PROGRESSIVENESS OF SCIENCE. 61 



that there is no time for mutual consultation by the 

 way. 



Thirdly, the progress of science depends upon a 

 recognition of the unity of the subject, which extends 

 itself to a recognition of the unity of nature. A 

 great part of scientific work is analytic; we take 

 things to pieces — social institutions, man, the animal, 

 the plant, the earth, the piece of matter — just as the 

 boy dissects the watch. And this analysis is neces- 

 sary, as well as fascinating. The danger is lest we 

 forget that it is only a means to an end — namely, that 

 we may put the things together again with a better 

 understanding of the unity which we have dissolved. 

 It is plain that in anatomy, for instance, we make 

 an abstraction necessary for the purpose on hand, 

 but still an abstraction — for we leave the life out 

 of consideration. Our point is, that the analytical 

 work of the anatomist only fulfils its function when 

 the results are brought as a contribution towards a 

 fuller understanding of the unity of the organism. 



In the same way, to take another illustration, the 

 comparative physiologist concerns himself mainly 

 with an analysis of the activities or functions of or- 

 gans, tissues, and cells in different kinds of creatures ; 

 and his work, still very young, has been rich in im- 

 portant results, and is full of promise. But, again, 

 for purposes of research, abstractions are necessary, 

 the living creature is abstracted not from its life — for 

 the physiologist is always concerned with activity — 

 but from its full life as it is lived in nature. Our 

 point is, that physiology does not fulfil itself until its 

 results are brought as a contribution to a fuller 

 understanding of the life as a whole — of what is in 

 some sense a personality with character and habits, 

 with a complex life in a complex environment, a 



