﻿ORGANISM 
  AND 
  MECHANISM 
  131 
  

  

  increases 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  get 
  appreciably 
  nearer 
  a 
  mechanical 
  

   description 
  of 
  development. 
  We 
  do, 
  however, 
  recognise 
  more 
  

   and 
  more 
  that 
  physical 
  and 
  chemical 
  processes 
  are 
  in 
  evi- 
  

   dence. 
  

  

  The 
  second 
  answer 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  word 
  mechanical 
  is 
  some- 
  

   times 
  applied 
  illegitimately 
  to 
  a 
  systematic 
  or 
  connected 
  

   account 
  which 
  displays 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  events 
  in 
  causal 
  coherence 
  

   without 
  the 
  intervention 
  of 
  mentality. 
  Given 
  certain 
  prop- 
  

   erties 
  of 
  organisms 
  in 
  general, 
  of 
  nerve-cells 
  and 
  muscle- 
  

   fibres 
  in 
  particular, 
  we 
  may 
  give 
  a 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  connected 
  

   and 
  complete 
  account 
  of 
  a 
  reflex 
  action 
  without 
  dragging 
  

   in 
  any 
  psychical 
  agency. 
  But 
  this 
  should 
  not 
  be 
  called 
  a 
  

   mechanical 
  description. 
  It 
  is 
  simply, 
  what 
  it 
  pretends 
  to 
  be, 
  

   a 
  physiological 
  or 
  biological 
  description, 
  and 
  it 
  implies 
  

   various 
  non-mechanical 
  concepts. 
  Similarly, 
  given 
  the 
  

   organism's 
  power 
  of 
  registration 
  and 
  of 
  persistently 
  re- 
  

   producing 
  its 
  specific 
  organisation, 
  given 
  the 
  cell's 
  mysteri- 
  

   ous 
  power 
  of 
  dividing 
  of 
  dividing 
  now 
  into 
  similar, 
  and 
  

   again 
  into 
  dissimilar 
  halves, 
  given 
  the 
  capacity 
  of 
  utilising 
  

   nurtural 
  stimuli 
  to 
  educe 
  the 
  inherent 
  manifoldness 
  of 
  the 
  

   germ, 
  and 
  so 
  forth, 
  we 
  can 
  make 
  a 
  show 
  of 
  discovering 
  the 
  

   connectedness 
  and 
  inevitableness 
  of 
  the 
  successive 
  stages 
  in 
  

   development. 
  But 
  we 
  cannot 
  without 
  abuse 
  of 
  terms 
  speak 
  

   of 
  this 
  as 
  a 
  mechanical 
  description. 
  

  

  7. 
  Difficulty 
  of 
  Applying 
  Mechanistic 
  Formula 
  to 
  

  

  Organic 
  Evolution. 
  

  

  As 
  a 
  fourth 
  test 
  of 
  the 
  adequacy 
  of 
  mechanistic 
  description 
  

   in 
  the 
  realm 
  of 
  organisms, 
  we 
  may 
  refer 
  very 
  briefly 
  to 
  

   evolution, 
  which 
  will 
  engage 
  our 
  attention 
  in 
  detail 
  by 
  and 
  

   by. 
  Such 
  phrases 
  as 
  ' 
  cosmic 
  evolution 
  ' 
  and 
  t 
  inorganic 
  

   evolution 
  ' 
  are 
  apt 
  to 
  suggest 
  the 
  mistaken 
  idea 
  that 
  organic 
  

  

  