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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIII 



Vitalism, whether true or not, conduces to lethargy, be- 

 cause it assumes a barrier instead of attempting to find 

 if the supposed barrier can be broken down. Thus the 

 mechanistic theory of life is best as a working hypothesis 

 because it leads to decisive experimentation and to the 

 attempt to create living matter, and in this way leads 

 to the solution of many great problems and may some day 

 cause the settlement of that greatest of all problems, the 

 origin of life. On the other hand, vitalism, by assuming 

 to answer the question in a way that transcends the possi- 

 bility of experimental test, is a hopeless theory and leads 

 to repose and scientific slumber rather than to activity. 



While theories of vitalism in whatever form have ever 

 blighted scientific endeavor, they have been especially 

 harmful in ecology. No biologists are brought into closer 

 touch with life than are the ecologists ; their whole atmos- 

 phere is pregnant with dynamics and the aspect which 

 they have of plants is that of extreme plasticity. The 

 ecologist comes into daily contact with profound changes 

 in plant form and behavior, and he sees ever before him 

 the panorama of succession. What wonder is it that many 

 ecologists have been carried off their feet by vitalism 

 and have dabbled in anthropomorphic similes? And 

 what wonder that, because of this attitude, some of our 

 best biologists have seen naught in ecology but superficial 

 vaporings or scientific nonsense? But the view-point of 

 ecology has been shifting, indeed has largely shifted, and 

 there are reasons for believing that the ecologists are now 

 closer to the problems of to-morrow than many of the 

 other biologists. The rescue of ecology from dilettant- 

 ism and anthropomorphic trifling, which Schimper so 

 keenly wished for a decade ago, has been essentially real- 

 ized. It may be of value to outline the steps that have 

 led to the present happy state. 



From the beginning one of the greatest of ecological 

 problems has been that of the origin and significance of 

 adaptations. In other days the solution was sought in 

 special creation, one of the most unscientific of all 



