THE ORGANIC AND THE INORGANIC 323 



occurring and directs the energy which is potential in 

 the system towards the performance of other reactions. 



Two analogies, suggested by Driesch, will perhaps 

 make the role of entelechy more clear. A workman, 

 a heap of bricks, some mortar, some food, and some 

 oxygen constitute a system in the physico-chemical 

 sense. From his heap of bricks and mortar the work- 

 man may build one of several different kinds of small 

 house, or he may perhaps construct several walls with- 

 out any definite arrangement, or he may merely con- 

 vert one " disorderly " heap of bricks and mortar into 

 another " disorderly " heap. In the same way a man, 

 a case of movable types, some food, and some oxygen 

 constitute another system. The initial phase of this 

 system consists of the compositor, his food, and some 

 fifty-odd boxes of types, each of which contains a large 

 number of similar elements. A final phase of the 

 system may be the arrangement of the types to form 

 an epic poem, or a series of dramatic criticisms, or a 

 meaningless jumble of correctly spelt words. In all 

 these cases the same amount of energy was expended : 

 the bricklayer used up the same quantity of food and 

 oxygen and excreted the same quantities of water, 

 carbon dioxide, and urea, whether he made a house, or 

 a small chimney, or a heap of bricks without archi- 

 tectural arrangement. The system of bricks and 

 mortar acquired during the process of differentiation a 

 gradually increasing complexity ; while in the case of 

 the type-setting the diversity of arrangement acquired 

 in the final phases may be of a very high order. Yet 

 the intelligent mind of the worker remained in either 

 case unchanged. 



Let us consider further a man walking along the 

 ties, or sleepers, of a railway track. The ties are at 

 variable distances apart, so that the steps of the walker 



