170 THE UNIQUENESS OF LIFE 



tion swing so ? It is partly because new knowledge always 

 rewards the prosecution of chemico-physical analysis, and 

 the investigators, flushed with success, insist on premature 

 generalisation. It is partly because vitalism is apt to be- 

 come vague and mystical, provoking a positivist recoil which 

 is, within its limits, quite wholesome. 



According to Prof. W. E. Ritter, vitalism is the lineal de- 

 scendant of early animism, sharing with it the assumption of 

 non-material, essentially extra-corporeal forces or principles 

 to explain observed phenomena. Similarly, materialism is 

 the lineal descendant of early magic, sharing with it the as- 

 sumption of crediting observed bodies with qualities which 

 are not verifiable. '' Both attempt to explain everything in 

 terms of ' something else \ and this in essence amounts to a 

 denial of the reality of the organic beings which we actually 

 see and deal with" (Ritter, 1911, p. 441). 



SUMMABT. 



It is plain that at present chemical and physical formulations do 

 not suffice to answer biological questions, do not adequately cover 

 what is distinctive in the functions, behaviour, development, and 

 evolution of living creatures. But this does not in itself prove the 

 validity of any of the various forms of positive vitalism. These 

 must be considered on their merits. 



(a) Some have maintained that mechanistic formulation is not 

 exhaustive even within the domain of the inorganic. If so it will 

 be a fortiori inadequate in the realm of organisms, (b) Others, 

 while admitting that we cannot now translate vital processes into 

 terms of any known chemistry and physics, suggest that we may 

 be able to do so eventually. The concepts of chemistry and physics 

 may have to be modified. But we can only discuss the sciences as 

 we know them now. (c) Others, again, maintain that it is mind 

 that makes all the difference. But the problem " Vitalism or 

 Mechanism?" is the same for plants as for animals, and we do not 

 know anything about the mind of plants. 



It may be said that there are three grades of vitalism. (1) The 



