﻿ORGANISM 
  AND 
  MECHANISM 
  117 
  

  

  4. 
  Criticism 
  of 
  Mechanistic 
  Descriptions 
  of 
  Everyday 
  

  

  Functions. 
  

  

  There 
  has 
  not 
  yet 
  been 
  given 
  any 
  physico-chemical 
  descrip- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  any 
  total 
  vital 
  operation. 
  Soon 
  after 
  the 
  establish- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  the 
  doctrine 
  of 
  the 
  conservation 
  of 
  energy, 
  about 
  

   the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  century, 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  remark- 
  

   able 
  mechanistic 
  boom. 
  The 
  impression 
  became 
  prevalent 
  

   that 
  the 
  citadel 
  of 
  life 
  was 
  about 
  to 
  be 
  taken 
  by 
  storm. 
  

   Nerves 
  were 
  like 
  wires 
  along 
  which 
  electricity 
  flowed 
  ; 
  the 
  

   kidney 
  was 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  filters; 
  respiration 
  was 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  

   the 
  diffusion 
  of 
  gases 
  ; 
  the 
  passage 
  of 
  digested 
  food 
  from 
  

   the 
  alimentary 
  canal 
  to 
  the 
  blood-vessels 
  was 
  a 
  process 
  of 
  

   osmosis 
  ; 
  and 
  so 
  on. 
  

  

  The 
  inevitable 
  reaction 
  followed 
  ; 
  it 
  was 
  found 
  that 
  things 
  

   were 
  not 
  so 
  simple 
  as 
  they 
  seemed. 
  The 
  physico-chemical 
  

   descriptions 
  leave 
  out 
  a 
  good 
  deal 
  big 
  residual 
  facts 
  which 
  

   seem 
  to 
  many 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  crucial 
  facts. 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  S. 
  Haldane 
  

   writes 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  application 
  to 
  physiology 
  of 
  new 
  physical 
  

   and 
  chemical 
  methods 
  and 
  discoveries, 
  and 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  

   generations 
  of 
  highly-trained 
  investigators, 
  have 
  resulted 
  

   in 
  a 
  vast 
  increase 
  of 
  physiological 
  knowledge, 
  but 
  have 
  shown 
  

   with 
  ever-increasing 
  clearness 
  that 
  physico-chemical 
  ex- 
  

   planations 
  of 
  elementary 
  physiological 
  processes 
  are 
  as 
  re- 
  

   mote 
  as 
  at 
  any 
  time 
  in 
  the 
  past, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  seem 
  to 
  

   physiologists 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  far 
  more 
  remote 
  than 
  they 
  

   appeared 
  at 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  last 
  century' 
  (1913, 
  p. 
  47). 
  

  

  In 
  his 
  contribution 
  to 
  Life 
  and 
  Finite 
  Individuality 
  

   (1918), 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  S. 
  Haldane 
  says 
  (p. 
  13) 
  : 
  " 
  I 
  need 
  only 
  refer 
  

   to 
  such 
  activities 
  as 
  the 
  oxidative 
  processes 
  in 
  living 
  tissues, 
  

   the 
  processes 
  of 
  secretion 
  and 
  absorption, 
  or 
  reflex 
  action. 
  

   There 
  is 
  a 
  prevalent 
  idea 
  that 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  chemistry, 
  

  

  