﻿110 
  ORGANISM 
  AND 
  MECHANISM 
  

  

  2. 
  Chemical 
  and 
  Physical 
  Laws 
  apply 
  to 
  Organisms. 
  

  

  The 
  apartness 
  of 
  living 
  creatures 
  was 
  stated 
  by 
  Kant 
  in 
  

   a 
  famous 
  passage. 
  " 
  It 
  is 
  quite 
  certain 
  that 
  we 
  cannot 
  be- 
  

   come 
  sufficiently 
  acquainted 
  with 
  organised 
  creatures 
  and 
  

   their 
  hidden 
  potentialities 
  by 
  aid 
  of 
  purely 
  mechanical 
  

   natural 
  principles 
  ; 
  much 
  less 
  can 
  we 
  explain 
  them 
  ; 
  and 
  

   this 
  is 
  so 
  certain, 
  that 
  we 
  may 
  boldly 
  assert 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  absurd 
  

   for 
  man 
  even 
  to 
  conceive 
  such 
  an 
  idea, 
  or 
  to 
  hope 
  that 
  a 
  

   Newton 
  may 
  one 
  day 
  arise 
  able 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  production 
  

   of 
  a 
  blade 
  of 
  grass 
  comprehensible, 
  according 
  to 
  natural 
  

   laws 
  ordained 
  by 
  no 
  intention 
  ; 
  such 
  an 
  insight 
  we 
  must 
  

   absolutely 
  deny 
  to 
  man 
  ' 
  (Teleological 
  Faculty 
  of 
  Judgment, 
  

   74). 
  We 
  wonder 
  how 
  much 
  of 
  this 
  he 
  would 
  have 
  

   written 
  had 
  he 
  known 
  the 
  bio-chemistry 
  and 
  bio-physics 
  of 
  

   to-day. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  now 
  recognised 
  by 
  all 
  vitalists 
  included 
  that 
  

   chemical 
  and 
  physical 
  laws 
  apply 
  to 
  'living 
  creatures 
  to 
  

   what 
  may 
  be 
  called 
  their 
  inorganic 
  aspect. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  

   confusion 
  of 
  ' 
  categories 
  ? 
  in 
  so 
  doing. 
  Chemically 
  regarded, 
  

   the 
  living 
  creature 
  is 
  of 
  a 
  piece 
  with 
  its 
  surroundings 
  ; 
  it 
  

   contains 
  no 
  peculiar 
  elements. 
  The 
  most 
  essential 
  sub- 
  

   stances, 
  which 
  are 
  always 
  present, 
  are 
  proteins, 
  but 
  there 
  

   is 
  nothing 
  rare 
  in 
  their 
  composition, 
  just 
  the 
  carbon, 
  

   hydrogen, 
  oxygen, 
  nitrogen, 
  and 
  so 
  on 
  of 
  the 
  surrounding 
  

   world. 
  The 
  peculiarity 
  of 
  proteins 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  complexity 
  

   of 
  their 
  molecules, 
  which 
  consist 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  

   atoms, 
  and 
  in 
  their 
  general 
  occurrence 
  in 
  a 
  colloid 
  state, 
  

   which 
  has 
  very 
  important 
  physical 
  properties. 
  It 
  used 
  to 
  

   be 
  thought 
  that 
  organic 
  substances 
  could 
  be 
  made 
  only 
  by 
  

   the 
  direct 
  touch 
  of 
  life, 
  but 
  the 
  synthetic 
  chemist 
  has 
  built 
  

  

  t/ 
  

  

  lip 
  samples 
  of 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  difTt 
  rent 
  kinds 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  

  

  