TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PAGE 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE v 



PREFACE vii 



BOOK I 



THE ANIMAL BODY AS A MECHANISM 



CHAPTER I 



THE MECHANISTIC CONCEPTION 1 



Biological processes and human life. History of the 

 mechanistic conception. Life and the conservation of 

 energy. The animal organism and artificial machines. 

 Physical and chemical properties of protoplasm. Metab- 

 olism and the enzymes. Oxidation in the living body. 

 Growth, reproduction, and regulation. Vitalistic and 

 mechanistic conceptions compared. The nervous mech- 

 anism and the problem of coordination. 



CHAPTER II 

 GROWTH AND REPRODUCTION 41 



The germ cells and heredity. Mendelian heredity. 

 Heredity and chromosomes. The determination of sex. 

 Heredity and instinct. Mnemic theories of heredity. 

 Natural selection and evolution. 



CHAPTER III 

 CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE WILL ...... 64 



Consciousness as a problem of biology. The relation 

 between mental states and bodily states. Functions of 

 the nervous system, in relation to consciousness. Con- 

 scious automatism and the problem of the will. Moral 

 responsibility and education, 

 xiii 



