THE DOMAINS OF MORPHOLOGY 7 



points in the system to be investigated. It is only after this that time 

 can be introduced as a parameter, to pass on from static to dynamic 

 considerations. Just so in biology. Every physiological^ research, being 

 concerned essentially with changes in course of time, presupposes a 

 complete knowledge of morphology. The relatio ns between the various 

 organs and tissues can only be studied in their dependence on time if 

 their spatial arrangement has been ascertained with accuracy. This 

 explains the tremendous flight which the physiology of the human 

 body has taken in connection with the development of anat omy and 

 histology. 



Passing from the total organism to the elementary organism of the 

 cell, we must expect similar relations. If, therefore, we want to study 

 the physiology of cells successfully, we must know their morphology 

 as thoroughly as that of the total organism. The invisible texture of the 

 cell, however, which is the object of line structure or micellar morpho- 

 logy, is still in its infancy. The difficulties in this field of research are 

 great and at present we still do not know how far we shall be able to 

 proceed. Each new gain in this direction, however, will not only 

 augment the archives of the descriptive science of nature, but will 

 redound to the benefit of physiology, and will in the end satisfy our 

 thirst for knowledge. 



1 Physiologji is the science of events and processes in living organisms. Both these ex- 

 pressions clearly indicate that time is involved, i.e., they show the dynamic character of 

 physiology. Biomorphohgy and biochemistry, on the other hand, are not concerned with time; 

 the one describes the spatial arrangement and the other the properties of organic matter. 

 It is only when time begins to play a part that morphology hQCome.s physiolo^ of development 

 and biochemistry becomes physiology of metabolism which, combined, give general physio- 

 logy, taking into account all variable quantities, i.e. space, matter and time, which are 

 accessible to our tools of research. In view of this, we fail to see why the attribute 

 "dynamic" is nowadays added so readily to the branches of knowledge which describe 

 biology. A combination such as "dynamic morphology" is quite inconsistent because, 

 by definition, morphology can do no more than describe or explain given spatial arrange- 

 ments, whereas, as soon as changes in spatial arrangement are considered, we enter the 

 domain of physiology. 



