184) The Unity of the Organism 



"number of difFerentiated cells." From this the vital units 

 assumed seem undoubtedly to be cells. It is significant, 

 though, that at times in referring to the "balance," and 

 "equilibrium," and "interdependence" so manifest in all liv- 

 ing beings, he speaks of "parts," "elements" and so forth; 

 that is, things which might be something other than cells : 

 "By virtue of this dependence it is, to speak figuratively, to 

 the interest of each part to play its normal role in the 

 corporate life." And again, "The supposition that every 

 higher organism is a symbiotic community on a vast scale 

 composed of innumerable different elements." ^ 



Indeed, taking the whole discussion together, it seems as 

 though the term cell as sometimes used does not have the 

 specific meaning attached to it in modern histology and 

 cytology, but stands in a general way for anything, real 

 or imaginary, within the organism to which some measure 

 of independent life is ascribed. Thus, pointing out wherein 

 his theory differs from Roux's Struggle for Existence 

 among the Parts of an organism, he says : "The whole 

 process of development . . . may occur, according to our 

 theory, without the elimination of vital units of any kind, 

 whether they be biophors, determinants, or individualities 

 of a higher order, such as cells or organs. We have con- 

 ceived the parts of an organism to be engaged in a struggle 

 for existence, but, as the parts are mutually dependent, the 

 struggle leads to an adjustment to a norai instead of the 

 elimination of some parts and the survival of others." ^ 



What are the "parts" here.? Are they biophors, and so 

 forth? Are some of them individualities of a higher order, 

 as organs? Are all of them "vital units?" What relation 

 do they hold to the "cells" talked about and diagrammati- 

 cally figured, as constituting the hypothetical organism? 

 Exactly how Holmes would answer these queries can not 

 be made out from his discussion, yet from our standpoint 

 they are fundamental questions. But it must be remarked 



