104 VITALISM AND SCHOLASTICISM 



them into the same body; co-ordinates them 

 and causes them all to work together for the 

 common good ; and finally splits off from itself 

 small fragments not in any way resembling 

 itself, from which, however, by a process of 

 growth and development, further crystals like 

 unto the congeries which we have been im- 

 agining are developed. Perhaps it will be said 

 that the comparisons just made are crude and 

 coarse and cannot fairly be taken as repre- 

 senting the delicate processes of nature. This 

 may be freely admitted, but such comparisons 

 bring out the difficulties which there are in 

 accepting the mechanical theory of nature and, 

 one may also say, exhibit the profound differ- 

 ences which exist between the inorganic and 

 the organic worlds. 



This argument is greatly strengthened when 

 one takes into consideration the facts which 

 have been elicited by the experimental study 

 of developing ova during recent years. If there 

 is one thing which is quite clear about chemical 

 andjahysical processes it is that they are rigid 

 andjinvarying. So far as we know a certain 

 result is attained by one series of steps and by 

 that series alone, and any interference with 

 that series leads to a collapse of the whole 

 process and a failure to achieve the end which 

 would otherwise have been reached. 



