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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1111 



late the existence of a non-mechanistie 

 principle which controls and orders the 

 physico-chemical activities. These theories 

 have at least the merit of recognizing and 

 meeting squarely the real problem, bat 

 while the present state of our knowledge 

 does not permit a complete demonstration 

 of their falsity, they are intellectually un- 

 satisfying in many respects and particu- 

 larly in view of the rapid progress of sci- 

 entific method in its attack upon the prob- 

 lems of life. 



The theories which postulate a multitude 

 of distinct specific entities as the basis of 

 the organism are properly speaking not 

 theories of organic individuality at all, 

 for they ignore the real problem. They 

 are merely hypotheses of what we may 

 call the metamicroseopic anatomy of the 

 individual. The real problem of the unity 

 and order remains not only unsolved, but 

 its solution is placed at least beyond the 

 present range of scientific method. Log- 

 ical analysis of these theories shows clearly 

 that their implications are fundamentally 

 teleological and anthropomorphic. In 

 fact so far as they are regarded as solu- 

 tions of the problem they are really vital- 

 istic theories in disguise. 



In this connection let us consider for a 

 moment the chromosome. Granting for 

 the sake of argument the correctness of the 

 assumptions of certain schools of scientists 

 concerning the spatial localization of fac- 

 tors in particular chromosomes, it is evi- 

 dent that the so-called chromosome maps 

 are nothing more than imaginary pictures 

 of the metamicroseopic anatomy of the 

 chromosome. If these spatially localized 

 entities exist, they are merely anatomical 

 characters of the organism and, as in the 

 case of other anatomical characters, their 

 existence, orderly arrangement and be- 

 havior remain to be accounted for. The 

 essential problem of the unity and order 



of the individual is not only unsolved, but 

 ignored, except by implication, in these 

 hypotheses. 



Concerning all the various theories of 

 organization which in one form or another 

 have enjoyed wide acceptance among zool- 

 ogists the same objection may be made. 

 Granting the correctness of any one of 

 them, the postulated organization is essen- 

 tially anatomical and its orderly integra- 

 tion remains to be accounted for. Let me 

 make it clear that I have no quarrel with 

 the facts along this line, so far as they are 

 or may in the future be demonstrated to be 

 facts. I maintain merely that they are 

 essentially anatomical facts and as such 

 constitute simply another step in the formu- 

 lation of the real problem, not an advance 

 toward its solution. 



The rapid development within recent 

 years of our knowledge concerning ap- 

 parently specific chemical correlations be- 

 tween different organs or parts has led 

 many to assert that the fundamental type 

 of physiological correlation in the organ- 

 ism is of this chemical transportative char- 

 acter. Concerning these views I need only 

 point out that the existence of orderly 

 chemical correlation between parts assumes 

 the existence and orderly arrangement of 

 differences of some kind, in other words, of 

 an organization of some sort. Undoubtedly 

 chemical correlation is a factor of very 

 great importance in determining the char- 

 acter of events in the organic individual, 

 but the individual must exist as an order 

 of some sort before orderly chemical corre- 

 lation is possible. Evidently chemical 

 correlation does not give us the solution of 

 the problem. 



The organism has often been compared 

 to a crystal. Leaving out of consideration 

 the fact that there is no optical or other 

 evidence for the crystalline character of 

 protoplasm in general, it seems to me that 



