28 BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN PROBLEMS 



in water and the relative insolubility of calcium 

 carbonate, it cannot be said that our grasp of physico- 

 chemical forces is all-embracing. Hence we should 

 not be hasty in assuming that physicochemical 

 forces do not explain the phenomena of life. All 

 we can say is that what we now know of them fails 

 fully to explain these phenomena. The increasing 

 profundity of scientific research warrants us in con- 

 fidently predicting the discovery of new physical 

 and chemical energies, or at least new phases of 

 such energies. Biological knowledge began with 

 anatomical observations. Early histological studies 

 seemed to promise more for a deeper in sight than 

 anatomy alone could give. The cell theory of 

 Virchow raised hopes that we should see yet deeper 

 into the organization of living matter. But soon 

 the methods of studying structure were taxed to the 

 utmost without a corresponding gain in the depth 

 of our understanding. Then it became clear that 

 the study of the organization of the cell must include 

 the study of the operation of physical and chemical 

 forces within the narrow limits of the cellular struc- 

 tures. Noteworthy advances rewarded the pursuit 

 of such studies. Yet the most advanced biologists 

 are by no means satisfied with the application of 

 existing chemical and physical methods. This is 

 shown clearly by a strong desire to utilize the newest 

 conceptions of matter, which deal not merely with 

 the forces exhibited by atoms as such, but with the 

 energies that govern the properties of particles 



