July 22, 189S.] 



SCIENCE. 



87 



This criticism is especiallj' applicable to 

 the most general and inclusive terms of 

 biology and of many other sciences. It is 

 nufortuuately true that many biological 

 definitions are not as clear cut and consistent 

 as they should be, but where a definition 

 includes a great mass of little known phe- 

 nomena nothing better can be expected ; it 

 wonld be ungracious on the part of the 

 biologists not to be thankful to the philos- 

 ophical critics for pointing out these incon- 

 sistencies, but the real remedy here, as in 

 the matter of unsatisfactory hypotheses, lies 

 not in criticism, but in exploring more 

 thoroughly the facts and phenomena in 

 question. 



But leaving the general introduction and 

 passing to the more specific criticism of the 

 methods of biology, we are told that the 

 actual form of theoretical biology is depend- 

 ent upon three postulates : 1. " The quali- 

 ties of the individual are discrete, numerable 

 constituent elements of which the organism 

 is the total sum, and have, therefore, each 

 the value of an ultimate unit for biology. 

 They are thus independent of one another 

 as regards their significance, maintenance, . 

 development in the individual, existence 

 when latent, inheritance and variation and 

 acquirement by the race." 2. " The quali- 

 ties of the organism and all its stages are 

 the manifestation of, and are related to one 

 another only through, an agent or system of 

 agents within the known body. The agent 

 which answers to the unity of the organism 

 is purely self- determining ; it is in the atti- 

 tude of pure activity to the body, which in 

 consequence is in the attitude of pure pas- 

 sivity to the agent. * * * It carries the quali- 

 ties when they are latent and carries alter- 

 native qualities, and it manifests these when 

 and where they ought to be manifested." 

 3. " The adaptedness of organisms is due to 

 the external addition of new qualities to 

 the rest, which henceforward are included 

 among, but not conditioned by, the qualities 



which have up to that time existed. The 

 environment is something separate from the 

 organism ; and the latter is, by the addition 

 of new qualities to the trust of the agent, 

 thus educated up to circumstances which 

 can exist without it. The inertia of the 

 agent is such that it may persist in present- 

 ing qualities which are unrelated to other 

 qualities and which have ceased to have 

 any special external and independent use. 

 The various qualities of the organism are 

 thus due to the slow addition of modifica- 

 tions through many years of changing cir- 

 cumstances." 



At first thought it will be doubted 

 whether any biological system makes any 

 such radical demands as are contained in 

 these three postulates ; certainly few biolo- 

 gists are conscious of making such demands, 

 and yet the author shows, with much ability 

 and a wealth of illustration, that this is the 

 logical outcome of many biological doc- 

 trines. 



The book is almost entirely devoted to a 

 philosophical criticism of these three postu- 

 lates. This criticism is, in the main, clear 

 sighted and well founded. After declaring 

 that these postulates are not working hy- 

 potheses and in themselves are of no value 

 to research, the author points out their 

 weaknesses from the standpoint of philoso- 

 phy. ' ' The first and second postulates 

 arise from the relativist theorj^ of knowl- 

 edge and the agent is the thing-in-itself 

 * * * The whole method depends upon a 

 fiction ; * * * it is a mere logical fallacy. 

 If biology is to treat of individuality we 

 need a better form of doctrine than that 

 of the agent." As to the third postulate, it 

 presupposes the transformation of species, 

 in favor of which doctrine the author sees 

 but little direct evidence, though he feels 

 compelled to accept it because of analogy 

 with other systems. 



I. In the second, third and fourth chap- 

 ters the author deals at length with the 



