﻿ORGANISM 
  AND 
  MECHANISM 
  139 
  

  

  personal 
  experience 
  had 
  led 
  him, 
  the 
  practical 
  conclusion 
  

   is 
  that 
  we 
  must 
  keep 
  as 
  close 
  as 
  we 
  can 
  to 
  the 
  observable 
  

   realities, 
  for 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  touch 
  with 
  these 
  that 
  we 
  are 
  most 
  likely 
  

   to 
  get 
  fresh 
  light. 
  

  

  SUMMARY. 
  

  

  Chemically 
  considered, 
  the 
  organism 
  is 
  of 
  a 
  piece 
  with 
  its 
  sur- 
  

   roundings 
  (though 
  very 
  much 
  more 
  complex 
  than 
  any 
  mere 
  thing) 
  ; 
  

   it 
  may 
  be 
  usefully 
  studied 
  by 
  chemical 
  methods; 
  it 
  exhibits 
  many 
  

   chemical 
  processes 
  which 
  can 
  be 
  studied 
  in 
  isolation. 
  Similarly, 
  

   many 
  well-known 
  physical 
  processes 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  living 
  body, 
  and 
  

   there 
  is 
  in 
  its 
  activity 
  no 
  known 
  contradiction 
  of 
  the 
  law 
  of 
  the 
  

   conservation 
  of 
  energy. 
  A 
  chemical 
  and 
  physical 
  (i.e., 
  theoretically 
  

   mechanical) 
  description 
  can 
  be 
  given 
  of 
  much 
  that 
  goes 
  on 
  in 
  the 
  

   living 
  body, 
  and 
  this 
  kind 
  of 
  description 
  will 
  certainly 
  extend 
  its 
  

   scope. 
  At 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  there 
  are 
  difficulties 
  in 
  this 
  chemico- 
  

   physical 
  description; 
  some 
  vital 
  processes 
  do 
  not 
  illustrate 
  Van't 
  

   HofFs 
  rule 
  and 
  it 
  sometimes 
  seems 
  as 
  if 
  the 
  organism 
  were 
  able 
  to 
  

   effect 
  some 
  evasion 
  of 
  the 
  second 
  law 
  of 
  thermodynamics. 
  

  

  But 
  while 
  chemical 
  and 
  physical 
  (ideally 
  mechanical) 
  description 
  

   has 
  its 
  place 
  and 
  usefulness 
  in 
  the 
  organic 
  realm, 
  it 
  is 
  inadequate 
  to 
  

   answer 
  the 
  distinctively 
  biological 
  questions. 
  It 
  does 
  not 
  cover 
  

   the 
  characteristic 
  facts 
  of 
  life. 
  

  

  If 
  we 
  consider 
  the 
  everyday 
  functions 
  of 
  the 
  body, 
  we 
  find 
  that 
  

   there 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  given 
  any 
  chemico-physical 
  description 
  of 
  any 
  

   total 
  vital 
  operation, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  contraction 
  of 
  a 
  muscle. 
  We 
  

   cannot 
  satisfactorily 
  describe 
  in 
  mechanical 
  terms 
  either 
  the 
  con- 
  

   catenation 
  of 
  events 
  in 
  a 
  function 
  or 
  the 
  correlation 
  of 
  one 
  set 
  

   of 
  events 
  with 
  another 
  set. 
  This 
  is 
  still 
  more 
  marked 
  when 
  we 
  

   consider 
  animal 
  behaviour, 
  with 
  its 
  co-ordination 
  of 
  acts 
  in 
  an 
  

   effective 
  series. 
  

  

  As 
  to 
  individual 
  development, 
  we 
  cannot 
  give 
  a 
  mechanical 
  de- 
  

   scription 
  of 
  the 
  condensation 
  of 
  the 
  inheritance 
  into 
  a 
  germ-cell, 
  or 
  

   of 
  the 
  differentiation 
  of 
  the 
  embryo, 
  or 
  of 
  the 
  regulation-phenomena 
  

   observed 
  when 
  an 
  embryo 
  rights 
  itself 
  after 
  the 
  building 
  materials 
  

   of 
  its 
  living 
  edifice 
  have 
  been 
  seriously 
  disarranged, 
  or 
  of 
  the 
  way 
  

   in 
  which 
  many 
  developing 
  parts 
  seem 
  to 
  conspire 
  towards 
  one 
  result. 
  

   Similarly, 
  as 
  regards 
  organic 
  evolution, 
  we 
  cannot 
  offer 
  a 
  mechanical 
  

  

  