382 THE SOCIAL OEGAN-ISM. 



on surroundiDg conditions, will be a further point of con* 

 munity. 



2. That though the living tissue whereof an individual 

 organism consists, forms a continuous mass, the living ele- 

 ments of a society do not form a continuous mass ; but are 

 more or less widely dispersed over some portion of the 

 Earth's surface. This, which at first sight appears to be a 

 fundamental distinction, is one which yet to a great extent 

 disappears when we contemplate all the facts. For, in the 

 lower divisions of the animal and veo;etal kino-doms, there 

 are types of organization much more nearly allied, in this 

 respect, to the organization of a society, than might be sup- 

 posed — types in which the living units essentially compos- 

 ing the mass, are dispersed through an inert substance, 

 that can scarcely be called living in the full sense of the 

 word. It is thus with some of the JProtococci and with the 

 N'ostocece, which exist as cells imbedded in a viscid matter. 

 It is so, too, with the TJialassicollm — bodies that are made 

 up of differentiated parts, dispersed through an undifferenti- 

 ated jelly. And througho-ut considerable portions of their 

 bodies, some of the Acalephm exhibit more or less distinct- 

 ly this type of structure. 



Indeed, it may be contended that this is the primitive 

 form of all organization ; seeing that, even in the highest 

 creatures, as in ourselves, every tissue developes out of 

 what physiologists call a blastema — an unorganized though 

 organizable substance, through which organic points are 

 distributed. Now this is very much the case with a 

 Bociety. For we must remember that though the men 

 who make up a society, are physically separate and even 

 scattered ; yet that the surface over which they are scatter- 

 ed is not one devoid of life, bit is covered by life of a lower 

 order which ministers to their life. The vegetation which 

 clothes a country, makes possible the animal life in that 

 country ; and only through its animal and vegetal products 



