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O71 Species, 307 



cbemical changes, and the evolution of the structure which be- 



longs to it as a subordinate to some kingdom, class, order, germs 



species in nature. The germ-cell of an organic being devel- 

 ops a specific result; and like the molecule of oxygen, it must 

 correspond to a measured quota or specific law of force. We 

 cannot apply the measure, as in the inorganic kingdom, for we 

 have learned no method or unit of comparison. But it must 

 nevertheless be true, that a specific predetermined amount, or 

 condition, or law, of force is an equivalent of every germ-cell in 

 the kingdoms of life. I do not mean to say that there is but 

 one kind of force; but that whatever the kind or kinds, it has a 

 numerical value or law, although human arithmetic may never 

 give it expression. 



A species among living beings, then, as well as inorganic, is 

 based on a specific amount or condition of concentered force defined 

 m the act or law of creation. 



Any one species has its specific value or law of force ; another, 

 its value; and so for all: and we perceive the fundamental no- 

 tion of the distinction between species when we view them from 

 this potential stand-point. The species, in any particular case, 

 hegan its existence w^hen the first germ-ccli or individual was 

 created; and if several germ-cells of equivalent force were cre- 

 ated, or several individuals, each Avas but a repetition of the 

 other; the species is in the potential nature of the individual, 

 "whether one or many individuals exist. 



Now in organic beings, — unlike the inorganic, — there is a 

 cycle of progress involving growth and decline. The oxygen 

 inolecule may be eternal as far as any thing in its nature goea 

 JBut the germ-cell is but an incipient state in a cycle of changes, 

 and is not the same for two successive instants; and this cycle 

 is such that it includes in its flow, a reproduction, after an inter- 

 yal, of a precise equivalent of the parent germ-celL Thus an 

 indefinite perpetuation of the germ-cell is in fact effected ; yet it 

 is not mere endless being, but like evolving like in an unlimited 

 I'ound. Hence, when individuals multiply from generation to 

 generation, it is but a repetition of the primordial type-idea; 

 <ind the true notion of the species is not in the resulting group, 

 but in the idea or potential element which is at the basis of every 

 individual of the group; that is, the specific law of force, alike 

 in all, upon which the power of each as an existence and agent 

 in nature depends. Dr. Morton presented nearly the same idea 

 "^'iien he described a species as a primordial organic form. 



Having reached this idea as the starting point in our notion of 

 ^ species, we must still, in order to complete and perfect our view, 

 consider what is the true expression of this potentiality. For 

 this pprpose, we should liave again in mind, that a living cell, 

 ^lulike an inorcranic molecule, has only a historical existence. 



4 



