FINAL CAUSES 



115 



with an imperious and irresistible force ". Thus, for 

 example, that a peeble should be round and smooth is 

 a result of friction ; but we see no " end " in its round- 

 ness or smoothness. The eye-ball is also round and 

 smooth, and we rightly or wrongly do infer an end in its 

 spherical form ; for we recognise its use for rotation. 

 This " imperiousness," however, is not argument, and the 

 question may be asked. How is any supposed end to be 

 distinguished from a mere result? 



The reply is, that in every case where an end is 

 recognised there is a multiplicity of coincidences which 

 have by their mutual interaction brought about that end ; 

 while the probability of their occurring at haphazard, or 

 as uncorrected coincidences, and yet collectively produc- 

 ing such a structure as the eye, is one to infinity that 

 such should be the case. It is on these grounds that the 

 order of the planetary system, as well as the organs of 

 animals and plants, imply ends ; but we cannot recognise 

 any end in the way a stream of lava pours down one side 

 of a volcano rather than the other. 



We may, however, here ask what degree of complexity 

 is requisite to constitute or illustrate an end ? If there is 

 an indubitable end in the human eye, is there not a like 

 end in the pigment cell attached to a nerve ? or, if there 

 is an end in the limbs of a vertebrate, is there no end in 

 the shapeless pseudopodia of an amccba ? 



Now, the formation of pseudopodia may be claimed 

 by the Rationalists as illustrating the inherent properties 

 of protoplasm, and as such they are simply results and 

 not ends. 



Even sex, so obviously an end, as Janet thinks, if 

 traced to elementary forms, is foreshadowed in the ac- 

 cidental fusion of two vegetative zoospores. Hence 

 although ends may seem very apparent in highly organ- 



