The Organism and its Protoplasm 141 



equally vast series of phenomena presented by natural bod- 

 ies and substances which do not involve such combinations 

 and transformations and wliich are the basis of the great 

 science of modern physics, will also probably be accepted 

 without cavil. But the point to be specially noticed is that 

 since physics as thus indicated is primarily concerned with 

 those attributes of bodies and suljstances which are conniion 

 to very great numbers of them, and are not only connnon to 

 them but while rendering the bodies subject to great change, 

 do not make them subject to complete transformation, the 

 discrete, the individuated bodies fall much into the back- 

 ground. 



Physics is preeminently from its very nature an individ- 

 ual-ignoring science. Concentrated as its attention is, on 

 the force of gravitation for example, or on the behavior of 

 light, and finding these manifested almost everywhere re- 

 gardless of how many kinds of bodies are concerned, it is 

 not surprising that the habit should be formed b}'^ persons 

 who devote themselves to studying these phenomena, of neg- 

 lecting almost entirely the bodies themselves which liave 

 weight and emit and receive light. Then when this habitual 

 tendency to neglect the bodies finds encouragement by well- 

 reasoned hypotheses that the bodies are actually less im- 

 portant and real tlian certain essences or entities "beliind" 

 tliem, the ignoring of the bodies passes easily from the reahii 

 of habit to that of dogma, and such strange conceptions of 

 the "Province of Physics" as the following arise: "If furtlier 

 we give the name thing to that with the objective existence 

 of which we are acquainted by our senses, then it folh)ws 

 that in the physical universe there are only two classes of 

 things ; to these the names Matter and Energy are given." --^ 

 That protoplasm, of just such a conceptual character as 

 we are pointing out in this cha])ter does not exist, would 

 obviously be acceptable to a physics holding such an unob- 

 jectified, denatured conception of nature as that just 



