368 
NALORE 
[ FEBRUARY 18, 1904 
but it is not an essential property of that substance. We 
have dead protoplasm which has been killed by heat or 
starvation, by poison or by violence of some kind. These 
agencies, however, may cause disorganisation either in the 
structure or in the composition of the protoplasm, so that 
protoplasm so killed ought possibly to have another 
name. But this does not apply to all cases. When the 
oospore of some of the lower plants—such as Chara—begins 
to germinate, the contents divide into two portions of un- 
equal size, and while the smaller cell goes on developing 
the larger one never again moves, but its contents are 
gradually absorbed by the smaller cell. The larger cell of 
the two contains only dead protoplasm which has been 
separated from the living substance by the process of cell- 
division. Each contains part of the old nuclear plasm and 
part of the cytoplasm, and it is not supposed that they 
differ either in structure or in composition. It is the same 
with the polar bodies which are extruded by reproductive 
cells when they are maturing. They also are composed of 
dead protoplasm which has been pushed out by the living 
protoplasm remaining in the cell. The polar bodies cannot 
move by themselves, nor can they assimilate; they are dead 
protoplasm. Consequently we must assume that life is an 
adjunct and not a necessary quality of protoplasm. 
Neither are the movements themselves life. When we 
speak about gravitation we do not mean the fall of bodies 
to the earth, nor do we call the movements of the mariner’s 
compass magnetism. In both cases it is the cause of the 
movements which we designate as gravitation or 
magnetism, and it is the same with life. Now what do we 
know about the cause of these movements? 
In the higher animals we recognise that vital movements 
are due to mind, that is, to intelligent action, where means 
are adapted to a definite purpose. We can only recognise 
mental action in others by the movements it produces, and 
it is by the nature of these movements that we judge of 
its presence. One great characteristic of mental action is 
cooperation, by means of which work is done which could 
not be accomplished by isolated action. This gives rise to 
harmonised movements either of different parts of the body 
or of different individuals. 
Another characteristic of mental action is that it is cap- 
able of improvement by repetition. This is due to memory, 
which, by repetition, converts the irresolute movements, 
which are undertaken for the first time, into automatic or 
resolute movements. These automatic or reflex actions we 
recognise by their indefinite relation to the stimulus. The 
same stimulus may produce different effects in different 
parts of the body, or different stimuli may produce the same 
effect upon the same part of the body. Again, by constant 
repetition a stimulus may either fail to produce any effect 
owing to the protoplasm having got accustomed to it, or 
repetition may intensify the first effect. This is very 
different from the action of the physical and chemical forces, 
which act as resolutely the first time as afterwards: 
yet we sometimes see it stated that reflex action is purely 
mechanical, and that it is a proof that living matter is as 
much under the influence of fixed laws as is inert matter. 
A little consideration, however, will show us that such is 
not the case, for if reflexes were mechanical actions they 
would act with as much certainty the first time as the last. 
But it is not so. The truth is that in the higher animals 
when a new stimulus arrives at the brain it is examined 
by the mind and certain action is taken. When the same 
stimulus arrives a second time, the mind comes to a decision 
more quickly, and constant repetition makes the brain act 
unconsciously. Also reflexes are not immutable. The 
degree of difficulty in changing them depends upon the 
number of repetitions to which they have been subject. A 
habit may be formed and become reflex, but we can 
generally alter the habit if we try. Even the instincts of 
Insects are not altogether unchangeable, and we occasionally 
see reason come in and alter them. It is only very old 
instincts, like breathing or the beating of 2 " 
are quite fixed. This, again, is very different from physical 
law. Reflex action is only pseudo-mechanical. It is law 
which mind has imposed upon itself to save itself from 
trouble, and 
be varied. This, indeed, constitutes the difference between 
physics and physiology. In physics we have to do with 
NO. 1790, VOL. 69] 
the heart, which | 
if the action has not gone on too long it can | 
fixed law only, but in physiology we find both law and 
custom. 
Much interest has lately been aroused by the demonstra- 
tion that in the ova of some animals the centrosomes can 
be produced and development started by the action of certain 
reagents, such as magnesium chloride, and this has been 
taken as a proof that physical can be changed into physio- 
logical energy. But the chemical reagents cannot form the 
centrosomes ; yhe materials must be there and the stimulus 
merely starts them into action. The protoplasm of the 
ovum, on being stimulated, whether by the natural stimulus 
of fertilisation or by an artificial one, sets to work in the 
only way it knows, that is, by preparing for the process 
of mitosis. This, and the growth of the pollen-tube when 
stimulated by an application of sugar, are merely cases of 
reflex action. 
These unconscious movements often have a harmonised 
action, as if they had originally been intelligent, and in the 
higher animals we rarely have any difficulty in distinguish- 
ing movements due to mind from those due to the physical 
energies. 
In the lower animals and plants the action of conscious 
mind is not evident; but we recognise the presence of life 
by movements which correspond closely with those due to 
unconscious mind in the higher animals, that is, we can 
recognise harmonised action and changeability. 
First we have movements which are called spontaneous, 
that is, they are not directly connected with external causes. 
These may be voluntary, that is, due to the will, or reflex, 
that is, are performed unconsciously on the application of 
a stimulus. What is called irritability in protoplasm is 
merely reflex action, and if reflexes are due to experience 
they imply the presence of both mind and memory. 
Secondly we have, in all living protoplasm, the pheno- 
mena of growth and reproduction. Growth by assimilation 
is considered to be an attribute of living matter, because 
it is a process which, at present, cannot be imitated by 
chemists. But increase in size also takes place in minerals, 
and it is the characteristic direction of growth to which 
assimilation gives rise by which we recognise living sub- 
stance. This direction of growth undergoes gradual 
changes, but new variations are inconstant; they may not 
be repeated, or only partly repeated. But if they are re- 
peatea, then they become constant, and will remain so for 
many generations, notwithstanding varying external con- 
ditions. < 
Now it will be noticed that these characteristics of living 
matter are practically the same as the characteristics of 
mental action in the higher animals. We have changeable- 
ness, learning by experience, cooperation and harmonised 
action, and we cannot help associating life with mind. Not 
only is it true that where there is mind there is life, but 
the converse is also true, where there is life there is mind. 
Mind seems to be the cause of the movements by which we 
recognise living substance. It is the “‘ vital principle ’’ of 
some physiologists. Life has no entity of its own; what 
we call by that name is the movements of protoplasm under 
the direction of mind. Or life may be'said to be mind made 
manifest to us by the movements of protoplasm. Or life is 
a special kind of motion caused by the action of mind on 
the molecules of protoplasm, the characteristics of which 
are spontaneity and adjustment. This mental action is 
active and often conscious in the higher animals, sluggish 
and subconscious in the lower animals, and passive in 
plants, but it is there in all. 
Thus we have come by adifferent line of argument to 
the same conclusion as that of Prof. Hering, namely, that 
mind exists in all living cells, and where there is mind we 
must suppose that there is the capacity for memory also. 
Thus we see that biology is a branch of psychology. It 
is the study of the growth and development of protoplasm 
under the influence of mind, and this influence ought never 
to be forgotten when studying the fundamental problems 
of biology. 
But this is not all, for, if the theory be true, it necessarily 
follows that mind must be, to some extent, a free agent 
capable of controlling the physical energies. For if it were 
not so it could not superintend the process of assimilation, 
neither could it defend protoplasm from the action of 
external agencies. Mind is only subject to those laws 
