BIOLOGICAL CONTROL 



many things with the impounded water as 

 men can. 



This control is real. It is no illusion 

 to mock our anguished striving. Control 

 of behavior and of environment is in fact 

 a basic vital function. The organism dif- 

 fers from the dead mechanism through its 

 control of the energies which play around 

 it so that these do not corrode and de- 

 stroy it, but on the other hand they nourish 

 and perpetuate it. 



This is brought about because the liv- 

 ing body has the power to assimilate mat- 

 ter and energy and to shape these for its 

 own ends, that is, to control the course 

 of events taking place within its own sub- 

 stance in adaptive fashion. Control of 

 environment and of behavior by internal 

 processes, control of circumstances through 

 self-control — this is our measure of the 

 worth of life and the fullness thereof, 

 from Amoeba proteus to Homo sapiens. 



This is not figurative language nor is 

 there anything mystical or esoteric about 

 it. It is a statement of commonly observed 

 fact which endures the most searching sci- 

 entific examination. The mechanisms of 

 this internal control have not been fully 

 explored, but there is a vast wealth of 



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