 
  saying 
  any- 
  

   thing 
  just 
  now 
  about 
  the 
  Amoeba's 
  mind, 
  must 
  we 
  not 
  agree 
  

   that 
  this 
  concatenation 
  of 
  following, 
  catching, 
  losing, 
  chasing, 
  

   re-capturing, 
  and 
  losing 
  again 
  is 
  either 
  behaviour 
  or 
  magic? 
  

  

  Most 
  living 
  creatures 
  show 
  more 
  behaviour 
  than 
  is 
  gen- 
  

   erally 
  supposed, 
  but 
  many 
  of 
  them, 
  plants 
  especially, 
  have 
  

   little. 
  We 
  often 
  complain 
  that 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  show 
  any 
  inter- 
  

   esting 
  habits 
  when 
  we 
  are 
  watching 
  them. 
  This 
  may 
  be 
  

   admitted, 
  however, 
  without 
  affecting 
  the 
  general 
  truth 
  of 
  the 
  

   statement 
  that 
  organisms 
  are 
  characterised 
  by 
  a 
  capacity 
  for 
  

   effective 
  behaviour. 
  That 
  many 
  men 
  run 
  their 
  lives, 
  or 
  

   have 
  to 
  run 
  their 
  lives 
  with 
  a 
  minimum 
  of 
  thinking, 
  does 
  

   not 
  affect 
  the 
  general 
  truth 
  of 
  the 
  statement 
  that 
  men 
  are 
  

   characterised 
  by 
  a 
  capacity 
  for 
  rational 
  discourse. 
  

  

  (b) 
  The 
  effectiveness 
  which 
  characterises 
  the 
  behaviour 
  of 
  

   those 
  organisms 
  that 
  show 
  enough 
  to 
  be 
  profitable 
  subjects 
  of 
  

   study, 
  appears 
  to 
  depend 
  on 
  profiting 
  by 
  experience 
  in 
  the 
  in- 
  

   dividual 
  lifetime, 
  or 
  on 
  the 
  entailed 
  results 
  of 
  ancestral 
  ex- 
  

   periments 
  (chiefly, 
  perhaps, 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  germinal 
  varia- 
  

   tions), 
  or, 
  usually, 
  on 
  both. 
  The 
  registration 
  of 
  experience 
  

   and 
  experiments 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  insignia 
  of 
  organisms, 
  but 
  

   we 
  must 
  include 
  under 
  the 
  term 
  organism 
  the 
  germ-cell, 
  

   which 
  is 
  an 
  implicit 
  organism, 
  a 
  microcosm 
  corresponding 
  

   to 
  the 
  macrocosm 
  which 
  develops 
  from 
  it. 
  We 
  must 
  include 
  

   the 
  germ-cells 
  because, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  we 
  can 
  judge 
  at 
  present, 
  

   many 
  if 
  not 
  most 
  new 
  departures 
  of 
  importance 
  have 
  had 
  

   their 
  origin 
  as 
  germinal 
  variations. 
  If 
  the 
  word 
  ' 
  experi- 
  

  

  