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  ORGANISM 
  AND 
  MECHANISM 
  

  

  across 
  the 
  waste 
  of 
  seas. 
  This 
  seems 
  to 
  us 
  so 
  different 
  from 
  

   the 
  return 
  of 
  the 
  boomerang 
  to 
  the 
  thrower's 
  hand 
  that 
  we 
  

   venture 
  to 
  call 
  it 
  different 
  in 
  kind. 
  

  

  When 
  we 
  are 
  dealing 
  with 
  higher 
  animals, 
  presumably 
  

   with 
  conscious 
  processes 
  analogous 
  to 
  our 
  own, 
  the 
  contrast 
  

   with 
  a 
  mechanism 
  stands 
  out 
  even 
  more 
  clearly. 
  An 
  engine 
  

   overcomes 
  hindrances, 
  force 
  against 
  force, 
  but 
  it 
  has 
  no 
  

   resource, 
  no 
  alternatives, 
  no 
  tactics. 
  But 
  an 
  organism 
  with 
  

   a 
  mind 
  at 
  work, 
  a 
  conscious 
  organism, 
  is 
  different 
  in 
  its 
  

   relation 
  to 
  hindrances. 
  As 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  S. 
  Haldane 
  says, 
  " 
  It 
  

   is 
  aware 
  of, 
  and 
  avoids, 
  neutralises, 
  or 
  even 
  takes 
  advantage 
  

   of 
  them. 
  It 
  adapts 
  its 
  behaviour 
  in 
  such 
  a 
  manner 
  as 
  to 
  

   maintain 
  itself 
  in 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  what 
  is 
  outside 
  the 
  mere 
  

   organic 
  unity 
  of 
  its 
  life. 
  But 
  in 
  so 
  doing 
  the 
  organism 
  

   shows 
  itself 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  mere 
  organism 
  ; 
  it 
  includes 
  

   within 
  the 
  unity 
  of 
  its 
  life 
  what 
  seemed 
  to 
  be 
  independent 
  ' 
  

   (Life 
  and 
  Finite 
  Individuality, 
  p. 
  23). 
  

  

  6. 
  Difficulty 
  of 
  Applying 
  Mechanistic 
  Formulae 
  to 
  

  

  Development. 
  

  

  Our 
  third 
  test 
  of 
  mechanistic 
  interpretation 
  is 
  with 
  regard 
  

   to 
  development. 
  When 
  we 
  watch 
  a 
  transparent 
  marine 
  

   animal, 
  such 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Salps, 
  we 
  can 
  see 
  the 
  movements 
  

   of 
  internal 
  parts 
  the 
  beating 
  of 
  the 
  heart, 
  for 
  instance 
  

   and 
  though 
  what 
  we 
  see 
  is 
  not 
  like 
  anything 
  in 
  inorganic 
  

   nature, 
  we 
  are 
  reminded 
  of 
  a 
  smoothly-working 
  machine 
  

   like 
  a 
  chronometer. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  when 
  we 
  have 
  the 
  

   good 
  fortune 
  to 
  observe 
  a 
  development 
  actually 
  going 
  on 
  in 
  

   perfect 
  translucency, 
  for 
  instance 
  in 
  the 
  egg 
  of 
  the 
  moth 
  

   Botys 
  Jiyalinalis, 
  our 
  unprejudiced 
  impression 
  must 
  surely 
  

   be, 
  that 
  this 
  is 
  very 
  far 
  away 
  from 
  anything 
  mechanical, 
  

   that 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  fact 
  very 
  unlike 
  anything 
  else 
  in 
  the 
  world. 
  

  

  