From the Unconscious to the Conscious 



We therefore are ignorant of the exact chemical com- 

 position of this substance. Is it decomposable into the 

 various simple substances which we find in the living 

 body carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, iron, nitrogen, phos- 

 phorus ? Does it imply an absolute unitary atom ? 

 We do not know, and it matters little. What we do 

 know is that it shows biologic unity. 



In fine: everything in biology takes place as if the 

 physical being were formed of a single primordial 

 substance; organic forms are mere representations. 



Therefore, the first term of the biological problem 

 is the essential unity of organic substance. 



3. THE EVIDENCE OF A SUPERIOR DYNAMISM 



The second term is implied by the necessity of 

 admitting a superior, organising, centralising, and direct- 

 ing dynamism. 



The necessity of this notion follows from the whole 

 of our physiological knowledge. 



It has already been said that only this notion explains 

 the mechanism of life, the specific form, the maintenance 

 of the personality, and its organic repair. This notion of 

 a superior dynamism is forced upon us by a study of 

 embryonic and post-embryonic development, and especi- 

 ally by a consideration of animal metamorphoses. 

 Finally, it has been definitely and absolutely demon- 

 strated by the dematerialisations and rematerialisations 

 of the insect in its chrysalis and of the medium in her 

 dark cabinet. 



In the two latter cases no further doubt or discussion 

 is possible : the facts prove that the constituent molecules 

 of the organic complex have no absolute specificity; that 

 their relative specificity proceeds entirely from the 

 dynamic or ideal mould which conditions them, and 



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