CHAPTER IX. 



The Fundamental Qualities of an 

 Organism. 



IN ORDER to illustrate the funda- 

 mental characteristics of an organic 

 structure in general, we will begin with 

 comparing it with what it most resem- 

 bles, namely, a complicated mechan- 

 ism. The likeness is so striking that 

 the very dissimilarities become in- 

 structive. 



First of all we notice the parts of 

 which the machine is composed. What 

 these parts are to the machine the 

 members and organs are to the organ- 

 ism. Every part, like every organ, has 

 a certain duty to perform which it in- 

 cessantly repeats. The work of the 

 machine is divided among the parts as 

 that of the organism among the organs. 

 As the organ, so the part of the ma- 



