﻿ORGANISM 
  AND 
  MECHANISM 
  115 
  

  

  of 
  chemical 
  and 
  physical 
  laws 
  to 
  the 
  activities 
  of 
  organisms, 
  

   there 
  are 
  also 
  in 
  organisms 
  novel 
  circumstances 
  which 
  seem 
  

   to 
  alter 
  cases. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  connection, 
  the 
  Italian 
  physicist 
  and 
  mathema- 
  

   tician 
  Enriques 
  writes 
  (1914, 
  p. 
  376) 
  : 
  " 
  Only 
  a 
  few 
  general 
  

   physical 
  relations, 
  persisting 
  through 
  all 
  varieties 
  of 
  condi- 
  

   tions, 
  are 
  found 
  to 
  be 
  verified 
  without 
  change 
  in 
  the 
  realm 
  

   of 
  biology, 
  as, 
  for 
  example, 
  the 
  conservation 
  of 
  matter 
  and 
  of 
  

   energy. 
  But 
  among 
  the 
  less 
  extended 
  laws 
  that 
  refer 
  to 
  

   diffusion 
  or 
  osmosis 
  or 
  electric 
  conductivity, 
  etc., 
  we 
  meet 
  

   at 
  every 
  step 
  with 
  exceptions 
  and 
  apparent 
  contradictions." 
  

   He 
  refers, 
  for 
  instance, 
  to 
  the 
  fish 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Torpedo, 
  as 
  

   " 
  a 
  living 
  Leyden 
  jar 
  ", 
  and 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  While 
  the 
  functioning 
  of 
  

   an 
  electrical 
  machine 
  is 
  so 
  easily 
  hindered 
  by 
  the 
  moisture 
  

   of 
  the 
  insulator, 
  here 
  we 
  see 
  a 
  charge 
  which 
  is 
  not 
  lost 
  in 
  

   the 
  watery 
  fluid 
  with 
  which 
  the 
  tissues 
  of 
  the 
  animal 
  are 
  

   saturated." 
  The 
  living 
  cells 
  of 
  the 
  bladder 
  hinder 
  the 
  dif- 
  

   fusion 
  of 
  water 
  : 
  " 
  We 
  can 
  only 
  say 
  that 
  a 
  moist 
  tissue 
  

   prevents 
  the 
  passage 
  of 
  water 
  "by 
  virtue 
  of 
  being 
  alive,, 
  for 
  

   it 
  loses 
  this 
  property 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  death 
  has 
  taken 
  place." 
  

   Enriques 
  also 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  Galeotti, 
  who 
  has 
  shown 
  

   that 
  protoplasm 
  hinders 
  the 
  diffusion 
  of 
  certain 
  substances, 
  

   and 
  in 
  certain 
  cases 
  offers 
  an 
  especial 
  resistance 
  to 
  the 
  

   ions 
  moved 
  by 
  electro-motor 
  force. 
  It 
  may 
  be 
  said 
  that 
  these 
  

   difficulties 
  are 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  particularly 
  complex 
  conditions. 
  

   But 
  in 
  the 
  meantime 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  unscientific 
  to 
  state 
  that 
  the 
  

   * 
  analytical 
  explanation 
  ' 
  is 
  not 
  as 
  yet 
  forthcoming. 
  What 
  

   is 
  gained 
  by 
  advancing 
  to 
  a 
  ' 
  synthetic 
  explanation 
  ', 
  which 
  

   starts 
  with 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  life, 
  is 
  another 
  question 
  to 
  be 
  con- 
  

   sidered 
  later 
  on. 
  

  

  So 
  far, 
  then, 
  our 
  conclusions 
  are, 
  (1) 
  that 
  many 
  chemical 
  

   and 
  physical 
  processes 
  go 
  on 
  in 
  the 
  living 
  body 
  which 
  are 
  

  

  