820 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



elements of society to a central authority, wlietlier that of the patri- 

 arch, the tribal head, or the tribal assembly. The individual has no 

 economic, legal, or moral independence. But as society develops, 

 the control which the whole exerts over the parts through authority 

 and custom is gradually diminished. The individuality of the mem- 

 bers of the social body becomes more and more marked. Individual 

 freedom and responsibility are definitely recognized. Thus, the de- 

 velopment of society has meant " the development of individuality in 

 each of its members." It is a development of persons; the " social 

 consciousness exists only in the discrete social elements which have 

 become individual." * 



In a word, social evolution is accompanied by a gi-owing indi- 

 vidualization of the component elements of society, whereas animal 

 development leads to ever-stronger concentration of the life of the 

 organism in a single part. 



This difference between the physical organism and society is 

 fundamental and essential. It is far more striking than the super- 

 ficial likenesses ingeniously adduced by Mr, Spencer. His analogy 

 tends to obscure the real nature of social relations. Unless used with 

 cautious qualifications it " suggests false and one-sided views " and 

 thus hinders the progress of sociology. The biological analogy has, 

 it may be conceded, a certain value as a convenient way of describing 

 some of the aspects of social structure and gTowth. It may aid the 

 student to comprehend certain facts, but, if followed blindly, it will 

 lead him to overlook other facts of even greater importance. 



The biological analogy has been carried to absurd lengths by some 

 writers. There is wearisome enumeration of social aggTegates and 

 organs, and exhaustive description of the social nervous system. We 

 learn that the individual may be either a communicating cell or a 

 terminal cell, otherwise known as an end organ. The girl in the 

 central telephone office acts as a communicating cell when she tele- 

 phones to Mr. Smith a message from Mr. Brown. " But when, Mr. 

 Smith having asked her the exact time by the chronometer in the 

 exchange, she looks at the dial and reports her observation to him, 

 she is primarily a terminal cell or end organ." f The lookout man 

 at sea, on the other hand, is invariably an end organ. This is 

 far-fetched and fanciful. To clothe mere commonplaces in the bor- 

 rowed rags and tags of biological terminology is not social science, 

 nor does it aid one to get a correct conception of social reality. 



The unsettled state of sociological thought which has been here 

 set forth is a natural result of the peculiar difficulties that stand in 

 the way of the social sciences. These have been described by Mr. 



* Fairbanks. Ibidem. 



f Small and Vincent. Introduction to the Study of Society, p. 218. 



