92 THE DATA OF BIOLOGY. 



herent and indefinite, there arises the coherent and definite. 

 But a coherent whole made up of definite parts definitely 

 combined, must exhibit more definitely combined changes 

 than a whole made up of parts that are neither definite in 

 themselves nor in their combination. Hence, if living bodies 

 display more than other bodies this structural definiteness, 

 then, definiteness of combination must be a characteristic of 

 the changes constituting Life ; and must also distinguish the 

 vital changes of higher organisms from those of lower organ- 

 isms. Finally, however, we discovered that all these 

 peculiarities are subordinate to the one fundamental pecu- 

 liarity, that vital changes take place in correspondence with 

 external co-existences and sequences ; and that the highest 

 possible Life is reached, when there is some inner relation of 

 actions fitted to meet every outer relation of actions by 

 which the organism can be affected. But this conception of 

 the highest possible Life, is in perfect harmony with the con- 

 ception, before arrived at, of the ultimate limit of Evolution. 

 When treating of equilibration as exhibited in organic 

 phenomena {First Principles, §§ 133, 134), it was pointed 

 out, that the continual tendency is towards the establishment 

 of a balance between inner and outer changes. It was 

 shown that " the final structural arrangements must be such 

 as will meet all the forces acting on the aggregate, by 

 equivalent antagonistic forces," and that " the maintenance 

 of such a moving equilibrium " as an organism displays, 

 *•' requires the habitual genesis of internal forces correspond- 

 ing in number, directions, and amounts, to the external 

 incident forces — as many inner functions, single or com- 

 bined, as there are single or combined outer actions to be 

 met." It was shown, too, that the relations among concep- 

 tions and ideas, are ever in progress towards a better balance 

 between mental actions and those actions in the environment 

 to which conduct must be adjusted. So that that main- 

 tenance of a correspondence between inner and outer rela- 

 tions, which we have here found to constitute Life, and the 



