2 BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN PROBLEMS 



so richly furnished us. The biologist recognizes that 

 the living individual is made up of an aggregation of 

 myriads of tiny cells, each of which is capable, in a 

 measure, of carrying on the processes of life in a 

 sense independently of its neighbors; and that in 

 these cells the secrets of life are to be sought. It is 

 the conviction and working hypothesis of foremost 

 modern biologists that the organized material mak- 

 ing up the living cells is governed by physical and 

 chemical processes, and that there is now no reason- 

 able ground for assuming the existence of a special 

 and distinct " vital force' 7 independent of such phys- 

 ical and chemical processes. Nevertheless, to pic- 

 ture clearly the multiplicity of chemical and physical 

 exchanges in energy that have their seat in the in- 

 dividual cell is a goal which not even the enthusiastic 

 novice in biology believes to be in sight. And the 

 hope of obtaining a truly adequate explanation of 

 life, such as might come only through a far deeper 

 penetration into the secret of the elementary forces 

 concerned with all matter, is deferred from genera- 

 tion to generation. But this delay is no ground for 

 discouragement, since it is accompanied by an ever- 

 widening and deepening insight into the nature of 

 forces and things. 



Perhaps the literary artists have been in a very 

 different way quite as successful as the scientists in 

 giving men a glimpse into the workings of these laws, 

 and it is certain that the wisdom of the poet and seer 

 and the interpretations of the novelist are equally 



