WHAT IS PHYSICAL LIFE 



because it retains some of the metazoan 

 powers. 



We can explain this in a few words. 

 We have said that the great wonder of 

 a metazoan body is the interdependence 

 of its cells, each having and each keeping 

 its own place. Moreover, though each 

 metazoan cell retains its original endow- 

 ment of indefinite multiplication, yet it 

 always holds this in check in deference to 

 the rights of its neighbors. If by any 

 chance a normal metazoan cell be freed 

 from neighbors, then it grows by the mil- 

 lion till it comes to neighbors again, where- 

 upon it resumes its proper consideration 

 for their territorial rights. This is well 

 illustrated when the surgeon implants on 

 a large ulcerated surface on the skin which 

 will not heal, minute pieces of normal skin 

 grafts whose cells then multiply actively, 

 far more than in their original place, with 

 the significant addition that they now 



