﻿ORGANISM 
  AND 
  MECHANISM 
  109 
  

  

  does 
  not 
  recognise 
  mental 
  factors 
  as 
  verce 
  causes 
  at 
  all, 
  and 
  

   as 
  there 
  are 
  organisms 
  and 
  vital 
  activities 
  which 
  are 
  not 
  

   known 
  to 
  have 
  any 
  mental 
  aspect, 
  we 
  shall 
  leave 
  this 
  limit 
  

   to 
  mechanistic 
  description 
  for 
  future 
  consideration. 
  

  

  So 
  the 
  first 
  question 
  is 
  whether, 
  mentality 
  apart, 
  there 
  are 
  

   irreducible 
  peculiarities 
  in 
  vital 
  activities 
  peculiarities 
  

   which 
  cannot 
  be 
  adequately 
  accounted 
  for 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  

   physico-chemical 
  or 
  ideally 
  mechanical 
  description 
  ? 
  Or 
  is 
  

   the 
  usually 
  admitted 
  incompleteness 
  of 
  the 
  physico-chem- 
  

   ical 
  description 
  of, 
  let 
  us 
  say, 
  a 
  reflex 
  action 
  merely 
  tem- 
  

   porary, 
  and 
  likely 
  soon 
  to 
  disappear? 
  

  

  The 
  second 
  question 
  is 
  a 
  little 
  different. 
  Of 
  the 
  move- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  the 
  heavenly 
  bodies 
  Gravitational 
  Astronomy 
  gives 
  

   mechanical 
  descriptions 
  which 
  are 
  practically 
  exhaustive 
  

   and 
  almost 
  perfectly 
  useful. 
  Now, 
  supposing 
  there 
  were 
  

   available 
  a 
  complete 
  mechanical 
  account 
  of, 
  say, 
  the 
  open- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  a 
  Yucca 
  flower, 
  would 
  that 
  be 
  all 
  that 
  is 
  wanted 
  in 
  

   Biology 
  ? 
  Would 
  light 
  have 
  been 
  thrown, 
  for 
  instance, 
  on 
  

   the 
  fact 
  that 
  only 
  one 
  Yucca 
  flower 
  opens 
  on 
  each 
  plant 
  

   each 
  evening, 
  that 
  the 
  flowers 
  begin 
  to 
  open 
  when 
  the 
  Yucca 
  

   moths 
  begin 
  to 
  emerge 
  from 
  their 
  cocoons, 
  that 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  

   the 
  flower 
  and 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  moth 
  are 
  closely 
  bound 
  up 
  

   together, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  one 
  without 
  the 
  other 
  is 
  not 
  made 
  

   perfect 
  ? 
  The 
  Yucca 
  flower 
  and 
  the 
  Yucca 
  moth 
  are 
  or- 
  

   ganisms 
  with 
  a 
  history; 
  they 
  have 
  come 
  to 
  work 
  into 
  one 
  

   another's 
  hands. 
  Are 
  their 
  adaptive 
  relations 
  only 
  different 
  

   in 
  degree 
  from 
  the 
  dynamical 
  relations 
  between 
  Earth 
  and 
  

   Moon, 
  or 
  must 
  we 
  admit 
  that 
  the 
  answers 
  to 
  distinctively 
  

   biological 
  questions 
  do 
  not 
  follow 
  from 
  even 
  a 
  complete 
  

   ledger 
  (were 
  that 
  available) 
  of 
  the 
  chemical 
  and 
  physical 
  

   transactions 
  ? 
  

  

  