INTRODUCTION 15 



organs at the same time. 1 On the other hand, 

 there is no reason why the members of one social 

 community should not belong to other communities 

 at the same time. 



2. Speaking generally, the biological conception 

 of an organism denotes a definite thing a plant or 

 an animal in itself, quite distinct from similar 

 organisms. In sociology, however, there is no 

 precise line between co-existing social communities. 

 Are we to regard, for instance, the families, com- 

 munes and cantons of a state as distinct organisms, 

 or merely as organs ? Does a free town such as 

 Hamburg or Frankfort cease to be an organism 

 when it loses its independence ? Take the various 

 Swiss cantons, which are now mere organs of 

 the Helvetic Confederation, like the Provinces 

 of Belgium, or the Departments of France, would 

 they become organisms on the rupture of the 

 Federal bond ? On the other hand, with the 

 growth of international treaties between the 

 states of Eastern Europe, will their social indi- 

 viduality disappear, and will they come to be 

 regarded as are the United States of America, 

 as the organs of an organism in process of 

 formation ? These few examples suffice to show 



1 When two organs are united into one whole, the cell exercises 

 two totally different functions. The liver, as we now know, is a 

 double organ consisting of a bile-forming liver, and the glycogen- 

 producing liver, two organs which are embryologically distinct. 

 The cells of which the liver is composed are both bile-secreting 

 and glycogen- forming organs. 



