THE SOCIETAL ORGANISM 



In cases where such a herd has become unusually 

 closely knit, it is more in accord with the facts of the 

 situation to regard the aggregate individuals no longer 

 as just comprising a herd, but as actually forming 

 a colony. 



Over a great number of generations some of these 

 colonies will become more integrated, as there surely 

 will at times exist environmental situations which will 

 favor the survival of more closely integrated colonies. 

 Such a colony will therefore take on more and more 

 the aspect of an entity with an existence of its own. 

 The chances of survival of the individual member out- 

 side of such a colony will become increasingly smaller. 

 Specialization of function of individuals to serve the 

 collective needs of the colony becomes evident as the 

 integration process makes headway. 



Continuation of this process must be expected to 

 eventually result in a colony so closely integrated, 

 that one can no longer regard it as a mere colony. It 

 will have developed an organic entity to such an extent 

 that it must properly be regarded as an organism in 

 its own right: that is, as an entity comprised of an 

 orderly aggregate of multicellular organisms as the 

 components. 



This new entity certainly deserves a name of its 

 own. It shall be called for the purposes of this presen- 

 tation a SOCIETAL ORGANISM. 



The next few pages of this book will be devoted to 



57 



