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  ORGANISM 
  AND 
  MECHANISM 
  

  

  evolution 
  is 
  simply 
  a 
  continuation 
  of 
  a 
  historical 
  inorganic 
  

   process 
  of 
  increasing 
  differentiation 
  and 
  heterogeneity. 
  It 
  

   may 
  be 
  continuous 
  with 
  it, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  continuation 
  of 
  

   it, 
  any 
  more 
  than 
  the 
  evolution 
  of 
  human 
  societary 
  forms 
  

   is 
  a 
  continuation 
  of 
  the 
  evolution 
  of 
  mammals. 
  The 
  issues 
  

   changed 
  when 
  organisms 
  began, 
  and 
  again 
  when 
  man 
  began. 
  

   Moreover, 
  what 
  is 
  called, 
  for 
  instance, 
  the 
  evolution 
  of 
  

   the 
  solar 
  system 
  should 
  rather 
  be 
  called 
  the 
  development 
  

   of 
  the 
  solar 
  system, 
  since 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  differentiation 
  of 
  one 
  

   mass 
  into 
  explicit 
  manifoldness. 
  The 
  originative 
  nebula 
  

   or 
  whirling 
  mass 
  of 
  planetesimals 
  is 
  comparable 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  

   world-egg, 
  to 
  borrow 
  Hume's 
  phrase, 
  and 
  we 
  may 
  think 
  of 
  

   it 
  as 
  developing 
  into 
  several 
  embryos, 
  as 
  eggs 
  sometimes 
  do. 
  

   But, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  we 
  know, 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  struggle 
  between 
  the 
  

   various 
  planets, 
  or 
  between 
  them 
  and 
  their 
  environmental 
  

   limitations. 
  There 
  was 
  no 
  sifting 
  process 
  which 
  eliminated 
  

   some 
  and 
  left 
  others 
  surviving. 
  Whether 
  we 
  speak 
  of 
  the 
  

   history, 
  or 
  differentiation, 
  or 
  development, 
  or 
  evolution 
  of 
  

   the 
  solar 
  system, 
  we 
  must 
  recognise 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  very 
  dif- 
  

   ferent 
  process 
  from 
  organic 
  evolution. 
  In 
  the 
  former 
  there 
  

   were 
  no 
  alternatives, 
  no 
  trial-and-error 
  methods. 
  There 
  

   was 
  nothing 
  comparable 
  to 
  the 
  staking 
  of 
  individual 
  lives 
  

   and 
  losing 
  them 
  which 
  is 
  characteristic 
  of 
  that 
  sublime 
  ad- 
  

  

  o 
  

  

  venture 
  which 
  we 
  call 
  organic 
  evolution. 
  The 
  theory 
  of 
  

  

  O 
  / 
  

  

  organic 
  evolution 
  starts 
  with 
  the 
  assumption 
  of 
  variability, 
  

   which 
  transcends 
  mechanical 
  interpretation 
  and 
  is 
  perhaps 
  

   least 
  obscure 
  at 
  present 
  when 
  we 
  think 
  of 
  it 
  most 
  anthropo- 
  

   morphically 
  as 
  experimenting 
  in 
  self-expression. 
  Moreover, 
  

   the 
  organism 
  is 
  in 
  some 
  measure 
  a 
  genuine 
  agent 
  even 
  in 
  

   the 
  process 
  of 
  natural 
  selection. 
  It 
  is 
  often 
  anything 
  but 
  

   a 
  passive 
  pawn. 
  It 
  does 
  not 
  simply 
  submit 
  to 
  the 
  apparently 
  

   inevitable. 
  It 
  often 
  evades 
  its 
  fate 
  by 
  a 
  change 
  of 
  habit 
  

  

  