INITIAL SYSTEMS 339 



continuity in the evolution of the whole living system. In 

 this connection it is easy to understand Hinshelwood's point 

 of view on our problem. He states that the processes of auto- 

 synthesis do not occur by the isolated self-reproduction of 

 cellular structures but arise as a result of the co-ordinated 

 interaction of all the cellular processes. Hinshelwood there- 

 fore refers very sceptically to the theory that the gene is 

 endowed with a * mystical ability to reproduce itself '. 



Concentrating on the dynamic aspect of the problem, 

 Pringle devotes his paper essentially only to a study of the 

 possibility of the development of organisation in time in open 

 systems. Pringle discusses their organisation in space very 

 vaguely. He bases his ideas on the materialistic approach 

 of A. M. Turing^^ whose computations showed that some 

 kinds of dynamic systems which were originally homogene- 

 ous could undergo such progressive modification that they 

 became heterogeneous, the dissolved substances being con- 

 centrated locally without invoking adsorption on pre-existing 

 particles. 



Hence, in a completely homogeneous system it is hard to 

 predict the site where local concentrations will occur, because 

 this is determined by random oscillations and the rates of 

 different reactions. Such a system would be unstable in 

 respect of these local concentrations and would tend to stabil- 

 ise itself, and this offers a mechanism for the formation of 

 structures where there were none before. If there is any 

 initial heterogeneity it may provide a focus for morpho- 

 genesis. However, according to Pringle such a morphogenetic 

 process demands the complete absence of turbulence in the 

 waters of the ocean and can therefore only take place at great 

 depths. 



Thus, in Pringle's view, the open system as it first arose 

 had no real boundaries and merely consisted of local increases 

 in the concentration of reacting substances at some points in 

 the primaeval ocean. 



M. Ycas^* goes even further in this direction in his observa- 

 tions on the origin of life. He gives a rather interesting 

 diagram of the interaction of catalytic cycles, according to 

 which a product of a reaction in cycle A increases the limit- 

 ing rate of a reaction in cycle B and, conversely, a product 



