CHAPTER VII 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC 



MULTIMOLECULAR SYSTEMS : 



THEIR ORGANISATION IN 



SPACE AND IN TIME 



Simple and complex coacervates. 



It is characteristic of life that it is not scattered diffusely 

 through space but manifests itself in indi\idual,, very compli- 

 cated, multimolecular systems which are delimited from their 

 surroundings, that is, in organisms. In these there takes 

 place a continual succession of strictly ordered physical and 

 chemical processes based on interactions between the organ- 

 ism and its surroundings which, together, constitute its meta- 

 bolism. 



From what has been said in the previous chapter we have 

 seen that it is wrong to suppose that the formation of such 

 highly-developed systems or organisms took place by the 

 combination of molecules of proteins, nucleic acids or other 

 substances which, if not actually endowed with life, w^re at 

 least fully capable of carrying out vital functions. The 

 development of the organisation peculiar to living things can 

 only have occurred as a result of evolution of systems which, 

 although more primitive, were nevertheless complete. At the 

 moment of their formation these systems did not have the 

 specific attributes of organisms. They were not alive and it 

 was not until later that they assumed these organisational 

 attributes and were transformed into systems which were 

 new in principle and of a higher order, that is to say, into 

 the first living things. 



The organisation of any system must be considered both 

 in space and in time. On the one hand the system has a 

 certain size and structure, an ordered relationship between 

 its various parts. On the other hand processes are carried 



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