LIFE AND LIVING THINGS 33 



side. The vitalist has only one argument no mechanist s 

 has ever made a living thing or brought a dead thing to * 

 life. He believes that even though we could understand 

 living mechanism and its workings completely, we would 

 still not be able to produce life without some preexisting 

 life to start it off. Vitalism involves more than this, 

 there is belief in a fundamental difference between the 

 living and non-living. There must be something ' 'vital' 7 

 present without which an organism will cease to be alive. 

 Some vitalists call this vital principle the soul. There are 

 those who believe that all living things have souls, and 

 others who feel that such a quality is confined to a few 

 of the higher animals or to man alone. 



Until we learn more, there can be no final decision be- 

 tween vitalism and mechanism. The radical mechanist 

 can continue to say that we have no proof of anything vital, 

 or divine, and can assert, if he chooses, that "vitality" 

 is simply a name for a lot of things we do not yet under- 

 stand. The vitalist can still hold that the mechanist has 

 never proved his point living things are different from 

 non-living and, through scientific reasoning, we cannot 

 show why. A scientific attitude compels us to accept 

 nothing until it is proved. Very little is yet proved. If 

 we knew more we probably would not argue so much. 

 Professor Wilson in a recent address said, "And so, if 

 you ask whether I look to a day when we shall know the 

 whole truth in regard to organic mechanism and organic 

 evolution, I answer: No! but let us go forward." 



CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS 



It is difficult to formulate absolute differences which will 

 always separate living from non-living objects. It is 

 possible, however, with some confidence to set forth the 

 following six qualities which will serve to characterize living 

 organisms. 



1. Determine Size and Structure. All animals and plants 

 vary to a considerable extent, in fact, it is often said that 



