Attempt to Subordinate Protista to CcU-Theory 281 



of the protozoa, and to make clear that tissues and organs 

 can belong only to m.ulticellular organisms." ^ 



If one looks into Ehrenberg's conception that "was 

 destined to be overthrown," and the controversies it pro- 

 voked, a very significant thing comes to light. He finds 

 repeated reference to the fact that prominent among those 

 who lielped to overthrow Ehrenberg's false teaching was 

 Felix Dujardin. The current form of statement of the dif- 

 ference between these two naturalists may be illustrated by 

 the following from Calkins : "A formidable opponent soon 

 appeared in France — Felix Dujardin — who, influenced by 

 long study of the Rhizopoda, came to the conclusion in 

 1835, that the marine forms (Foraminifera) which up to 

 that time had been classed with cephalopod molluscs, are in 

 reality the simplest organisms, composed of a simple homo- 

 geneous substance which he called 'sarcode.' " " 



The reader will recognize in the clash here indicated only 

 another special instance of the ages-old conflict between the 

 organismal and elementalist conceptions of living beings. 

 But this instance is suflicientl}^ important in both its theoret- 

 ical implications and its practical consequences to merit 

 a somewhat close examination. To begin with, particular 

 notice should be taken of the type of elementalism upheld 

 by Dujardin, namely, that of a simple homogeneous sub- 

 stance as the basis of all life. This finds expression in his 

 sarcode theory, which has cut a large figure in later specu- 

 lative biology. The conflict between Dujardin and Ehren- 

 berg was first and foremost theoretical. The kernel of the 

 former's theory was that there must be a substance of 

 organisms more fundamental than organisms themselves, 

 while Ehrenberg stood for the view that organisms, no mat- 

 ter how simple, must still be organized. He contended that 

 all the organisms we actually know, including "Infusions- 

 thierchen" (and for him practically all microscopic organ- 

 isms came under this term) are demonstrably organized. 



