INDIVIDUALITY. 207 



gemmation from a parent organism, passes gradually from a 

 state in which it is an indistinguishable part of the parent 

 organism, to a state in which it is a separate organism of like 

 structure with the parent. At what stage does it become an 

 individual ? And if its individuality be conceded only when 

 it completely separates from the parent, must we deny in- 

 dividuality to all organisms thus produced, which permanently 

 retain their connexions with their parents ? Or again, what 

 must we say of the Hectocotyliis, which is an arm of the 

 Cuttle-fish that undergoes a special development, and then 

 detaching itself, lives independently for a considerable 

 period? And what must we say of that larval Echinus, 

 which is left to move about awhile after being robbed of its 

 viscera by the young Echinus developed within it ? 



To answer such questions, we must revert to the definition 

 of Life. The distinction between individual in its biological 

 sense, and individual in its more general sense, must consist 

 in the manifestation of Life, properly so called. Life we 

 have seen to be, " the definite combination of heterogeneous 

 changes, both simultaneous and successive, in correspondence 

 with external co-existences and sequences. " Hence, a biolo- 

 gical individual is any concrete whole having a structure 

 which enables it, when placed in appropriate conditions, to 

 continuously adjust its internal relations to external relations, 

 so as to maintain the equilibrium of its functions. la 



pursuance of this conception, we must consider as individuals, 

 all those wholly or partially independent organized masses, 

 which arise by multicentral and multiaxial development that 

 is either continuous or discontinuous (§ 50). We must 

 accord the title to each separate aphis, each polype of a 

 polypedom, each bud or shoot of a flowering plant, whether 

 it detaches itself as a bulbil or remains attached as a branch. 



By thus interpreting the facts, we do not, indeed, avoid all 

 anomalies. While, among flowering plants, the power of in- 

 dependent growth and development, is usually possessed only 

 by shoots or axes ; yet, in some cases, as in that of the Begonia- 



