FATALISM OR FREEDOM 



information on this subject which will be 

 found summarized in the manuals of 

 anatomy and physiology. 



The environmental energies cause no 

 reaction at all unless the bodily organiza- 

 tion is in some way attuned to them. The 

 blind man is entirely unaffected by the 

 movement of a tarantula running down his 

 coat sleeve; the average man dashes the 

 vermin to the ground in terror; the natu- 

 ralist may eagerly capture the rare speci- 

 men for his collection. The behavior in 

 each case is determined by the internal or- 

 ganization at the moment, though this 

 mechanism is set on a trigger which must 

 be pulled by an external agency. The re- 

 action in both of the last two cases is 

 controlled, in one instance, by unreasoned 

 impulse firmly implanted perhaps In in- 

 stinctive endowment, in the other, by intel- 

 ligently directed purpose; and we wonder 

 whether the latter type of control can be 

 subjected to scientific analysis as truly as 

 the former. 



When we know what energies reverbe- 

 rate within the single cell of an ameba 

 while it goes about the humble business 

 of its simple life a long step will have 

 been taken toward an understanding of 



[28] 



