﻿538 
  ANNUAL, 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  carrying 
  out. 
  So 
  completely, 
  however, 
  is 
  a 
  society 
  organized 
  upon 
  

   the 
  same 
  system 
  as 
  an 
  individual 
  being, 
  that 
  we 
  may 
  almost 
  say 
  that 
  

   there 
  is 
  something 
  more 
  than 
  analogy 
  between 
  them." 
  

  

  Each 
  cell 
  has 
  its 
  allotted 
  and 
  specialized 
  work 
  to 
  do. 
  Each 
  cell 
  

   must 
  be 
  fed, 
  and 
  live, 
  and 
  grow. 
  Sustenance 
  must 
  be 
  obtained, 
  pre- 
  

   pared, 
  and 
  assimilated, 
  and 
  the 
  waste 
  removed. 
  The 
  physiological 
  

   mechanisms 
  for 
  doing 
  these 
  things, 
  and 
  many 
  other 
  things 
  besides, 
  

   have 
  their 
  striking 
  counterparts 
  in 
  the 
  structure 
  of 
  organized 
  

   society, 
  and 
  furnish 
  instructive 
  material 
  for 
  the 
  philosophic 
  student. 
  

   But 
  to 
  us 
  of 
  the 
  telephone 
  art, 
  the 
  most 
  marvelous 
  thing 
  of 
  all 
  is 
  the 
  

   nervous 
  system, 
  that 
  inconceivably 
  complex 
  communication 
  network 
  

   by 
  which 
  the 
  activities 
  of 
  both 
  individual 
  and 
  society 
  are 
  regulated 
  

   and 
  without 
  which 
  paralysis 
  and 
  death 
  would 
  result. 
  

  

  We 
  are 
  told 
  that 
  the 
  cells 
  which 
  compose 
  the 
  nervous 
  system 
  are 
  

   the 
  latest 
  to 
  appear 
  in 
  the 
  upward 
  march 
  of 
  the 
  organism, 
  and 
  that 
  

   the 
  degree 
  of 
  their 
  complexity 
  and 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  their 
  differentiation 
  

   furnish 
  a 
  criterion 
  for 
  determining 
  the 
  stage 
  of 
  progress 
  which 
  has 
  

   been 
  attained. 
  Because 
  of 
  the 
  high 
  function, 
  almost 
  spiritual 
  in 
  its 
  

   nature, 
  performed 
  by 
  these 
  nerve 
  cells, 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  called 
  the 
  

   noble 
  cells. 
  I 
  have 
  long 
  felt 
  and 
  often 
  expressed 
  the 
  feeling 
  that 
  

   because 
  of 
  this 
  the 
  workers 
  in 
  the 
  telephone 
  art 
  are 
  engaged 
  in 
  a 
  high 
  

   calling, 
  building 
  up 
  the 
  noble 
  cells 
  which 
  constitute 
  the 
  nervous 
  

   system 
  of 
  the 
  Nation. 
  

  

  As 
  in 
  the 
  animal 
  body, 
  these 
  cells 
  were 
  the 
  latest 
  to 
  appear, 
  so 
  in 
  

   the 
  structure 
  of 
  organized 
  society 
  the 
  highest 
  form 
  of 
  electrical 
  com- 
  

   munication, 
  the 
  telephone, 
  is 
  the 
  latest 
  to 
  appear 
  — 
  it 
  comes 
  only 
  at 
  

   the 
  stage 
  of 
  higher 
  development. 
  And 
  again, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  animal 
  body, 
  

   the 
  stage 
  of 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  nervous 
  system 
  is 
  an 
  index 
  of 
  its 
  

   place 
  in 
  the 
  evolutionary 
  series, 
  so 
  I 
  believe 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  any 
  

   social 
  organism 
  that 
  the 
  degree 
  of 
  development 
  reached 
  by 
  its 
  tele- 
  

   phone 
  system 
  will 
  be 
  an 
  important 
  indication 
  of 
  the 
  progress 
  which 
  

   it 
  has 
  made 
  in 
  attaining 
  coordination 
  and 
  solidarity. 
  

  

  The 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  spoken 
  word 
  to 
  convey 
  ideas 
  distinguishes 
  man 
  from 
  

   all 
  other 
  created 
  things. 
  The 
  extension 
  of 
  the 
  spoken 
  word 
  by 
  means 
  

   of 
  electrical 
  systems 
  of 
  intercommunication 
  serves 
  to 
  connect 
  the 
  

   nervous 
  system 
  of 
  each 
  unit 
  of 
  society 
  with 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  others, 
  thus 
  

   providing 
  an 
  indispensable 
  element 
  in 
  the 
  structure 
  of 
  that 
  incon- 
  

   ceivably 
  great 
  and 
  powerful 
  organism 
  which 
  many 
  biologists 
  feel 
  is 
  

   to 
  be 
  the 
  ultimate 
  outcome 
  of 
  the 
  stupendous 
  evolution 
  which 
  society 
  

   is 
  undergoing. 
  

  

  That 
  such 
  an 
  organism, 
  thus 
  so 
  magnificently 
  conceived, 
  would 
  be 
  

   the 
  outcome 
  of 
  the 
  higher 
  evolution 
  of 
  man, 
  I 
  have 
  long 
  believed; 
  

   but 
  its 
  form 
  and 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  its 
  functioning 
  I 
  could 
  not 
  imagine. 
  

   But 
  the 
  great 
  work 
  of 
  Trotter, 
  who 
  has 
  studied 
  the 
  gregarious 
  

  

  