REGENERATION 189 



system, would be obliged to be present in its 

 completeness in one part of the system also, 

 and also in another such part, and yet in other 

 such parts too, and equally well in parts of 

 different size, overlapping one another (see 

 fig 5). 



For we know that any part of the system, 

 contingent as to its size and as to its position 

 in the original system, can give rise to a com- 

 plete being. Every cell of the original system 

 can play every ^ single role in morphogenesis ; 

 which role iiTwill play is merely a 6 function 

 of its position.' In the face of these facts the 

 machine theory becomes an absurdity. These 

 facts contradict the concept of a machine; for 

 a machine is a specific arrangement of parts, 

 and it does not remain what it was if you 

 remove from it any portion you please. Now 

 the machine theory was the only possible form 

 of a mechanistic theory that might a priori 

 seem to be applicable to the phenomena of 

 morphogenesis. To dismiss the machine theory, 

 therefore, is the same as to give up the attempt 

 of a mechanical theory of these phenomena 

 altogether. Or, in other words, the analytical 

 discussion of the differentiation of harmonious- 

 equipotential systems entitles us to establish 

 the doctrine of the autonomy of life, i.e., the 

 doctrine of the so-called vitalism, at least in 



