The Organism as a Whole 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 



I. The physical researches of the last ten years have 

 put the atomistic theory of matter and electricity on 

 a definite and in all probability permanent basis. We 

 know the exact number of molecules in a given mass 

 of any substance whose molecular weight is known to 

 us, and we know the exact charge of a single electron. 

 This permits us to state as the ultimate aim of the 

 physical sciences the visualization of all phenomena 

 in terms of groupings and displacements of ultimate 

 particles, and since there is no discontinuity between 

 the matter constituting the living and non-living world 

 the goal of biology can be expressed in the same way. 

 This idea has more or less consciously prevailed for 

 some time in the explanation of the single processes 

 occurring in the animal body or in the explanation of 

 the functions of the individual organs. Nobody, not 



