FACTS 171 



form ; in other words, that the specific form of equilibrium 

 is one of the consequences of assimilation in the protoplasmic 

 being. I say consequences and not conditions, for the being 

 truncated by merotomy is capable of assimilating if it contains 

 a piece of nucleus, although it has not the normal specific 

 form. 



In other words again, the morphogenic function is a conse- 

 quence of assimilation. At the same time that a living being 

 creates protoplasm it creates protoplasm having a certain 

 form. The morphogenic function is an aspect of assimilation 

 and is not separable from it. 



The moment there is assimilation there is determination 

 of the specific form of equilibrium. 



For that matter, we understand by " assimilation " two 

 distinct, although inseparable things : 



1. The fabrication of specific chemical substances ; 



2. The attribution to these specific chemical substances 

 of the specific colloid state the specific protoplasmic state. 



This colloid state, of which as yet we are unable to give 

 a detailed definition, has a primordial part in all biological 

 phenomena. We already know it to be inseparable from 

 chemical assimilation, of which it is not only the inevitable 

 consequence, but also the necessary condition, so far as we 

 can judge from the absence of phenomena of assimilation in 

 all non-colloid bodies. But here the colloid state is at- 

 tached to another phenomenon the determination of the 

 general form of the body and yet here the connexion 

 seems less close, for, while the specific form is a consequence 

 of the colloid state of the protoplasm, it is not an indis- 

 pensable condition for the maintenance of the colloid state. 

 This is proved by the continuing of phenomena of proto- 

 plasmic assimilation in truncated beings. 



The colloid or protoplasmic state appears, therefore, 



