72 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE ORGANISM 



is also itself individualised ? Or does it contradict the 

 concept of a machine to assume that a typical arrangement 

 of physico-chemical elements might respond to typically 

 combined stimuli with always a typically combined effect, 

 though the single elements of the one do not stand in causal 

 relation to the single elements of the other ? 



In a former part of our lectures, when dealing with the 

 physiology of metabolism and of immunity in particular, 

 we said already that the indefiniteness of correspondence 

 between specific cause and specific effect, always following 

 the principle of adaptive regulation, may be taken as in- 

 dicating at least the autonomy of life-processes. It was of 

 " simple " stimuli that we were then speaking ; but now we 

 have to do with " individualised " stimuli, and it seems to 

 me that a proof of vitalism is now possible instead of a 

 mere indication of it, on account of the intimate nature of 

 the correspondence between the individualised stimulus and 

 the individualised effect, both of which are totalities. 1 



Goltz, 2 when analysing the movements of frogs deprived 

 of their hemispheres, introduced the term "answering 

 reaction " (" Antwortsreaktion ") in order to state what 

 happened in his experiments. He did not altogether avoid 

 pseudo-psychology in his discussions, but, in spite of that, 

 his concept seems to me to be as valuable as his experiments 

 were. Indeed we may say that it is because they are 



1 What this "totality," built up of singularities, is, can be best understood 

 by an excursion into the field of pure psychology. The artist, a painter for 

 example, bears within himself the complete totality of what he is to perform, 

 and what afterwards is to be carried out by single acts of movement of his 

 hand. In the same way the single phrases of a conversation, in spite of their 

 consisting of single elements, form a totality that " means " something. 



2 JSeitragc zicr Lehre von den Functionen dcr Nerrenccntren des Frosches, 

 Berlin, 1869. 



