﻿THE 
  UNIQUENESS 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  155 
  

  

  bring 
  forward 
  fact 
  after 
  fact 
  which 
  contradicts 
  the 
  possi- 
  

   bility 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  machine 
  accounting 
  for 
  the 
  result 
  observed. 
  

   Thus 
  by 
  an 
  argument 
  by 
  exclusion 
  he 
  seeks 
  to 
  prove 
  that 
  

   the 
  development 
  must 
  be 
  determined 
  by 
  a 
  non-spatial, 
  non- 
  

   perceptual 
  agent 
  or 
  Entelechy. 
  

  

  (a) 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  objections 
  to 
  thoroughgoing 
  vitalism 
  is 
  

   that 
  it 
  implies 
  a 
  definite 
  breach 
  in 
  the 
  fundamental 
  law 
  

   of 
  the 
  conservation 
  of 
  energy. 
  If 
  a 
  non-perceptual 
  agency 
  

   occasionally 
  directs 
  the 
  chemico-physical 
  operations 
  of 
  the 
  

   body, 
  there 
  must 
  be 
  some 
  exertion 
  of 
  power 
  which 
  does 
  not 
  

   figure 
  in 
  the 
  chemical 
  and 
  physical 
  accounts. 
  The 
  calo- 
  

   rimeter 
  experiments 
  seem 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  for 
  a 
  man 
  in 
  a 
  closed 
  

   system 
  the 
  expenditure 
  is 
  equal 
  to 
  the 
  income 
  over 
  a 
  term 
  

   of 
  days. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  gap 
  for 
  the 
  intervention 
  of 
  a 
  physical 
  

   agency; 
  no, 
  not 
  for 
  a 
  moment. 
  This 
  is 
  a 
  serious 
  objection, 
  

   yet 
  apt 
  to 
  pierce 
  the 
  hand 
  of 
  those 
  who 
  rely 
  on 
  it. 
  For 
  it 
  

   is 
  a 
  rash 
  procedure 
  to 
  use 
  a 
  physical 
  generalisation 
  as 
  a 
  

   dogma 
  in 
  the 
  realm 
  of 
  organisms. 
  It 
  is 
  begging 
  the 
  question. 
  

   Boyle's 
  Law 
  did 
  duty 
  for 
  a 
  couple 
  of 
  centuries 
  before 
  physi- 
  

   cists 
  discovered 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  accurate 
  only 
  between 
  certain 
  limits. 
  

   The 
  Law 
  of 
  Gravitation 
  does 
  not 
  hold 
  below 
  certain 
  sizes 
  and 
  

   distances. 
  Perhaps 
  the 
  Law 
  of 
  the 
  Conservation 
  of 
  Energy 
  

   does 
  not 
  quite 
  hold 
  for 
  living 
  creatures. 
  The 
  calorimeter 
  ex- 
  

   periments 
  are 
  not 
  so 
  absolutely 
  exact 
  that 
  it 
  can 
  be 
  asserted 
  

   that 
  the 
  balance 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  day 
  is 
  precisely 
  what 
  it 
  

   should 
  have 
  been 
  if 
  the 
  organism 
  were 
  a 
  mechanism 
  and 
  noth- 
  

   ing 
  more, 
  and 
  that 
  therefore 
  an 
  Entelechy 
  does 
  not 
  exist. 
  

   One 
  remembers 
  that 
  a 
  very 
  minute 
  expenditure 
  of 
  energy 
  

   may 
  effect 
  a 
  great 
  deal, 
  just 
  as 
  cutting 
  a 
  tape 
  or 
  pressing 
  

   a 
  button 
  launches 
  a 
  vessel. 
  Driesch's 
  Entelechy 
  is 
  supposed 
  

   to 
  act 
  by 
  inhibiting 
  for 
  a 
  time 
  the 
  transformation 
  of 
  one 
  kind 
  

   of 
  energy 
  into 
  another. 
  

  

  