﻿THE 
  CRITERIA 
  OF 
  LIVINGNESS 
  99 
  

  

  ment 
  ' 
  be 
  inadmissible, 
  some 
  other 
  will 
  serve. 
  We 
  refer 
  

   to 
  the 
  permutations 
  and 
  combinations, 
  the 
  adjustments 
  and 
  

   compromises, 
  the 
  subtractions 
  and 
  additions 
  that 
  seem 
  to 
  

   occur 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  germ-cells. 
  

  

  As 
  W. 
  K. 
  Clifford 
  said, 
  " 
  It 
  is 
  the 
  peculiarity 
  of 
  living 
  

   things 
  not 
  merely 
  that 
  they 
  change 
  under 
  the 
  influence 
  

   of 
  surrounding 
  circumstances, 
  but 
  that 
  any 
  change 
  which 
  

   takes 
  place 
  in 
  them 
  is 
  not 
  lost, 
  but 
  retained, 
  and, 
  as 
  it 
  

   were, 
  built 
  into 
  the 
  organism 
  to 
  serve 
  as 
  the 
  foundation 
  

   for 
  future 
  actions." 
  As 
  Bergson 
  puts 
  it, 
  " 
  Its 
  past, 
  in 
  

   its 
  entirety, 
  is 
  prolonged 
  into 
  its 
  present, 
  and 
  abides 
  there, 
  

   actual 
  and 
  acting." 
  As 
  Jennings 
  says, 
  from 
  the 
  physiologi- 
  

   cal 
  point 
  of 
  view, 
  in 
  discussing 
  the 
  behaviour 
  of 
  the 
  brainless 
  

   starfish, 
  " 
  The 
  precise 
  way 
  each 
  part 
  shall 
  act 
  under 
  the 
  

   influence 
  of 
  the 
  stimulus 
  must 
  be 
  determined 
  by 
  the 
  past 
  

   history 
  of 
  that 
  part 
  ; 
  by 
  the 
  stimuli 
  that 
  have 
  acted 
  upon 
  

   it, 
  by 
  the 
  reactions 
  which 
  it 
  has 
  given, 
  by 
  the 
  results 
  which 
  

   these 
  reactions 
  have 
  produced 
  (as 
  well 
  as 
  by 
  the 
  present 
  

   relations 
  of 
  this 
  part 
  to 
  other 
  parts, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  immediate 
  

   effects 
  of 
  its 
  present 
  action). 
  We 
  know 
  as 
  solidly 
  as 
  we 
  

   know 
  anything 
  in 
  physiology 
  that 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  an 
  organism 
  

   does 
  modify 
  it 
  and 
  its 
  actions 
  in 
  ways 
  not 
  yet 
  thoroughly 
  

   understood, 
  doubtless, 
  yet 
  none 
  the 
  less 
  real. 
  7 
  ' 
  

  

  / 
  \J 
  

  

  (c) 
  The 
  crowning 
  attribute 
  of 
  life 
  and 
  the 
  most 
  elusive 
  

   is 
  variability, 
  the 
  organism's 
  power 
  of 
  producing 
  something 
  

   distinctively 
  new. 
  At 
  present 
  we 
  must 
  take 
  it 
  as 
  ' 
  given 
  '. 
  

   The 
  capacity 
  most 
  like 
  it 
  is 
  Man's 
  power 
  of 
  mental 
  experi- 
  

   ment, 
  the 
  secret 
  of 
  the 
  artist, 
  the 
  musician, 
  the 
  poet, 
  the 
  

   inventor, 
  the 
  thinker, 
  and 
  the 
  true 
  statesman. 
  

  

  A 
  discussion 
  of 
  this 
  innermost 
  secret 
  of 
  life 
  must 
  be 
  post- 
  

   poned 
  till 
  we 
  come 
  to 
  consider 
  the 
  factors 
  in 
  evolution, 
  but 
  

   two 
  points 
  may 
  be 
  noticed 
  in 
  the 
  meantime. 
  There 
  is 
  varia- 
  

  

  