AGENCIES, HABITAT, AND GROWTH in, 



marily with the stability and welfare of the constituent 

 unit, or the individual; secondarily with that of the 

 aggregate, or system; ultimately with both in equal 

 measure. 



If we would trace the evolution of organic growth, 

 or analyze its forces, or control its results, we must fix 

 our attention on the individual units and on the admin- 

 istration of their internal and external affairs, as they 

 are successively submerged in larger and larger com- 

 pound units. We must always bear in mind that the 

 highest living organisms are composed of innumerable 

 individuals of various grades and orders, each living 

 within its own circle of internal and external environ- 

 ments; and that the most primitive individuals, the 

 minutest and humblest parts at the bottom of the whole 

 fabric, are the foundations on whose integrity and 

 welfare the entire super-structure is built. 



It would be as impossible to produce protoplasm 

 out of chemical elements without fixed attributes, or a 

 living body out of cells devoid of functional stability, 

 as to upbuild a social body out of human beings with- 

 out some basic stability in their physical organization 

 and some assurance of their moral integrity. 



XI. The Growth Rhythm: Individual Growth, Frag- 

 mentation, Regeneration, Association 



In our final survey of nature growth, we wish to 

 emphasize the fact that growth always proceeds in 

 definite rhythmic order, or in repeated sequences of 

 four progressive phases. In the first phase, through 

 the agency of its internal and external system of profit- 

 able exchange, the individual ultimately attains its 



