ON THE RELATION BETWEEN THE FORM 

 AND THE METABOLISM OF THE CELL. 



THE problem to which I wish to draw the attention 

 of biologists in the following paper is one which, no 

 doubt, has already excited a certain amount of interest, 

 but which has not yet, as far as I know, been made the subject 

 of special research. I allude to the question as to the 

 relationship which may exist between the form and the 

 metabolism of the cell. This subject is of peculiar import- 

 ance at the present time, when morphologists are busy 

 discussing the special mechanical factors of organic for- 

 mation ; its consideration is therefore likely to lead to 

 wider views on the whole subject of development or rather 

 of form-evolution than are usually entertained. 



The problem of the organic formation of the body is 

 not purely morphological ; it has also a physiological 

 aspect, inasmuch as the full play of the vital processes of 

 an organism Is the one necessary condition of Its proper 

 and complete development. The ontogenetic evolution of 

 the body and its vital processes are thus Inseparably con- 

 nected, and it is impossible to understand its mechanical 

 structure unless its physiology be also taken into account. 

 I am inclined to emphasise this point, as it seems to me that 

 too great prominence is now often given to the morpholo- 

 gical aspect of the question, whereas metabolism, the funda- 

 mental process on which all vital phenomena are based, is 

 almost overlooked as a factor in the problem. 



Now it has long been recognised as a physiological fact 

 that all the vital phenomena of an organism are only different 

 expressions of Its metabolism ; consequently all the form- 

 changes of an organism, being among its vital processes, 

 must, in the long run, be the outcome of its own charac- 

 teristic metabolism. 



The remarkable fact that this evident truth has been 

 so little taken Into consideration can only be accounted for 

 by the difficulty of combining the two groups of pheno- 



