228 The Unity of the Organism 



is only for the didactic purpose of making this part of the 

 tlieorj stand out in the discussion with a prominence pro- 

 portionate to its importance that we give it independent 

 titular recognition. So our present discussion will intersect 

 at various jjoints the discussion of the Cell-Theory specifi- 

 cally. The first intersection is at the place where we brought 

 out the fact that the conception "organism" is historically 

 j)rior to "cell," and hence, that in reaching the conception 

 of the cell as an elementary organism, Briicke and those who 

 followed him have literally used the organism to explain the 

 cell. We must now push this idea further in both its logical 

 and its factual aspects. 



First as to the logic of it. When we state that the cell 

 is an elementary organism, we are speaking in the technical 

 language of logic, recognizing the cell as a species of the 

 genus organism. An elementary organism is obviously one 

 kind of organism, the implication being unescapable that 

 there are other kinds ; one other kind implied being a not- 

 elementary, that is, a more complex kind. Organism is a 

 broader and higher category than elementary organism, an- 

 other designation for cell. From the natural history stand- 

 point, then, Haldane's efforts to raise organism to the 

 dignity of a category in the Kantian sense are superfluous, 

 this having already been done in the real sense through the 

 establishment by Briicke and the acceptance by biologists 

 generally of elementary organism as a defining designation 

 for cell. This aspect of the logic of the cell-theory is of so. 

 much practical importance that it is desirable to state it 

 more definitely if possible. 



The term cell now universally accepted in biological ter- 

 minology is a general name applicable to a vast class of 

 natural objects, the name having become fully established 

 and defined after years of patient examination and descrip- 

 tion by many investigators, extending to the whole range 

 of objects brought under the designation. If one reflects 



