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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1929 
  

  

  has 
  shown, 
  bacteria 
  sometimes 
  succumb 
  to 
  heat 
  or 
  disinfectants 
  on 
  the 
  

   same 
  kind 
  of 
  plan, 
  it 
  is 
  legitimate 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  they 
  behave 
  like 
  the 
  

   molecules 
  of 
  cane 
  sugar. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  equally 
  correct 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  

   molecules 
  of 
  cane 
  sugar 
  behave 
  like 
  bacteria. 
  We 
  can 
  not 
  tell 
  which 
  

   is 
  imitating 
  the 
  other; 
  all 
  we 
  see 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  behavior 
  of 
  both 
  is 
  sim- 
  

   ilar. 
  The 
  conduct 
  of 
  the 
  bacilh 
  could 
  hardly 
  have 
  been 
  predicted 
  

   from 
  a 
  knowledge 
  of 
  what 
  happened 
  to 
  the 
  cane 
  sugar. 
  The 
  natural 
  

   supposition 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  that 
  the 
  molecules 
  of 
  which 
  each 
  bacil- 
  

   lus 
  was 
  made 
  up 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  destroyed 
  logarithmically, 
  so 
  that 
  

   the 
  death 
  point 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  bacilli 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  reached 
  simultane- 
  

   ously 
  — 
  a 
  reflection 
  which 
  illustrates 
  particularly 
  clearly 
  the 
  consid- 
  

   erable 
  truth 
  that 
  the 
  discrete 
  unit 
  which 
  is 
  comparable 
  with 
  the 
  mole- 
  

   cule 
  of 
  cane 
  sugar 
  is 
  the 
  whole 
  bacillus 
  and 
  not 
  one 
  of 
  its 
  constituent 
  

   molecules. 
  

  

  Now, 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  want 
  to 
  push 
  these 
  analogies 
  between 
  atoms 
  and 
  

   organisms 
  too 
  far, 
  nor 
  indeed 
  to 
  claim 
  more 
  than 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  sug- 
  

   gestive 
  to 
  an 
  imagination 
  which 
  is 
  not 
  afraid 
  to 
  have 
  its 
  wilder 
  

   moments. 
  Atoms 
  are 
  very 
  much 
  smaller, 
  and 
  necessarily 
  of 
  much 
  

   simpler 
  structure 
  and 
  functions, 
  and 
  one 
  would 
  no 
  more 
  expect 
  to 
  

   find 
  in 
  them 
  all 
  the 
  qualities 
  of 
  organisms 
  fully 
  developed 
  than 
  one 
  

   would 
  look 
  for 
  all 
  that 
  goes 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  human 
  being 
  in 
  the 
  tubercle 
  

   bacillus. 
  However, 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  because 
  we 
  are 
  used 
  to 
  it 
  that 
  we 
  

   accept, 
  without 
  emotion, 
  the 
  idea 
  that 
  an 
  amoeba 
  is 
  analogous 
  to 
  an 
  

   elephant; 
  it 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  an 
  amazing 
  notion 
  when 
  it 
  was 
  new. 
  

   There 
  are 
  two 
  general 
  objections 
  which 
  will 
  probably 
  occur 
  at 
  once 
  

   to 
  most 
  biologists: 
  (1) 
  That 
  dead 
  elements 
  do 
  not 
  show 
  the 
  multi- 
  

   plying 
  reproduction 
  characteristic 
  of 
  organisms; 
  (2) 
  that 
  organic 
  

   evolution 
  on 
  the 
  whole 
  progresses 
  from 
  the 
  simple 
  toward 
  the 
  com- 
  

   plex, 
  whereas 
  what 
  I 
  have 
  called 
  the 
  evolution 
  of 
  the 
  elements 
  proceeds 
  

   uniformly 
  in 
  the 
  opposite 
  direction. 
  The 
  two 
  difficulties 
  are 
  rather 
  

   closely 
  related. 
  

  

  Organic 
  reproduction 
  does 
  two 
  things: 
  It 
  produces 
  a 
  fresh 
  version 
  

   of 
  the 
  old 
  organism 
  and 
  it 
  gives 
  an 
  opportunity 
  for 
  numerical 
  increase; 
  

   its 
  final 
  effect 
  is 
  to 
  leave 
  organisms 
  very 
  much 
  where 
  they 
  were. 
  

   Each 
  foxglove 
  plant 
  in 
  my 
  garden 
  goes 
  to 
  immense 
  trouble 
  to 
  produce 
  

   about 
  500,000 
  seeds, 
  and 
  the 
  wasps 
  toil 
  earnestly 
  all 
  the 
  summer 
  to 
  

   increase 
  from 
  1 
  to 
  about 
  1,000. 
  But 
  next 
  year 
  there 
  will 
  be 
  just 
  

   about 
  as 
  many 
  wasps' 
  nests 
  as 
  this 
  and 
  just 
  about 
  as 
  many 
  self- 
  

   sown 
  foxglove 
  plants. 
  Darwin 
  taught 
  us 
  the 
  qualitative 
  importance 
  

   of 
  this 
  superabundance, 
  but, 
  quantitatively, 
  it 
  is 
  made 
  use 
  of 
  only 
  if 
  

   conditions 
  alter; 
  it 
  then 
  enables 
  organisms 
  to 
  fill 
  up 
  any 
  gap 
  in 
  the 
  

   environment. 
  If 
  my 
  wife 
  interferes 
  with 
  the 
  natural 
  competition 
  

   among 
  the 
  young 
  foxgloves 
  we 
  may 
  have 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  than 
  last 
  year; 
  

   the 
  vacant 
  spaces 
  in 
  Bloomsbury 
  have 
  given 
  us 
  more 
  willow 
  herb 
  

   than 
  we 
  had 
  before 
  the 
  houses 
  were 
  pulled 
  down, 
  and 
  when 
  some 
  phil- 
  

  

  