108 THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF LIFE 



shall be able to find diastasic secretions of these three 

 kinds, in proportions varying according to the case. 



For so very simple an example, the division of labour 

 will be reduced to the possibility of an exact definition of 

 three organs corresponding with three well-determined 

 functions. 



But let us suppose that, in a living body of large dimen- 

 sions (Fig. 5) the form itself of the body brings habitually 

 into conflict with the different enemies B 1? B 2 , B 3 , the regions 

 M, N, of the body ; then the function (A x B^, defined 

 at the point M, will develop more particularly at that point 

 the corresponding diastasic secretion. 

 There will be, to a certain degree, 

 localization of functions and, if it lasts 

 long, the points M, N and of^ the 

 body will end by acquiring particular 

 characters in relation with the par- 

 ticular conditions to which they are 

 subjected. Functional assimilation will 

 develop at each of these points parts of 

 the mechanism which will result in pro- 

 ducing precisely the necessary diastases ; the body of the 

 individual will become, by the fact, heterogeneous ; and 

 the division of labour may become anatomically verifiable, 

 for the colloid states of living substances influence their 

 morphology. 



When, instead of a continuous protoplasmic mass (which 

 our reasoning in no wise supposes), the organism of Fig. 5 

 is made up of an agglomeration of cells, then the differ- 

 ences realized by the conditions at points M, N, of the 

 body will manifest themselves by different aspects of the 

 cells placed at those points. The division of labour will 

 create histological differentiation. 



