72 EVOLUTION 



up in a tumbler some white of egg, some 

 yolk of egg, some casein from milk, and so 

 on, we have got a mixture of proteids, one 

 excellent to feed protoplasm with, but we 

 have not got protoplasm itself. Our tum- 

 bler-mixture is only a fortuitous concourse 

 of proteids; whereas protoplasm is an in- 

 tegrate of proteids, perhaps with fats and 

 amyloids as well — a fortunate combination of 

 molecules in instable, even mobile, yet en- 

 during equilibrium. 



It is probable that the potency of living 

 matter is in part an expression of the com- 

 plex inter-relations of the diverse proteids 

 and other substances of which it is com- 

 posed. No single substance may mean very 

 much, but in combination they are irresis- 

 tible. Indeed we may compare protoplasm 

 to a successful firm which owes its success to 

 an unusually fortunate combination of part- 

 ners — of inventive, organizing, administrat- 

 ing, pushing, competitive and other geniuses ! 



But there is something more. The firm 

 works as a unity, and this is its essential 

 secret. It is unified from within, whether 

 by a common purpose, or by the predomi- 

 nant will of its leading partners, or by some- 

 thing of both. And the organism has like- 

 wise its secret, its internal unity, which we 

 are still far from understanding. 



