318 LIFE AND DEATH. 



complex being is contained in these two factors : the 

 independence and the subordination of the elementary 

 lives. General life is the harmony of the elementary 

 lives, their symphony. 



Independence and Subordination of the Anatomical 

 Elements. The independence of the anatomical ele- 

 ments results from the fact that they are the real 

 depositaries of the vital properties, the really active 

 components. On the other hand the subordination of 

 the parts to the whole is the very condition of the 

 preservation of form in animals and plants. The 

 architecture which is characteristic of them, the 

 morphological plan which they realize in their 

 evolutive development which they are ever preserving 

 and repairing, form a striking proof of this. This 

 dependence in no way contradicts the autonomy of 

 the elements. For when with Claude Bernard and 

 Virchow we study the circumstances we see that 

 the element accommodates itself to the organic 

 plan without violence to its nature. It behaves 

 in its natural place as it would behave elsewhere, 

 if elsewhere it were to meet around it the 

 same liquid medium which at once is a stimulant 

 and a food. This at least is the conclusion we 

 may draw from experiments on transplanting, or 

 on animal and vegetable grafting. Neither the 

 neighbouring elements, nor the whole system act on it 

 at a distance by a kind of mysterious induction, 

 according to the ideas of the vitalists, in order to 

 regulate the activity of the element. They contribute 

 solely to the composition of the liquid atmosphere 

 which bathes it. They intervene in order to provide 

 it with a certain environment whose very characteristic 

 physical and chemical constitution regulates its 



