CONTROL 123 



same ; the balancing and harmonising of countless inter- 

 reactions within the bounds of the oell, and the preservation 

 of cell-identity or personality. Bearing this in mind, we 

 shall now briefly summarise the successive " multiplications " 

 of cell-control recognisable in existing individual types. 



In the Discontinuously Multicellular Individual the 

 supreme control is the nuclear control exercised in each 

 free unicellular organism. 



In the Filamentous Individual, which is really a cell- 

 colony, the same may be said to be the case. At the same 

 time each cell of the filament is apparently to some ex- 

 tent influenced by its neighbours in series, for there is the 

 phenomenon of temporary cell-arrest. But we regard this 

 as the result of the primitive cell continuity obtaining, or 

 of hostile environment in the form of cell-attachment. 



In Ccenocytic Individuals, such as Mucor for example, 

 control is probably also nuclear. But here there is a closer 

 degree of serial and a development of primitive lateral 

 continuity, the colonial unit being not a cell but a ccenocyte. 

 As this is composed of series of protoplasts which are not 

 separated from each other by partitions, a certain amount 

 of mutual control is probably exercised by the nuclei of the 

 protoplasts. It is to be inferred that the protoplasts do 

 not absolutely control themselves as the cells of the true 

 filament presumably do, and that what affects one will 

 probably affect all its companions in series. 



In the Discontinuously Zooidal Individual the zooid is 

 composed of true tissue regionally adapted to special func- 

 tions. Each cell here lives not only for itself, but also for 

 the common cell-good of the whole zooid. As the zooid 

 is a complete cellularly continuous organism, and one re- 

 quiring to coordinate the action of all its parts, we might 

 expect some form of " supra-nuclear " control to be present ; 

 and it is no surprise to find that recently a fine network of 

 stellate nerve-cells united by fine nervous threads has been 

 discovered in the jelly underlying the ectoderm. By this 

 means every cell of the zooid, while controlling its own 

 metabolism through its nucleus, does so under the orders 

 or influence of all the other cells, quickly collected and 

 distributed by the nervous network. 



