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  THE 
  UNIQUENESS 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  

  

  while 
  others 
  put 
  them 
  into 
  the 
  proper 
  compartments, 
  others 
  

   shut 
  the 
  doors 
  and 
  give 
  the 
  signals, 
  and 
  others 
  work 
  the 
  

   points, 
  the 
  correlation 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  by 
  the 
  chief 
  Entelechy 
  

   is 
  just 
  the 
  problem 
  we 
  started 
  with. 
  

  

  To 
  many 
  it 
  appears 
  that 
  to 
  assume 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  an 
  

   Entelechy 
  does 
  not 
  help 
  in 
  the 
  least. 
  " 
  It 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  merely 
  

   a 
  way 
  of 
  collecting 
  all 
  the 
  difficulties 
  together 
  and 
  giving 
  the 
  

   bundle 
  a 
  name." 
  Professor 
  Jennings 
  asks 
  persistently 
  how 
  

   the 
  Entelechy 
  gets 
  its 
  power 
  of 
  co-ordinating 
  and 
  harmonis- 
  

   ing. 
  " 
  To 
  accept 
  the 
  Entelechy 
  unanalysed 
  and 
  unexplained 
  

   is 
  merely 
  to 
  give 
  up 
  the 
  problem 
  as 
  insoluble." 
  And 
  if 
  

   we 
  try 
  to 
  work 
  out 
  a 
  comparative 
  development 
  of 
  Entele- 
  

   chies, 
  " 
  then 
  surely 
  we 
  are 
  merely 
  transferring 
  our 
  problem 
  

   from 
  the 
  complex 
  that 
  we 
  actually 
  find 
  in 
  time 
  and 
  space 
  

   to 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  manufactured 
  copy 
  of 
  this 
  problem, 
  presenting 
  

   the 
  same 
  difficulties, 
  with 
  the 
  additional 
  one 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  

   impalpable 
  and 
  cannot 
  be 
  directly 
  dealt 
  with 
  at 
  all. 
  The 
  

   Entelechy 
  simply 
  adds 
  to 
  our 
  difficulties." 
  

  

  We 
  confess 
  to 
  some 
  sympathy 
  with 
  those 
  who 
  ask 
  why 
  

   there 
  should 
  be 
  all 
  this 
  straining 
  and 
  striving 
  to 
  remove 
  

   organisms 
  from 
  the 
  domain 
  which 
  includes 
  the 
  stars 
  and 
  

   precious 
  stones, 
  Northern 
  Lights 
  and 
  dew-drops. 
  For 
  the 
  

   world 
  that 
  we 
  parcel 
  out 
  is 
  probably 
  one 
  after 
  all, 
  and 
  in 
  

   any 
  case 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  stigma 
  in 
  being 
  mechanical. 
  With 
  this 
  

   sympathy 
  we 
  would 
  quote 
  from 
  a 
  colleague 
  : 
  " 
  I 
  am 
  neither 
  

   afraid 
  nor 
  ashamed 
  to 
  uphold 
  (to 
  the 
  great 
  length 
  that 
  I 
  

   have 
  gone) 
  a 
  mechanical 
  theory 
  of 
  the 
  organism 
  and 
  its 
  

   activities, 
  or 
  rather 
  of 
  its 
  reactions 
  with 
  the 
  outer 
  world. 
  I 
  

   do 
  not 
  admit 
  that 
  in 
  doing 
  so 
  we 
  degrade 
  our 
  conceptions, 
  

   or 
  belittle 
  our 
  notions, 
  of 
  the 
  organism. 
  The 
  mechanical 
  

   concept 
  is 
  no 
  base 
  one 
  at 
  all. 
  The 
  earth 
  itself 
  and 
  the 
  sea, 
  

   the 
  earth 
  with 
  her 
  slowly 
  changing 
  face, 
  and 
  the 
  sea 
  multi- 
  

  

  