270 THE RIDDLE OF THE UNIVEESE. 



had pointed out the direction of the solution two 

 thousand years before. His principle of " teleological 

 mechanicism " has become more and more accepted of 

 late years, and has furnished a mechanical explana- 

 tion even of the finest and most recondite processes 

 of organic life by " the functional self -production of 

 the purposive structure." Thus have we got rid of 

 the transcendental " design " of the teleological 

 philosophy of the schools, which was the greatest 

 obstacle to the growth of a rational and monistic 

 conception of nature. 



Very recently, however, this ancient phantom of a 

 mystic vital force, which seemed to be effectually 

 banished, has put in a fresh appearance ; a number 

 of distinguished biologists have attempted to reintro- 

 duce it under another name. The clearest presenta- 

 tion of it is to be found in the Welt ah That, of the 

 Kiel botanist, J. Reinke. He takes upon himself 

 the defence of the notion of miracle, of theism, of 

 the Mosaic story of creation, and of the constancy of 

 species; he calls "vital forces," in opposition to 

 physical forces, the directive or dominant forces. 

 Other neovitalists prefer, in the good old anthropo- 

 morphic style, a " supreme " engineer, who has 

 endowed organic substance with a purposive structure, 

 directed to the realisation of a definite plan. These 

 curious teleological hypotheses, and the objections to 

 Darwinism which generally accompany them, do not 

 call for serious scientific refutation to-day. 



Thirty-three years ago I gave the title of " dystele- 

 ology"to the science of those extremely interesting 

 and significant biological facts, which, in the most 

 striking fashion, give a direct contradiction to the 

 teleological idea " of the purposive arrangement of 



