THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANISMS 29 



thought of as "a conformity with plan". The chemical individuality 

 of the proteins in each species is one expression of this, and so is 

 the nature of the chromosomes. But besides these and other physical 

 features there is the psychical individuality, certainly not less real ; 

 the organism is a psycho-physical being. This is the thread that 

 runs through all the triads, the last three in particular. As von 

 Uexkiill says in his Theoretical Biology, "there is a non-material 

 order which first gives to matter its framework — a rule of life. . . . 

 It is like a melody, which controls the sequence of sound and the 

 rhythm in accordance with law, but becomes apparent only as it 

 becomes operative, and then takes on the tone-colour which the 

 properties of the particular instruments bestow on it." Perhaps 

 these metaphors do not help us much, but in the meantime, await- 

 ing discussion in the body of the book, we wish merely to state 

 our conviction that the mental activity (of memory and feeling, 

 as well as of intelligence), which becomes indisputable in the 

 higher animals, is struggling for expression throughout. Perhaps 

 this is the central secret of life ? 



SUMMARY OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 

 ORGANISM 



(A) In spite of continuous chemical and physical flux there is 

 in the organism a persistence of intactness or integrity for a longer 

 or shorter period. This is associated with the anabolic processes 

 that counterbalance the katabolic, with the repair that counteracts 

 waste, with the rejuvenescence that wards off senescence. This 

 self-preservation is associated with the dominance of proteins, 

 which have large complex molecules, representing an accumulation 

 of potential chemical energy. But these proteins are always in a 

 colloidal state, which admits of intensity and rapidity of chemical 

 reactions on the surfaces of the multitudinous particles or droplets. 

 Each type of organism has probably some unique protein of its 

 own — there is chemical individuality. Thus under the general 

 quality of persistence amid unceasing metabolism, there is a triad 

 of facts: (i) the upbuilding and downbreaking of proteins, (2) their 

 occurrence in the colloidal state, and (3) their specificity. 



(B) The second triad of qualities includes the organism's char- 

 acteristic powers of growing, multiplying, and developing. A surplus 

 of income over expenditure is the primal condition of organic 

 growth. The organism's growth, as contrasted with that of a crystal, 

 is at the expense of materials more or less different from those of 

 the growing body; it implies active assimilation, not passive accre- 

 tion; and it is a very definitely regulated process. 



Growth naturally leads to the simpler forms of multiplication 



