﻿324 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2i^ 
  

  

  enough, 
  we 
  should 
  see 
  Ufe 
  going 
  on; 
  the 
  present 
  contempt 
  for 
  histol- 
  

   ogy 
  is, 
  I 
  suppose, 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  revenge 
  on 
  the 
  wretched 
  limitations 
  of 
  the 
  

   instrument. 
  Hope 
  was 
  then 
  transferred 
  to 
  biochemistry, 
  which 
  has 
  

   done 
  just 
  what 
  the 
  microscope 
  did 
  — 
  it 
  has 
  helped 
  us 
  enormously 
  to 
  

   understand 
  the 
  mechanisms 
  of 
  live 
  things 
  and 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  to 
  explain 
  

   life; 
  let 
  us 
  hope 
  that 
  it 
  will 
  not 
  sink 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  degraded 
  position. 
  

   But 
  if 
  vitalism 
  has 
  had 
  the 
  best 
  of 
  the 
  argument, 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  led 
  to 
  a 
  

   very 
  profitable 
  or 
  a 
  very 
  satisfactory 
  position. 
  Vitalism 
  is 
  often 
  

   mysticism, 
  and 
  (which 
  is 
  why 
  mechanism 
  has 
  been 
  so 
  popular) 
  any 
  

   dualistic 
  interpretation 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  is 
  always 
  repugnant 
  to 
  natural 
  

   human 
  instincts. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  to 
  escape 
  dualism 
  in 
  another 
  way, 
  

   and 
  I 
  suggest 
  that 
  the 
  vitalistic 
  controversy 
  in 
  anything 
  like 
  the 
  form 
  

   it 
  has 
  taken 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  40 
  years 
  is 
  out 
  of 
  date, 
  that 
  instead 
  of 
  

   emphasizing 
  the 
  differences 
  between 
  live 
  and 
  dead 
  things 
  we 
  should 
  

   make 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  we 
  can 
  of 
  their 
  similarities, 
  and 
  that 
  instead 
  of 
  divid- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  world 
  into 
  two 
  distinct 
  categories 
  we 
  should 
  regard 
  it 
  as 
  being 
  

   made 
  up 
  of 
  one 
  series 
  of 
  units 
  Avith 
  properties 
  which 
  differ 
  more 
  in 
  

   degree 
  than 
  in 
  kind. 
  This 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  mechanistic 
  view, 
  for 
  we 
  come 
  to 
  

   it, 
  not 
  by 
  explaining 
  live 
  things 
  by 
  dead 
  things, 
  but 
  by 
  realizing 
  that 
  

   the 
  characteristics 
  of 
  live 
  organisms 
  appear 
  also 
  in 
  dead 
  matter. 
  While 
  

   we 
  have 
  been 
  waiting 
  for 
  life 
  to 
  be 
  explained 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  chemistry 
  

   and 
  physics, 
  a 
  good 
  deal 
  has 
  been 
  done 
  toward 
  stating 
  chemistry 
  and 
  

   physics 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  Hfe. 
  Of 
  course, 
  no 
  "explanation 
  " 
  of 
  either 
  live 
  or 
  

   dead 
  has 
  been 
  given; 
  the 
  behavior 
  of 
  an 
  atom 
  is 
  just 
  as 
  mysterious 
  as 
  

   the 
  behavior 
  of 
  a 
  wasp, 
  and 
  neither 
  "explains" 
  the 
  other 
  any 
  more 
  

   than 
  a 
  trypanosome 
  explains 
  a 
  whale. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  something 
  of 
  a 
  

   comfort 
  if 
  we 
  can 
  believe 
  that 
  at 
  bottom 
  they 
  both 
  behave 
  in 
  much 
  

   the 
  same 
  way; 
  we 
  can 
  have 
  one 
  l&j 
  figure 
  instead 
  of 
  two, 
  and 
  if 
  its 
  

   coat 
  and 
  trousers 
  are 
  not 
  made 
  of 
  exactly 
  the 
  same 
  stuff 
  we 
  may 
  find 
  

   them 
  in 
  reasonable 
  harmony 
  with 
  one 
  another. 
  

  

  Picking 
  up 
  such 
  rumors 
  as 
  he 
  might 
  of 
  what 
  is 
  going 
  on 
  in 
  other 
  

   lines 
  than 
  his 
  own, 
  every 
  biologist 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  struck 
  by 
  the 
  

   curious 
  familiarity 
  of 
  several 
  of 
  the 
  conceptions 
  which 
  in 
  this 
  century 
  

   have 
  gone 
  to 
  start 
  the 
  revolution 
  in 
  atomic 
  physics 
  which 
  has 
  pulled 
  

   the 
  universe 
  in 
  pieces 
  and 
  has 
  perhaps 
  not 
  yet 
  quite 
  succeeded 
  in 
  

   putting 
  it 
  together 
  again. 
  The 
  ideas 
  are 
  familiar 
  because 
  they 
  were 
  

   originally 
  biological 
  — 
  derived 
  from 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  live 
  things 
  and 
  applied 
  

   to 
  their 
  explanation. 
  Let 
  me 
  illustrate 
  what 
  I 
  mean 
  by 
  some 
  

   examples. 
  

  

  (a) 
  It 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  characteristics 
  of 
  life 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  exhibited 
  by 
  

   discrete 
  units 
  which 
  we 
  know 
  as 
  organisms. 
  As 
  Powell 
  White 
  says, 
  

   there 
  is 
  no 
  such 
  thing 
  as 
  living 
  matter, 
  there 
  are 
  only 
  hve 
  organisms, 
  

   and 
  in 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  alive 
  0.1 
  cow 
  or 
  1.35 
  cabbage 
  are 
  impossi- 
  

   bihties. 
  The 
  enterprising 
  surgeon 
  could, 
  of 
  course, 
  easily 
  make 
  some- 
  

   thing 
  which 
  was 
  structurally 
  about 
  three-quarters 
  of 
  a 
  cow, 
  and 
  I 
  

  

  