THE CELL DOCTRINE. 61 



" For Schwann, the organism is a beehive, its action 

 and forces resulting from the separate but harmo- 

 nious action of all its parts. For Wolff (and Hux- 

 ley), it is a mosaic, every portion of which expresses 

 only the conditions under which the formative power 

 acted, and the tendencies by which it was guided." 

 The statements of Prof. Huxley with regard to 

 cell-development entirely accord with the most recent 

 observations on the subject, and are quite important to' 

 us in tracing out the present state of the cell doctrine. 



J. HUGHES BENNETT, 1855.* 



Dr. Bennett, of Edinburgh, considered that " the 

 ultimate parts of organization are not cells nor nu- 

 clei, but the minute molecules from which these are 

 formed They possess independent physical and vital 

 properties, which enable them to unite and arrange 

 themselves so as to produce higher forms; Among 

 these are nuclei, cells, fibres, and membranes, all of 

 which may be produced directly from molecules. 

 The development and growth of organic tissues is 

 owing to the successive formation of histogenetic 

 and hystolytic molecules. The breaking down of 

 one substance is often the necessary step to the for- 

 mation of another ; so that the histolytic or disin- 



* Bennett's Practice of Medicine. Am. Ed. of William Wood 

 & Co., N. Y., 1866, p. 118. 



Prof. Bennett has further elaborated his views in the Edinburgh 

 Medical Journal, March, 1868, and The Popular Science Review, 

 January, 1869, but his conclusions are substantially the same as 

 quoted. 



