PRESENT-DAY BIOLOGICAL THOUGHT 69 



themselves Mechanists disprove it by their own writings. 

 A substitution of words does not convert the vitalistic 

 phenomenon into a mechanical phenomenon. Several of 

 our outstanding biologists who call themselves Mechan- 

 ists, are really Vitalists by virtue of the very arguments 

 offered in their writings, which in many instances are 

 mere adaptations of the old scholastic arguments. 



''One of the amusing instances of pretended Mechan- 

 ism is that brought forth in the various articles on 

 Emergent Evolution. This 'selective behavior' of 'mass 

 behavior' referred to in these writings, (though the 

 authors themselves seem to miss this) has presented a 

 new and one of the most powerful arguments for Vital- 

 ism as yet discovered ; e.g., any drop of water will have 

 the same behavior all the world over, when given identi- 

 cal conditions. One Paramecium, as well as one of many 

 another organism, does not behave precisely alike to all 

 others, even under identical conditions. Many drops of 

 water will still behave alike under the same identical con- 

 ditions (freezing, boiling) ; but many Paramecia in a 

 group or mass will behave startlingly different from the 

 single individual. This is also shown in other species, e.g., 

 the hunting of wolves singly and in packs, human beings 

 under control of 'mob psychology,' etc." 



The following letter throws some light on why many 

 biologists feel that they must adhere to the laboratory 

 findings exclusively, and not permit themselves to be 

 drawn into philosophical discussions, even if these latter 

 may really be of much greater importance to mankind 



