﻿PILTRABLE 
  VIRUSES 
  — 
  BOYCOTT 
  329 
  

  

  anthropist 
  enables 
  the 
  university 
  to 
  put 
  up 
  Dr. 
  Maxwell 
  Garnett's 
  

   skyscraper 
  we 
  shall 
  have 
  less; 
  we 
  make 
  a 
  gap 
  for 
  bacilli 
  in 
  our 
  cul- 
  

   ture 
  tubes 
  and 
  they 
  multiply 
  as 
  they 
  never 
  did 
  outside. 
  Man 
  alters 
  

   his 
  own 
  circumstances. 
  These 
  catastrophic 
  alterations 
  in 
  numbers 
  are 
  

   flaring 
  examples 
  which 
  attract 
  attention. 
  Slower 
  secular 
  changes 
  

   in 
  environment 
  have 
  the 
  same 
  effect, 
  some 
  sorts 
  increase, 
  others 
  

   diminish, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  whole 
  there 
  may 
  be 
  a 
  tendency 
  for 
  a 
  few 
  large 
  

   organisms 
  to 
  be 
  replaced 
  by 
  many 
  small 
  ones. 
  But, 
  taking 
  the 
  facts 
  

   as 
  a 
  whole, 
  the 
  capacity 
  for 
  reproduction 
  does 
  not 
  result 
  in 
  more 
  

   organisms 
  than 
  there 
  were 
  before; 
  it 
  merely 
  enables 
  them 
  to 
  adapt 
  

   themselves 
  to 
  varying 
  conditions. 
  If 
  organisms 
  were 
  less 
  complicated, 
  

   more 
  stable 
  and 
  enduring, 
  less 
  easily 
  injured, 
  and 
  if 
  natural 
  selection 
  

   turned 
  out 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  fact 
  of 
  experience 
  without 
  perceptible 
  significance, 
  

   the 
  reproduction 
  of 
  organisms 
  in 
  general 
  might 
  be 
  reduced 
  to 
  the 
  level 
  

   at 
  which 
  it 
  runs 
  in 
  men 
  in 
  England 
  to-day 
  — 
  numbers 
  are 
  just 
  main- 
  

   tained. 
  And 
  if 
  they 
  lived 
  longer 
  it 
  might 
  be 
  a 
  still 
  less 
  important 
  

   feature 
  of 
  their 
  activities; 
  an 
  elephant 
  does 
  not 
  bother 
  about 
  repro- 
  

   duction 
  till 
  it 
  is 
  40 
  years 
  old 
  or 
  thereabouts, 
  a 
  bacillus 
  does 
  it 
  at 
  an 
  

   age 
  of 
  about 
  25 
  minutes. 
  It 
  will, 
  however, 
  need 
  a 
  vast 
  increase 
  in 
  

   longevity 
  if 
  any 
  approximation 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  made 
  to 
  the 
  position 
  in 
  the 
  

   dead 
  world 
  as 
  we 
  see 
  it 
  on 
  this 
  earth. 
  It 
  is 
  indeed 
  possible 
  that 
  there 
  

   is 
  here 
  a 
  real 
  qualitative 
  distinction 
  between 
  live 
  and 
  dead, 
  but 
  it 
  

   seems 
  more 
  likely 
  that 
  the 
  difference 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  mechanism 
  rather 
  than 
  

   result, 
  and, 
  as 
  we 
  learn 
  from 
  biology, 
  it 
  is 
  results 
  rather 
  than 
  mecha- 
  

   nisms 
  which 
  are 
  important. 
  With 
  increasing 
  complexity 
  we 
  get 
  dimin- 
  

   ishing 
  stability, 
  which 
  is 
  presumably 
  why 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  loiown 
  element 
  

   heavier 
  or 
  with 
  a 
  more 
  elaborate 
  structure 
  than 
  uranium. 
  Units 
  

   which 
  are 
  more 
  complex 
  can 
  not 
  maintain 
  themselves 
  without 
  the 
  

   periodical 
  remaking 
  which 
  we 
  call 
  reproduction; 
  those 
  which 
  are 
  

   less 
  complex 
  do 
  not 
  reproduce, 
  because 
  they 
  have 
  no 
  need 
  to 
  do 
  so. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  no 
  reason 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  anything 
  so 
  like 
  organisms 
  as 
  

   to 
  deserve 
  the 
  same 
  name 
  exists 
  anywhere 
  in 
  the 
  universe 
  except 
  on 
  

   the 
  earth; 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  live 
  things 
  are 
  concerned 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  need 
  to 
  look 
  

   further. 
  But 
  we 
  can 
  not 
  confine 
  our 
  speculations 
  about 
  dead 
  things 
  

   within 
  the 
  same 
  limits. 
  The 
  stars 
  are 
  made 
  of 
  much 
  the 
  same 
  ele- 
  

   ments 
  as 
  the 
  earth, 
  and 
  material 
  transfers 
  take 
  place 
  in 
  both 
  directions; 
  

   meteorites 
  come 
  and 
  nearly 
  all 
  the 
  hydrogen 
  and 
  methane 
  which 
  

   arises 
  from 
  the 
  decomposition 
  of 
  cellulose 
  by 
  bacteria 
  and 
  strepto- 
  

   thrix 
  flies 
  off 
  to 
  celestial 
  bodies 
  which 
  are 
  dense 
  enough 
  to 
  secure 
  

   their 
  permanent 
  adherence. 
  The 
  relevant 
  habitat 
  of 
  the 
  elements 
  is 
  

   therefore 
  the 
  universe 
  and, 
  taking 
  this 
  into 
  consideration, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  

   altogether 
  clear 
  that 
  something 
  like 
  reproduction 
  does 
  not 
  go 
  on 
  in 
  

   dead 
  things. 
  

  

  Though 
  the 
  elements 
  seem 
  inert 
  and 
  stable 
  enough 
  here 
  and 
  nothing 
  

   much 
  happens 
  to 
  them 
  except 
  the 
  slow 
  decomposition 
  of 
  those 
  which 
  

  

  