a 
1887] The Significance of Sex. 27 
beings along these lines, in the past history of the earth; and 
this is confirmed by the paleontologic record. We are thus con- 
vinced that organic beings are genetically related, and, therefore, 
the phenomena of reproduction and the question of sex must be 
considered in relation to the problem of the genesis of species. 
The laws of organization of biologic beings find their analogues 
in civil and social organizations. Hence we often speak of the 
animal as the ce//-State. As civilization progresses and Society is 
evolved, the unit, here the human mind, becomes more and more 
specialized in its activities, and the individual more and more de- 
pendent for his existence and welfare upon the fact that he is part 
of an organism,—the State,—which is complexly organized of 
many interworking and subordinate parts. How wonderful are the 
life manifestations of a State! and yet nothing is done except by 
the activities of the faculties present in each mind. The division 
of labor causes each function to be more efficiently exercised ; 
but, what is more important, it is the form in which this is or- 
ganized that impresses us and that makes the zzdividual. Ina 
similar way, a man may be said, philosophically speaking, to be 
only a developed amceba, even as a State is a man ona larger 
scale. 
We are thus enabled to understand what is meant by the Judt- 
vidual. This term is purely relative, for in an organism where 
the subordinate units still retain a large measure of independence, 
the individuality of the lesser units detracts from that of the 
larger ; indeed, the latter is not thoroughly established until the 
former is sacrificed, when the lesser units are so mutually de- 
pendent as to be mere farts. When this stage is reached the 
existence of the lesser units depends on the existence of the 
greater unit. Thus, when the organic relations or functions in a 
man’s body are disturbed, not only does the man die (cease to 
exist) as an individual, but the cells also dissolve into the less 
highly organized substances of “ non-living” matter. Life may 
then mean one or both of two things: 1, the activities of the 
organism (this is of course a mere summation of the activities 
of the cells); 2, the form of organization of these activities; this 
is a relation, an abstraction, but is necessary for the existence of 
life in the former sense,—i.c., it makes the individual. The contro- 
versies so often arising about these terms can only be due to a 
misunderstanding of the cell-doctrine. i 
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