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  THE 
  UNIQUENESS 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  

  

  8. 
  Retrospect. 
  

  

  How 
  does 
  the 
  ' 
  biological 
  ' 
  position 
  differ 
  from 
  the 
  theories 
  

   already 
  illustrated? 
  The 
  first 
  theory 
  was 
  that 
  the 
  activity 
  

   of 
  living 
  creatures 
  stands 
  apart 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  not-living 
  things 
  

   only 
  in 
  being 
  very 
  much 
  more 
  complex. 
  The 
  ' 
  biological 
  ' 
  

   view 
  recognises 
  that 
  many 
  describable 
  chemical 
  and 
  physi- 
  

   cal 
  processes 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  living 
  body; 
  and 
  admits 
  that 
  many 
  

   more 
  such 
  processes 
  and 
  much 
  more 
  complicated 
  ones 
  

   will 
  be 
  eventually 
  sifted 
  out, 
  but 
  insists 
  that 
  even 
  if 
  the 
  

   ledger 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  chemical 
  and 
  physical 
  transactions 
  were 
  

   complete, 
  it 
  would 
  not 
  furnish 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  creature's 
  

   life 
  from 
  day 
  to 
  day, 
  nor 
  of 
  its 
  behaviour, 
  nor 
  of 
  its 
  individ- 
  

   ual 
  development, 
  nor 
  of 
  its 
  racial 
  evolution; 
  and 
  why 
  not? 
  

   Because 
  the 
  concepts 
  of 
  chemistry 
  and 
  physics 
  fail 
  to 
  grip. 
  

   This 
  is 
  what 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  acutest 
  and 
  best-informed 
  of 
  modern 
  

   methodologists, 
  Professor 
  Enriques, 
  means 
  by 
  saying: 
  

   " 
  The 
  mechanical 
  hypothesis 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  incom- 
  

   patible 
  with 
  the 
  phenomena 
  of 
  life, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  unimportant 
  

   for 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  these 
  phenomena' 
  (1914, 
  p. 
  385). 
  And 
  

   again 
  he 
  speaks 
  of 
  " 
  the 
  irrelevancy 
  of 
  the 
  mechanical 
  ex- 
  

   planation 
  in 
  biology' 
  (1914, 
  p. 
  384). 
  And 
  why 
  do 
  the 
  

   chemico-physical 
  formula? 
  fail 
  to 
  grip 
  the 
  essential 
  features 
  

   of 
  the 
  activity 
  we 
  call 
  living 
  ? 
  Not 
  because 
  the 
  processes 
  in- 
  

   volved 
  are 
  too 
  difficult 
  or 
  too 
  complex 
  but 
  because 
  they 
  

   demand 
  a 
  different 
  order 
  of 
  scientific 
  explanation. 
  

  

  The 
  second 
  theory 
  was 
  that 
  living 
  creatures 
  have 
  exclu- 
  

   sive 
  possession 
  of 
  a 
  peculiar 
  form 
  of 
  energy 
  in 
  a 
  line 
  with 
  

   the 
  other 
  forms 
  of 
  energy, 
  like 
  heat 
  and 
  electricity, 
  and 
  

   not 
  in 
  any 
  way 
  mystical, 
  but 
  amenable 
  to 
  experimental 
  

   and 
  mathematical 
  treatment. 
  The 
  ' 
  biological 
  ' 
  position 
  dif- 
  

   fers 
  from 
  this 
  in 
  refraining 
  (in 
  the 
  meantime) 
  from 
  any 
  

  

  