840 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1041 



ered, in physics for instance, and suppose 

 further that men had set about, as indeed they 

 have, to try all sorts of " fool experiments " ; 

 then, in view of the infinite multiplicity of 

 things which they might have tried, what is 

 the probability that they would have discov- 

 ered all or nearly all of the fundamentally 

 new facts which twenty years ago were yet to 

 be brought to light? According to the theory 

 of probability, this chance is practically nil. 

 Let us put with this result the further fact 

 that for many hundred years men had been 

 looking at phenomena with care and had not 

 found the important facts discovered in this 

 twenty-year period. Then, in view of all this 

 we can only conclude that it is extremely 

 probable that there is yet an unlimited, or at 

 least a very great, number of fundamental 

 facts still to be discovered. We can hardly 

 refuse to draw the further conclusion that all 

 we know at present is only a mere fragment 

 of what we shall ultimately find out. 



We can indicate the immediate prospect 

 anore precisely by a consideration of the pres- 

 .ent state of physics which I believe now 

 fitands in an enviable position with respect to 

 all science and all philosophy — in fact, with 

 respect to every body of doctrine whose de- 

 velopment makes for human progress. In re- 

 cent years it has undergone a marvelous re- 

 juvenation, into the detail of which we can 

 not now enter. It requires no eye of prophecy 

 to see that this is certain to make itself felt 

 in valuable advances in astronomy and geol- 

 ogy and to lead the way to new and funda- 

 mental conquests in chemistry and biology. 

 All branches of the sciences of phenomena 

 should sit at the feet of the new physics in 

 order to get in touch with her most recent dis- 

 coveries and to carry them over to their con- 

 sequences in other special domains of re- 

 search. 



Al l indications point to magnificent con- 

 quests of research in the immediate future 

 and for many years to come. An analysis of 

 the past gives us a strong assurance that 

 there are many important things yet to be dis- 

 covered. The progress of the preceding de- 

 cade shows that we have in hand tools that 



have been effective, and we can hardly sup- 

 pose that they have just now finished their 

 work when we consider the sort of achieve- 

 ments which have just been made. Notwith- 

 standing that the war in Europe will cut off 

 many young men of enthusiasm and power 

 and hinder the work of all investigators on 

 that continent, it is yet true that there is an 

 enthusiastic body of workers, especially in 

 America, still carrying on their silent con- 

 quests which will take a place alongside the 

 great achievements of the race. It is a pleas- 

 ure to know that there is such an organization 

 as this society to foster a work of this sort. 

 I am glad that so many of us have entered 

 upon the undertaking already and I hope that 

 young men and women of promise will see a 

 possibility of labor toward the good of the 

 whole future of mankind and will lay their 

 lives and their energies upon the altar of 

 service in science. 



E. D. Cakmichael 



TEE PEILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGY: VITALISM 



VEMSUS MECHANISM-L 



In comparison with mathematicians and 

 physicists, biologists have contributed little to 

 philosophical literature, notwithstanding the 

 close relations existing between their science 

 and philosophy. The most notable instance of 

 recent years has been Driesch, whose attempts 

 at philosophical commentary and interpreta- 

 tion seem, however, to have given on the whole 

 little satisfaction to either biologists or philos- 

 ophers. Bergson — " the biological philosopher," 

 as Driesch calls him — bases much of his doc- 

 trine on biological data, and the use of such 

 data appears to be becoming more frequent 

 among philosophers. Lately professed biol- 

 ogists have shown somewhat more tendency to 

 enter the field of philosophical discussion; 

 and it is remarkable that when they do so 

 they often adopt a vitalistic point of view. 

 Haldane's " Mechanism, Life and Personality " 

 is one recent illustration of this tendency, 

 and the present book of Johnstone's is another. 



1 ' ' The Philosophy of Biology, ' ' by James 

 Johnstone, D.Sc, Cambridge University Press, 

 1914. 



